Opal Restaurant and Bar

OMG. This is one of those rare places where I eat every single piece of food on the plate. We came here on a Saturday night for a bachelorette party before hitting up the bars/clubs on State Street.

After making a reservation, we were warned that this was a family establishment and the planners of our group assured them we would be well behaved (in fact, we ran into two other bachelorette parties dining there before hitting the town!).

Service: Upon arrival, we had to wait a few minutes for them to get our table ready. Throughout our dining experience, our waiter was attentive, ensuring we had everything we needed and that we were enjoying our food. Even upon our departure, the waiters throughout the restaurant thanked us for our patronage.

Wine: They had a very large wine list and even suggestions for which wines to pair with their various entrees! We had a wine guru (seriously, her job is all about wines) with us, so we let her choose a red and white for our table of 10. Unfortunately, her first choices for the both a red and white were unavailable! Her second choices were lovely anyways.

Food: Almost everyone ordered something different, but we all came to a common consensus -- everything was delicious! I ordered the Lemongrass Crusted Salmon with Thai Curry sauce. The salmon was cooked perfectly, the curry sauce was delicious, and the basmati rice did an excellent job of soaking up all those left over juices! I don't think you can go wrong with anything on the menu. Just from what I cam remember: some ladies got the steak, one got the Vegetable Napoleon, one got the salmon special, one got a pasta dish, and another got a spinach salad with bacon wrapped prawns! A "Like Water for Chocolate" dessert was ordered for our bride-to-be and was presented on a plate saying, "Happy Bachelorette Meghan!" It seemed to be a white chocolate mousse of sorts (?) coated in a hard dark chocolate shell, accented by a raspberry sauce. Tasty, and not overly sweet!

Venue: This is a lovely restaurant with two rooms. They seated us in a nice half booth area. We had to squeeze a bit, but we were comfy. The lighting is dim and romantic (Oo la la!). Definitely a great date night or special occasion restaurant! Also -- clean bathrooms!

Cost: Our bill was quite large for a table for 10, including wine and dessert. However, entree prices are reasonable considering this is an excellent white tablecloth restaurant with wonderful service and delicious food.

If I were ever in the area with an excuse to splurge on an amazing meal, I'd definitely come back!

Thanks again for making the night wonderful for our group and the lovely bride-to-be!

I love Opal. Brought my mum and sister here for dinner tonight, because I was so impressed the first time I went. Paul, our waiter, was very helpful, funny, and sweet. And you can't beat the price for the amazing food. I definitely recommend the lemongrass-crusted salmon and the grilled chicken scallopini (incredible). Lovely ambiance, great service, definitely my new favorite SB restaurant. I will be back!

I went on a family trip to Santa Barbara and we went to Opal the first night we were there for dinner. It was a long time ago, I don't remember everything I had, but the Shredded Phyllo Wrapped Tiger Prawns was so memorable. It was amazing, this is coconut shrimp for the fancy!