Esau's Cafe Reviews

We visit every year! The food is amazing and the employees are so nice! Try the Salvadorian coffee!

Awesome food that that exceeded my expectations. The food was cooked in inside the store. Friendly staff and well keep clean store.

Great meal near the beach. Two trains went by. Fun times.

Food was good but prices were up there just for breakfast ..

I got the Ortega burger lunch special. What puts it over the top is the love, like buttered and grilled bun.

Great place for breakfast. Small dinner feel. Eggs Benedict are great. Service is excellent. Can be a wait and a bit slow when busy.

Thought this was a great little breakfast and lunch cafe, just a couple blocks from the beach. Mostly a diner type of setting with counter service and some outdoor seating area both along the main street in front (which is good for people watching) and on a small private patio on the side. The breakfast was good, the coffee was good, and the service was good. Never had to wait for anything.

Best breakfast in town. Always our first stop in Carpinteria.

This place has a good old diner feel, perhaps a bit too old for some but it is adequate and doesn't quite fall into the sketchy range. Pancakes were delicious and the coffee was black as asked! Service was good, nothing standout. A little on the expensive side for carbs and eggs, but it's Carpinteria, no surprises there. Nice location within easy walking distance of the beach!

extremely overpriced for the quality of food. i bought a sandwich and it tasted horrible and made me feel extremely sick. i have no allergies.

I worked at Esau's for two summers and wouldn't recommend the experience to anyone. Not only are the kitchen areas unsanitary and there was a pest infestation most days, but employees are pushed and rushed. Once I burned my arm so terribly on the toaster I could smell my skin burning. I made $10 an hour, and when asking for a raise the following summer (of only .50) they said no. The first summer we were allotted 30min to eat but had to stay in the cafe. The next summer they got a new POS system and made us clock out for our lunch breaks. I know they are going to comment and say this note is a "scam" or "BOT." Don't let your kids work here. Don't support local if they can't support their employees. This is a negative comment and review. Don t blame your service and treatment of employees on a technological BOT.

Nice outside dining. Service was good. Good menu selection. But the food tasted just so-so. I was with a group, and several people gave similar comments.

Service was good food was terrible! Probably one of the worst breakfast I ve ever had and the coffee was straight from the gas station.

Esau's has always been a favorite of my mom's. We've gone there many many times. It's always delicious. French toast special. Celebrating my son's birthday. I'm reminiscing about when my mom was alive.

The ambience is that of an old diner/surf shop combo. The food is OK. I have not tried their "famous" pancakes though. Good portions. Street parking is probably hard to find during the high season.

Comfortable dining atmosphere with really friendly wait staff. Food is really enjoyable and is around the same price as everything else in the the Carpinteria and Santa Barbara area. The only downside is that it can take a little bit to get your food but it is worth the wait.

Definitely recommend the pozole that they have. A+ pozole

As always, great food and service at moderate prices. Linden Ave is a cool place to eat at Esau's then get in a quick window shopping morning.

Great breakfast, eggs, sausage & pancakes, good price on the special.

Good homestyle cooking with larger portions; medium prices.

Good down home breakfast, good coffee, service was a bit slow, but I wasn't in a hurry.

We love to eat here when we are visiting carpenteria. Many of the servers have been here for a long time and their portions are great.

At this place is good and people her is nice and and the food is so so good and I love it

this restaurant is the perfect little Beach Town Restaurant! It has constant videos playing of surfers and lots of surf memorabilia inside the restaurant. It is very laid-back and the food is always fresh and delicious! And the service is always fantastic!

Good service, meal a notch above Denny's, and plenty to eat.

First time here and loved it. Asked for extra spicy and was sweating. I was surprised how fast we got our food. Highly recommend.

Service and atmosphere get 5 stars... but the food was horrible IMHO. I'm a serious omelette connessiuor and this was one of the worst omelettes I've ever had. Also, STOP refilling my coffee without asking me! I appreciate the generosity, but you're ruining the taste of my coffee & cream mix... also I can't keep track of how much I've drank.

Pretty bad breakfast. Pancakes were burnt, home potatoes are reconstituted and burned on the grill. There was a piece of thick plastic in the eggs...salsa was not fresh. pretty low quality ingredients all around for medium priced food. Go to Slys for about the same price

Bacado omelet is the best! Always our first stop when we return home to Santa Barbara! Great food, friendly service, good prices and a short walk to the beach!

I've been coming here since I was a kid. Hands down one of the best breakfast houses under the sun! No way you leave here hungry. Seriously you won't be unhappy if you stop by.

Love Esau's. As a long time SB resident I followed Esau's from State St to Chapala St. And was disappointed when they left SB. I was delighted to have Esau's back in my life. Due to COVID-19 limited seating but felt save and place was clean. Same large portions and great food. Also, I love that they will never let you to the bottom of your coffee cup, a mark of a truly fine diner.

Eggs Benedict was delicious! My go to spot in Carp!

Great food. Friendly down home surfer family atmosphere. 2 blocks from the beach. Homemade jam and biscuits!

Delicious and really nice people. Highly recommended.

Dishes/silverware were NOT clean, some had crusty old food on them. Restrooms are horrendous. But the food was pretty good, best clam chowder I've had in a long time, I liked their chowder more than the chowder I had in the Fisherman's Wharf in Monterey CA.

The fish was overly cooked and the coleslaw had no dressing on it.

Wonderful food and service. Husband enjoyed his chicken fried steak and I loved the pasillo relleno omelet. So delicious!

This place is "a famous" local spot. A good deal of people really like it.
I think it is good. Sever was very nice. Good came in a short time. Took a while to be seated and the food was ok for me.

Esau's has been a Carpinteria favorite for as long as I've been around. Their food is excellent, portions are large, and the wait staff is always welcoming and friendly.
They have handicap available parking in the public lot, which is about a half a block away. There's also Street front, non handicap, parking.
If you happen to run across this restaurant while visiting, you will make a point to eat here on all your future visits, it's that good.

Historic Carpinteria breakfast place. Always jammed on the weekend mornings and sometimes weekdays. Summers it's popular with the state park campers and seasonal visitors, but still popular off season with locals. The energy level is high in a quaint old California way. Prices have gotten higher, due to the popularity. Only one or two items still below $10.

Delicious food, rich roots in the community, reminiscent of an old surfers cafe..a fun place to eat on Carpenteria!

Owner scott is very rude. Can tell that he does not like his employees just by the way he talks to them. Wouldn t go back

Stunning breakfast place by the beach side. Delicious food. Tried banana walnut pancakes with hash browns. Coffee was decent.

Wow what a burrito. The walk away burrito was incredible

First stop of our week long surfing safari trip. Perfect choice. Quintessential small surfing town breakfast joint. Nothing fancy but great atmosphere, friendly service and good food

It was ok, service was super slow. Had to go ask to get menus after wait for them. I wouldnt go back.

The portions are huge, the wait staff is really friendly, and the pancakes are killer. Yeah, you ll find spots a little cleaner, a little more up-to-date, and certainly more expensive... but none with the local cache that Esau s sports.

Omg, excellent food, friendly, plenty of staff, coffee always filled, clean, wonderful

the beans were out of this world fantastic great service

Great value for money, good food and very friendly staff - ideal place to start the day with a good breakfast!

Two outdoor patio seating areas with nice ambiance and umbrellas for shade. Good food. Friendly service. Extensive menu. So many more choices than we're accustomed to seeing in this time.

I stopped in here for breakfast on my way to the beach. Great location to the beach lots of ample parking at least during these times. Services good nothing exceptional but the food is worth the stop indeed! I have the chicken fried steak the hash browns were dark golden I'm outside very good on the inside and fully cooked gravy on chicken fried steak was exceptional you can tell it was made in a beef base. The chives and bacon on top of the chicken fried steak really Set It Off. They had homemade boysenberry jelly which I had on sourdough that was delicious in every fashion overall great place and I can't wait to go back

One of my favorite places. Any time I am traveling along the Santa Barbara coastline I try to plan a stop at Esau's.

Fantastic food and great service. Very busy but they handled it well. The Chile rellano omelette really is that good!

Love this place. Great food, great staff, family owned. Went to 3 other places in town for a breakfast burrito - Esau's had them both on their menu and on the Specials when you walk in. Got a Special to go and it was perfect. Not sure why I would go anywhere else from now on.

Excellent, we are here today's in a row because it is consistently so good. My favorite is their turkey Reuben and their omelets.

Excellent food and service. Biscuits and gravy were outstanding as was the breakfast burrito. Outdoor eating felt safe and inviting.

Excellent food, exceptional staff! We'll be back for sure!! Thanks Taylor!!

Go hungry! Look for humongous cinnamon rolls. Great burgers!

Great breakfast burrito served by a very attentive wait staff in a charming diner with a surf inspired atmosphere.

Very nice outside patio and inside dining too. I had the BLT, very good and served with crunchy FF
Big breakfast and lunch menu, closed for dinner.