My wife and I celebrated a birthday at Blake's on a Sunday evening. It was not crowded at all, in fact rather quiet. We brought our own wine, and when the waitress learned it was a birthday she comped the corkage (normally 10$) and also a very good dessert. I had the prime rib, about 12 oz., a bit fatty (as all good prime rib is) but cooked just as ordered, and very good indeed. My wife had pork chops, so large she brought some home, and also very good. We shared a creamed spinach (everything is ala carte) which was just ok. This is a very good steak house, but probably not at the top of anyone's list. It's a bit pricey (most things seemed about 2 or 3 dollars more than they should be) and the service is not the best. It was slow, though there were few people in the place (I'd avoid it on Friday or Sat.), and though I heavily tipped the waitress because of the comping, she was somewhat grumpy, at least not effusive. Good, and suitable for an occasion, but not great.

This is the only restaurant on the somewhat rickety wharf going out into the bay in Capitola (Santa Cruz' wharf has many restaurants and way more parking). There are a number of land-based restaurants that also have views, but none in the bay itself and with this view. The food here is standard American, specializing in breakfasts, lunch sandwhiches and a seafood oriented menu in the evening. Prices are reasonable, the food is certainly decent if seldom exciting, and the decor is standard seaside. But the view is excellent and with good food and pretty standard service it's a good meal. One drawback is parking: there are only 3 or 4 places on the wharf to park (one handicapped) and parking off the wharf is sometimes chancey. So if you don't mind a bit of a walk for a nice comfortable meal, this is better than many of the other restaurants down in this area, called the Esplanade.

This is a small, nondescript cafe on the outskirts of the small, nondescript town of Freedom, near Watsonville. The attraction here is the decor, 50's funky, with lots of auto memorabillia (license plates, pictures of pink Cadillacs) and, in an apparent link to the 50's, to Elvis. It's small, drably furnished, with such eye-openers as a single washroom which includes a bathtub filled with rocks. The food varies (breakfast and lunch only): the egg dishes are pretty safe; a recent strawberry waffle was much too doughy; French toast on sourdough bread didn't work very well either. It's most a cafe for locals, not really worth a trip, unless you're dying to see hub-caps and pictures of old cars.

Sorry to report this is another closure, victim of the times. It's been replaced by a totally undistinguished taquoria.

This has been said several times, but the soups are the star of the menu here, mainly because they're unusual and very good. I too found the tripe dish (a version of tripe a la mode de la Caen) quite good, as well as being hard to find on many menus. The bread is super and deserves mention. The decor is 50's roadhouse, even with a counter to eat solo at. And it is always busy, so expect to wait. Once seated, in the rather dark and cramped building, however, the food and service are worth the inconveniences and the distance. Pescadero is convenient to nothing but the Pacific.

AS of January 2002, this is closed. It's been absorbed by the nearby Saturn Cafe

This is a very unique place. It's located in an old hot-dog building, has a half-dozen counter spots and tables for about 30 people under an outside awning. There's a review here that is detailed about the menu, so I won't repeat it, except to say the food is, well, curious. At first the taste is excellent, and the noodles are fresh, as are the veggies and whatever meat or fowl you choose. But it's very heavy (one portion is more than enough for two meals), you end up sharing and trading (which is not bad), and you feel sated quickly. It does seem like Asian street food, but without the lightness of those stands. It's a good, filling and quite inexpensive meal, esp. if you really like Asian food. But it's not quite the clean, separate flavors kind of food you get in a better Asian restaurant.

This is the worst restaurant in Santa Cruz, of any sort. No matter what you order, it will be greasy. Hot dogs are terrible (their specialty), fries are absolute inedible, burgers, any specials(they run all kinds of special priced stuff--they have to) are poor. I don't understand why it hasn't been stormed by an angry crowd.

It's hard to get to this place (the front entrance is up a long, long flight of stairs and the elevator in the back exits onto a badly lit alley), and that's probably a good thing, because this is a poor excuse for a restaurant in a town of good eating. Firstly, the service is ugly. After we complained about our meal at our last (in 2 ways) visit here, we were told to leave and don't bother to come back. They are snotty, while pretending to be Santa Cruz casual. The food is ordinary to poor. Best bet is at lunch where there are some hamburgers and other simple foods that they don't destroy. The rest of the menu is overpriced for the servings and quality. The one virtue of the place is that they have many beers on draft and though their prices are higher than other locales, the beer is good. But you can get a good beer in many, many places where they also servce decent food. Avoid

It's located in a strip mall on busy Mt. Hermon Road in Scotts Valley, has mostly booths, with an old fashioned counter, is open for all 3 meals daily, including a breakfast buffet on weekends, and I can really only speak about breakfast and lunch. But it's one of the great bargains in this area, and not a secret to locals. Meals are very reasonable (cheap), quite large portions, and surprisingly well cooked. For example, the hash browns are as well done(unburnt but crisp on the outside, soft inside) as any; the omelets are giant, and good. I especially like "Joe's" with a big portion of ground beef, cheese, mushrooms, and spinach. Their house special is eggs, hotcakes, and meat--for under 6$. It's just a fine breakfast. Lunches are equally filling, and, if standard, also good. The service is excellent, once you get by the rather grumpy young girl at the entrance, for the waitresses, if harried, are also helpful. Plain decor, but an old fashioned cafe that you might be more likely to find in the midwest.

This is a June 2000 update of my review of last September. For another occasion we went back to this, our favorite SC restaurant. And the only thing to report is that it's as good or better than my glowing review of before. Same excellent food (I had the rib-chicken combo, my wife the smoked pork chops this time), same fine service, special attention (no corkage on our special wine; my wife ordered a dessert, which they compd, learning it was our anniversary); same great bartender. The place is hard to beat--anywhere.

Don't you just love a reviewer who criticizes "pronunciations" (say what? by the waitpeople? racist! on the menu? Pronunciations??) then says "me voy, " which, for the poor twit, means "I'm going." Well, if she likes an Italian Denny's, so be it...

With a cat theme in everything, menu to decor, this is a favorite breakfast and lunch only cafe in an Aptos shopping center. The menu tilts toward breakfast items, and omelets are still being eaten at noon. The quality is above average in just about everything, the prices are very reasonable, the service is small-town friendly, with coffee and ice tea being refilled constantly. My wife recently had a club-type sandwich and soup for lunch, and the sandwich was so big she brought half home. I tried the rib-eye steak sandwich, which was cooked perfectly, and certainly a better cut of meat than is usual on such items. The fries are ok, but too limp for my taste. I'd go with the alternates: soup or a fruit cup. This is a nice restaurant, best for breakfast.

It's located right on the boardwalk, across the street from the rides and attractions, and so in the summer it's very busy, both for lunch and breakfast, and I think, but am not sure, for dinner during high season. My wife and I have had breakfast here several times (it's close to home and the location is always interesting) and we usually, but not always get a good meal. But we have run into the perhaps inevitable experience with a cook's first day on the job, and a poor meal. Also the service can be madly slow: it seems policy is to cook one table, start another and finish it up, start another, and so forth. Breakfast, as so often true in Santa Cruz, is safest. The daily specials are good, and the themed (ie, fruit, nuts) pancakes are very good. It's a nice place, fun to eat in, and generally worthwhile food.

This is probably the most popular breakfast spot in Santa Cruz and it is also quite popular for lunch. And, alas, I understand it. For it's a student's idea of great food and ambience, and that's like going to a place the truck drivers recommend. To me it's low average at breakfast and slightly better at lunch. But the students have a disproportionate influence in this town. The breakfast/house potatos are home fried, in turmeric, which gives them a yellow cast and a mildly off-curry taste; the eggs are ok, but how do you screw up eggs badly; the toast is usually cold, though the bread makes for a pretty good sandwhich at lunch. And the coffee is without argument the worst in town. The only juices are the politically correct Odwalla, and they have the equally p.c. chai. The service is student indifference, and the atmosphere student grungy. Yet--there are long lines on weekends, and almost always a good crowd on weekdays. Still--I insist there are many better breakfast restaurants in SC; for example, heretically for this town, I think Denny's is far superior in every way, including service, and cheaper too. Another SC peculiarity, I guess.

This place generally wins local newspaper contests for best breakfast in SC, which is an outrage, but which is understood by realizing that the large student population of the city skews every contest toward the mediocre and the left. The breakfast isn't "bad" but it sure isn't the best either. It's low average: they feature home fried potatos with turmeric and the resultant flavor is like pallid curry. The eggs are ok, but it's hard to screw up eggs. And the coffee is poor. SC is a very good breakfast town, and to me this ranks toward the bottom. But, the service is student oriented, student serviced, the atmosphere is old coffee house, and the prices are reasonable (although, Denny's or others through the city is cheaper and far better), and it's located right on the mall, south end, so it's a fun experience. Lunch is somewhat better, but again the sandwhiches are nothing extraordinary. How average is this place? Well, with 2 for 1 coupons for it, I'd still consider someplace else, especially if I were taking someone.

This is currently (11-99) the favorite downtown pizza place, always jammed on weekends and evenings and lots of week days as well. For that, typical pizza place ambience, with lots of SC's at loose youth. The pizza is good, though I think somewhat overrated. The crust is thin, unless you specify the thicker, more expensive, Sicilian style. Toppings are a bit unique. We just had the clam and sausage (Turf and surf here) and it was rather good because they do have a sure hand with cheeses. Take out is best, unless you like to eat in a din on paper plates and put up with shoving silliness.

This is another of the Santa Cruz area's crop of exceptionally good breakfast and lunch only cafes. There's a very large menu for these two meals, especially for breakfast. That menu features interesting omelets and egg dishes, but especially delicious pancake and waffles, with fruit, interesting toppings, and the like. It's quite reasonable, located a bit out of the way in a freeway close small mall (upstairs), and is larger than it seems from the outside. Very good, safe, comfortable.

We went there and decided to order three appetizers between us (my wiffe and I) as a light meal, with some wine. Two portions were good, but the deep fried calamari was all deep fry and quite inedible. To be fair, the waitress noted this, inquired, and took it off our ticket when we explained (the other two were filling enough). Nice location, friendly service, so-so food.

I agree with most of the near unanimous praise above. And, as above, I add the one caveat--the wait can be long, even without reservations. And if you ask for a window table, even longer. But the food, not traditiona tex-mex, but more seafood and different meats (ie, I had a fine lamb chili) is unique and excellent. Good service, once seated.