Vegan-friendly
Lacto
American
Organic
Fast food
Juice bar
Delivery
Take-out
Fusion
Honey
Acai and smoothie cafes founded 2010 in Santa Barbara. Menu also includes oatmeal porridge bowls and toast with avocado or almond butter. Beverages list includes coffee, kombucha, and bottled drinks. Has various vegan options but some of the milks including hemp milk contains honey, as may the granola- ask staff to clarify which ones are vegan friendly. Open Mon-Fri 7:00am-5:00pm, Sat-Sun 8:00am-5:00pm.
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331 Motor Way (at downtown), Santa Barbara, California, USA, 93101
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- Wheelchair accessible
- Accepts credit cards
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Last update on 18 Jan 2023 by Guest
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21 Reviews
First Review by missjen55
Vast
Points +422
Awesome Place - Edit
They have reasonable prices on a wide variety of smoothies and even make substitutions at no extra charge in my experience (sun coconut for banana). And they take cash. And very real people!
Read morePros: Price, Cash, Flexible and authentic
Guest
PerkyTrain
Points +218
Delicious - Edit
Great spot! Good portions for the price and overall delicious.
Read morePros: Lots of options, Good portions
Cons: Expensive
Guest
Queensnbeans
Points +1542
Great! - Edit
Friendly staff and tasty options - I’d recommend the avocado on toast!
Read moreGuest
MaryDenholm
Points +329
Great açaí bowls - Edit
I love that they have “pure açaí” so you can order without the added table sugar - sweet enough with fruit naturally sweetening it. The granola is the best I’ve had at a smoothie bar too.
Read morePros: Easy to veganize, No added sugars if you go pure açaí
Guest
madelinek
Points +2142
okay👍 - Edit
most of the items have honey or bee pollen but can easily be omitted…i was offered coconut nectar instead of honey so that’s nice:) had the anchor oatmeal bowl and it was okay..kind of just a bowl of oatmeal. portions are great for price in my opinion!it’s a good size bowl
Read moreGuest
anchorsawayryans
Points +60
Best açaí bowls - Edit
Highly recommend the green bowl with extra ginger. All bowls can be customized to be vegan and even add pea protein or cashew butter. A go to for us post workout 🖤
Read moreGuest
JeremyLaLonde
Points +573
Delicious and huge - Edit
Ridiculously generous portions for a great price. Fast fresh and delicious. And you can order ahead. I’m sad I won’t be here a bit longer to come more.
Read morePros: All vegan options, Great fresh ingredients , Great price
Guest
LemonMarty
Points +38
Great place for a breakfast/brunch! - Edit
Went to the place for a breakfast and we were not disappointed! Freshly made and all very tasty!
Read morePros: Yummy and lots of vegan option
Cons: Limited seating available
Guest
Womanek
Points +49
Fantastic! - Edit
Great bowls with easy-to-skip non-vegan ingredients😄My second trip to Santa Barbara, but my first time visiting Backyard Bowls. I can’t express how happy I am, that I came there😄The bowls are big, the ingredients are of high quality and it doesn’t matter, if you’re there for breakfast, lunch or any other meal - it won’t leave you hungry😄Also the people that work there are very friendly and helpful😄
Read morePros: friendly and thoughtful staff, good value
Cons: I'd like the place to be bigger
Guest
nstubler
Points +485
Dank Açaí - Edit
Super dank açaí bowls. I ordered without honey, and they added extra berries for free (also offered agave instead of honey). Skip the honey / better without it, and cruelty free
Read moreGuest
bripattt
Points +121
Smoothie Bowl Heaven - Edit
Lived in Santa Barbara for 4 years and didn't come here nearly enough! Their bowls are big and there are so many delicious options on the menu that it was always so hard to choose! They were very fresh and prepared with lots of care, and the staff here was always very pumped and friendly. My mouth is honestly watering now as I write this post... You won't be disappointed here!
Read morePros: Great portion sizes, Varied Menu
Guest
Pedropod
Points +174
Great little place for a smoothie or a breakfast/lunch bowl - Edit
Great little place. I tried the protein breakfast bowl - filling and nutritious and reasonable price.
Read moreGuest
Pips
Points +1596
Delicious Nutritious Bowls - Edit
I love this place. Perfect for a clean breakfast. Tasty, quick and nutritious.
Read moreGuest
ShantiPeace
Points +496
Tastee - Edit
Went for breakfast one day and had a perfect fresh bowl of oatmeal with a pile of fresh berries. No complaints, just a happy belly. Friend had a smoothie which she was obviously digin'. Had a taste, yum. Kind, helpful folk.
Read moreGuest
chrunchyAlien
Points +47
best smoothie - Edit
Yumyum just the best green smoothie(-->popeye) I've ever had
Read moreGuest
JonJon
Points +20621
Great brasilian stuff! - Edit
A perfect place for breakfast in Santa Barbara. The place offers a good choice of acai bowls, containing fresh fruits, icecream and cereals. Ask without honey and the servers to confirm that what you choose is vegan but there is a lot of vegan choices.
Read morePros: yummy acai bowls, healthy food, friendly staff, good portions
Cons: not fully vegan
Guest
pinkstephy
Points +53
Yummy!! Breakfast/quick lunch/snack Food - Edit
I LOOOOOOVE Backyard Bowls and honestly I don't eat here nearly enough for how good it is.
Read moreIf you like Acia bowls- you will LOVE this place!
A Backyard Bowl is a mix between smoothie/blender and an Acia Bowl concoction (originating from Hawaii I've heard) and it's PACKED with fruits, Vegies, seeds, goodness and totally yummy. kids LOVE this place too-you'll see a lot of moms + kidos around 3/4pm fueling up and grabbing healthy snacks here. I believe they have oatmeal and some cereal type options available on the menue as well.
I started eating here before I was Vegan and I know a lot of non-Vegetarians that are addicted to this place. It's also a wonderful spot to fuel up before or after a workout.
Although they have tables + chairs and a place to sit, its more like a coffee/tea shop environment. So I wouldn't plan a lunch date here unless your looking for informal.
Pros: Taste , Sweet & SUPER Healthy , Easy
Cons: Can get pricey if you go often
Guest
irlandaise
Points +149
Great for breakfast! - Edit
We tried Backyard Bowls for the first time today and were thrilled! Everything was made fresh and our bowls were delicious! I had the Ultimate Oatmeal Bowl (hold the raisins) with fresh strawberries and added coconut. My husband had the Spartan Muesli with strawberries, blueberries and banana. We both left feeling stuffed and energized - we'll be back!
Read morePros: Fresh and YUMMY, Friendly staff, Food came fast
Cons: Limited seating
Guest
vegboy2009
Points +86
Great breakfast place! - Edit
Cute little stop in the over-priced town of Santa Barbara. Very tasty and healthy foods to give you energy and enliven your body. Considering how expensive this whole town is, the prices are very reasonable. The location is a little hard to find, but in the age of the GPS, it's no big deal. The location is very convenient.
Read morePros: Super-healthy, Tasty., Quick service.
Cons: Due to popularity, VERY busy
Guest
m@earthville
Points +9620
A lot to love - and some room for improvement - Edit
There's a lot to appreciate about Backyard Bowls. It serves tasty, healthful food with original recipes. It makes a commendable effort to be ecologically sustainable. A significant portion of its ingredients are organic (and they're clearly marked on the menu). The prices are fair considering the ingredients. And there's no meat.
Read moreThe concept behind the menu is so unusual (and rather narrow) that i'd expect it would have a niche appeal, but when we showed up at lunch time the place was packed with a short line waiting to order, so it seems they're finding favor.
One thing to know before you go is that there's almost nothing hot on the menu (other than the "hot quinoa bowl" and maybe 1 or 2 others), and in fact most of the bowls are icy cold due to the frozen açaÃi that is the star ingredient at Backyard Bowls. We were shivering after our lunch and had to stand out in the sun for a while to get warm again. We both would be tempted to go much more frequently if there were more hot (or at least room temperature) items on the menu.
VEGANS BEWARE: Another thing to know is that nearly every dish has honey in two forms: the granola they use is made with honey, and they put a few squirts of honey on top. We specifically ordered our bowls "vegan, without granola or honey," and they were kind enough to offer to give us crushed almonds in place of granola, but after all that my bowl still got a squirt of honey, to my chagrin. Perhaps this might've been due to the essentially fast-food assembly line nature of the place, and maybe also because the restaurant is relatively young and may not have worked out all the kinks yet. One would hope that proper training of the staff in regard to managing special orders would eliminate this kind of problem in the future. Vegans should also note that some of the items contain yogurt. In general, the fact that virtually none of the items are vegan without making a special order (which may or may not be executed correctly) is a bit unappealing; hopefully this will also be corrected in the future as the menu expands. More completely vegan items would be a very welcome addition.
Those who favor raw food would likely be in heaven here (provided your body tolerates the cold açai), but to others it might seem more like a glorified smoothie joint, since the focus of the menu is essentially very thick smoothies served in a bowl with fresh fruit and toppings. Meal or dessert? You decide.
We hope they succeed and evolve!
Pros: Fresh concept, Some organic ingredients, Commendably eco-friendly
Cons: Could be more vegan-friendly, Almost nothing hot or warm, Limited appeal for full meals
Guest
missjen55
Points +16
AMAZING!! - Edit
I don't even want to share this place because it is so fabulous I wan't to keep it to myself. I am vegan and go through raw spurts every once in a while and my go to order is green bowl with almonds instead of granola, maca and bee pollen. Super nutritious, super good for you and under $10!
Read morePros: healthy, fast, delicious
Guest
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