An upscale Mexican restaurant in Santa Barbara

I love all kinds of Mexican and Spanish style foods.  It can be a local taco stand , a tapas bar or a fancy southwestern cuisine restaurant; I love them all!  This was my first visit to Cielito Mexican restaurant in Santa Barbara. The name Cielito means “a little bit of heaven” which is what you receive from their kitchen!   Their food reflects a range of culinary influence with recipes from Mexico City to Oaxaca and from Veracruz to Guadalajara.  The menu is expertly creative and the dishes are served with sophistication and style worthy of their contents.  

The decor and ambiance in the restaurant is divine!  From the high ceilings with it’s tin tile to the ocean colored glass seafood bar, the interior sights are beautiful.  The service was great even though they were busy, as it seems they usually are.  Reservations were not plentiful with a day or two notice which put us there at 8:00 PM.  We were seated immediately upon arrival so it is good to know they honor their reservation list.

I ordered a regular margarita sans salt and their Signature Guacamole made with avocado, onion, cilantro, Serrano chile, radish and queso cotija served with just-made chips and their homemade salsa.  It was delish!  Our table also started with a bowl of Sopa de Tortilla Oaxaca; chicken broth infused with pasilla and ancho chiles, avocado, goat cheese, baby kale and tortilla strips. The depth of flavor in the broth was superb, however I think the soup was lacking a little protein which would have been made better with the added chicken option.  

I found their menu quite interesting with many small bite items which I often prefer to a large main entree.  Our table selected three items to try.  An Antojitos (their term for small bites):  The Huarache de Hongos, a wild mushroom medley with burrata cheese, tres chiles salsa, crema and avocado served on a perfectly toasted house-made tortilla.  It was just the right amount for sharing as well as a full portion for one person’s entree.  The flavors all worked together beautifully creating a marriage of taste so complete that I almost forgot it was a vegetarian selection.  

The other two selections we tried were fish entrees.  Their Salmon a la Parillo was a miso glazed salmon served with velvety corn soup, poblano succotash and white truffle oil.  Their Pescado Especial was a delectable tamarind coated fillet of fish broiled to perfection served with onions & peppers, snap peas, radishes served over rice on a bed of spinach pesto and drizzled nut oil.  Yum!

The table voted the Pescado Especial as the #1 dish of the night!  All of this delicious food left us too full for dessert so we decided to stay in the region and move down the street to a tequila bar instead.  Next time we’ll have to start with dessert!