Santa Ynez Billiards & Cafe

Don’t miss that place. Best Mediterranean food I had in California. The family that owned that place are so nice and welcoming.
The terrace is amazing and it’s very affordable.
Go try it ! I’ll come back for sure.

We visit Los Olivos on a regular basis and hadn’t tried this place yet until today. Damn I it was SO good! We ordered a lot cause we were hungry– hummus and pitas, grape leaf wraps, a swell as lamb kababs and a beef kafta wrap. All of it was top notch, really delicious and filling. (They give you a lot of food). They have a great on tap beer selection and a good wine list so we were definitely happy. :)
The service was fantastic as well! Clearly this is a family owned business which makes me like it more because you can tell they take pride in their food and service. We highly recommend it and will be back for sure! Our local friend says their patio is a lot of fun at night so we’ll have to check that out on our next visit!

Great Mediterranean food. Casual bar atmosphere. Great lamb burger. Family owned and ran.

Great service, good food and football on Sunday’s… What more could you want? Gotta come check it out!

Staying the weekend in Solvang. The four of us needed something to do on New Year’s Day. What would be open?
We found Chumash Casino. We left Chumash Casino.
We were about to call it a night when we remembered there was hookah to be had. A quick u-​turn later, we found ourselves at Santa Ynez Billiards and Café — live DJ, ping pong, pool, beer, wine, and hookah. Gold mine!
This place looks like it was a convenience store converted into a billiards and café. Several TVs were mounted on the walls (3 – 4?) playing news and sports. Hookah is on the back patio, with a nice heat lamp to keep us warm. There are three billiards tables, a regular and a 9-​ball rack, and plenty of cues and chalk. The billiards table is converted to ping pong by placing the ping pong table boards on top. There was a dance floor that we didn’t take advantage of (place was lit a tad too bright for that), but we loved the DJ! We also were coming from dinner or I would have tried the shawarma. All the more reason to return.
Note that there is no hard liquor here — they serve beer and wine. This place has a very laidback vibe. Staff are attentive and friendly. They gave us a rec on the hookah flavor. Delish shish. Other patrons were also friendly and enjoyed themselves. Friend mentioned that this was a trifecta of everything he loved in college — pool, beer, hookah.
2.5 hours of entertainment. With the 20% off Unilocal check-​in discount, it was about $ 50 bucks well spent.
Will definitely be back if I’m in Solvang.

As a SY resident I love this place. They have unique food options we didn’t have in the valley and the food is good. It is family owned and operated which is important to me. The family runs the kitchen and the bar and they are very warm and welcoming.
They have a great wine selection –mostly local wines at a good price. There beer selection is spot on. It is nice to get some variety outside of Fig and Firestone. Great place to watch football, play pool and just relax.
I would say this is a must stop in SY.

This place is a great venue. Fun people, nice owners, good beer. The great food is just a bonus. I would highly recommend it to everyone, especially if you like pool. Thanks for a great time guys!

It’s a very nice place to go for food and watch sport games. The place is surprisingly clean and quite, I mean compared with other «sport club». The menu is pretty simple, but delicious. I got the Beef Shawarma and the Mediterranean soup. Both of them taste good. Better sample the shawarma if you aren’t sure about it, but it’s good after the third bite.

The cheeseburger here was delicious and affordable! Worth a trip down if you are around the Santa Ynez area!

Great Mediterranean food. Better than most places in LA that are a lot more expensive. Casual settings with a bar full of great beers and wine. Service is friendly and personable. A little gem and a nice change of pace in the Santa Ynez Valley.

Well, lots of nice reviews… I guess they didn’t see what I did. I’m going to suggest to NEVER EAT HERE! Except for maybe the french fries…
As I was watching the football game Sunday night. I look over to the kitchen area (after 32 years in restaurants/​resorts/​catering, I always check it out). There is a woman there with gloves on ‘stuffing’ a wrap/​sandwich in her mouth over the trash can (no, not daintily eating it). She finishes it and walks over to the little prep area and sits down to start making stuffed grape leaves (Greek).
She is now EATING OUT OF the rice mix that she is filling the grape leaves with. She makes the stuffed grape leaves with the same gloves she ate and is eating with, and I saw twice her fingers going into her mouth, and once wiping her mouth. Never changing the gloves.
AND. To top it off, ladies and gentlemen… Not once… Nope. Not twice… Nope. BUT she wipes her nose with the same gloves three times (that I saw) and continues to prep the food. And she wipes her nose, you know, the standard wipe your nose technique, along your index finger, and continues to reach into the rice mix and grape leaves. And another employee/​supervisor/​family member is standing next to her talking.
So, I would suggest to never eat here. It’s a nice place to watch sports, has lots of great beers on tap, in the bottle, nice wines, etc. I’d come back to watch football, have a beer, but not eat. The bar staff is not very friendly either (I’ve been here three times to watch football). They basically ignore you and they usually don’t serve you until they’re finished talking with other staff/​family, I’ve waited three/​four minutes while they chitchat. The staff across the street at the liquor store (same owners) are A LOT friendlier then the staff at the café/​bar.
Thank you for your time.
Up Date: Jan. 17^th. Even though these folks are very very nice, I really don’t think they understand what customer service is all about (I know they don’t know). As before, I can sit there for an indefinite amount of time (indefinite is not quite an exaggeration) and not get any service, even with two employees behind the bar, just chatting away. It’s to bad, nice TV’s, I did finally try the chicken wings (I watched very closely) and they were excellent.
On a positive note, Matt the bartender does a very good job and has come a long way since they opened. He is the only one I see that continually washes after he eats, leaves the bar, etc.
Thank you for your time… Again. :)

Eat lunch at this place today. The Mediterranean food is top notch. Staff was very friendly. It is a sports bar so not a place for grabbing a quiet bite. But the falafel wrap was great. They put a pickled veggie mix inside their wraps that adds a new dimension. We will certainly be back.

Food is tasty for the price. Beer selection is awesome. However, this place had flies everywhere: on my food and in my drinks. When I showed the bar-​maid that there were about four or five little dead flies in my beer, she says (verbatim), «don’t worry about it, they just like the beer, they won’t kill you.» It took a bit of more coaxing, but she finally poured out what was left in my glass and poured a bit of fresh beer in it… same glass. While I tend to agree with her that the flies will likely not kill me, it seems they will remain a problem here until the staff learns to take their customers feedback a bit more seriously. Until then, I’ll be taking my business to one of the many other fly free Santa Ynez Pubs.

I was just wandering and found this place. Good good, cold best and Matt was very helpful.

Great chicken Shawarma, nice cold beer, and pool tables. What more do you want? The service is great and hear the night life is really happening. I recommend checking this place out. Especially if you wanna try shawarma that you heard on the Avengers.

Brand new pool tables and cues! Cold crisp beers on tap! A whole 90 craft bottle beers! Great food! Great tvs! This is the spot!

So, you first walk in and you think you’re in a gas station convenience store. But then you realize it’s a pool hall. And a beer hall. And a Mediterranean restaurant. And an outdoor lounge. And it is playing retro country. And it’s a lot chiller than the Maverick, so, you stay.

Love the out door patio and staff! Always feel welcome here :) great place to have some chicken strips and good beer

Love the food over there it is top notch, also with over 16 beer taps for your selection. With friendly customer service and good quality pool tables and a very beautiful patio area! Definitely recommended.

16 beers on tap! 90 craft beers to also try! 30 different local wines to choose and FOOD! WoW! What a shot in the arm for the Santa Ynez Valley! A back patio to lounge and three beautiful pool tables! Come on down soon!!!