For a neighborhood, design-savvy getaways, San Franciscans normally look north to Napa and Sonoma. But ninety minutes south of the town, Santa Cruz has been quietly redefining a fashion as soon as dictated via a scruffy mix of surfers, students, and unfastened spirits. Today, the laid-again seashore metropolis exudes a creative new strength, exemplified by utilizing the subsequent hip spots.
Best Restaurants in Santa Cruz
Jack O’Neill Restaurant and Lounge
Named after the legendary surfer and stacked with memorabilia, antique images, and surf artwork, the oceanfront Jack O’Neill Restaurant participates in the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program and embraces its sustainability standards. The seasonal menu is focused on coastal cuisine and combines natural local produce and meat with freshly stuck seafood. Chef Ken Drew, who has also cooked for former president Bill Clinton, serves circles of relatives-fashion dishes like tsunami prawns with spicy tomato-garlic and cheese-ale polenta and poke bowls of Canadian salmon and ahi tuna.
Since 2012, a Chez Panisse alum has been firing up delicious Neapolitan pizza with a bubbled crust and a pleasant char. Salads and starters—like the little gems Caesar and better-than-it-sounds pig’s head fritters—shouldn’t be overlooked. The good-looking, open area flaunts colorful recycled wood, antique lamps, and antique-school reggae grooving overhead.
The Kitchen at Discretion
It’s now not just the award-prevailing, natural ales that need to trap you in Discretion Brewing. Chef Santos Majano works magic from a two hundred rectangular foot kitchen, churning out beautiful, composed plates of farm-driven dishes that might spoil local beer drinkers. Majano has worked in kitchens like Healdsburg’s former two-Michelin-starred Cyrus, and it indicates. He confits chicken wings for his Chicken & Waffles and lays them over buttermilk waffles studded with bacon and pecans and drizzled with spiced honey.
Food Lounge
Clued-in diners gather in a garden patio strung with lights at this convivial venue. A weekly lineup of portable restaurants pairs food with Santa Cruz wines and draft beers, such as Tanuki, a killer bottle-conditioned cider made with apples from Fogline Farms. You’ll also locate events, including live ukulele and singer-creator showcases.
Oswald
Oswald is a mainstay downtown, a town-savvy eating place with a fantastic bar and a localized version of California cuisine. Enjoy comforting fare, such as mushroom bread pudding at dinner and fried chicken and waffles at lunch, and make certain to check out the rotating collection of nearby art. // 121 Soquel Ave., oswaldrestaurant.Com
SNACKS + COFFEE
Companion Bakeshop
While you were in line at Tartine, you failed to recognize that could ever be lacking out at the efforts of other, additionally-splendid bakeries. Companion Bakeshop, known for its hearty loaves—commonly made with sourdough starter—won a neighborhood following from CSAs and farmers’ markets before beginning its permanent location on the Westside. Come early for the morning lineup of pastries, including buttery ham and gruyère croissants, rich tea desserts, and a proper pour of Blue Bottle Coffee.
Penny Ice Creamery
This famous-from-day-one institution certainly produces one of California’s handiest ice creams from scratch. True-tasting flavors like Honey Ginger Apricot and Meyer Lemon Sorbet alternate with the season and feature the vicinity’s meal manufacturers. There are two locations, but we like the trendy bolt-hole in Pleasure Point, a neighborhood with a SoCal surf metropolis vibe.
