Olio E Limone Ristorante

The kind of Italian restaurant you dream about. Everything delicious, great staff, delightful atmosphere. Pricey but worth it for a splurge.

Really, some of the best, if not, the best food I have eaten while visiting Santa Barbara!
Husband had the lamp cops — delicious! I had the fettuccine and asked them to add some sausage to it, which the did. It was the best Italian food I have ever eaten.
We had the chocolate bread pudding, it was very good too.
Service was attentive. Discovered a new wine!
If only that front door could be moved — too much bright sunlight shining right on us every time someone came in the restaurant.
All in all, a wonderful dining experience!

My wife and I and two guests ate dinner here yesterday. I had the veal scalopini, and my wife had the short ribs. Service was stellar. Food was prepared and presented well. We had absolutely no complaints about the food.
The restaurant is sparsely, but tastefully decorated. White linen table cloths, and proper table settings. The wait staff are very well trained. Great for an anniversary dinner or other special occasion.
I wanted to be annoyed at the young lady who greeted us when we entered the restaurant. She informed us that she could accommodate my party, but that we only had about an hour and 10 minutes, so we would not have time for more than a one course experience. But we were the ones that showed up at the beginning of the dinner hour with no reservations. She could have easily told us that there were no available tables. We had one course, and were never rushed or made to feel that there was a time issue.
All in all, this was a very pleasant experience. We will be back.

After driving nearly 2 hours from LA, this restaurant would not honor our reservation because we were 15 minutes late. (We tried calling to let them know we’d be a little late, but could never get passed the recorded messages) Instead of being honest and telling us they went ahead and cancelled the reservation, they pretended I never had one. Open Table notified me they reported us as a «no show.» I’ve heard such great things about this place, but I’ll never experience it. Amazingly rude.

The food is REALLY good. I thought hey it’s Italian, I’ve had Italian a million times. This Italian is pretty much as good as it gets. Squid ink pasta, fresh local fish, and burrata apps with some Santa Barbara wine… perfect dinner right there.

INCREDIBLE! Waiters are incredibly accommodating. The pasta special was to die for, and they made a special for my husband after the regular special had run out. He ordered short ribs, but they made him a mozzerella and proscuitto wrapped veal chop to replace – I don’t know how anything is better than that. Excellent Italian wine list and fantastic desserts.

My boyfriend and I came for Valentine’s Day last year and the meal and service were incredible! We dined again last night and had another great experience. The fixed menu was just as good if not better than last year! Definitely will be back again for next vday!

Great food. Great service (except they had trouble keeping water glasses filled). Great atmosphere. The only drawback was the cramped dining room. We felt like we were sharing a table with those around us.
The night we visited (a Friday) they had a fixed price menu (actually two — a 2 course and a 3 course). My wife ordered the 3 course with a Hamachi appetizer, the striped bass and pear tart. We shared the Hamachi and pear tart, and both were very good. Her striped bass and my duck ravioli were almost perfect.
A little on the pricey side, but not without reason. Overall our meal was a great experience.

We got Squid ink rosette for dinner and it was amazing
–1 star because it is very expensive other than that everything is great regarding food, service and atmosphere

The duck ravioli with porcini mushroom sauce was heaven! Not heavy at all. The sauce was Amazing! This place was recommended to me by some locals and it was definitely my favorite place I ate while visiting Santa Barbara! Great service too!

Great 5-​star restaurants combine aesthetic physical site, food quality and price-​to-​quality (P/​Q).
First! Quality of the food is fine to special.
This restaurant could be 4-​stars, but for the P/​Q of the entrée and especially the wines is not modern.
Last the wine list has to be changed, prices lowered. the multiple markup is too high. Wine here is the profit center. Diversify the suppliers to get the quality up. Lower the price!

On Tuesday, 12/​22, we had a terrible experience at this restaurant. It was packed inside.
There were at least 15 people with reservations standing on the street waiting .
We had reservations for 7 PM, Arrived early and waited 30 minutes without anyone taking our name. The restaurant was full the service was very slow at the tables we could see standing outside on the sidewalk
There were no managers available, the waiters were over whelmed.
We left!

Delicious upscale Italian fare in a small bustling atmosphere. 3.5 (due to service issues)
Food: 4.5, Service: 5 for the busboy but 1.5 for our MIA waiter, Atmosphere: 5
Cost to worth it rating: 3 ($ 15 salad, $ 25 ravioli)
Return worthiness: yes
Eve award: best unique meat ravioli
Highlights
— Duck ravioli: heavenly interior with the shredded duck and velvety creamy mushroom sauce. 5 stars,
— Tricolore salad: fresh ingredients in the endive, radicchio, arugula plus asparagus and topped with their lovely olive oil. 4 stars
— Atmosphere: loved the energy of the small dining room and groups of people enjoying themselves.
— Busboy: he was all over the place killing it (unlike our waiter). So appreciated him being on top of it and responsible for so many tables. He even ran to get us recommendations and bring us wine since we flagged him down after being unsuccessful with our waiter 45 after having an empty cocktail glass.
Midlights:
— Manager: saw him running around frantically but couldn’t get a hold of him all of our extended dinner to let him know about our experience
— Pesto pasta: was fine but not as stellar as the other food items. 3.5 stars.
— Panna cotta: texture of the custard was spot on but I didn’t care for the balsamic all over it. 2.75 stars
Lowlights:
— Waiter: Seemed fine enough to start providing menu guidance when I requested it but only saw him upon ordering and asking if we wanted dessert. Didn’t come back ever to ask if we needed anything – which we did at several points – or how things were. I’ve never had that happen in all of my dining experiences – casual to fine dining. Shocking at this caliber of a restaurant. The most disappointing part of our evening since the place and food were wonderful.
— Timing: food took almost an hour to get out to us. I also ordered a cocktail that took at least 10 minutes for someone to tell me they were out of the key ingredient so couldn’t make it.
Even with the abysmal waiter service, I enjoyed our dinner so much and would return – which says a lot.

While in town for business training, a few colleagues and I stopped in for a quiet dinner here. It was very slow the night we visited, so we got to sit back and relax a little. I drank the Thyme for Lemonade cocktail (divine!). Two of us shared the pear, baby green, walnut salad to begin. It was very tasty, but a little on the small side. There were not many choices for vegans, but I did find an angel hair with fresh tomato, garlic and basil that was delicious. It was on the pricey side for a business travel meal. But I would go back. It just wouldn’t be the top of my list.

My dad and I lucked out and called on a Friday night around 5 and they had a cancellation and were able to seat us at 7. It was completely packed. You need a reservation. It’s busy for a reason. The service was exceptional and our waitress Danielle was smart and attentive and charming and we loved her. The food is outstanding and well worth the price. The olives they bring you. OMG. The crudo bar next door was completely packed and has no standing room but again, the drinks and service warrant the crowd.
I had the spinach tortellini. I devoured it. And the pear tart. I practically licked the plates clean.

Olio E Limone is easily one of the more artful fine dining experiences in Santa Barbara. The quail is beautifully presented on a bed of seasonal vegetables, the duck ravioli is decadent without being overwhelming, and the panna cotta is so delicate you might not want to eat it (but you will, and you’ll love every second of it). The food is delicious and refined in the way you would expect from a white-​linen-​tablecloth establishment. That said, the ambiance is a little stiff. Servers try very hard to execute on the white glove experience Olio aspires to deliver, resulting in a somewhat stilted dining flow. The food and ambiance aren’t quite elevated enough for all the pomp and circumstance, but the overall results are elegant, romantic, and classy.

Still fantastic! Small details prevent me giving this tried and true ristorante 5 stars. We arrived at a peak time and the kitchen was slammed. Our server was great! She guided us through our wine choices and made a great recommendation.
A quick note on service which is one of the most important parts of a great experience. Our server was wonderful. We did however feel that the front house manager was almost non-​existent. Not a big problem but, important as a sign of a well managed restaurant. It would be helpful to also have one more staff member at peak hours.
The food:
Burrata salad was very good. Not sure this burrata is house made, which would’ve been a plus.
Not being terribly hungry we went straight to the main. Wife had he lamb which was well cooked BUT Luke warm. Had to send back.
I had the pasta sampler which quite frankly was fantastic. Problem: it was luke warm and served in a flat plate. Pasta is so much better served in a bowl so that it stays piping hot. The dessert was the same issue. Great banana bread/​chocolate pudding. Great flavor, Luke warm.
All in all a great restaurant that needs a little more managerial skill both in the kitchen and the front.
A solid 4…

Alll the dishes we ordered were excellent! We were celebrating our friends anniversary and there were six of us, we felt like we were the loudest table in this cozy restaurant.
This is a great restaurant for a more intimate dining experience. Definately will return with a quieter group.

This a quiet dim lit romantic restaurant. Do not go in loud and rowdy as we did, or the whole restaurant will stare at you.
Food is really good, it was nothing super special. It’s a solid Italian restaurant and next to state street where you can go bar hopping after

I had the roasted quails and enjoyed them very much. The presentation of my plate was lovely with the two little birds seated side by side, stuffed with sausage and on a bed of polenta beside some ratatouille. It was the cutest dish and a delight to eat.
The appetizers and drinks were pretty good. I really recommend the quail.