James Joyce

We had planned on ending our vacation evening in Santa Barbara with a few hours of fun with Karaoke at the James Joyce. The Karaoke owner ruined the night by having rules that permitted him and his regular customers to take over almost all singing for the night giving outsiders basically a lucky draw to even sing once. When confronted with this he basically argued and was belligerent regarding anything that challenged his favoritism. The manager Nick said that many people had complained in past weeks but the owner had not addressed it yet. The other company they used never had complaints he said. It ended with him asking security to remove our table with no explanation. Never again for you James Joyce.

This is just an all-around GREAT bar on State Street, Santa Barbara. A MUST if you are visiting and want to have drinks and listen to live music at a chill yet lively place. It's got a dose of dive bar to it with peanut shells littering the floor, and its casual atmosphere which makes it all the better in my opinion. Check this place out!

Authentic-looking pub with a dash of dive bar mixed in. Live music on the weekends. Locals, tourists, and students mix freely and effortlessly, the Guinness is good and there's a pool table. The pool and darts room feels a bit confined, but this only adds to the authentic vibe. Most Irish/English pubs I have visited barely have enough room for you to stand, much less play games. There's a bar in the front and back of the house and a small dance floor. Noisy, bustling, not a great first date place, but fun venue to hit with friends.