Zaytoon

This place is gorgeous, with amazing staff, great atmosphere, and delicious food. I’m in love

Ive been wanting to come here for the past 4 years Ive been studying at UCSB! Finally, the week of graduation I got to go! I love the ambience. Its sooo fancy and romantic. The service was very accommodating. Our waiter was just alright– forgot a few things we asked him.
The fried cheese (cheese sambosik?) was SOOO GREAT. Although some definitely seemed to have more cheese than others, it was overall a must have dish.
The falafel was pretty good! Very tough on the outside. The sauce on the side (tzakiki Im assuming) definitely paired well with it.
We shared the combo (first one under house favorites) and it came with chicken, lamb, and kafta! Lamb was the best. Kafta is like ground meat? Its topped with a thin round pita and the food is layed over the same pita. The cucumber side salad, garlic sauce, hummus were all very good.
I would love to come again if I can!

Very good Lebanese food and lovely patio dining area. Got the chicken kebab plate with a fatoush salad along with the vegetarian platter (tabouli, hummus, baba ghanouj, 1 stuffed grape leaf). Everything tasted good and authentic. Couldn’t get enough of the garlic aioli that comes on the side with the meat. Pricey but large portions

Had lunch yesterday. Great menu, wonderful service, terrific venue ! Highly recommend !

Came here with a party of 18 and the staff was wonderful and even passed out snuggies since it was cold. Drinks were amazing, atmosphere was gorgeous, and was a little skeptical of the food since it was picked out for us but it was delicìouso ! Since I’m from Arizona I’ll try to make it back soon!

The only disappointment of our SB weekend.
Zaytoon is beautiful & their food is delicious, so it was a no-​brainer to bring our large bachelorette party in for a night of dinner, drinks, and hookah.
While the food & ambiance were of expected caliber, we were really let down by the overall experience.
The management pigeon-​holed us into a set menu that balanced out to over $ 100pp. Unfortunately the price tag does not match the value whatsoever — Zaytoon is perhaps worth $ 60pp for a full-​blown experience, but triple digit prices should be reserved for nicer restaurants.
Everything was plated family style, which definitely made per-​person servings pretty tiny. We were also upset to see that they squeezed us into a much smaller table than originally promised.
Overall the whole experience felt rushed & thrown together. I’m disappointed by the lack of involvement by management, and our waitress was quite inattentive considering our table was dropping over $ 1100.
Our group had so many excellent experiences with Santa Barbara businesses over our 4-​day weekend, but Zaytoon was the only place that seemed purely out to make a buck.
I only recommend Zaytoon for smaller intimate dinners — large groups, beware!

A friend invited me today for dinner at this restaurant.
The waitress Nicky was so courteous, pleasant and very helpful, she is a plus plus to the place.
Wish they had broader and more high end wine selections.
Salad was great, baba ghanouch was decent, falafel was abit salty, hummus was abit acidic.
Ambiance was wonderful, music blends in with the environment.
Customer service is good.

The outdoor seating is the cutest thing ever, like a secluded garden. The food is fabulous too! I’m middle eastern and everything was delicious and authentic, especially the hummus and babaganoush.
The only complaint is that the bread they served with our meal wasn’t fresh.

Beautiful atmosphere when you walk in. Fire pit tables for groups. Nice plants and lighting for the patio. It was only my daughter and I so we just walked in and got a table. We ordered the vegetarian feast for ~38. It was small plates of Hummus, baba ghannouj, falafel, cheese sambosik, labneh, and tabbouli salad. Way too much for us — lots of sauce and dips… Very rich. Very tasty but next time I’ll order something more reasonable like a real dinner. Had to pack up ¾ of the stuff to bring home. Like I said way too rich all at once. I also ordered the Sunset on Fire cocktail — had habanero in it! So good…
For this visit I would actually give it a 3 but if I was here with my boyfriend at one of the fire pit tables enjoying the entertainment (I heard there’s belly dancing) oh and most importantly when he’s paying for it then it would be a definite 5.

The restaurant is adorable with hang lights and fire pits in the center. The service is very good and the servers are welcoming. They serve pita bread with a garlic dip when you sit down.
The menu is a bit pricy but I would suggest the lamb or the hummus. The lentil soup is a bit bland.
Overall, great place to dine with friends. Bring an appetite for pita bread :)

Zaytoon is my favorite restaurant in Santa Barbara. The atmosphere is so romantic with the live music, twinkle lights covering the greenery, and the fire pits in the center of the tables. I choose this restaurant for any and every special event that happens in my life from birthdays, graduations, new job promotions etc.
The food is decadent and the drinks are delicious. I highly recommend the chicken schwarma and their raspberry mojito– hands down best mojito in SB!

My cousin wine and dined me and Zaytoon on my trip to Santa Barbara, and it was fabulous, darling! We splurged and ordered the chicken schwarma, taziki, labneh, cheese sambosik, haroumi cheese, and batata hara. You MUST get the batata harara and the cheese sambosik. I was obsessed with both. The chicken schwarma was unlike any schwarma I’d ever had, probably because it is Lebanese. It came with a garlic spread and a salad, both of which were great and complemented the meat well. Nothing was disappointing. The ingredients were fresh, the dishes were healthy, and the food was delicious with that beautiful exotic kick.
The restaurant is also especially gorgeous — there’s lights and trees all over, with fire pits in the middle of the bigger tables. Perfect for dates, family gatherings, friend hangs… really anything. And don’t forget about the hookahs available too!
If you’re in SB, make sure to dine at Zaytoon!

I thought long and hard about how to review tonight’s experience at dinner because the food and atmosphere were both lovely, but our server, Arturo, failed so badly, this was written for him and the manager (didn’t catch his name), especially. I sincerely hope they both read this and consider how they might solve issues like this in the future with more grace than either of them managed tonight.
My four friends and I made reservations for a birthday dinner at 5pm on Sunday at one of the firepit tables. Zaytoon opens at 5, so we were the 2^nd table to be seated. Someone who was not our server set us up with water and answered a couple questions about the drink menu. And, then we sat. And… we sat some more. I watched as a table not far from us got their drinks. And, then we sat some more. About 20 – 30 minutes later, our waiter (that’s you, Arturo) came to the table and asked for our orders. I asked if we could place our drink order but was told (paraphrasing) no, the ordering tablets aren’t working right, so it’s not possible to place a drink order.‘
After going back and forth a bit, I asked, ‘well, is it possible to write it down, and take a drink order to the bar?‘
Arturo: No. I can’t put it in the tablet, so I can’t order it for you. I can’t charge you for it, so I can’t get you drinks.
Me: No wine, then?
A: No.
Me: Coffee, tea, lemonade?
A: No, because I can’t put it in the system, see? (Arturo opens up his ordering tablet to show me.)
Me: I believe you, but can’t you just walk over there (points to the bar 50 feet away) and tell him what we want, and then find another way to charge us for it?
A: No. I can’t.
Me: I will happily go over there for you, if it means our table can have drinks… look (points to other tables). THEY have drinks.
A: No. The system’s not working. Do you want to place an order for some appetizers?
So, fine. We order some food on the condition that he let us know when the system has come back up, and we can have ANYTHING other than still water. Meanwhile, I’m still watching wine and cocktails coming from the bar and being served all around us. THIS is when they could have offered us a round of iced tea or lemonade on the house (until a real drink order could be placed) and still made us feel semi-​okay about what was happening. Maybe.
At this point, the table next to us was curious because they also had not had their drink order taken by Arturo, and they wanted to know what he said to our table. I tell them, and then Arturo comes back, and I hear him trying to explain to them why he won’t take their drink order, either. Again, I point out to him ALL the drinks people have around us.
Arturo: LADY, if I have to walk back and forth for every drink order… LOOK. I have all these tables (gestures to a not yet full restaurant).
My friend, the birthday girl: But… that’s your JOB.
Me: May I speak to your manager?
Arturo: He’s not here.
Me: Great. Will you please let me know when he DOES get here?
Our food arrived quick. So fast, I think, that perhaps our server has more time than he thinks to try to help his tables get drinks so he can get PAID more!
Halfway through our meal, another waitress walks up to ask how we’re doing, and I ask if it is at all possible to order a few drinks, yet.
Beautiful waitress who I failed to get the name of but did thank personally later: Sure! Didn’t your server take your drink order?
We fill her in.
Beautiful waitress makes a face: I thought we already talked to him about that… We’ll have your drinks right out.
Me: You are the best!
Less than two minutes later, Arturo’s back! Yay! And, I kid you not, looking at no one, this is what he says in the least cheerful voice, ever: What do you want to drink? :/​
Me (not looking back at him): Oh, someone is getting that filled for us, now, thank you.
Arturo leaves. Later, he walks up to my chair, taps it, says «this lady,» and walks off again, leaving the newly-​arrived manager to offer us a weak smile and a weaker apology by offering a free dessert for the table.
To make a long story slightly less long, we eventually ended up with a free dessert, which the restaurant didn’t even let us choose. That might have been appropriate if our food wasn’t cooked right, or some other minor flaw slipped through the crack. But, I’m just gonna put it out there to you Mr. Manager and suggest that you would have earned five, happy repeat-​customers if you had gone the extra mile where your employee failed and GIVEN us the drinks we LITERALLY had to fight with your employee for the pleasure of paying for.
To Arturo, you could have made us happy so EASILY by taking the extra two minutes to work out a solution, but you chose to argue and shut us down. If you had even made it LOOK like you were trying to make it right, we would have happily added to your tip, but you didn’t seem to want to be there at all, and you made us question whether we wanted to be there (or go there again), either.

Yaaaas!!!
Love the ambiance here, the waiter (s) are super nice. Every time we’ve come here there has been to real wait, not saying it’s like that always.
This is the hooka spot – everything is outside so if it’s a little chilly they will either turn up the heat with the fire pits or go as far as to getting you a blanket. Now that’s service. This is a must stop in place anytime we come down to SB.
It’s not on state st – it’s tucked away a couple of streets over.

Take this review with a grain of: Lifelong vegetarian with loose convictions comes to restaurant and shares a plate of lamb shawarma with carnivorous mealmate.
This place is beautiful! A lovely surprise off of State St., emanating light down Canon Perdido if you happen to go there at night (go there at night!) This place is definitely romantic, with hundreds of fairy lights, slightly sensual lebanese/​mediterranean music, and unintentionally erotic firepits at each table. You can also get hookah here, many people seemed to be having a grand time making eyes at eachother through smoke clouds. A sexy destination indeed.
The food was yummy, reference my note at the beginning. The falafel appetizer we ordered was delicious and served with tangy tahini sauce, and had the consistency of hush puppies. The hot water I ordered to treat my incoming cold was delightfully watery, and served in mugs one might find at Ikea, or one’s kitchen. The lamb shawarma was well balanced, served with a fattoush salad (fun to say, fun to eat), golden & satisfying steak fries, and digestible little pieces of lamb that carniverous dining partner said were «cooked really well» and «solid».
the DESSERT. YUM.
Get the chocolate cake! ignore the fancy but beautiful desserts and get the chocolate cake.
It was basically a lava cake, topped with vanilla bean ice cream and Nutella drizzles. I lapped it up.
Both dining partner and I were really hungry, but the falafel, sides of pita bread, lamb shawarma and dessert managed to fill both of us up for $ 25 each. Maybe a different experience for two people who are both really into meat.
Sweet staff, speedy service. Wasn’t particularly exciting food tastewise, but they do what they do well. Could be a five star place if they had a few more novel dishes, maybe that’s just not what they’re about.

Came here for Valentine’s Day with my boyfriend. Completely gorgeous ambiance at night with little fairly lights. There were tons of couples and it was pretty romantic. There was seating outside with people smoking hookah and then under a veranda.
We did the $ 50 Valentine’s Day menu which let you choose 2 starters, 1 entrée, and 1 dessert. We’re pretty methodical in choosing and sharing so we ordered for starters the Haloumi and watermelon with basil, zaytaar, baba ghanouj, and falafel. For the entrees we got lamb shwarma and chicken kebab which came with rice, salad, and hummus or garlic dip. Dessert was a banana-​pistachio-​rosewater pudding thing for him, and chocolate lava cake for me :)
The food was pretty good. There were definitely things I probably wouldn’t order again (the Haloumi cheese was oddly pasty and hard) and the pudding was just weird and grainy and a little flavorless, but the others were interesting and fun to try. The waiters were really diligent about making sure our needs were met, and it was a really fun night :)

THE BEST FOOD!!! This little gem not only has the most amazing pita, hummus, schwarma, salad, EVERYTHING, but they also have an INCREDIBLE atmosphere! The dining area outside is a beautiful show in and of itself! They have live music occasionally, as well! You can purchase hookah for your table, although it is a little pricy, but worth it for a fun treat with your friends. To top it all off, they give you… wait for it… COMPLIMENTARY SNUGGIES!!!
Overall, a must if you’re in the area! The staff is great, the food is spectacular (I dream of it), and the ambiance is the BEST part about the amazing experience you will surely have! 10 out of 10, would recommend!

The atmosphere of this restaurant at night is amazing and one of the most romantic places I’ve been to. There’s beautiful lights everywhere, along with a fountain in the middle, and a fire pit in the middle of every table. If it gets too cold at night, they offer everyone a snuggie upon request.
They offer complimentary pita bread. I tried the falafel, lamb kebab, chicken kebab, and raspberry mojito. I was expecting the kebabs to be on a stick, but they were separated. They give 8 pieces each. Everything was super filling. I have no complaints about this place! The ambiance and food was great.

I really enjoyed the Lebanese Mediterranean here with the romantic ambiance. The chicken was super juicy and tender so I highly recommend any chicken dish even if it is generic. I got the combo dish and out of the three meats I had — lamb, chicken, sausage — I surprisingly enjoyed the chicken the most. The lamb was very tough and had a lot of tendon, the sausage was very dry so I ate it with the garlic hummus.
I liked the lighting and how the restaurant was outdoors. But just a warning there are a Lot of flies! The darn flies were constantly trying to attack our food so we have to eat really fast!!!
I would also like to warn you that this place has hookah at the dining table and you will definitely get second hand hookah no matter where you sit so this place is not recommended for kids.

Definitely get a table outside! The have tables with fire pits for larger parties which are great and at night they turn on the lights they have outside which are absolutely amazing. Half of the appeal of this place is the environment.
The chicken and lamb kababs are really really good. They are flavored really well and grilled to perfection. The beef kabab isn’t as great and I wouldn’t get it again. Their hummas is also really good and I will definitely be back for the kababs.