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University of California - Santa Barbara - Off-Campus Dining - Off-Campus Dining - College ProwlerCollege Prowler3.85

Off-Campus Dining

B+
Where does this grade come from?View all Off-Campus Dining rankingsReview this school to add your opinion

Comparable Schools' Off-Campus Dining Grades:

Quick Stats

Student Favorites
  • Café international
  • Freebirds World Burrito
  • The Pita Pit
  • Rosarito’s
  • Silvergreens
  • Supa Cucas
  • Woodstock's
24-Hour Dining Freebirds World Burrito
Best Asian Pick Up Stix
Best Breakfast
  • Bagel Café
  • Café International
  • Cajun Kitchen
  • Rosarito’s (breakfast burrito)
Best Healthy
  • The Natural Café
  • Silvergreens
Best Pizza
  • Giovanni's
  • Woodstock's Pizza
Best Wings Dublin's
Best Place to Take Your Parents Hollister Brewing Company
Other Places to Check Out
  • Fresh Start
  • Palazzio
  • Sushi Teri

Student Author OverviewWhat's This?

This tourist city has anything that you might crave—and then some. In Isla Vista, go to Freebirds for 24-hour Mexican food or Woodstock’s for unique pizza concoctions that everyone loves. Cantina is the best for breakfast burritos—even locals like Brad Pitt know that. Students enjoy the variety and the quality of restaurants in Isla Vista. There are good Mexican and Italian places in abundance, and plenty of spots to get good sushi. It is also easy to find a restaurant that serves healthy food, like Silvergreens.

Goleta, the city that encompasses Isla Vista, features a couple of good restaurants, such as the Habit, a good and greasy hamburger and milkshake place, or the Natural Café, an inexpensive and healthy restaurant. Santa Barbara, which is about a 10-minute drive from campus, has what seems like a million restaurants to choose from. A good place to go for a dinner that’s under $25 a person is the Palace Grill on the Harbor. This modest list just scratches the surface of all of the great restaurants to try, but the downside is that Santa Barbara is very expensive. You can get away with less than $10 for dinner in Isla Vista, but plan on at least $20 downtown.

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UC Santa Barbara Student ReviewsWhat's This?

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Off-Campus Dining at University of California - Santa Barbara

aarlover20

Geography '14

2.3
C

Isla Vista Food

Isla vista food is really expensive and really not that great, this is what is bad about UCSB.

May 14, 2012

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Off-Campus Dining at University of California - Santa Barbara

ACarrillo

Physics '15

5.0
A+

Food Galore and Delivery Whenever You Want

In the college community, Isla Vista, there is many places to dine that offer delicious food. Whatever you are in the mood for you will find and in relative close proximity to the school. There is: Dogtown, a delicious Hotdog eatery, Freebirds, Mexican food open all night and day, Woodstock's Pizza, Subway, and Dominos, just to name a few. They're relatively cheap and also offer the option of delivery to your dorm any day of the week until 2am. Besides these places there is the UCen whose food courts contain Panda Express, Subway, Dominos, and a Jamba Juice.

May 05, 2012

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Off-Campus Dining at University of California - Santa Barbara

SuzyDaisyQue

Psychology '13

4.6
A

BEAUTIFUL, Affordable, Friendly

Being on beach-property, the off-campus places in Isla Vista are pretty reasonable (400-600 per month per person).I literally go to bed everynight listening to the lulling sound of the waves. Del Playa is pretty noisey so don't expect to get much studying done. However, the further you go away from campus and the beach, the quiter it gets. There are greek houses scattered everywhere. Keep in mind that UCSB is a party school, with hundreds of party-goers coming for Halloween every year.

Apr 27, 2012

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Page 1 of 16
User rating for University of California - Santa Barbara - Off-Campus Dining is 4.6 out of 5 based on 47 user reviews.

Student Survey Poll ResultsWhat's This?

Rate the off-campus restaurants on the following topics

How would you rate the diversity of off-campus dining options?

Facts

Did You Know?
  • The Web sites www.nippers.com, www.diningsantabarbara.com, and www.santabarbara.com have many good Santa Barbara restaurant reviews. Despite Santa Barbara's population, there are hundreds of restaurants to try.
  • A version of Shepherd's Salad was invented in Santa Barbara. In fact, you can meet Mr. Shepherd at his farmer's market stand on Saturday mornings.
  • Anything called "local's favorite" or "Santa Barbara style" will include avocado and sprouts.
  • Every year, Goleta has a lemon festival, Carpinteria has an avocado festival, and Oxnard has a strawberry festival.
  • The owner of Freebirds is cousins with Kinko's founder Paul Orfalea.
  • SBMenus.com is a convenient way to order food online for delivery or takeout The Isla Vista Food Coop provides locally grown natural and organic food to the residents of Isla Vista and neighboring communities.

Grocery StoresWhat's This?

Albertsons
7127 Hollister Ave., Goleta
(805) 968-3558

Isla Vista Market
939 Embarcadero del Mar
(805) 968-3597

Trader Joe's
5767 Calle Real, Goleta
(805) 692-2234

Vons
175 N. Fairview Ave., Goleta
(805) 683-8764

Restaurant ListingsWhat's This?

Bagel Café
Food: Bagels and coffee
6551 Trigo Rd.
(805) 685-7114
Price: $1-$5
Cool Features: Good bagel melts and sandwiches

Brophy Brothers
Food: Seafood
119 Harbor Way
(805) 966-4418
Price: $10-$20
Cool Features: Great view overlooking the water.

Cajun Kitchen
Food: Breakfast and Creole
6831 Hollister Ave.
(805) 683-8864
Price: $8-$15
Cool Features: Louisiana-style cuisine

Cajun Kitchen Café
Food: Breakfast and Cajun
1924 De La Vina
(805) 687-2062
www.cajunkitchensb.com
Price: $5-$10
Cool Features: Coupons offered online

The Cantina
Food: Mexican
966 Embarcadero del Mar
(805) 968-2862
Price: $5-$10
Cool Features: Best breakfast burritos

China Pavilion - Montecito
Food: Chinese
1070 Coast Village Rd.
(805) 565-9380
Price: $10-$20
Cool Features: Trendy atmosphere

Deja Vu
Food: American
966 Embarcadero del Mar
(805) 968-8888
Price: $2-$8
Cool Features: Delivery service

Freebirds World Burrito
Food: Mexican
879 Embarcadero del Norte
(805) 968-0123
www.freebirds.com
Price: $5-$8
Cool Features: Huge burritos, all-you-can-eat contests

Giovanni's
Food: Pizza, pasta, sandwiches
6583 Pardall Rd.
(805) 968-2254
Price: $5-$10
Cool Features: common meeting place

The Habit
Food: Hamburgers
5735 Hollister Ave.
(805) 964-0366
Price: $3-$7
Cool Features: 100% lean meat, bread baked fresh daily, milkshakes use real ice cream, fries made with 100% vegetable oil

Javan's
Food: Sandwiches, grill
938 Embarcadero del Norte
(805) 968-2180
Price: $2-$5
Cool Features: $2 hamburgers

The Natural Café
Food: Sandwiches, salads, soups
5892 Hollister Ave.
(805) 692-2363
Price: $5-$10
Cool Features: Healthy

The Palace Grill
Food: Cajun and Creole
8 E. Cota St
(805) 963-5000
Price: $10-$20
Cool Features: Great food without pretense; tamborine-playing dancers perform while guests wait to be seated.

Sam's To Go
Food: Subs
6560 Pardall Rd.
(805) 685-8895
Price: $3-$8
Cool Features: Outdoor patio great for people-watching

Silvergreens
Food: Salad, soup, sandwiches
900 Embarcadero del Mar
(805) 961-1700
Price: $5-$10
Cool Features: You can order smaller portions of combined menu items (half & half and threesome orders).

Sushi Teri
Food: Japanese Grill and sushi
909 Embarcadero del Mar
(805) 685-4822
Price: $5-$15
Cool Features: Take-out

Woodstock's
Food: Pizza
928 Embarcadero del Norte
(805) 968-6969
Price: $5-$15
Cool Features: Cinnabread

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Most Recent Student Author View all

Name
Michael Cooper
Hometown
Danville, CA
Major
Sociology/Sports Management minor

College Prowler is seeking talented student authors to assist with writing and updating the College Prowler guides to their schools. This is a great opportunity for a student to gain experience and tremendous exposure, utilize new media techniques, and share advice with high school students about what life is really like at your college.

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How do we get our information? Find out here or report an error here. The statistics on our site are from the National Center for Education Statistics IPEDS database.
We update this information twice annually, most recently in May 2012, but it may not be the most recent information available for a particular school.
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