Cafe Los Arcos

It’s a hotel bar that serves food. It’s better than a Holiday Inn bar, but it’s overpriced for the obviously low quality food ingredients. There’s really nothing stellar or memorable about it. Order pizza in and spend half the money.

This is a review for Barra los Arcos which is the bar/​lounge area across the lobby from Café los Arcos.
Last night a group of my friends and I got together to enjoy the Happy Hour at Barra los Arcos. I have to say, the service, the venue, and the view from the bar are all stellar! We found the seating to be comfortable and the place not overly crowded nor overly noisy on a Friday night. The bartender (I wish I knew his name) is one heck of a nice guy! So friendly and efficient. The House Chardonnay ($ 5/​glass during HH) was delicious and the food was good (not super great but good) and served promptly. We were told they’d be happy to provide table service to us even if we located ourselves up on the landing/​seating area just outside of the bar area (between the bar and the lobby). I was so impressed with the bartender’s and the server’s relaxed, easy-​going, and yet eager-​to-​please approach. The HH extends to 7pm which is generous. Besides House Red and House White wine during HH, they also make available a beer on tap for $ 5 and a list of 5 or so appetizers at a reduced price including chips with gauc and salsa, egg rolls with chili sauce, or hummus dip with bread.
The Barra los Arcos outside patio is awesome as well. There is a variety of seating options there including chairs around tables, chairs around fire pits, and even two patio swings big enough for three people (although probably meant for two). It was a little too cool last night to sit outside but we will definitely be back to try that out on a warmer evening down the road.

My boyfriend’s parents dined here recently and had a very disappointing experience:
Thanksgiving morning, we had breakfast at the Fess Parker’s Santa Barbara resort’s restaurant. First they wanted to seat us at a tiny table for two so we waited for a larger table. The table we were given was adjacent and protruding into the passage the waiters used to get and deliver the food. This table was also on a line to the scullery. As a result all through the meal waiters and busboys were quickly passing right by our table on the way to or from the kitchen and scullery. The constant back and forth was annoying and noisy. The noise from the dishes being placed in the scullery was extremely noisy and piercing to the ear. In addition it took three requests to get cream for Lynn’s tea. The tea had cooled down considerably by the time the cream arrived. A design flaw placed the buffet foods adjacent to the outside row of dining tables. Those diners had people looking down at them as they gathered their food. For us the people gathering their food blocked our view to the outside courtyard. The waiters seemed overtaxed. Our waiter said they were not understaffed but overloaded with dinners. Seems at a quality restaurant there would be ample personnel to meet the needs of the diners. Lastly my ham was overcooked, dry and tough, the eggs were not prepared as requested, potatoes were so so, and the toast was hard. However, my wife’s lox and bagel were wonderful. The only problem with her meal was that it included only one bagel. There was enough lox for at least two bagels, if not a third. I reported all of the above in addition to the suggestion that they remove our table and go for quality rather than quantity to the concierge as there was no one else to report it to.
Out of a five point rating scale I would give it a one, and that is only because of the quality of the lox and bagel.

For a free buffet it wasn’t bad. Had some interesting additions like bread pudding and egg biscuits.

Had an opportunity to have a quick lunch here. It is standard hotel fare. The Cobb Salad was big and had generous amounts of «stuff» on it. I opted for easy blue cheese and balsamic dressing. The Arnold Palmer was well, an Arnold Palmer.
The waitress was attentive without being overbearing; we were in a business meeting so she took the proper queues.
If you happen to be at this hotel, you could do much, much worse…

We ate lunch here while waiting for our hotel rooms to be ready. Our waitress Ally made the wait worth while. She was very nice and gave us suggestions for dinner later that night.
For lunch, I had the fish chowder and a side of chips and guacamole. The chowder was great with huge chunks of seafood. The guacamole was fresh and a little spicy — good stuff. That was all tied together with the view and the great wait staff — almost made up for the hotel not having our rooms ready by the guaranteed check in time!
J

My pasta bowl, penne with marinara sauce, was bland. My mother’s tuna melt amounted to some tuna and a slice of cheese slammed between two huge pieces of bread. The other entrees were not much better. Our server had a habit of disappearing, and why not?– the 20 percent tip was included in the price, as we were a party of eight.
For $ 170, this was a rip-​off. I’ve been coming to Café Los Arcos with my parents for at least 25 years now and frankly have never liked the place (my hat’s off, though, so to speak, to the late Fess Parker for taking on the task of turning Santa Barbara’s waterfront into something more than a railroad thoroughfare dotted with used-​car dealerships and seedy hotels. I apologize to his daughter Ashley, with whom I went to school, for this less-​than-​stellar review).
I wish Los Arcos could live up to Fess Parker’s vision of a grand seafront in one of the most beautiful cities in America. The place needs some work. It desperately needs a facelift to bring it into the new millenium and the service should be more attentive, not to mention doing something about the food that has consistently been sub-​par.
Please do justice to a grand vision, Los Arcos!

The first night we were at the Double Tree we ate kind of late. We were glad to see that the «Barra Los Arcos» was still open. It’s just across the way from the Café.
So we went down after 10pm; plenty of empty tables which is good, but a lot of them were dirty. Yuck!
Overall the food was okay. Mom had the French onion soup and a small salad. My sister had the grilled chicken with mashed potatoes. I had a grilled cheese sandwich with just white cheddar which came with a tomato soup. My brother got the penne marinara. I just want to say that the marinara was more likely an arrabiata sauce. But we did eat. It took forever for my brother to get any extra parmasean cheese. By the time he did get it, he was done eating (not to say that he completed the food). Also, we were given no warning about the kitchen closing, so we couldn’t get dessert. It would have been nice if the waitress had given us a little heads up. She said the kitchen closed at 12am; it wasn’t 12am yet. Whatever.
Now, about the Café Los Arcos…
We ate there every morning because we were given vouchers and wouldn’t have to pay for the buffet. So for 3 out of 4 days there was an omelet station. Great! Each day was a different guy. On the fourth day he was no where to be seen but I was told to just order my omelet with the server. Fine. Let me just say, that there is something about seeing your food cooked in front of you versus having it brought out. So I guess I’d say the first 3 days were the better tasting omelets. The service was alright. The first 3 days they were on top of it. I don’t know if it was the timing on the fourth day, or what. The absence of the omelet guy and our decision that it’d be nice to dine «al fresco» for once, it was not such a great morning.
Anyway, there wan’t a big selection of breads. Just these mini fake bagels. The potatoes were lackluster. They used the wrong kind of potatoes for «breakfast potatoes.» The French toast was fine. Nothing to write home about. That was pretty much my breakfast for four days, though. I looked at the oatmeal which freaked me out. Bleh. I don’t eat lox or bacon/​sausage but they had those. Danishes, croissants, cheeses, «bread pudding,» cereals. So there were choices. I’m just glad that we didn’t have to pay for this overpriced spread, because I’m sure there are other places in Santa Barbara with better breakfast options for much cheaper.

Stay away from the breakfast buffet! The eggs are runny, tough pancakes, etc. Service was good though.

Ever see old black and white TV shows about Daniel Boone, or Davy Crockett? See the guy in the racoon fur hat? That actor is Fess Parker, who has become a real estate developer, vineyard owner, and winemaker with his family in the Santa Barbara area over the past 30 years. Not bad for a former Disney actor. Read more about him:
The Café Los Arcos is inside the sprawling 23 acre Fess Parker’s DoubleTree resort, right on the main beach at Santa Barbara on Cabrillo Boulevard. The resort is a beautiful venue, and ideal for meetings and conferences, with its 45,000 square feet of meeting space and lovely ocean views (well, minus the Oil Drilling Platforms that destroy the beautiful horizon. Thanks, former governor Reagan!)
It would be a great place for a wedding reception.
The restaurant faces the ocean and has nice views of the beach and Volley Ball pits across the street. The service is excellent. The food is solid, with a bit of resort flair you would expect at a place that charges $ 240 — $ 350 per room (depending on day and season).
If you come here just to eat, the parking lots are all gated and it will be about $ 3 for parking during your meal. However, if you show your receipt, it is free.
According to the LA Times: Café Los Arcos has one major claim to fame: Channel Island fish chowder for $ 5.95 a bowl. Loaded with salmon, shrimp and scallops, this stuff is so thick a spoon could stand up in it. A bowl is a meal in itself.
Fess has a winery in the Santa Ynez valley in Los Osos, as well as another bed and breakfast inn nearby, all covering over 700 acres.
Not bad for a former Texan and TV star.
The theme song to Davey Crockett was prophetic: «Davey, Davey Crockett, king of the wild frontier». (NOT sung to the tune of «Ventura Highway. in the sunshine, where the days are longer and the nights are stronger than moonshine. I wanna go, I know I know.»)