4 stars-could have been higher. We chose this on a...

4 stars-could have been higher. We chose this on a whim from a menu view strolling around downtown Santa Barbara. Wifey loves Italian. Will say up front service was exemplary, friendly, not too obtrusive, and responsive. Outdoor dining to comply with Covid restrictions. Meal began with delicious fresh crusty bread with olive oil and balsamic. Should have asked if they baked on site. Starter to split of Caprese salad.Three tomato slices topped with Buffalo mozzarella, atop large fresh basil leaves and drizzled with olive oil. The cheese was delicious but the tomatoes were quite hard and low on flavor. Unfortunate. My wife chose a dish with tubular pasta with bolognese sauce, her favorite. The dish looked and smelled great but the pasta, to our taste, was too al dente. Quite hard IMO. Now I will say that I think the kitchen would have replaced it if we had asked but time did not allow. Again, unfortunate.
I base my comment about the kitchen on the way they accommodated my menu choice. The menu listed a warm seafood salad of mussels, clams, calamari, shrimp, and scallops with a lemon white wine sauce. Sounded great. I asked the waiter about the size and he explained it was not entree size. He suggested they could make a double size. As I thought about it, he then told me the kitchen could convert this dish into a pasta dish, say with fettuccine. Perfect. And that s what it was, perfect. Delicious plentiful seafood, pasta cooked just right, and a very complimentary sauce held the whole dish together. I did not leave a speck in the bowl(bread sopped up that sauce nicely). Too full for dessert we left happy but wishing for just a bit better results. Recommended.