Aldo's Harbor
Restaurant 616 Atlantic Ave, Santa Cruz, CA
831.426.3736
Slapping-fresh seafood and hearty breakfasts. When it’s cold everywhere else, this sweet harborside institution with the sunny deck is just right. When it’s too hot the umbrellas come out, and when Aldo’s serves dinner (starting Memorial Day weekend), so do the heat lamps.
Betty Burgers
505 Seabright Ave, Santa Cruz, CA
831.423.8190.
Why the long lines on the weekends? Must be the generous burgers slathered with “secret lube” that this newish Seabright stand serves up with bacon, cheese, guacamole and anything else a burger-lover might desire. Shoestring fries or onion rings accompany. Betty also serves exotically flavored shakes (like blackberry) made with local Marianne’s ice cream.
Charlie Hong Kong
141 Soquel Ave, Santa Cruz, CA
831.426.5664
Open daily from 11am to 11pm, this spicy treasure specializes in huge flavors for cheap prices. Singapore street food meets pan-Asian fusion in a menu full of rice bowls and noodle soups.
Crepe Place
1134 Soquel Ave, Santa Cruz, CA
831.429.6994
Sweet and savory crepes and the famous Tunisian donut. Lush plants, twinkly lights, cool arbors for really hot days and heaters for chilly nights have made the Crepe Place—now a major indie music venue—a favorite outdoor dining spot for years. It’s also dog-friendly.
Crow's Nest
537 Seabright Ave, Santa Cruz, CA
831.429.1856
With Pilsner-Urquell and Fat Tire Ale on tap, wood fires burning in the free-standing oven and ping-pong in the side room, Engfer Pizza Works is a place to kick back and savor yet another reason why we live in Santa Cruz. Where else is your order customized by friendly folks into something you might have cooked up for yourself, or the pizza brought to your table by the guy who just made it?
Leo's Taco Bar
1710 Brommer St, Santa Cruz, CA
831.465.1105
If you’re out near Pleasure Point and suddenly you and your soccer team find yourselves ravenous but short on cash, then by all means head on over to Leo’s Taco Bar, where the plates are gigantic and the prices are low.
Lillian's Italian Kitchen
1116 Soquel Ave, Santa Cruz, CA
831.425.2288
We started with prawns diavola and ended with decadent cannoli. In between we feasted on home-cooked Italian food, Jersey-style. A vibrant neighborhood haunt with no pretensions and plenty of gusto, Lillian’s Italian Kitchen has come into its own. Read review here
Linda’s Seabreeze Café
542 Seabright Ave, Santa Cruz
831.427.9713
On any given day the menu and specials board at Linda’s Seabreeze Café are chock full of delicious treats: the Orange Poppy seed pancakes, Seabreeze Spuds, the Tex Mex Scramble and of course the cinnamon rolls, cooked in a muffin tin to give them a crisp, flakey exterior and soft, doughy interior. Of everything on the menu, though, the item that might serve as the best indicator of the governing ethos at Linda’s is the Mickey Mouse pancake. It’s the tip-off that eating here is less like being in a restaurant than like being a kid again and waking up for breakfast at your best friend’s house.
Linwood's at Chaminade
1 Chaminade Lane, Santa Cruz, CA
800.283.6569
Without a doubt Linwood's supplies one of the dreamiest, most soothing, positively Ligurian views available in Santa Cruz. The sapphire bay, dotted with white sails, all unfolds beyond the rolling green lawn and stands of eucalyptus adorning Chaminade.
Real Thai Kitchen
1632 Seabright Ave, Santa Cruz, CA
831.427.2559
Even though its original founders are gone, Real Thai Kitchen is still capable of creating authentic dishes laced with the enduring flavors of chili, basil, ginger and garlic.
Seabright Brewery
519 Seabright Ave, Santa Cruz, CA
831.426.2739
Coastal brewpub. Burgers, clam chowder, grilled eggplant and red pepper sandwiches plus the brewery's assortment of microbrews.
Star Bene
2-1245 E. Cliff Dr., Santa Cruz, CA
831.479.4307
An authentic Italian restaurant that draws its menu from the owner's and chef's roots in Italy's Calabria.
Rock of the Sea
3910 Portola Dr, Santa Cruz, CA
831.464.1104
Cantina-style Mexican restaurant has a small outdoor section that faces the street. Patio sometimes plays host to live music.
Tony & Alba's
817 Soquel Ave, Santa Cruz, CA
831.425.8669
Inventive pizza specials are supplemented by pastas, soups and salads.
