Location is ideal, food is good, pricing is reasonable and generally the service is good, when not full. Staff cannot handle a full house during dinner. Very disappointed in the service. Always the same result. We were a party of 2, 6:30 pm reservation, our...waiter bypassed us for 15 mins when we were clearly ready. Instead he serviced the 2 tables of two on either side of us first and they sat down after us, still messing with their menus. Those tables also had 3 other staff attend to them, yet we had no one. We then waited another 15 mins for drinks and an appetizer, then another 30 mins for our main meal. Needless to say, by then an hour had gone by, we had to request our meal to be boxed up to go b/c we had to be somewhere else. The cost of our meal was $118. I left a 10% tip only for the beach scenery & the lousy service allowed me more time to talk with my son who I hardly see. We ended up having to reheat our food and eat it later, sans each other’s company and it wasn’t all that great by then. Had things gone right, we should been served, ate and out of there in about 60-75 mins. They don’t serve dinner until 5 pm, and they book fast, so that doesn’t leave much time before an event, service is too slow. For eating dinner, the establishment is best for when there is nothing else planned, the evening is not time sensitive or after an event; not everyone wants to eat at 9 pm. Either they need to hire more help or train/educate the current staff on better service & timing. Other than the bad service time at dinner, the place is good. Haven’t been there for breakfast and lunch is good, usually not busy. Dinner is always busy & booked up, staff can’t handle it. I only recommend going for dinner if you have time to wait. Pricing is reasonable and by that I mean, it’s high in comparison to what you get, but the bill is cheaper than other restaurants. Other places you expect can pay 2-3x more.More

I called in an order of oysters for takeout and the lady who took my order was very sweet and helpful. However, when I pulled up to the parking lot, the main lot was closed off. There was a line of cars that wasn't moving...and that I hadn't been told about. I called the restaurant regarding how to get my food, just to have my question repeatedly interrupted and told- they know there's a problem with their parking lot, it's not their fault/ problem, be told that I will be able to get my food in the end, and then be hung up on! And they were right! I finally got my order of 1/2 dozen oysters. In addition I got to sit in a parking lot for 30 minutes waiting to park so I can eventually pick up my order (which would take about 5 minutes at any other restaurant). At home I opened the box and found that all of the ice was melted (bc the lot isn't their problem and apparently neither is taking care of the customer's order until they are able to pick it up). The water had gone through the box flooding the bag and the oysters. (I'm not the best at preparing oysters but I'm pretty sure that they aren't supposed to be drowning in fresh water when served). As a local- I will not be returning to or recommending this restaurant.More

Price is way to expensive for the minimal flavored food. Fish and chips were 3 small prices of extra crispy fish, no flavor. Waitress never came to see if we needed refills, or to see how per food was. My mother asked for the fish...taco sauce to be placed in the side..... Of course they placed it on the tacos. When we told the person who served us our food (not our waitress) he said he would get our waitress. She never showed, except to give us our bill towards the end. I had to walk to the bar and get a refill on my coke. Never received a thank you or was even asked if we wanted anything else.More

First off, waiting for a breakfast table here is very enjoyable if you are a dog person. If you order a coffee to-go from the bar, grab a seat on the bench near the restaurant, not only will you be near the ocean, but you...will be able to watch loads of cute pups roaming around on their leashes. Once our table was ready, we were seated, on the patio with an oceanfront view, and scanned a QR code to view the menu. We ordered the chilaquiles and we were not disappointed. We have had high expectations with this dish and The Boathouse on Hendry’s delivered! Also, if you need to use the restroom, there are public restrooms near the restaurant that you can use.More

From start to finish, everything was highly enjoyable about this visit. First of all, it's a beautiful setting right on the beach. Second, the service was very very good. Third, the food was not only delicious, but nicely presented. My friend ordered the chicken salad...and I ordered a crab Louie salad. Instead of being all mixed together, each ingredient was placed in its own space in the bowl, so you could mix or not as you chose. And they did not skimp on the crab. The presentation of the salad mixings was so attractive that people at another table asked us what we ordered so that they could order the same. No matter if it's during Covid times or not, there is usually a lonnnnggg wait for tables (1-2 hrs), so you may want to rethink dinner or lunch time. The Boathouse does not take reservations.More

My SO and I came here for dinner and would say our experience was average as best. Given the hype and ambience (and price) we had higher expectations for the food quality. They were understandably busy so we let pass that it took nearly 40min...to get us 6 oysters. The scallops and risotto dish was underwhelming, although advertised as seared they were clearly steamed. The cioppino was decent but compared to others the sauce was bland and thin, portion was adequate. Drinks were decent and the view is nice if you make it before sunset. All in all, we wouldn’t return.More

I think this was the best cioppino I have ever had. An extra-large bowl of rich, spicy broth, with plenty of clams, mussels, shrimp, scallops and fish, plus a large crab claw to top it all off. Cioppino can be hit or miss, but is...always pretty expensive. This was no exception In terms of price, but at $25 It was a bargain. Wow. We also had the fried calamari, which was excellent. We had to get our meal to go, and everything was carefully packaged and stayed surprisingly hot. Service was very friendly and efficient.More

Obviously, during covid restriction times we can be a bit lenient as to expectations, however, if I am going to an upscale restaurant I expect to be able to use the restroom and not the disgusting, public beach one, especially when Costco and other restaurants...around SB allow you to use their inside restrooms. This is pure laziness on the Boathouse's part and ruined the dinner experience. Dinner was good but our server was not very attentive and seemed to be rushing us out. Dessert was not offered and once the plates were cleared the check was dropped off immediately. The busboys were very nice and I wished they had been our waiter! We did really enjoy our table on the sidewalk closer to the beach. I had to laugh when the menu was on their website and you needed to pull it up on your home, however, they readily brought you 2 drink menus that you could handle. Would not recommend.More

This is literally a must stop on every visit to Santa Barbara. In addition to being one of the rare actual ocean views while dining, and I mean super scenic views. They also hit it on all cylinders on the atmosphere, service, the cuisine and...drinks. While a sea side place suggests seafood, and they have it. Some of the Mexican entrees ring superior. I’ve had a few of the breakfast and lunch offerings. But the chilaquiles here are bar none the best I have ever had, and I’ve tried it at many places. I literally savor these. Drive hours to have. There is very little downside to this place. But, You will have to wait. It’s not atypical for 30 mins to an hour and parking can be very limited. Part of the “at Hendry’s beach” bit. The public beach is great on it’s own, has a dog beach. Nice sandy level beach there for a leisurely walk. Water is great. If you’re waiting on a table, you could do a lot worse to make the time count by enjoying a beautiful beach stroll. Folks seem to like to drink here. I recall only sampling one or two adult beverages in the last 5 years of going here. But they have special drinks, even for breakfast, and a complete happy hour menu too. They offer inside and outside dining. The wait for outside is often very long. Reservations are usually only available during the week, so, wait. But it will be worth it. Don’t show up hangry is the point here and you will have great food and a beautiful view.More

After driving for 6 hours we decided to stop for dinner with a local friend in Santa Barbara. Having been to the boathouse before we thought it would be a great place since we could walk our buddy Samy leashfree on the beach prior to...dinner and just have a relaxing dinner before hitting the road to LA. We called and were told there were no reservations but it wasn't too busy at that time (6pm). Arriving 10 minutes later we were told it was a 20 minute wait for indoors and less for outdoors. It being overcast and the extra time for a dogwalk prompted us to chose inside. 20 minutes later, we arrived and were told it would be a just a bit longer. We waited while multiple groups were seated outside. At no time were we asked if the wait was going to be extended, would we like a outside table? Finally at 7:30pm we were seated!! The food was not bad, Cioppino a bit too spicy, the dried out crab leg did not add any glamor to the dish, fish an chips were average, and ceaser salad average. Service was good but needless to say after waiting 1.5 hrs this place would have had to excell to remediate our delayed return trip. It did not!! I would recommended The boathouse as a very casual average beachy cafe. It would help to have front of house staff trained not to tell people the wait is 20 minutes when it is actually 90 minutes!More

We came here as we wanted to take advantage of the ocean view and the restaurant and we were impressed. I ordered the seafood omelette which was fantastic and full of flavor. My husband and daughter ordered the beautiful and tasty French toast while my...youngest order a child’s pancake which was very fluffy. I would definitely come back as we enjoyed the atmosphere, the food and outstanding service.More

The place is very rundown and not clean inside. We ordered pancakes which were soggy and undercooked. My order of potatoes were cooked with onions & bell peppers and the vegetables they cooked the potatoes were rotten and smelled awful. The server never came to...ask as how our food was or if we needed anything. The bathroom had a puddle of water right int he center and were not clean. Please don't waste your money or time to eat here. If you want to walk on the beach it's nice but the restaurant isn't worth the money. The host would not allow us to sit close to the windows to have a better view from the indoor because we were a party of three and she was saying it's only for 2 people even though they had several tables open.More