Barbarella Restaurant & Bar

We were here for an early Father’s Day and we had a truly amazing experience. From the moment we walked in, the restaurant felt homey and warm, and the patio decorated with Christmas lights was beautiful.
We ordered the black mussels, funghi pizza and «Max» pizza, which had salmon. The crust on the pizzas was amazing, just the right amount of crunchy. The toppings were a perfect amount too; not too much that the pizza starts to sag but enough to give it really good taste. The mussels came in a very tasty broth/​sauce (try dipping the bread and pizza in there!). We also got some bread before our meal, which was some of the best bread I’ve had in a long time. They even gave us some extra bread to take home when we expressed how much we enjoyed it!
Overall, amazing service, delicious food, and a wonderful atmosphere. Would recommend anyone to come here!
(Oh, and food was not too pricey either, 3 people together cost about $ 60 total)

My husband and I have been here twice– once for Valentine’s Day and once on a Friday night… Both times were spectacular! I love the atmosphere both inside the restaurant and out on the patio. Plus they go all out for holidays! The staff is so friendly and helpful. You can tell that the locals of La Jolla come here regularly because they all know each other and the waiters/​waitresses. The prices are reasonable and the food & drinks are great! Definite quality and quantity. We can’t wait to go back!

The food was mediocre at best. Spaghetti was no better than canned. My steak was good but it only came with French fries & a pile of cold spinach with no dressing. For the price we were very underwhelmed. Service was good & the staff friendly. That’s the only reason it rated any stars.

the food here was great! I have a dietary restriction and they were so accommodating of it, ¹⁰⁄₁₀ service !! also, the food here is organic. The overall ambiance here was very pleasant, and there was an outdoor seating area available

Great service, nice place, food ok, not that authentic. The pizzas looked better than the pasta i ordered with pancetta (too greasy). I would have liked to order a pizza with pancetta instead, but option for pizzas was only cheese or vegetables or a combination of both, no meat products for the pizza

The food and mimosas are wonderful, the outdoor seating has a great atmosphere, and the service is exceptional!
My friends and I happened onto this restaurant for an early lunch after kayaking this March. Toria, our hotess, is the such a sweet, genuine person and provided my friends and I with some of the best customer service any of us have ever had!
Definitely recommend this location! And thanks again for your kindness, Toria!

We are from out of town and headed to the shore house for breakfast based on Unilocal ratings. There was a line around the block so we drove past and found a less crowded restaurant by accident. Barbarella was an amazing find! No crowds, lovely relaxing patio area And kid friendly with coloring AND an old fashioned etchasketch, which kept my 6 year old happily occupied.
The huevos rancheros was awesome and my son’s pancakes were delicious with perfect side of fresh berries.
Nice friendly service as well. Why in the world anyone stayed in line down the street instead of eating here is beyond comprehension.

Love, love, love the space,
food (bib & blue, fish, fritti’s, martini’s)
and Barbara!

Eat Here! And do so often. I was strolling the sidewalk looking for a place to eat. As soon as I saw the place I remembered having eaten here before. Like seeing a long lost friend, the place only gets better each time. Amazing variety, excellent wines, great portion size, and beyond great service. Eat here!

Excellent service! The food is delicious and flavorful! Went kayaking and snorkeling before getting something to eat. The best place to stop by and enjoy the outdoors. They have a nice outside patio and I recommend the artisan cheese plate as your starter! You can’t go wrong with any of the food selections. The only problem is that you want everything because it smells and taste really great. But then again, it gives me more reason to come back when I’m visiting again. Peter is awesome! He went above and beyond our expectations of customer service. This is a huge reason we will be coming back and recommending this place if you’re in the area. Thanks for getting the heating lamp and blankets for us. I almost forgot, they have a mascot! Her name is Bosley. She’s crazy but very loving cat. So if you stop by, don’t forget to pet her. She’s very friendly and affectionate.

My family and I have been Barbarella regulars for about 16 years and counting. Here’s what I love about this restaurant (in no particular order):
— They have a doggy and baby menu!
— Almost everything on the menu is made with ORGANIC and/​or LOCAL ingredients.
— The promo emails are hilarious. You can sign up for emails at the restaurant.
— It’s festive! The restaurant gets decorated for almost every holiday throughout the year.
— Barbara LOVES dogs. Like, she might love my dog more than I do. There’s plenty of outdoor seating, so this is a pooch-​friendly establishment!
If you’re here for breakfast/​brunch, get:
— The coffee (I think it might have actual crack in it, because I’m addicted to this coffee.)
— Huevos Rancheros
— Eggs Benedict (the citrus hollandaise is unique and SO delicious)
— Acai bowl
— Brioche French toast
…In case you can’t tell, breakfast is probably my favorite meal here. ¹⁰⁄₁₀ highly recommend.
If you’re here for lunch, get:
— Chopped Salad (this is my #1 favorite salad in the whole world, I get one about once a week)
— Barbarella Burger and fries. You should probably get extra fries since they’re THAT good.
— Smoked Salmon «Pizza Max» (this is my mom’s favorite)
If you’re here for dinner, get:
— Baked Pasta or any of the ravioli dishes (if you’re here during the fall, you MUST get the pumpkin ravioli)
— Pizza Funghi
— Seared Salmon (I get this for my birthday)
— Steak Frites (again, get extra fries)

Relaxing and great service.
Amazing beach ambience, though can’t see the waters directly. But that doesn’t matter. It’s lovely.
The taste was beyond expectations! We ordered a French Toast and Berry Crêpe. Neither were plain. In fact they were mixed with delicious flavors, such as caramel, cinnamon, yummy stuff.
Parking was difficult at 10−11am, so get here early! :) Highly recommended for La Jolla shores!

Title: Brunch Bonanza at Barbarella’s
/​/​The SBC Bottom Line/​/​
Overall Rating — 5.0
Pros:
Services — Prompt and attentive. Owner goes out and meets guests.
Atmosphere — Lively but not overly noisy
Food (Brunch) — Amazing! Huevos rancheros were excellent
Cons: None to report
/​/​The SBC Deep Dive/​/​
Service: 5 Stars
The service was spot-​on. We had a group of 7 and we were seated at their outdoor patio promptly once our entire party arrived. The waitress was quick and responsive and our food was brought out promptly. The highlight, however, was Barbara herself. She dropped by our table numerous times and chatted us up, answering our questions about the décor (more on that later) and making small-​talk. Her energy is absolutely infectious.
Ambiance: 5 Stars
We went the day after Halloween and Barbarella’s certainly lived up to their reputation for going all out with the decorations. Every square inch of the establishment, both inside and out, was absolutely covered in hundreds of Halloween decorations. From rats hanging from the ceiling to spiders that drop down in the entry-​way (which got one of our group really good!) the decorations really deliver. It’s a ton of fun and worth going for the novelty alone. We wandered inside the establishment proper after brunch to check out the rest of the decorations (at Barbara’s suggestion) and the joint was busy but not overly noisy.
Food: 5 Stars
For as good as the service and (especially) the ambiance were, the food was the stand-​out of the outing. Everyone’s food came out perfectly. Some highlights include: the amazing roasted potatoes fries which were perfectly cooked (crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside) and seasoned, deliciously light and fluffy lemon ricotta pancakes and easily the best huevos rancheros any of us had ever had. They call them «Opposites Attract» as they come with two eggs, one covered in red (roja) and the other green (verde) sauces. The verde was particularly good with just enough spice to really stand out.
Nothing really more to say. We’ve done brunch all over the city and this is easily one of the best brunch spots we’ve found yet.
SBC

Extra draw awarded for highly creative Halloween decorations that must have taken weekend to assemble.
We started with mussels in a buttery garlic sauce with lemons and onions. Delicious.
The very hot, crusty bread was worthy of mention.
I had pan seared snapper and she had a sea food pasta, but good and a lot to finish.
Very attentive wait staff, even though the place was hopping.

Things got off to a nice start. Warm cordial service, excellent soup, and hot bread fresh from the oven. I had the mussels as an entrée and they were dry and only mediocre. Though not on the menu, my friend asked and our waiter said they could do spaghetti with a meatball; the latter was on the menu as a side order for $ 5.75. When the bill came, the charge for the spaghetti with one meatball was $ 18.70! Note, the pasta contained no gems or precious metals! It was just plain old spaghetti with plain old tomato sauce.
The manager, who thought his spaghetti and meatball was worth almost $ 19 (it wasn’t), did not ease my friend’s sticker shock.

A fun but extremely busy restaurant is in La Jolla Shores that served up a great Italian dinner to my family of four. Street parking has a maximum of two hours so spots open up often. Waiting to place your name was way chaotic in a poor location as other Unilocalers have mentioned. After a thirty minute wait we were seated and our cheerful seasoned waitress took our order. Three pasta dishes were quickly consumed. One of the dishes had clams and even my wife thought they were good. The one negative would be the glacially slow beverage service.

Our party of 6 was seated at one of the larger tables in the restaurant. I had the super-​Tuscan wine and the whole fish of the day, a striped sea bass. Outside roasted beautifully and the inside fairly well still moist — takes well to the lively caper and olive oil dressing. Friendly staff, comfortable setting in this laid back, family-​friendly restaurant.
Note: This place is near the water, but it does not have a view of the water. The view of the wood-​fired brick oven was entertaining enough for me though ;-)

Came here for drinks and dinner after having some fun at the beach. The restaurant was pretty packed. Fortunately, we got seated in the patio within 5 minutes since a party had just left. They gave us complimentary bread with butter to start.
We had:
Mussels– the sauce was so good, but the mussels were very fishy. I was pretty disappointed and could not finish the dish because the smell was just overbearing.
Pasta al Forno – similar to white truffle mac and cheese. Had orecchiette pasta baked with gorgonzola, pecorino, parmesan, pancetta, leeks, and light cream sauce.
Spaghetti con vongole w/​fettucine pasta-​which had steamed clams, white wine, roasted garlic, and tomato confit. Very simple dish yet very delicious.
Barbarella meatball-​since pasta al forno didn’t come with a lot of meat, I decided to get myself a big meatball which could’ve been more juicy. It was still good; but would like to have more flavor and natural meat juice.
Overall, it was a great dining experience. Staff was really attentive-​replenished drinks and asked how we were doing.

Came here for drinks and snacks. I’m usually a little wary of restaurants near beaches because they can easily be kind of terrible just because the demand is there. Barbarella, however, was pretty good.
We tried:
salmon tartare — best I have ever had
mussels — a little overcooked, according to my mussel-​eating travelmates, but I tasted the sauce and it was good
greek salad — not super classic, but tasty and well done
gin & tonic — a pretty strong one here
bubbles down under — very fruity drink
house bread and butter — a whole wheat bread, which is unusual. I actually wasn’t a hug efan because it seemed a bit tough.
Our server made sure we had everything we needed. Overall, pretty good. I’d be curious to try them for a full meal. They should probably be a little more watchful that their wheelchair ramp is not blocked by the tables on the patio.
I’m not a huge fan of the beachballs all over the place, but if you go, check out the bathroom. It is very inspirational.

We’ve been dying to come here since its a dog friendly restaurant! so we got the whole family dressed up including my dog so we could have a nice dinner together.
Parking is horrible, its street parking and the roads are being worked on so its a nightmare. theres a paid lot but just try your luck and you should be able to find parking
we came around 5pm and the restaurant was still setting up for dinner so we basically stood around for 5 – 6 minutes before anyone acknowledged us
they let us choose where we wanted to sit so that was a plus since our dog likes to react to his environment (yes hes one of those dogs that barks at everything, and i know it probably disturbs other customers so i purposely chose a time that was super early so that there wouldnt be too many people around and we chose a table far away from others)
We ordered from both the human and dog menu.
First, the bread is a sourdough that comes out piping hot. it was delicious
we shared a salmon tartar, they give you a pretty large portion and it was also very fresh and delicious
then i got the pizza max which was basically like a smoked salmon bagel but much more refined. the crème fraise was not spread out evenly so there were areas with a lot of crème and areas with nothing at all. but overall it was a great dish
the gf got the spaghetti with clams. she loved it and thought that it was cooked perfectly. only draw back was that maybe 50% of the clams had quite a bit of sand in them
the dog got the delight, which is basically a cooked beef patty. it was gone within seconds. so pretty sure he loved it. we asked for it well done, and the hostess was kind enough to double check with us to ensure it was cooked to what we wanted
It started getting a little cold outside, so the manager came out to turn on the heaters but he only turned on one next to an older couple. it took a bit for another employee to come out to turn on the rest of them.
Just a note: I did notice that the staff pays more attention to older more wealthy looking couples (they ignored this family with kids for a long time, i watched them try to flag down someone like 4 – 5 times, another table that was there before us tried to get the check a few times as well and no one was there to help them). Manager checked with certain tables several times and only came to us once.
but overall it was a good place to eat with good food