Rodney's Steakhouse- SANTA BARBARA, CA

Rodney's Steakhouse is located in the Fess Parker Doubletree in Santa Barbara. It's claim to fame according to their website is that they are Santa Barbara's first honest to goodness steakhouse. While I can't verify their claim, we did have the opportunity to eat here recently.

One of the things that really impressed me about Rodney's is their service. We put in a reservation about 2 hours prior, which they gladly accepted. Upon arriving at the restaurant we found that our table was already set up for us along with a high chair for Baby Chicken Fried. They made us feel like they were expecting us and they were very friendly.

The servers were always smiling and always made us feel at home. So impressed was I by the service that I feel bad about what I am going to say about the rest of our dining experience.

The decor of Rodney's is 60ish, Art Deco with spiky star sculptures coming down from the ceiling. It was also well lit and didn't have the subdued lighting I usually encounter in steakhouses. The place was very bright and airy.


I ordered the Bone-In Ribeye steak, Medium, which is my usual order. Hot on the heals of my review at Mastro's I wanted to compare the two. I wish I could have been more satisfied with this steak however, it had a burnt crust and the level of doneness was not consistent throughout the steak. In some areas is was extremely juicy and flavorful, those were the areas that were either medium to medium rare, in other areas the steak was tough and had very little flavor. Those were the areas that were either well-done or burnt. Also the cut and quality of the beef was not up to par, the marbling was uneven with huge areas with lots of fat, and other areas devoid of any. This made for a very inconsistent steak experience. Also the crust was not seasoned very well and was quite bland. I had to drench on the steakhouse butter in order to elicit any flavor from it at all.

For dessert we had the Apple A La Mode which had soft nicely cooked apples topped by Phyllo Dough and Vanilla Ice Cream. This was probably the best course of the night.

Again with the excellent service, I was a little bit put off by the quality of the steak. It may have been an off night that night, and just on the merit of their service I would give them another try in the future.

Rodney's is located in the Fess Parker Doubletree at
633 E Cabrillo Blvd
Santa Barbara, CA 93103
805/884-8554
www.rodneyssteakhouse.com