Arch Rock

For all they hyped reviews, I can’t understand why. It’s no surprise that when I finally get around to writing this review, I see this business has since closed their doors since I tried this place back in April 2015.
Service was okay, not great. The restaurant itself was fairly large with modern décor and a dim interior. Food was average, we ordered the artichoke appetizer $ 7, mussels $ 13, fish and chips $ 12, and a grey goose cocktail and a glass of Justin cab, $ 10 and $ 14 respectively.
The $ 60 spent was mediocre at best and won’t be missing Arch Rock now that it’s permanently closed.
*yawn*

Great place. Loved all the fish we got there. This is the first place I was able to eat oysters and enjoy them. Sad its gone :(

Arch Rock went from 3-​stars, down to 2-​stars, and almost 1 star. All in one single visit (based on a visit on Sep 5, 2015). Here we go…
Came here based on a 5-​star review from a fellow Unilocaler Michael S — can’t go wrong with that, can you? I know for a fact that this place must’ve had a bad day. Because everything tasted ‘Meh’.
Spicy Tuna & Sushi Roll
Fish tasted ‘fresh’ so it was a decent appy, but $ 8 for 5 pieces on Happy Hour. gotta be kidding me! We ordered another plate of this, as our party of four finished the first plate in 5 seconds.
Crispy Calamari
Small pieces of calamari, deep deep fried and greasy, although very tasty.
Grilled Fish Taco
The happy hour item will give you only one fish taco. But order it from the regular menu and you will get two. Same price, so the HH item is not really a HH deal. I didn’t eat this personally, but two people from our party had this and it seemed to be yet another ‘Meh’.
Fish ‘n Chips
Came with fries, cocktail & tartar sauce and slaw. Ordered two plates of this, one plate had lemon, and the other… no lemon. The fish was delicious and had a crunchy outside with a buttery fish inside. The fries were a bust, as they didn’t taste fresh. Probably had been sitting for a while and gotten chewy and semi-​cold.
Tater tots
With fresh herbs, parmesan & truffle oil. Tasty and absolutely greasy. The perfect balance between crunch and soft inside. But damn, these were so greasy. The bottom was filled with oil. No, not truffle oil.
The DRINKS!
Moscow Mule …
…is supposedly a hit at this place — even Michael S. was raving about it. But… it tasted more like vodka and a lot of ginger. It wasn’t well made, and we had to dilute it. and even then. it was bad. Okay okay. should have told our waiter to take it back and either make a new one or replace it. But we really tried to give it a chance. But unfortunately, we paid for it, but left it behind.
The Hound (grapefruit infused vodka, fresh lime, elderflower cordial)
Yet another bust. In all honesty, it tasted absolutely awful. I figured, the bartender must have been a server and taken the «real» bartender’s job for the day. No joke.
All-​in-​all. not a great first time experience at Arch Rock. Will we pay them another visit? Well, since we are not in Santa Barbara that often, it would be a lie to say that we will make Arch Rock a must-​visit next time.
Hopefully, the GM will see this and try to figure out what went wrong. We DID complain to our server just before leaving. Sometimes you just hope that it is your imagination that things taste bad.
We tried to «endure» the experience and the general consensus after a few sushi bites was 3-​stars. Then the main food came. Ehm. maybe a strong 2 stars? Then the drinks. «Holy s**t, this is bad». 1 star, right? YES.
But I am trying to be realistic. There was a slight enjoyment as I was stuffing my face with all the grease. The hostess was nice. It was a good day. Yeah, let’s give them 2 stars and pray for the next Unilocaler that will read this and take my advice: Arch Rock is worth a visit. Just not according to my review.

Yeeeaaah… Unilocal has usually never let me down, but I really wasn’t impressed with this place. I’m a huge foodie and love to try new things. We ordered off the happy hour menu:
Fried calamari: not very flavorful
Spicy tuna sushi: again, quite bland
Truffle tator tots: very greasy and not enough of that great cheese
I don’t think I’ll be coming back here. If you are ever out in the Thousand Oaks area and like these types of restaurants, I would try public school 805. Better food and drink selections

Pros: open seats on a Friday night, reasonable prices, solid quality seafood, easy parking
Cons: weird restaurant layout
So imagine you’re on a road trip with someone and you realize that your plans for dinner just went into the toilet. Now you’re a visitor in a city you haven’t been to in nearly 2 years with no idea how you’re going to pull this off. Your passenger is understandably hungry and needs to go to the bathroom asap.
Well, first off, Unilocal saved my @$$. For the 100^th time. Secondly, Arch Rock came through big time.
The menu is American + solid seafood options. The oysters were fresh and not sandy or overly ocean-​tasting. The cioppino was excellent and incredibly less than $ 20! The salmon dish was huge and also reasonably priced. Cocktails were tasty as well.
the odd thing about this place is the layout. We were seated in this weird empty space on a high table and chairs… It kinda felt we were on the borders of a converted dance floor. But ah well, you can’t complain when you consider how closely I screwed up that night!
So overall, speaking as someone who is NOT from Santa Barbara, this was a solid, reasonably priced option with good food, good atmosphere, and great cocktails. I would recommend it to anyone w/​o hesitation!
PS parking across the street in the garage is easy and awesomely cheap so don’t freak out if there arent any street spots.

I wanted to update my review as I recently visited Arch Rock after a year of avoiding it due to a few really unfortunate meals, and I have to say, there has been a big improvement in overall service and quality of the food.
We came for lunch and were pleasantly surprised by the delicious freshness of the fish/​meat, the excellent compliment of the sides, and the overall value for a great meal. The waiters even found the Women’s World Cup game for us to watch while we ate! I would highly recommend both the cedar-​plank salmon and the New York steak.

Updated 9÷26÷15: now they don’t have chowder and no longer a half seafood Cobb. I’m growing tired of this place and its changes. The cup of chowder and half seafood Cobb was perfect. Leaving…
This place just gets better and better. They still have chowder, you just have to ask. The seafood Cobb is the best salad in Santa Barbara. Packed with seafood and flavor. The service is always super friendly. Well done Bennett. If you haven’t tried Arch Rock lately, go!
Flips flops definitely doable here!

I stopped by Arch Rock one day for a late lunch while driving through Santa Barbara on a cross-​country road trip. The place was practically empty except for a couple and an elderly gentleman. Despite how empty it was, I really dug the ambiance of this place.
I took a table at the bar and ordered a soda and some fish and chips. The meal was excellent, from plating to how it tasted. The manager struck up a conversation with me and continued to chat with me as he was training a new bartender. In the span of a single meal, two or three Irish girls who were in SB for summer classes dropped in to ask for work. The manager and I had an interesting conversation about how exchange students come ever summer looking for work. Also, his favorite liquors.
This is all to say that I the service was excellent and I felt like a regular upon my first time here. I really wish I lived closer to Arch Rock, or that there were places similar to Arch Rock where I live. I enjoyed myself so much I lingered a bit after I was done eating to chat (the manager kept on refilling my soda) and almost decided to stay and wait until Happy Hour started. But alas, the road was calling me and I had to leave.
But I will definitely return when I’m in the area. Highly recommend Arch Rock.

Great food and atmosphere!
Love the grilled chicken and steak.
Will definitely visit again in my next Santa Barbara trip!

Great welcome at the door by a nice young host, bartender was very chill, personable and very attentive — great service for a pre dinner drink! Dinner was fantastic, as was our server Griffin. He was also very attentive, kind and had a smile on the whole night — way to go dude!
The cedar plank salmon was paired perfectly with roasted Brussels sprouts and fingerling potatoes, cod was good although when paired with mashed potatoes the texture was a bit the same — great burger though and we are definitely coming back!

We weren’t that hungry when we arrived in Santa Barbara, so I figured we could have a late dinner at Arch Rock and take advantage of their late happy hour that begins at 9pm.
Walking in, I noticed a chalkboard stating their Monday/​Tuesday special, which was a whole lobster with truffle fries and corn on the cob for 24. We paired that with their Cioppino from the regular menu for 16. And from the happy hour menu, we got the Spicy Tuna and Salmon Sushi Roll for 8. Everything was fantastic, especially for the price. The lobster in particular was cooked perfectly and it was easy to extract all of that tasty meat.
We also ordered a couple of happy hour cocktails. Both my girlfriend’s Moscow Mule and my Hound were delicious. My drink was definitely on the sour side and it made my face scrunch up every time I took a sip, but I found it strangely enjoyable. It was like an alcoholic Sour Warhead.
Late dinner at Arch Rock turned out to be a brilliant idea. Service was solid. Being a late Tuesday night, we were able to find street parking just outside their entrance. It was a nice, low-​key way to end my birth anniversary.

A wonderful evening, full of delectable food, drink, excellent service & might I add great people lead me to the conclusion that I will clearly be back for more.
First Impressions of Arch Rock were that of a clean and crisp environment with a modern flair, this is the place you go when your playing grown up.
My friend and I were greeted by a warm and bubbly hostess who steered us in the direction of our party, which was already in progress in the private dining room specifically for large parties.
Through the doubles doors we went, and there before us Tequila, Tacos, & much, much more!
Our bartender told us about the signature drinks, the Spicy Coyote and the La Paloma which is Cimmaron Blanco Tequila, Squirt, Lime, and a pinch of salt, I opted for what I believed were the lesser of two evils, because I wasn’t sure I would care for the other and because I was a big chicken liver.
They aren’t shy about sharing the Alcohol, score one for Arch Stone, I found the LA Paloma to be smooth and quite refreshing, it would be the perfect cocktail to have after a long hot summer day or a long hard Monday after work. :)
I tried two of the different Tequila’s from George Clooney’s CASAMIGOS line, which were the Casamigos Añejo which is a crisp, smooth tequila with hints of caramel and vanilla. (yea me, those are two of my favorite things!)
The other was Casamigos Reposado which also was an easy drink it also had hints of cocoa and vanilla and has a long finish.
Onto the food…
Carne Asada street size tacos, the meat literally melted in my mouth and the onion and peppers complimented it to a tee.
The Ceviche was served in a bowl, and accompanied by large pita like chips, I instantly tasted the infused peppers and chili, yummy!
The Calamari appetizer was another winner, it was lightly fried and they were bite size, accompanied with a ranch like dipping sauce, the fish was tender and the batter was light and well seasoned.
To wrap up the night they served us one of the best, if not the best Warm Apple Pie that I’ve ever had, accompanied with with vanilla ice cream on the side, the Cinnamon and spices used in the apple mixture were pitch perfect, and the crust reminded me almost of a cobbler, it was just so delicious!
All around great experience, the staff rocked it, friendly and helpful I wouldn’t hesitate to tell people to come here… in fact I walked into work today telling everyone they have to go.

Today, I was lucky enough to try some appetizers: truffle parmesan tater tots, calamari, guacamole, ceviche, and steak tacos. Never had tater tots like these before! I would highly advise staying away from the tots because they are delightful, little, crunchy bits of cheese-​y, truffle-​y goodness! So addicting and tasty! I wish i could take these by the truckload: D
The guacamole and ceviche were excellent too! I feel like you can either go right or wrong with appetizer staples like these… Well Arch Rock, you did good!
Steak tacos were small, street taco style but were a lot juicier, meatier, and were just enough to whet my palate. I’d definitely come back for more. I really like the little citrus, vinegar-​y red onions and paper-​thin cuts of radishes on top. The garnishes complimented the tacos perfectly.
Calamari were also delicious and was very pleased that they were NOT chewy and soaked in oil. TG! The lemon aioli was refreshing and delightfully paired with the well-​seasoned bits of calamari, fried (not spicy) peppers, and green onion. Those fried bits of veggies were a nice addition to the calamari.
Drinks are superb ;) Appreciate the heavy enough pour that doesn’t overwhelm the taste buds. It’s not about getting obliterated but enjoying your drinks here. The bartenders are friendly enough that if you weren’t satisfied, they’d make it up to you… But i highly doubt any drink here could be subpar.
I just learned about the Sunday Funday all-​day happy hour. And guess what?! I’ll be baaack and I’m bringing a crowd too! Thanks Arch Rock. Keep up the great food and drinks.

Definitely a great happy hour place to go to. I am in love their truffle tater tots. The texture was crispy, savory, and the truffle flavor definitely amps up any dish. I also loved how they topped the tater tots with some parmesan cheese. It’s the simple things that make a great appetizer.
My sisters and I enjoyed the Moscow Mules served in their copper mugs. The drinks were definitely on the stronger side. or maybe I am just weak sauce because that was enough to get me buzzed.
I wished we could have sat outside, but they only allow for parties of 2 for outdoor seating. I was thinking couldn’t they have combined the tables? I thought that would have definitely improved my experience at this restaurant.
Overall, service, drinks, and food were pretty much solid. I would definitely come back again for happy hour.

Happy Hour at Arch Rock is the place to be 3−7pm Monday-Friday’s. Super drink and food specials. Hats off to the Manager Andrew and his staff good service, food and a beautiful restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating. Try the «cioppino» seafood soup its so good.

My new favorite place to eat in Santa Barbara!
Located a block away from state street with nearby free 75 minute street parking. We came for lunch & Riley was server. We ordered the sushi roll ($ 12) appetizer to share, I ordered the Fish & Chips ($ 8) from the lunch special menu, and my husband ordered the special of the day Lobster baked mac n cheese ($ 12.95)
Amazing & quality food, five stars all around, we will be back!

For my first review of 2015, I’ll ring in the New Year, with good tidings about Arch Rock Fish!
For those of you who follow my reviews, you know that I once adored this restaurant and it’s delicious food, but, after a multiple horrific experiences and watching Arch Rock decline steadily at the helm of the previous owner and management, I could not bring myself to continue bringing my business here.
I was SO thrilled (and not at all surprised) when I saw the change in ownership signs in the front of Arch Rock’s window in Feb. 2014. I was even more excited when I discovered that the same proprietors who brought Santa Barbara the most beloved and incredible seafood restaurant on the West Coast, Brophy Brothers, were taking over Arch Rock.
Since the new ownership has taken over, I’ve dined at Arch Rock several times and it has never disappointed. The food remains wonderful, if not better than before. More menu items have been added for the none seafood fairing folks (if that tickles your fancy — I like both ;). The apple pie has not changed and continues to be HEAVENLY!!! (Seriously, you gotta try it.) Some of my other favorite dishes are, the Seafood Cobb, Tuna Melt, Cioppino, Mixed Plate, and the Parmesan Truffle Tots. The only dish I felt could use a little improvement is the Calamari. During my most recent visit it was incredibly greasy to the point that we only at half of it and we were starving. I was raised by a southern woman so I can tolerate some grease, but this was excessive and made the breading soggy and mushy, no good. Other than that, I have no culinary complaints.
And a note about the service, it looks like the new owners had to make some tough decisions and hire a lot of new front of the house staff and it seems like they really hit the mark! Everyone from the hostesses to the servers and bussers were friendly, attentive, knowledgeable about the menu and patient. The star of the show for me was, who I am assuming is the manager, ANDREW. Boy is he on it! I noticed him everywhere; at the hostess stand greeting, bussing tables if need be, engaging with costumers and supporting his staff. He appeared to be everything that I would want to hire in a manager if I was running a restaurant. Professional, cordial, humble and respectful.
I have never seen Arch Rock more crowded than I have recently. I hope that is an indicator of what a gem of a place this restaurant is and will remain to be. I’m so thrilled to have one of my favorite eateries back and better than ever. Go check them out!

Grrrr. I was about to update my review to say what a great tuna melt they have at lunch (only here for happy hour and dinner), only to find my review had been filtered.
The horror! The temerity of Unilocal!
So on phone with pre-​Carpal tunnel so won’t expatiate about the virtues of the great Arch Rock.
Miso cod, beer mussels, cedar plank salmon oh my!
It’s a great modern space semi-​recently remodeled and better than ever.
Nothing isn’t great, including the burger.
I love the modern yet warm décor, a cozy industrial chic. I never sit outside in a restaurant that spent money on the interior. I get it in New York because they have sucky weather half the year (not Midwest sucky but not great and the summers in city are worse than the winters).
But in SB, the weather is glorious year-​round, so why sit on a sidewalk inhaling fumes even on a pretty street with Palm trees, when you could be drinking at a cool granite bar with pretty cherry bar stools?
The key lime pie isn’t on the menu but they have a good chocolate cake.
The bartenders have far more personality than your average SB bartender
(notable exceptions include Blue Tavern and Wine Bistro Montecito). My boyfriend, who works in the Balboa Building – the rock star of land use and planning– and I need to start coming more often for happy hour. His parents loved this place when they lived in SB part-​time.
I really love this place.

Decided to make a pit stop here on our way to Solvang. Luckily, we made it just in time for happy hour! (MON-​SAT: 3PM-​7PM and 9PM-​Close; SUN: ALL DAY)
What We Ordered
— Guacamole and Chips $ 5
— Spicy Tuna and Salmon Roll $ 6
— Shucked Oysters $ 1.50 each
— Calamari $ 5
— Parmesan and Truffle Tater Tots $ 4
— Vegetable Fries $ 6
The Guac and Chips was good but had WAY too many onions. The chips were just fried tostadas. and very oily. :(Spicy Tuna and Salmon Roll and calamari were pretty standard. Calamari was crispy and came with a lemon-​ranch dipping sauce. The Parmesan and Truffle Tater Tots and Vegetable Fries were good! Both were nice and crispy. I wished they offered more options for Happy Hour that were not fried though…

One meal with fabulous food, stellar service, and a couple magical Moscow Mules elevated Arch Rock to rock star status. I totally whiffed on making it there for Happy Hour (as planned), but it turns out the Arch Rock bar area is too tiny anyways. A kind host seated me in the dining area and asked what I wanted to drink. I said «Moscow Mule» and he replied, «Good choice.» He was right.
Moscow Mules ($ 10) are one of Arch Rock’s signature cocktails. The tart ‘n tasty thrill ride comes with Beluga Russian Vodka (add a splash of gin if you prefer), fresh Lime, and Goslling’s Ginger Beer served in a classic Copper Mug (when available). I ordered a 2^nd before even finishing the first. Hey, I’m drinkin’ ovah here!
A pair of starters, were both memorable. Arch Rock’s Stilton Blue & Truffle Honey Grilled Cheese ($ 6) is not your mother’s grilled cheese (sorry Mom). Wheat Bread with melted Stilton Blue Cheese, Truffle Oil, and Honey created one fragrant flavor explosion that almost overpowers the senses … in a good way.
If you like meaty chowdah, then get the Arch Rock Clam Chowder ($ 5 cup) loaded with tons (technically, not a ton … just A LOT) of Clam, smoked Bacon, chunky Potatoes, and creamy Cream. It’s even better with the free Sourdough Bread served with Butter in Olive Oil.
As the Moscow Mules messed with my memory, a bowl of Arch Rock’s award-​winning Cioppino ($ 16) with Pasta (recommended by the server) arrived. I asked what award it won and she said «Best Cioppino» at the Santa Barbara Bouillabaisse Festival … which has got to be one of the top bouillabaisse festivals between Goleta and Carpenteria.
The red Italian seafood soup has Shellfish, Fin Fish, Tomatoes, Sopressata, Basil, and extra-​virgin Olive Oil. The addition of thick Spaghetti really made this a fantastic pasta dish more than a fantastic soup. Either way, I recommend it as the Best Cioppino in Santa Barbara (that I’ve had … ya, and the only one).
Since I lucked into street parking about a block away and enjoyed such superb service while fawning over the food and drinks, there weren’t any negatives to my meal. I didn’t expect a 5-​star experience, but for casual and comfortable dining in downtown SB, that’s what Arch Rock was.