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Home in Soquel offers a variety of upscale dishes.
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15 Must-Try Places to Eat and Drink in Santa Cruz

Catch a new wave of restaurants, craft breweries, and cocktail bars

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Home in Soquel offers a variety of upscale dishes.
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David Kawananakoa, Edward Keli’iahonui, and Jonah Kuhio Kalaniana’ole brought surfing to Santa Cruz in 1885, three princes blessing the area with leisure and style. The city itself was only formally incorporated in 1866. But all the while, the area has been ripe with decadent seafood, gorgeous produce, and Indigenous communities including the Awaswas nation of the Ohlone people. Today the area is home to decades of doughnut history, like that found at Ferrell’s Donuts, and revamped restaurants, such as the new-and-improved Lugo di Como. For students, locals, and tourists alike, Santa Cruz remains a haven for outdoor recreation and plentiful eating and drinking. Any of these 15 restaurants, cafes, bars, and confectioners are happy to prove that point.

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Cat & Cloud Coffee

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This list is packed, and the ultra-charming botany vibes at 11th Hour Coffee need a shout-out — a particular favorite for pre-surfing energy — as does the first shop of the now-booming coffee company Verve. But the official pick goes to Cat and Cloud as it’s now synonymous with what Santa Cruz coffee can offer to the region and to the country: a business that touts inclusive practices and well-sourced coffee.

Humble Sea Brewing Co.

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Like the region’s famed surf breaks, craft breweries have become an integral part of the local landscape. Humble Sea stands out with exceptional New England-style IPAs; eye-catching graphics; and a pleasant, olive tree-shaded beer garden situated five blocks from the shore on the westside.

Courtesy of Humble Sea

Ferrell's Donuts

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NorCal is no stranger to exquisite doughnuts, but Santa Cruz has known what’s good since Ernest Ferrell opened the first Ferrell’s in 1949. This shop on Mission Street, not the first of the local outposts bearing the same name, is open 24 hours a day, meaning locals have gone to nab one of the 41 varieties before hitting the surf or the mountains for decades. Plus, a bear claw is only $3.50 — outrageous.

Donnelly Chocolates

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For almost 35 years Richard Donnelly has whipped up bonbons, pralines, and chocolate-dipped ice cream, including riffs on another local favorite Marianne’s Ice Cream. After all this time the chocolatier is still ideating, tackling chocolate mousse and baked goods for the first time.

Copal Restaurant

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Copal opened in summer 2020, delivering chef Ana Mendoza’s homestyle Oaxacan fare to the California coast, most notably in the form of moles — Mendoza is particularly known for her bold mole negro, gaining acclaim prior to Copal at pop-ups and festivals. Get it served with chicken or pork, or in tamales wrapped in banana leaf; and don’t miss the tlayuda, an Oaxacan favorite.

The Penny Ice Creamery

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Along with business partner Zachary Davis, former Manresa pastry chef Kendra Baker created a beloved local institution with this ice cream shop that features seasonal scoops made from scratch and served in homemade waffle cones. True to Santa Cruz ethos, Davis and Baker source ingredients from more than 40 local farmers and foragers for flavors such as strawberry pink peppercorn and cardamom coconut blackberry. Just be sure to top it with toasted marshmallow fluff. Find locations in downtown and Pleasure Point.

Birichino Winery Tasting Room

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Don’t let the flood of craft beer let you overlook Santa Cruz’s original drink of choice: wine from the Santa Cruz Mountains AVA. At Birichino — the Italian word for “naughty” — industry pros John Locke and Alex Krause produce lush, richly flavorful wines that showcase local vineyards and lesser-known varietals such as the warm-weather fave, malvasia bianca. The tasting room offers tastings on the sidewalk patio’s seven tables; book one in advance to be sure.

Courtesy of Birichino

Zoccoli's Delicatessen

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Zoccoli’s is arguably Santa Cruz’s favorite deli — rightfully so, after 70+ years serving custom-made sandwiches and house hoagies, like everyone’s favorite, the Mediterranean (mortadella, salami, prosciutto, and provolone cheese on a sourdough French roll with Italian dressing, olives and peppers). There’s a surprising number of vegetarian options, and hot and cold sandwiches all go for under $10, another reason to love it.

The Walnut Avenue Cafe

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Parents of teenagers headed to college are already familiar with this cafe, as it seems to always have a few families on their way in or out of the city enjoying diner coffee and an omelet. This downtown restaurant does breakfast and lunch like no one’s business and is still cranking out hits after almost 30 years in business. The vegan scrambles are worth a try.

Hula's Island Grill

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Having a robust outdoor dining option like this downtown Santa Cruz restaurant is a welcome option. There are more than a dozen seafood options, and the cocktails — such as the fruit punch and rum Hawaii 5-0 — are light and refreshing after a day of romping around the mountains. The jungle tofu bowl with plantains, peanuts, and the housemade “jungle curry sauce” (as eyebrow-raising as that name may be) is difficult to eat slowly.

Steamer Lane Supply

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This modern, seaside snack shack dishes up affordable, from-scratch, handheld meals across from Steamer Lane, the city’s most iconic surf break. A butcher paper menu lists Sharpie-scrawled items including salmon poke bowls, fresh fish tacos, and panini-pressed quesadillas such as the Break-A-Dilla with scrambled eggs, hash browns, queso fresco, and salsa verde. Nab one of the Adirondack chairs scattered among the park-like setting outside, or head to the benches overlooking surfers shredding massive swells.

Linda’s Seabreeze Café

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The Seabreeze Cafe, also known as Linda’s Seabreeze Cafe, is the kind of business with constantly rotating specials written in multiple colored markers on a whiteboard. It’s cash or check only, and dishes range from classics like Denver omelettes and blueberry pancakes to rarer items like a Tex-Mex breakfast and orange poppyseed pancakes.

Lago di Como

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This Italian restaurant has been a local favorite since it opened in 2011, but in early summer 2023 new partners came on and gave the business a major facelift. A handsome fresh coat of green paint and neon signs in Italian adorn the walls, but it’s the spaghetti with clams and roasted branzino that remain the main attractions.

Interior of a restaurant. Lago di Como

Pretty Good Advice

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Fleeing city life to tend to his Santa Cruz Mountain farm, chef Matt McNamara, former co-owner of San Francisco’s Michelin-starred Sons & Daughters, teamed up with other Sons & Daughters alums to open this casual breakfast and lunch spot in Soquel. The seemingly simple menu features homemade bread and ingredients sourced from McNamara’s farm in items such as fried egg sandwiches and sesame cashew brittle yogurt (there are burgers too).

Courtesy of Pretty Good Advice

Housed in a charming, early 20th century Soquel bungalow, this cozy and aptly-named restaurant features owner Brad Briske’s deeply flavorful cooking, which incorporates the bounty of local produce, meats, and seafood. In addition to an in-house butchery program that yields the restaurant’s beloved charcuterie, Briske is renowned for homemade pastas that’ll dazzle even the most noodle-jaded diners with dishes such as squid ink spaghetti with manilla clams, pork belly, and fermented chili miso.

Garrick Ramirez

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Cat & Cloud Coffee

This list is packed, and the ultra-charming botany vibes at 11th Hour Coffee need a shout-out — a particular favorite for pre-surfing energy — as does the first shop of the now-booming coffee company Verve. But the official pick goes to Cat and Cloud as it’s now synonymous with what Santa Cruz coffee can offer to the region and to the country: a business that touts inclusive practices and well-sourced coffee.

Humble Sea Brewing Co.

Like the region’s famed surf breaks, craft breweries have become an integral part of the local landscape. Humble Sea stands out with exceptional New England-style IPAs; eye-catching graphics; and a pleasant, olive tree-shaded beer garden situated five blocks from the shore on the westside.

Courtesy of Humble Sea

Ferrell's Donuts

NorCal is no stranger to exquisite doughnuts, but Santa Cruz has known what’s good since Ernest Ferrell opened the first Ferrell’s in 1949. This shop on Mission Street, not the first of the local outposts bearing the same name, is open 24 hours a day, meaning locals have gone to nab one of the 41 varieties before hitting the surf or the mountains for decades. Plus, a bear claw is only $3.50 — outrageous.

Donnelly Chocolates

For almost 35 years Richard Donnelly has whipped up bonbons, pralines, and chocolate-dipped ice cream, including riffs on another local favorite Marianne’s Ice Cream. After all this time the chocolatier is still ideating, tackling chocolate mousse and baked goods for the first time.

Copal Restaurant

Copal opened in summer 2020, delivering chef Ana Mendoza’s homestyle Oaxacan fare to the California coast, most notably in the form of moles — Mendoza is particularly known for her bold mole negro, gaining acclaim prior to Copal at pop-ups and festivals. Get it served with chicken or pork, or in tamales wrapped in banana leaf; and don’t miss the tlayuda, an Oaxacan favorite.

The Penny Ice Creamery

Along with business partner Zachary Davis, former Manresa pastry chef Kendra Baker created a beloved local institution with this ice cream shop that features seasonal scoops made from scratch and served in homemade waffle cones. True to Santa Cruz ethos, Davis and Baker source ingredients from more than 40 local farmers and foragers for flavors such as strawberry pink peppercorn and cardamom coconut blackberry. Just be sure to top it with toasted marshmallow fluff. Find locations in downtown and Pleasure Point.

Birichino Winery Tasting Room

Don’t let the flood of craft beer let you overlook Santa Cruz’s original drink of choice: wine from the Santa Cruz Mountains AVA. At Birichino — the Italian word for “naughty” — industry pros John Locke and Alex Krause produce lush, richly flavorful wines that showcase local vineyards and lesser-known varietals such as the warm-weather fave, malvasia bianca. The tasting room offers tastings on the sidewalk patio’s seven tables; book one in advance to be sure.

Courtesy of Birichino

Zoccoli's Delicatessen

Zoccoli’s is arguably Santa Cruz’s favorite deli — rightfully so, after 70+ years serving custom-made sandwiches and house hoagies, like everyone’s favorite, the Mediterranean (mortadella, salami, prosciutto, and provolone cheese on a sourdough French roll with Italian dressing, olives and peppers). There’s a surprising number of vegetarian options, and hot and cold sandwiches all go for under $10, another reason to love it.

The Walnut Avenue Cafe

Parents of teenagers headed to college are already familiar with this cafe, as it seems to always have a few families on their way in or out of the city enjoying diner coffee and an omelet. This downtown restaurant does breakfast and lunch like no one’s business and is still cranking out hits after almost 30 years in business. The vegan scrambles are worth a try.

Hula's Island Grill

Having a robust outdoor dining option like this downtown Santa Cruz restaurant is a welcome option. There are more than a dozen seafood options, and the cocktails — such as the fruit punch and rum Hawaii 5-0 — are light and refreshing after a day of romping around the mountains. The jungle tofu bowl with plantains, peanuts, and the housemade “jungle curry sauce” (as eyebrow-raising as that name may be) is difficult to eat slowly.

Steamer Lane Supply

This modern, seaside snack shack dishes up affordable, from-scratch, handheld meals across from Steamer Lane, the city’s most iconic surf break. A butcher paper menu lists Sharpie-scrawled items including salmon poke bowls, fresh fish tacos, and panini-pressed quesadillas such as the Break-A-Dilla with scrambled eggs, hash browns, queso fresco, and salsa verde. Nab one of the Adirondack chairs scattered among the park-like setting outside, or head to the benches overlooking surfers shredding massive swells.

Linda’s Seabreeze Café

The Seabreeze Cafe, also known as Linda’s Seabreeze Cafe, is the kind of business with constantly rotating specials written in multiple colored markers on a whiteboard. It’s cash or check only, and dishes range from classics like Denver omelettes and blueberry pancakes to rarer items like a Tex-Mex breakfast and orange poppyseed pancakes.

Lago di Como

This Italian restaurant has been a local favorite since it opened in 2011, but in early summer 2023 new partners came on and gave the business a major facelift. A handsome fresh coat of green paint and neon signs in Italian adorn the walls, but it’s the spaghetti with clams and roasted branzino that remain the main attractions.

Interior of a restaurant. Lago di Como

Pretty Good Advice

Fleeing city life to tend to his Santa Cruz Mountain farm, chef Matt McNamara, former co-owner of San Francisco’s Michelin-starred Sons & Daughters, teamed up with other Sons & Daughters alums to open this casual breakfast and lunch spot in Soquel. The seemingly simple menu features homemade bread and ingredients sourced from McNamara’s farm in items such as fried egg sandwiches and sesame cashew brittle yogurt (there are burgers too).

Courtesy of Pretty Good Advice

HOME

Housed in a charming, early 20th century Soquel bungalow, this cozy and aptly-named restaurant features owner Brad Briske’s deeply flavorful cooking, which incorporates the bounty of local produce, meats, and seafood. In addition to an in-house butchery program that yields the restaurant’s beloved charcuterie, Briske is renowned for homemade pastas that’ll dazzle even the most noodle-jaded diners with dishes such as squid ink spaghetti with manilla clams, pork belly, and fermented chili miso.

Garrick Ramirez

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