Jeannine’s American Bakery Restaurant

Nothing but good things to say about Jeannine’s! Their food is clean, healthy and delicious. My orders have never been wrong and always on time.
But! The best part of Jeannine’s is their staff! Always helping with a smile and they make sure that you have a great experience at Jeannine’s. Lalo, the store manager is amazing… you can tell he loves his job and loves helping the customers. He always greets me with a smile and just lifts my spirits with his positive and engaging reception.

Absolutely love this place! They have the most delicious food and even better desserts to choose from. My favorite sandwich is the chicken pesto on toasted ciabatta bread which comes with a side. I was never really a fan of pesto until I tried this sandwich out one day and now I am hooked! The chicken is so moist and tender and they use the perfect amount of cheese and sauces. Their breakfast is some of the best and if you like eggs benedict, look no further! Their cookies, cakes and caramel bars are hard not to resist. Their strawberry white chocolate cake is one of the best cakes around but it is a little pricey when you order the entire thing for a party. The only thing that I do not like about this place is having to order at the front and then find a place to sit which can be difficult with a group over 4. This is why i usually just call in my orders to go. If you can have someone hold a table for you while you order for them then it is not a problem. You gotta try this place out!

I have lived in Santa Barbara for 5 years. This was the worst brunch experience I have ever had. Their entire system for seating/​ordering is blatantly self-​serving without any regard for their customers’ experience. It is (supposedly) a nice restaurant, but you have to order at a register– which you can not do until a waiter stops by to assign you a table number– then, you have to go through the restaurant on your own trying to find the table to which you were assigned. Everyone in line was confused and frustrated, but the restaurant does not care. Once you get to your seat, you find that the food is pretty average.
Save yourself the trouble, go to State and Fig 20 feet away.

As locals, we have pretty good standards for Santa Barbara brunch, and this place is absolutely terrible. First, the whole setup with ordering at the register, then having the hostess assign you a number to then go find your seat is ridiculous. Not to mention, we were sat at this wobbly table right next to the public sidewalk. Then when we asked to move to an open table just a few feet away, we were told no. Oh, and did I mention that we had to find a chair since our table only had one in the first place? I love brunch, and this experience completely ruined my morning. Advice: go just 20 feet down and stop by State and Fig as an alternative. Or drive to the boathouse. This place, never.

Great coffee. Organic free range eggs! Eggs Benedict is awesome. Customer service is okay… always really busy and good vibe

Great brunch spot, especially if the weather is nice and you can get a spot on the outdoor patio. We were there for a wedding brunch and had most of the patio reserved. They did seem a bit overwhelmed by the size of our group and thus service was a bit slow, but they did their best and I’m sure the service is fine under normal circumstances, so I’m not going to ding them for that.
Because we had a large group I got to see a lot of different things off the menu, and everything looked amazing, in particular the breakfast burrito and french toast. I opted for the vanilla yogurt and granola with fresh fruit, which may not sound like a boring choice, but was delicious and very filling. There is a generous amount of fruit on top of the granola, which tastes homemade as does the yogurt. I thought that $ 10 was a bit much to spend on granola and yogurt, but was actually impressed with it. Everyone seemed to enjoy what they had, so I don’t think that you can go wrong here!

Loved the food. Only gave 4* instead of 5* because it was a bit confusing how things worked. Would definitely come back

Brunch in Santa Barbara with a large open patio! You can ask for outdoor seating preference or the first available
the way it works is you get in line to order and a worker will assign you a table before you get to the register. they’ll bring the food out to you once it’s ready (but yes no waiter service)
—BLOODY MARY: i’m not usually a fan of these but Jeannine’s does an exceptional job
—farmer’s omelet with corn muffin: a light egg white omelet that hit the spot after an indulgent weekend in SB. the corn muffin was meh but i appreciated the bowl of fruit!
self serve water by the coffee bar!
the desserts in the case looked delicious but we didn’t have room for more after our meals!

Decent place for breakfast. Hubby and I were lucky to beat the Saturday brunch rush and get seated right away. We shared the crab Benedict and the Kahlua Bananas french toast. Both were pretty standard fare. The challah bread in the french toast was a little soggy, which tends to happen with soft bread like that, but I think it also needed a few more minutes on the grill. The potatoes served with the benedict could have also used some more time on the grill. Although they were nicely seasoned, they were positively anemic looking. Hubby’s comment upon trying the french toast was «Your bananas foster french toast is better than this.» Awww, thanks honey, but you want the food you go out and pay for to taste better than the stuff you make at home. I can tell this place is a local favorite, but I think I will keep looking for a slightly better breakfast spot.

First time here. Great food. Fresh and not too expensive. Def coming back. Good services too

A dream of a breakfast lunch spot. New view need to know that you go inside to order and they give you a number to place on your table. Outside is relaxing and pretty with flowers. Great cappuccinos and the scones are not to be missed. I loved the weds special scrambled with bacon and melted cheese and a blueberry scone with three more to go.
Gluten free options with quinoa and good eggs Benedict. A must stop in Santa Barbara.

This is a great place to come for brunch. My friends and I parked at a parking garage on State Street which is free for the first 70 mins, and walked over to this cute, little restaurant. Street parking is also available. Order your food at the counter and then seat yourself inside or at their outdoor patio.
Food: The restaurant serves benedicts, french toasts, oats grains and cereals, breakfast burritos/​sandwich/​quesadilla/​plates, omelets, salads and club/​turkey berry/​chicken pesto sandwiches. Since the dishes were a bit pricey and we wanted to leave our stomach for other restaurants, my friends and I shared a Norwegian Benedict ($ 16) and the Banana Kahlua French Toast ($ 13.50). The Norwegian Benedict had smoked salmon, two poached eggs, cucumbers\, tomato, onions, capers, cream cheese, dill and home-​made hollandaise a side of fruits. The Banana Kahlua French Toast had Challah bread, dipped in spiced egg mix, kahlua-​glazed bananas and powered sugar. Both of the dishes were amazing! Everything tasted so good and fresh.
The staff was very friendly and I love the setup and décor of the place. However, they had TVs on the wall which kind of threw me off since I wasn’t expecting TVs at a place like this. I can definitely see how this place can get pretty packed so come early if you don’t want to wait!

Awesome place to have breakfast ! The space is rather large so you can eat indoors or outdoors if you like ! They have a great menu of choices for breakfast, ham burgers, salads, sandwiches. Its not too horribly priced either. The staff are friendly and helpful. Its just an overall great spot ! I recommend the pancakes with a strawberry banana smoothie !!!

Jeannine’s is an order-​at-​the-​counter restaurant, which indicates that you probably will not get any service. The machine does ask for a tip at the counter if you use a card, but since I did not expect service I had no problem not tipping them. I know that several Unilocal reviewers complained about the lack of service after tipping them at the counter, but honestly, you can always put tip in the tip jar or leave tip at your table after you eat.
Jeannine’s is a cute shop in the La Arcada plaza. It is small, but there are seatings inside and outside. After you order, you get a number and sit wherever you please. The server will bring the food to your table. I got the chicken pesto sandwich with a strawberry smoothie with apple juice and J got the Eggs Norwegian with a fruit salad. Everything was relatively fresh with the exception of some of the fruits in the fruit salad. My sourdough bread with crunchy and they were not skimping with the chicken. The portion was large and I was able to share some with J. The strawberry smoothie with apple juice literally tasted like what it is suppose to be. I saw the guy use a Martinelli’s bottle of apple juice in my smoothie, which makes me feel all fancy (just kidding).
Like I expected, they did not provide any service other than delivering your food to the table. However, sometimes I enjoy just eating with my companion and not having a server frequently come over the table to interrupt our conversations to ask us how we are doing. Overall, a pleasant eating and dining experience. Unfortunately, I do not know if I will be back/​visiting often since there are just so many restaurants on State Street that I have yet to try that serve the same kind of food with the same ambiance like Jeannine’s.

Took a day trip to visit Santa Barbara, and a friend suggested this place. It definitely did not disappoint!!!
My Eggs Norwegian was PERFECTION! English muffin, topped with poached eggs, tomatoes, cucumbers, smoked salmon, DELICIOUS hollandaise sauce, and capers galore. I opted to switch out my side of fruit with a side salad. It was a standard salad dressed with balsamic vinaigrette. My husband ordered the pancake breakfast, which tasted like pancake. His order came with a side of potatoes, and they were SALTY AND BUTTERY GOODNESS. I couldn’t stop picking at them.
My friend ordered the banana french toast covered in a caramel sauce. Very sweet, but I would order this again.
The breakfast burrito (not pictured) was not as good, and it tasted a little too healthy (if you know what I mean).
This place is really popular, so it got pretty busy. Get here early, and expect to wait a while for your food to come out.

probably one of the better meals from my Santa Barbara trip. Place is popular and opens early.
Portions are large and you will be full.
Outdoor and indoor seating, but you don’t get a choice. Servers give you a number and put it on a table for you.

One of the better meals I had during my trip.
Everything was simple yet flavorful and served in a timely manner. My French toast plate that came w/​ham (not overly salty) and eggs (perfectly runny) was cheaper and more filling than what I had at The Shop Café the day before.
You have your choice of either indoor or outdoor seating.
They also sell baked goods.

I chose Jeannine’s because it had a good crowd and, from the outside, its atmosphere was fun. Viewing the menu beforehand, I also saw several healthful vegetarian options — always a plus for me.
It’s not nearly as enticing once you get through the door. The décor is awfully outdated, the tables wobble, and the furniture is not-​so-​tastefully mismatched.
We spent 5 minutes in line before deciding that for-​here patrons were supposed to find a seat before ordering. We spent another 2 minutes at the table before realizing we were wrong and got back into line — at the end. The cashier/​register asked me to tip before ordering, which was smart because I forked over a lot more than I would have otherwise.
My Huevos Rancheros ($ 13?) were poorly prepared, with gritty beans, overdone eggs, and rough tortillas. My wife’s biscuit was dry and her request for no tomatoes on her scramble was ignored ($ 11?). After picking at our food for 20 minutes, we walked to a café next door to fill up on pastries.
The staff was pleasant enough and the service was quick (once we figured out the flow), otherwise Jeannine’s would get 1 star.

Love everything. But wasn’t a fan of being bunched in a corner. I also didn’t enjoy paying first, tipping before I see the service is ridiculous.
I hate how they rush. I’ve never been and the lady at the front expected me to know what they had.
The service was bland.

We came here as a party of three. The ordering/​seating is very efficient and I was surprised how fast we were seating with food ordered.
The omelet was ok but the toast was dry and came without butter or jam. Asking for jam was no problem and I got what tasted like homemade strawberry jam.
The egg benedicts were very good I heard, unfortunately I didn’t order them but they looked very good.