Santa Barbara Italian Cafe
Santa Barbara Italian Cafe
food, pizza
food
drink, dessert
food, pasta, pasta dish
food, pasta, pasta dish
dessert, food
pizza, food
family meal
food, grilled fish
food, pasta
food
dessert, food
food, dessert
food, dessert
scallops with lemon and parsley
pasta, pasta dish, food
food, dessert
food, grilled fish
pasta, food, pasta dish
food, pasta
Dinner for two
food
food, pasta, pasta dish
Marlene R.
Jun 16, 2024
My husband and I are here on Father's Day. While the jazz music wasn't what we were expecting and the decor is a bit dated, the food was delicious and plentiful! Priced right for the amount of food they serve. We had Chicken Parm and Veal Parm. Dinner is served with a salad or soup and bread with dipping oil. The house salad had lots of veggies, not just lettuce and tomato. The lettuce was fresh, not from a bag, and the tomatoes were delicious. Both meals were excellent and we have enough for at least another meal or two each. Our server was a red haired girl and she was very friendly and helpful. This was a nice find - we are from the northeast and used to good Italian food - Santa Barbara fits the bill!
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Justin T.
Nov 10, 2023
I've been in Pearland for many years and feel like I've been a bad local because I just now got around to checking out Santa Barbara Italian Café. It's was around before I got here and is a favorite amongst the people of Pearland. It is located in "old" Pearland in a shopping strip shared with other eateries and a movie theater which also means lots of parking. My family and I came for dinner and were seated immediately. Jarret was our server and he did a fantastic job taking care of us all night. First off, they bring you some bread for the table. This wasn't just plain bread, it was a mound of fresh garlic bread and an olive oil mix to dip your bread in. Any restaurant that served garlic bread and oil is a winner in my book as garlic bread is one of my favorite foods. While we munched on that, we perused the pretty extensive menu. It's extensive in that they have certain dishes served in a variety of different ways. They have appetizers, pizza, pasta, as well as other varieties of proteins made in different ways. What stood out to me is that they had spicy options as well. From my understanding, the owner/chef cooks with a little French and Croatian twist. From what I saw, it looked like they threw in a little Cajun flare as well with blackened chicken in some of their dishes. I ordered a ravioli in a spicy, creamy tomato sauce and topped with lots of blackened chicken. It came with a delicious Caesar salad as well. This pasta dish was not only huge, but it was also absolutely delicious. The ravioli was stuffed with a delicious cheese mixture and the sauce was very flavorful. The sauce and perfectly cooked blackened chicken gave the dish a nice kick that I usually crave at every meal. I tried bites of the fam's food too and I liked almost everything. There was a few that were slight misses. The good outweighed the bad big time though.I'm sad I slept on this place for so long. It's close to home and away from the hustle and bustle of Pearland near 288. I will definitely be coming back here.
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Michael C.
Feb 11, 2024
I got an order of Lasagna togo the other night and it was awesome, so fresh, very aromatic and very delicious with a soft, plump texture. Fyi, most of the menu items here are very rich and fatty. The cheese was really good quality and savory. The meat was also savory, well-seasoned and kind of spicy in a way. The red sauce was superb with a solid tomato base, runny but not too watery and had a sweet n tangy flavor vibe to it. It was one of the best lasagnas I have had. Great, friendly service from a couple employees I came across. I was a huge fan of the bolognese here before the recipe changed years back and would get it often. Only that ultra fancy restaurant known as Tony's in Houston could ever even compete with it. Nobody else n there are many great bolognese in the city too. However, I am very glad my other top favorite dishes here such as the Chicken Verona, Chicken Mama Mia and Lasagna are still top notch just like years ago. On a note, I really liked the tiramisu, chocolate cake and oreo cheesecake for dessert options, but not sure if they still sell them. The other cakes look great to try if I have room next time though.
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Becky B.
Dec 29, 2023
We love the food and the boys in the family especially love the portion sizes which are huge. I ordered the carbonara this last time and was not crazy about it although over a two day period I managed to finish it. lol. We had a family dinner there to celebrate my son's 25th birthday that was really fun and everyone loved their food. Try this place out!
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Emy A.
Jul 2, 2023
We finally tried their food. The complimentary flaky bread and oil was good. The salad that came with our entree and the bruschetta were okay. The tomato basil soup was delicious and not as creamy as we are used to with other restaurants. The entrees are huge portions so we have another meal out of them. The Italian pork chops was salty. The scallops in the seafood pasta were huge. The blackened salmon was a dry and risotto wasn't creamy, but the grilled vegetables were delicious. Our waitress was awesome!
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Suzie E.
Aug 3, 2023
Warning, *rating is based on their pizza only*I always come here for pasta (good enough to split with two) & subs it's always delicious but today I decided to be adventurous and ordered the pizza.... The pizza was bad. The pizza tasted frozen, like Tony's. Definitely never ordering pizza here, but still recommend the pasta and subs here. The waiter was great, and super relaxed atmosphere.
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Penny S.
Mar 16, 2024
Food was amazing and waitress took care of us. However we arrive 1 hour and 15 min prior to closing and the staff was already placing chairs on tables and sweeping around where we we eating.
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Daniel M.
May 16, 2024
I was very underwhelmed by my recent experience at Santa Barbara. The bread was soggy due to the amount of butter on it, the Caesar salad was disappointing due to the wrong part of the lettuce being used and an extremely bland dressing, the risotto (if you can call it that) was mediocre at best (entirely too much butter and was not made with Arborio rice), the chicken was overdone, had no seasoning, and tasted like it had simply been thrown in the microwave, and everything was smothered in broken sauces. One person dining at my table ordered the Penne Genova, and I tried a small bit of the sauce and had to spit it out, which I have never done before. The lemon sauce for the piccata that I ordered was nothing but lemon, essentially tasting like a liquified lemonhead candy. The eggplant Parmesan that my wife ordered was mushy and each piece was the size of a hockey puck. Everything needed copious amounts of salt and pepper simply to make it somewhat palatable. The server was kind, however the service itself was extremely slow with no sense of urgency. Our table's food came out in waves, with the last person receiving their food more than 20 minutes after the first. Overall, everything is extremely overpriced for what you get. I can go to Grazia in West Pearland for the same amount and receive food that is actually enjoyable.
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Qul G.
May 25, 2024
Met up with some friends who flew in. The staff was so pleasant even though we made it there really close to closing time. The food was fresh- that bread dip was delicious and different than what I was expecting, tasted like a pizza . and our waitress even made sure my chicken parmesan was cooked crispy enough to my liking. We had the bolognese pasta, chicken parmesan, chicken caprese pasta and fettuccini alfredo pasta (without chicken). Our most favorite dish was the chicken caprese which our friend kept raving how good it was, and the least favorite dish was the chicken alfredo. Could tell everything was cooked well , I just think it was maybe the flavor of cheese that was a little to different than what we're used to or like but I'm not sure what made it not so great. Otherwise, everything was good and went better than expected for a last minute dine in.
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Helen R.
Dec 27, 2023
I was really appreciative that the waitress took us in even though they were closing soon! On top of that she gave GREAT service! She gave suggestions on what to eat and led us in the right direction for yummy food! The food that we ordered was all so delicious! The bread was so good I forgot to take photos of it before eating it! It was one of the recommendations that she gave and I thought it was so yummy! Honestly I think it could serve as a meal within itself. I also really like the feel of the place, we came close to closing so it wasn't busy but it seems like a very chill spot.
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