Brass Bear Brewing Bistro

Santa Barbara has a ton of al fresco dining. The Brass Bear offers a small but delightful menu and plenty of beer offerings, all focused on a very comfortable and inviting setting. Plus, parking is at a premium in Santa Barbara's oddly named Funk Zone. But Brass Bear has plenty of parking as it sits near the Garden Street lot. The service was friendly. But the burger and chicken sandwich were just so so. Not bad, but we really hoped for better. We will return and try the beers and give the menu another shot.

I had a cheeseburger. Supposedly grass fed. It was dry and tasteless. Zero flavor. The bag of cheap chips you get with the food taste better than the 15 dollar cheeseburger . Skip this place. There 's waaaaay better all over that area. This is one of those places that is teaching us to keep expectations low. People saying this place is good, are employees.....or, just have no taste.

If I could give the Brass Bear a 10/5 I would. If you are thinking of hosting a private event or wedding reception here, DO IT. We had the time of our lives hosting the wedding of our dreams here last weekend. The location is intimate, the food is delicious, and the drinks are on point. Most importantly though, the staff are extremely helpful and accommodating. Our original wedding venue went out of business and with two months to spare, we got in touch with Seth, the owner, to see if they could host 100 people. I asked if we could move thing around to our liking and texted him multiple times throughout the process, he was extremely responsive and helpful. Then on the day of the wedding, Seth and his wife Lindsey were there every step of the way to help our crew with setup and tear down. The wait staff could not have been more awesome and they worked their butts off to make sure we were fed, had drinks in our hand and were having a good time. Thank you so much for hosting us for the wedding of our dreams.

Parent and kid friendly place. The food was yummy and healthy. The back yard patio is connected to a parking lot that’s serving bowls downtown and the beach. Parking is Paid parking. It was very busy on this Sunday in June 2022; Father’s Day. The beer and the wine valley flashing. It was great to hang out and watch the kids being entertained in that little playpen outside.

Steak skewers were tender and juicy. Would definitely have ordered more but the pasta salad filled me up! IPA was cold and was super refreshing with a smooth hoppy flavor while keeping crisp. Would still drink it on a hot summers day.