The Palace Grill

Service was mostly good until we saw her leave with her family out the front window. Strange, she never said goodbye. Popcorn craw fish was ok, hope I like the batter. The Cajun pasta was tasty but sauce was very thin and pasta ratio was off. The crab and asparagus salad was lacking. The dressing was more honey than mustard and the green were bitter and had to pick a few old pieces out.
On the other hand, the crab itself was sweet and delicious.
All and all a Bummer.
Update,
I wasn’t confused. We were told the shared table practice, but as once a sever myself it’s always good to say goodbye to your patrons.

Honestly, this place is over hyped and mediocre. Also, VERY OVER PRICED. The muffins were hard and cold. The fried crawfish mushy, the gumbo was good and the crab cake okay.
The sweet potatoes pie was good. But not great. Nothing here was great.

The food is so good and special! love the muffin, and it is may be too sweat. But tastes good!

I have been to The Palace Grill twice now and the food is always exceptional.
Tonight I had the cajun crawfish popcorn shrimp appetizer which tasted amazing. It was crunchy and well spiced. It comes with a creamy sherry wine sauce that I really enjoyed. I don’t usually like sauces, but this one added to the flavor of the crawfish. For dinner, I had the Crawfish ÉTOUFFÉE. This portion was huge and could have easily feed two people. It was well seasoned and cooked. The crawfish was soft and just melted in my mouth. The rice on the bottom was full of onions and peppers increasing that cajun feel and flavor. We finished off the meal with the chocolate soufflé. You have to give the waiter 30 mins notice if you are ordering this dessert because it takes time to cook. It was a warm gooey cake baked in a ramekin that they opened and poured a chocolate bourbon cream sauce inside and finished off the plate with the words palace written in chocolate. This dessert tasted like heaven. It was warm and gooey and the sauce was not overly flavored that it distracted from the taste of the cake. I would highly recommend this restaurant if your ever in Santa Barbara.

Omg this place is superb!
Amazingly awesome staff, great atmosphere, and the food is simply delicious… fried artichokes, popcorn crawfish, gumbo, salad and the mini muffin assortment was so yummy… we’re in town from LA and we’re bookmarking this spot for the next time we’re in santa barbara… definitely a must try…

Solid 4 star establishment. Great bread before the meal made up of various flavor of mini muffins that are delicious and will have you coming back to this restaurant over and over again.
The spicy martinis are perfect for a date or really any other occasion.

Excellent service from start to finish. I didn’t really know too much about the place before I walked in, but boy, was I pleasantly surprised. The servers are incredibly friendly, the food, just as good. The place felt like home from the moment I walked in because of how comfortable I was made to feel.

This restaurant is a well oiled machine with a relaxed atmosphere that belies its exacting attention to Cajun cooking at its finest. The singing waiters, the generous portions, and the attentive service all comes together in harmony. I had the stuffed soft shell crab, stuffed with — wait for it – more crab!!! Yummy! The highlight was the bread pudding soufflé that was beyond description. If I had to be critical of one thing it would have been that the breaded crawfish was a little doughy and not that flavorful. However the oysters Rockefeller with Béarnaise sauce was outstanding. The scallops were done to perfection and… Did I mention the desert? Orgasmic! If you are looking for something different this is the place.

I’ve been to the Palace Grill a few times before. I’m a big fan of creole food. They start you off with assorted muffins. I’ve had their pastas, fried crawfish, soft shell crab and jambalaya. My favorite is the soft shell crab. The jambalaya was too salty for me. Fried crawfish was a bit underwhelming. As for desserts I’ve had their bread pudding and chocolate soufflé. I would recommend the bread pudding over the chocolate soufflé. They’re very heavy so save room !
There are nearby lots for parking btw !

The Palace is easily one of the best restaurants in SB. I love the little rolls they bring out, the service is exceptional, and the food is always good. The oyster dishes are delicious and I love the Pasta Lafite. The atmosphere is upbeat and fun, though I could do without the group song. The servers are professional, friendly, and polished. The drinks are big and strong, though the beer selection could use expanding. There really isn’t anything to dislike about the Palace at all. I recommend this place to everyone.

I did come back for the blackened catfish. How well it was cooked depended on how thick the fillet was in that part of it. The thick part just a tad underdone, the thin part a bit overcooked. How you avoid that, I don’t know, but really good places do.
Also it was only one, not very large, fillet for a rather high price.
Comes with potato, but I got rice on request. They gave me what they said was dirty rice. As with their jambalaya, it was not like anything I’d seen called dirty rice before. If there were any bits of meat in it, I couldn’t find them. Instead, it was heavily and strongly seasoned. It tasted OK when fresh, but I took home part and zapped it the next day, and that did not work at all.
But the vegetable that also came with (assorted sliced squash that day) was excellently sauteed.
During dinner they played a recording of Louis Armstrong, I think, singing a song, and while this was going on all the waitstaff and front desk staff walked around clinking glasses with all the patrons in the restaurant. What the heck was that all about?

I was disappointed after having lunch at this place. Lots of good Unilocal reviews, unfortunately I was NOT a fan of the portions or the prices. The service was great and the food came out quick. I just thought everything was dry. The muffins were slightly burnt, the rice portion was absurd for the jambalaya and the chicken sandwich was so basic! The ambiance here is nice, but the food portions would make me rethink of coming here. The key lime pie was amazing! I would probably just come for the drinks and dessert. When we asked our waitress where the rice was for the jambalaya, she just pointed to the microscopic pieces of rice and said, «well that’s what you ordered, there is rice.» Come here is you are not too hungry.

Many moons ago, I would come to The Palace for special occasions as a student at ucsb. Celebrating finishing midterms, finals, bdays, etc. The food and service has always been top notch. The atmosphere is casual but vibrant. The staff is really sensational. I finally returned after many years and it was the same as I remembered. The food and service has not changed a bit. Must orders are the popcorn crawfish, a pasta of your choosing, and the bread pudding soufflé. The staff is known for their team service concept. They will invite you to sing along to ‘it’s a wonderful world’ and clink glasses with every table. Absolutely splendid! If you are in sb, you need to come try this sb institution!

You couldn’t keep me away!
I’ve been here before and regret I did not write a review… I’m stepping my Unilocal game up so that will not happen again!
We were on a girls trip to celebrate my birthday (3÷13÷16) and Santa Barbara was one of our overnight stops so of course I talked this place up and convinced the other three (3) ladies that this would be a nice lunch stop from our shopping… and it was! Not only did they meet the expectation I had previously set but they surpassed it!
What we had and why it was good…
Crawfish Étouffée –as good as I remembered, it wasn’t over powered by the rice like at other establishments where your rice to crawfish ratio is just not right! The crawfish was juicy, succulent and flavorful… if you’re familiar with crawfish you know how easy for the flavor to be found lacking but not here and not in this dish and the spiceyness was just right!
Crawfish Pasta Lafitte –my sisters dish which I just had to taste, I couldn’t help it, it literally called to me and I will be having my own on our next visit which I’ve already decided will be happening very, soon. :) Back to this delicious dish… pasta was al dente which is important to me: I don’t like mushy pasta. There was an abundance of crawfish in a creamy, can’t have enough of sauce (see photo for visual).
Po’boys…My daughter and my friend each had one; crawfish for my friend, shrimp for my daughter. Neither of them could finish it and both had the other half for later which I was kind of jealous of because I ate all of my dish!
Chicory Coffee. I love Chicory anyway, I mean… you get a strong bold flavor without bitterness so how could you not. They serve the coffee with steamed milk on the side so you can make it your way.
Overall…
In case you didn’t get the hint… I am a total fan of this place and not only because of the fantastic food but their staff is pretty fantastic too and not only because I left my Coach shopping bag with three new purses inside which they held and kept safe until I came back but because I have been to New Orleans and can compare the authenticity of the dishes and I’ve had fresh crawfish and tore the head off and sucked it and have that as a point of reference too so it’s not my lack of Cajun/​Creole food experience writing this review.
Bottom line… it’s just great food, plain and simple with a group of quality, honest people providing you with their service. I’m more than good with that!

Hallelujah! So so good this is good full of flavor. The spices & food compliment each other well. Came in right @ 1130am & for lunch. First ppl.
The service is impeccable perfect & welcoming :)
Ordered: flash fried artichoke for appetizer paired with a dipping sauce.
Gumbo ya ya, is a must! Must. The appetizer entrée gumbo ya ya is perfect or super filling but is a good amount for someone not to be overly stuff. I ordered it with sausage. Man, I’m thinking about it as I write this review.
Chicken fach. (Long name) Also, paired with a creamy sauce & side of sautéd veggies w/​gumbo rice. Full portions, not overly big. Just right size.
Bayou house salad, was my main dish. Perfectly with tasty dressing.
Dessert, Benett’es. Yes, powered sugar heaven everywhere! Puff amazing little donuts served 3.
I’ll will recommend this place to anyone. Groups, dates. Causa dress/​fancy dress. Welcome everyone.
Also we sat above a big light fish hanging from the ceiling.
Mouth watering… Want mas mas !

For my mom’s birthday, I decided to drive the family up to Santa Barbara for the day and have lunch here. The restaurant is off the main street (State St) and can be easily missed if you’re not specifically looking for it. There are parking garages next block over and they’re free for the first 90 mins.
We got here on the tail end of the lunch service however our server was prompt to give us waters as soon as we sat down. We ordered crawfish étouffée, crab cakes, jambalaya pasta. Everything was yummy! Portions for lunch was really good and decent prices as well. Étouffée wasn’t heavy and had a nice kick. Crab cakes were really flavorful, jambalaya pasta was delicious — my dad really liked it!
I would love to go back here and try their other dishes and especially their desserts. We decided to skip that one out because we have other places to check out. All in all, the experience was good! :)

This was the first place I ate at when I moved to Santa Barbara for college about 7 years ago.(time flies!!). Such a great find, thanks to Unilocal and a few locals.
First, the atmosphere is amazing. It’s casual and fun. There is lively music and a magician going around inside doing some magic tricks for customers. There were beads and masquerade masks on the walls. Really awesome setting.
Second, the food was delicious. Every table gets a basket of cornbread that were different flavors with different dipping sauces. The cornbread comes out hot and fresh. I think my favorite was the jalapeño cornbread. I forget the exact entrees we ordered but I remember they were all flavorful with the perfect amount of Cajun seasonings and perfectly made. A lot of Cajun places skimp on the seafood, such as crawfish, but not here! Every time I ate here, the food was awesome.
Lastly, the service was great. The servers were super nice and also knowledgable. Very impressive.
I can’t wait to come back when I visit SB again!

I visited Santa Barbara for the first time this past weekend and was recommended to try out The Palace Grill. I’m so glad I listened to this suggestion!
My boyfriend and I ordered the Cajun Crawfish Popcorn, Jambalaya Pasta, & Crawfish Crab Cakes. Everything was fantastic and every bite was full of flavor. The Crawfish Popcorn is a great appetizer to share and comes with a yummy dipping sauce. The Jambalaya Pasta had lots of seafood and a nice spicy kick. And the Crawfish Crab Cakes were my absolute favorite. You can really taste the flavors of the crawfish & crab, and the steamed veggies that came with it really balanced out the dish.
If you’re ever in the Santa Barbara and craving some New Orleans like food, this is your place to go! The staff is really friendly and the décor inside the restaurant is really festive and fun to look at. I will definitely be visiting this place again in the future!

This place was so disappointing. My husband and i really wanted to love it but it just missed the mark!
I was so excited about the basket of various biscuits and when we got it they were super dry and a little hard. Not fresh at all and maybe over cooked.
We got the soft shell crab and the inside of it tasted like mush rather than flaky chunky pieces of crab.
My husband got the martini in the mason jar and it was massive! The blackened fish was really moist and tasty. Service was good overall but the food was just not impressive.

Visited this place for dinner and was not disappointed with the food. Great service by the staff their attention to detail was good. I wanted to try crawfish but didn’t want to waste by ordering a full dish. The bearer was good she quickly realized my plight and offered to talk to the chef to do an ½ order. I was pleased by their flexibility and ordered ½ order of crawfish and as main dish I ordered lamb chops. The lamb chops came with mashed potatoes, veggies, and mushroom in a sauce. The sauce was awesome. I had the chops medium done and it was perfect. For both orders combined i paid $ 50 which was on the high side. However, for the location, food, and service this place is worth it. The crawfish was tender and fresh. I was glad to try it for first time and will tell you the meat was a mix between shrimp and lobster.
Will visit this place again for dinner.