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To Go, Please
updated: Jan 17, 2012, 8:01 PM

Where is the best place for take out/pick up food? There are so few delivery options in this town, i only know of china bowl and a schezuan restaurant on the mesa... and delivery services that broker the food are extremely high priced....

What do people do for take out/pickup/dlivery?

Places People Are Talking About:

Crocodile Restaurant	Inida Club	Killer B's
Mandarin Palace	Marty's Pizza	My Place Thai
Pizza Mizza	SB Chicken Ranch	South Coast Deli
The Habit	Three Pickles

What People Are Saying:

COMMENT 249510	2012-01-17 08:15 PM
Restaurant Connection provides home delivery from 29 restaurants to downtown SB: restaurantconnectionsb.com
CAPTAIN HALEY	2012-01-17 08:26 PM
Marty's Pizza (delivery or takeout), My Place Thai (takeout), SB Chicken Ranch (takeout), Super Cucas (takeout), Giovanni's Pizza (takeout). I am sure there are more...
COMMENT 249519	2012-01-17 08:45 PM
Inida Club - hands down !!!!
GREG	2012-01-17 09:09 PM
Recently I was surprised how good Pizza Mizza offerings were. The Greek Salad was unusually good along with the pizza. (I requested the extra crispy crust and they did follow through.) They have specials and also good savings from Axxess book. Delivery was $1.99 Quality better than most other places fro delivered food.
COMMENT 249542	2012-01-18 06:34 AM
Crocodile hands down, I get a cocktail while my food is created
EZ2	2012-01-18 06:50 AM
EVERY CHINESE RESTAURANT HAS TAKE OUT
COMMENT 249550P	2012-01-18 06:55 AM
Check the Deliveries list at the Indie site.
COMMENT 249556	2012-01-18 07:11 AM
I dont know of a single restaurant that wont let you order to go
COMMENT 249565	2012-01-18 07:28 AM
She asked the best. Obviously restaurants let you take food to go... Most of these are awful. I agree there are so few good places that deliver.
COMMENT 249568	2012-01-18 07:40 AM
Pretty much every place in SB will let you order to go, so just call a place you like and order it. It's not that difficult. As far as delivery the only thing worth ordering delivery in SB is pizza and even it is pretty marginal. For a city of our size the food scene here is a joke.
COMMENT 249572	2012-01-18 07:48 AM
568 - What? The food scene is a joke? Yeah, if you eat at Burger King or McDonald's. For a city this size, the food options are AMAZING. Get a clue.
COMMENT 249579	2012-01-18 08:07 AM
249572 must not travel much. The restaurant scene is SB is so disappointing compared to other similar sized cities. With all the amazing local ingredients and products it's such a shame only a few places in town put them to good use. Sure we have some great taco spots and a few decent places to eat when you feel like going out, but there is nothing even close to being destination worthy. Julienne and a couple others are the only places that are doing anything coming close to inventive. For the most part you are better off shopping at the Farmers' Market and cooking at home if you have any culinary skills as the vast majority of food in this town you can make at home even tastier and more cheaply.
COMMENT 249588	2012-01-18 08:25 AM
We've used restaurant connection before but it can get pretty pricey. Also used China Bowl in the past but that was years ago. Have to agree that when it comes to delivery service options are pretty limited. For delivery we pretty much only do Rusty's and Madam Lu. Take out varies but have to agree on whatever your favorite places to eat are just call in ahead of time and ask for it to go.
COMMENT 249591	2012-01-18 08:32 AM
chicken ranch is great.shintori sushi..petrinis..flavor of india...the habit..
COMMENT 249595P	2012-01-18 08:35 AM
Rudy's for pick-up Mexican, Shintori for pick-up sushi, Rusty's for pizza, Hamburger Habit for that guilty burger craving, Fresco for higher quality food. Julienne is outstanding for high quality food eaten at the restaurant.
COMMENT 249596P	2012-01-18 08:36 AM
Forgot my favorite sandwich place - Three Pickles!!!!
COMMENT 249601	2012-01-18 08:48 AM
249579 I travel quite a bit, all over the US and Europe, and have eaten at plenty of great restaurants. Yes, the food can be pricey here, but to call the restaurant scene here "disappointing" surprises me. Obviously, we have different views of what is offered.
COMMENT 249607	2012-01-18 09:20 AM
We are take-out experts, because delivery in this town does indeed suck. I will try and stick with the best, but I will also warn you of some of the worst. One other thing that makes take out tough is access...parking is very difficult at most of my favorite places. Best Indian - All India Cafe (they deliver too) Worst Indian - Flavor of India Best Pizza - Paesano's or Gina's (Paesano's delivers) Worst Pizza - Domino's of course Best Mexican - El Bajio / Los Arroyos / El Sitio Best BBQ - Killer B's Worst BBQ - Woody's Best Burgers - Habit Worst Burgers - In n Out Best Greasy Not-Good-For-You Food - Norton's Pastrami (close at 7:00 M-F) Avoid this Take-Out Like the Plague... Mesa & Cody's Cafe (order the same thing on consecutive night and you'll swear they are different dishes) China Bowl (how they can screw up Chinese food is beyond me) KFC on Milpas (dangerous/inaccessible parking lot, 30% chance of getting stabbed, idiots don't know a thigh from a breast)
COMMENT 249618	2012-01-18 09:43 AM
I couldn't have said it better myself 249579. I am perpetually dissappointed by the lack of exciting food here...yet we grow so many amazing ingredients.
COMMENT 249622	2012-01-18 09:50 AM
Restaurant Connection. Anything the Wine Bistro is offering is gonna be good plus there are lots of other choices. I order from RC weekly, costs about the same as making a similar meal myself.
COMMENT 249631	2012-01-18 10:04 AM
249519 --can you please tell me what Inida Club is? Do you mean India? Haven't heard of it and would LOVE some decent Indian food!
COMMENT 249633	2012-01-18 10:08 AM
If you want delivery count on having to pay the time and gas to have it delivered PLUS count on the time it took to cool down your dinner. Is it worth it? To each his/her own preference!! Good take out??? Natural Cafe hands down.... 3 locations means you don't have to drive far. BTW complaining about the poor food selection in town is like complaining about the politicians we elect. We get what we support.
COMMENT 249636	2012-01-18 10:21 AM
I am constantly amazed at the popularity of the Habit. They produce mediocre burgers at best. Flat little overcooked meat pucks. Dutch Gardens cranks out a killer burger, big juicy medium rare hand-made patties. Even Rudy's makes a way better burger. Cafe Luck and Killer B's are good too.
COMMENT 249638	2012-01-18 10:26 AM
It's not "Inida Club", it's "India Club". It's on Calle Real in Goleta near between KFC and TJs. It's not bad but not remarkable either. They put peas in everything and do not offer those same dishes without peas. I abhor peas.
COMMENT 249639	2012-01-18 10:31 AM
Agreed 249636. The Habit burger is the most overrated in town. Dried out hockey pucks with no flavor. They would be really disappointing even if they weren't over-hyped. If I want a fast-food burger In-N-Out is hard to top. Double double, animal style, medium rare. Best burger ever? No, but for the price and taste, and quality In-n-Out just can't be beat. If I want a more sit-down or a fancy pants burger, yep quite a few decent ones around SB. The Habit burgers though are the suck, better off sticking with their albacore sandwich or chicken options which are actually quite good.
COMMENT 249649	2012-01-18 10:50 AM
578 - Santa Barbara us known to have more restaurants per capita than any other city in the US. It all depends on your food taste and the price you expect to pay no matter the quality (name of place please?). Check out the small joints, they are great.
COMMENT 249654	2012-01-18 11:02 AM
579 gets it. Why Santa Barbara settles and then congratulates itself for some of the most banal food around never ceases to amaze me.
COMMENT 249656	2012-01-18 11:04 AM
@249649 No one is saying there aren't a lot of places to go out to eat.
COMMENT 249659	2012-01-18 11:09 AM
Natural Cafe for sure. One of my favorite tuna sandwiches, and great portobello mushroom.
COMMENT 249664	2012-01-18 11:20 AM
Fresco Cafe in 5 points has excellent food & will prepare it to-go anytime... Pizza Mizza has a lot more than pizza and delivers.
COMMENT 249709P	2012-01-18 01:01 PM
I agree about the Habit -- it's just plain not very good. I was so surprised because it seemed like a perfect burger joint, but the quality of the meat and taste were just mediocre. Good burgers at Paradise Cafe. Also agree about Flavor of India. Worst raita I've ever had, and everything else was pretty bad too.
COMMENT 249726P	2012-01-18 01:47 PM
South Coast Deli has really impressive and detailing online ordering for pick-up. So far, they've never made a mistake for us. We also love Los Arroyos for take out.
COMMENT 249730P	2012-01-18 02:09 PM
I live in the Santa Ynez Valley but have worked in Santa Barbara for a long time. It used to be that we would drive over the hill for special occasions to go out to dinner. Now I find the the dining options and even the delivery options in the Valley are better than in Santa Barbara, which is surprising to me given that Santa Barbara is so much bigger. We rarely dine out in SB anymore. I do wish we had Thai food in the SYV though.
COMMENT 249741	2012-01-18 02:29 PM
I second Fresco for pick up. I always find something fresh and delicious from their special of the day menu. Pizza Mizza is my favorite for pick up or deliver pizza. I also love their Santa Barbara salad.
COMMENT 249758	2012-01-18 03:03 PM
SLO is smaller than SB / much better / diverse / delicious / interesting / affordable / dining options. But sadly too far to drive for takeaway tho (((*sigh*))) so ... your place for thai. tap thai for curry. shang hai for chinese. the habit for albacore burgers and onion rings and sweet potato frys. fresco for veggy burgers. ginos for pizza. whole foods for pizza.
INFINIDBOND	2012-01-18 06:24 PM
Agree with 249758 about SLO
COMMENT 249848	2012-01-18 06:50 PM
For pizza, it has to be Mesa Pizza Co: BEST tasting pizza in all of SB. What they do with herbs and great cheeses will amaze you. AND they deliver. Parking is awkward, but the pizzas are worth it. AVOID Giovannis next door, believe me. I am still hoping for a great Chinese take-out/delivery in town. sigh. . .
COMMENT 249871	2012-01-18 08:46 PM
Someone seriously hates on in n out!? Crazy person. I'm a local and I will choose in n out over habit any day.... They burn my burgers all the time and cost twice as much! I think all of our restaurants here have great take out options. Delivery, not so much. I do like to get delivery from ginos (downtown, not ginA's in goleta) FREE DELIERY but they get super busy and are a tiny hole in the wall restaurant so sometimes delivery will understandably take too long (it's worth it if you can wait!) so if you want your pizza in 45 min or less call and pay delivery charges for rustys. Pick up from paesanos is good, super cucas as well.
YIN YANG	2012-01-18 09:44 PM
Chinese? I go for Mandarin Palace in 5 Points shopping center. No delivery, but better food than Madame Lu's, at which I've eaten many times & would still use for delivery. For takeout, I usually go to a good, small taqueria, SB Chicken Ranch or Asian. (Wholly unsolicited idea: Buying cooked meat, salsa, beans, queso fresco and/or tortillas, or just the cooked meat from a taqueria can keep one in dinners for a few days at low cost and virtually no work.) I think if you want "gourmet" food, take-out makes it lose a lot of its panache. It's just me, but I wouldn't bother with take-out from a highly-rated restaurant. On the other hand, I'm not old or unable to walk. I'd certainly do it for someone who couldn't get out. Wish I had done so more often... Please remember that delivery people rely on tips to make money. They usually buy their own gas and make a very low/ minimum wage. Yep, I do (did) tip well, so that's at *least* an extra $5-6 right there. (A Madame Lu's order delivered was about $30 for three dishes. I usually order a tofu dish, so it's less expensive.) I've never used Restaurant Connection. Great idea, but too dear for me, as is delivery all but 1-2 times a year. And worth it when I indulge! (And Marty's Pizza now delivers. Again, too expensive for me, but I like it a lot. And Petrini's does a lot of to-go orders.)
SEEDLADY	2012-01-19 12:17 PM
SLO just got a Habit, and after reading here how they make "the best" burger, I tried one. It was a couple steps above McDonald's. Certainly won't get another. Can anyone explain the disparity?
COMMENT 250141P	2012-01-19 03:28 PM
@SEEDLADY, that's odd, The Habit is usually very solid. This may sound gross, but I find that new restaurants, particularly those that do hamburgers need a bit of time to get their grills / flattops good and seasoned, read: greasy = flavor!