The Good Lion

This is my favorite bar in SB by a mile.
I planned a friend’s hen party this past weekend and on Saturday we took a mixology course with the guys at the Good Lion. It was everything I hoped it would be and more!
We made three cocktails and started off with a delicious house punch. The set up was stylish and compared to the other mixology classes in town, this was an unbeatable deal. (and that’s without considering that the alcohol, knowhow and atmosphere were all of a much higher quality than we would have found elsewhere!)
Both Robb and Jonathan were highly knowledgeable about each drink and had useful tips and tricks for everything from making the perfect «cordial» to the history of the various spirits. They gave us printed menus so that each of the girls could take home the recipes and take notes. The guys were super helpful, patient and approachable throughout the course and everyone in the party had a great time and said they felt like they learned a lot of useful information for their next cocktail party.
I would highly recommend asking about a special class if you’re planning a party any time soon and want to do something interesting and different.
And if you don’t feel like making your own cocktail, there’s no better place to go to have one crafted for you.

Delicious cocktails, cool vibes. My girlfriend and I are from the bay and realized we needed to check this place out while in SB. We had Matt for our bartender, he was awesome. He recommended a berry cocktail which was delicious. He made our drinks with care and it was mesmerizing to watch him dress the glass. I would recommend the Berry Blast and the Eastside if ur unsure of what to order. We will be recommending this place!

Rob Tran. If you’re looking to not only enjoy but educate yourself on what a remarkable cocktail is and should taste like, this is your man. Every drink is unique and delicious; this guy won’t disappoint.

Excellent place to get a nicely crafted drink away from the noise and crowds. Nice ambiance and well staffed.

This place is the epitome of craft cocktails! We had the pleasure of having Rob bartend for us. He was friendly and knowledgable. Alcohol is small batch and drinks are made with care. Check it out as it a place you don’t want to miss!

The best place I’ve ever been for a cocktail! The bartender Taylor was very nice, knowledgeable and gave me the best recommendation for a drink! I had a ken-​tiki and Rosemary Clooney. The ken-​tiki was by far my favorite drink! I’m sad I won’t be back to Santa Barbara soon and I will be waiting a while before I come back but anyone in Santa Barbara should try this place! It is a great experience!

If you like cocktails, you will like this place. It’s the perfect spot for a before or after dinner drink, and I recommend it to anyone headed to Santa Barbara.
These cocktails are art. Tasty and creative combinations of flavors that are pretty strong, too! Sit at the bar and get a little show as you watch the awesome bartenders craft your drinks. In particular, the bramble (or something, I think that was in the name) was soooooo good.
Service is so great and the people working there really have you rooting for them. Apparently they have extensive training with a big exam so that anyone passionate, even with little experience, can work here and do a great job. They’re opening a «tiki bar» closer to the beach, which I will have to try when I get back to Santa Barbara! Can’t wait!

Robbie T holding it down! Hands down best cocktail recommendations, takes time to discover your taste and deliver accurately. Will definitely be returning!

The Good Lion has the best drinks in town. I am a big fan of the Rosemary Clooney. The bartenders are on point with drinks, fun, professional and easy on the eyes. Especially Matt! McDreamy, for sure.

I had a lot of fun here with my wife. The bartenders here were very friendly and professional and they served up some excellent drinks. The menu has a ton of creative selections to choose from and you can feel confident that the bartender can cook something up on the fly if you’re feeling funky that day or looking for something else. The location is perfect, plenty of people watching if you get an outdoor or window seat.

10 th time i have been here.
Never off the mark.
True mixologists.
Great drinks, minimal wait.
Mix of old-​timey /​modern.
A must experience bar in SB
Do not miss!

The Good Lion is a gem downtown that reminds me of the Imperial Lounge in Goleta. Try the Green Beast. The combo of absinthe, cucumber, and lime is the best ever. Their house cocktails are always interesting to try. Honestly, this place gets a little too crowded on weekends, but I really enjoy the variety of drink concoctions and I have yet to try a drink I did not enjoy. The strength and quality of the drinks make the prices fair. Great place to bring friends from out of town to get a taste of hipster culture in Santa Barbara.

Love this cocktail bar! The bartenders are not only super friendly but extremely knowledgeable and meticulous with their drink making. We could ask them any question about any liquor or drink on the menu and get a very detailed (and interesting) response. I felt like I could sit there for hours and learn a lot! Needless to say, the drink menu is very extensive and most drinks quite elaborate. The only problem with such elaborate cocktails is that they take a lot of time to make — not a problem when we showed up in the middle of the afternoon — but I can see this becoming an issue later in the evening. As for the drinks themselves — they are very impressive — both in presentation and taste.

This is a nice place.
They have a good wine list. It is clean and crowded. We stopped in on a Santa Barbara Pub Crawl and in this case — only got a bottle of wine. But the service was great. I am a wine geek and like my wine poured by the waiter and this guy did a great job.
We did not have any food — but we’ll be back next time for lunch.
The place was hopping. I guess some were there because of a big show at the theatre next door. But anyway, it was good.
After the wine we moved our way down State Street to the next stop…

This bar is my nightmare. Over crowded, full of tourists. 1. Tries way too hard to be a «hipster scene.» People were in fedoras and sweat pants. I’m confused? 2. Out of pimms by 10pm? WTF 3. Young, loud, blacked out patrons.
One star for a good Moscow mule.

Walked in to meet friends, ordered a Rye Old Fashioned and a few minutes later was sipping on a solid cocktail.
Not too expensive, well made and the guy behind the bar was not oozing pretentious fluff. All in all, a great lead into seeing Blazing Saddles at the Granada.

Everything about this place looked super promising but it just didn’t come together quite well enough.
Could tell from the second that I walked in that something was a little odd but couldn’t quite put my finger on it. The décor was nice, staff was well-​dressed and friendly, and it looked like your typical hipster cocktail spot (usually a pretty good sign).
Let’s dig deeper:
The layout of the place was kind of strange, the lighting was odd, and the music didn’t really fit the mood. The place seemed to be going for a cozy, intimate vibe but bright lights didn’t really help anything.
Drinks were fine, not great, and things got weird when one of the bartenders started fussing at the others. We made it one and done and retreated back to our hotel room.

Alright, so up and down experience.
We so wanted this place to shine it just fell abit short. Me and my wife love sitting at the bar watching the tenders do their thing.
Service could of been better with things being forgotten and our food never really coming in time for us to finish our stay there. We’re kinda light weights and only ever really plan on having two drinks each.
Drinks well and truly made up for the kinda sloppy service. Perfectly presented in great glassware and even better garnishes. The comped off in house «fireball» shots were appreciated and for the fact I hate cinnamon I actually kinda digged the bite.
We’ll give you another whirl sometime soon.
P.s My wife really digged the cluttered shelf with the suitcases. Great looking bar.

First off, I’d like to give a shoutout to this amazing bartender by the name of Jonathan who was so kind enough to help me with my picky needs :(. I personally couldn’t handle the first drink he made me, but he, without hesitation, proceeded to make me another one at no cost! I loved the melon drink that was in the weekly specials, not too strong and you could get both the taste of sweet and sour. All drinks are ~$ 10.
With that being said, most of the drinks my friend and I tried at this place can be defined with a couple words: hits you hard, but undoubtedly good. The complimentary punch, too, was strong but something in it just made us wanting more.
Each week, the bartenders at this bar creates a list of weekly specials which I find really unique. Along with that, they have a very extensive list at the back of the weekly specials menu which has the rest of the drinks they have to offer. And even if you don’t like any of those, they can personalize a drink specially made for you! Just tell them what kind of flavors you like and what alcohol you prefer and I’m confident they’ll make you a drink you’ll love :)
My coworker and I came pretty late, but we loved having Jonathan as our bartender! He was super friendly and, when it gets to about 15 minutes before closing, they play these AWESOME throwback songs that you’d want to karaōke to.
It’s a small bar, so I wouldn’t come with that many people, but definitely a neat spot to check out. Interior is really interesting and there’s some intimate and outdoor seating places you can hang out at as well.

I have to admit, I was sad to see the Marquee go when it sold. I loved their craft Manhattans and the staff were fantastic. Feeling a bit partial to my old stomping grounds, I was a little leery that a predecessor would change the classy, yet comfortable, NY, cocktail lounge vibe of the bar into something loud, boring or generic.
Thankfully, with the Good Lion, I had nothing to worry about! Owners, Brandon and Misty, kept all the elements that made the Marquee special — great craft cocktails, elegant bar, tasteful décor — and enhanced it with their own signature touch!
The cocktail menu at the Good Lion has grown tremendously over the past year. The front of the menu still features 6 — 8 house cocktails, but the back of the menu now boasts over 80 drinks categorized by style and flavor. It reminds me on an extensive wine list with the focus being spirits rather than wine. It’s unlike any SB bar menu I’ve seen.
I recommend the Peach Julep if you’re looking for something strong and subtly sweet.
I also love the complimentary spiked punch. Although it can be hit or miss as to when they offer it and if you’ve come to love it, it’s a bit of a let down when they don’t serve it; especially on a busy evening when it can take a while to get your drink because of the precious attention that goes into every hand-​crafted, artisan cocktail.
You can still order food from Sama Sama next door and it seems the process has been streamlined a bit since ownership has changed hands, making it more efficient to get some grub to absorb that alcohol.
This spot is perfect for casual drinks with friends, a romantic date, a night with the boys (when you want to keep it classy) or large private parties.
If you love a drink that is more nuanced than a simple rum and coke or gin and tonic, I highly recommend Good Lion.