r/SantaBarbara

Hello everyone! I’m a young guy in Santa Barbara with hair long overdue for a haircut. I’m looking to get a haircut and change up my style to a sort of short but messy haircut. I haven’t been to a barbershop in so long and I’m quite nervous about the hair, so I was wondering if there are any salon/barbershop recs. Thank you!

Thank you to everyone who responded to my previous post asking which restaurant was better for us on our trip. It was very helpful, we listened, and we had a wonderful time out.

I thought it could be helpful to discuss the expectations vs experience we had, and I want to start off by saying Loquita was absolutely the right choice, we’re very glad we went.

The food was ok. Before leaving we were concerned with the quality of the food, which was partially valid. Nothing was so bad it was inedible, but it wasn’t great and in ways that were surprising.

The chicken and chorizo paella was ridiculously over seasoned by smoked paprika. I would expect saffron to be the dominant flavor, but it was almost non existent. The quality of the chorizo saved the dish.

The chicken was badly overcooked and dry. It felt like it was made by someone who’s paranoid about cooking chicken. The lamb chops were also overcooked. I don’t understand how such a quality restaurant could make those kinds of mistakes.

My partner loved the croquettes and we had a second round, but these are really hard to mess up so I’m not surprised.

The ambience was amazing, better than we could have imagined. Dining on the patio alone is worth coming for and made the night special. Well beyond expectations.

The staff… the supporting staff were incredible and lifted the dining experience. But our actual server was horrible. Possibly the rudest/most ignorant server I’ve had. I’m not sure why a restaurant trying to offer fine dining seems to prefer hiring school aged women over actual trained professionals, but whatever.

TLDR: The food at loquita could be so much better with a little more effort, as could the dining experience. We’re glad we went but disappointed with what could have been.

Just noticed going South. What are they doing to the huge land right off of turnpike?

Hi! Any Santa Barbara County Firefighters in here, or anyone knowledgeable about the department? I’m interviewing next week and would appreciate any info on the culture, strengths, etc, and if anyone can share any info on what the typical hiring process looks like (how many interview rounds and timing, etc).

I’ve found a lot of great info online through the department, but have found very little in terms of first hand accounts.

Would appreciate any info. And this is for COUNTY, not city. Thank you!

MAGA apparently bought out the ritz in Santa Barbara. Don’t know why they chose this place but they’re here and they’re everywhere.

Is there anywhere in Santa Barbara or Goleta that has an air hockey table and/or skeeball? I want to show my kiddos the arcade games of my youth and have no clue where in south county (or even Ventura) might have them. Thanks!

I know this is probably a longshot but are there any secret baseball bars in town? I just want to sit at a bar that has multiple screens and multiple ballgames on

Looking for something fun to do with a group of 20-30 in the Santa Barbara area

I have lived here 18 years which is half my life and experienced and witnessed unscrupulous abuse from business owners and managers. Be it being forced to work off the clock, not being given breaks (or receiving mandatory compensation for such occurrences), not being paid overtime, being sexually harassed by bosses, being harassed by abusive management for speaking out on behalf of others, and so much worse.

The authorities are flaccid lame ducks and seem to kneel to the interests of these abusers. What I really want to know is does the overall Santa Barbara community support workers in the sense that they object to the sorts of things I listed above?

I really love this town. My greatest gripe is seeing honest hard working dish washers, cooks, servers, house keepers and other such essential workers just treated like shit. Do Santa Barbians really care?

Asking because, when I was there yesterday, I heard some sales associates talking about how their supervisor said “no breaks for the rest of the day.” This was around noon, so there were definitely more than four hours left for anyone working until close.

Yall are troopers because that store was hell and probably has been with all of the students moving in. Hoping yall are getting your legally deserved breaks ❤️