LA to Santa Cruz - Recs :)

High Street Deli in SLO for sandwiches

Aptos St BBQ in... Aptos for bbq

 

In Santa Barbra:

For breakfast or lunch...https://www.yelp.com/biz/crushcakes-and-cafe-santa-barbara

For lunch or dinner......https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/lillys-tacos-santa-barbara-2

In Capitola:

Down the Street from Sante's brewery, and super good!.....http://www.ajsmarket.com/restaurant

 

In the Santa Cruz area, I don't think there's a must-visit brewery besides Sante. Humble Sea gets a lot of buzz, but I'm in a similar camp as you -- it's a nice local option but certainly not worth making a special visit.

Lupulo has a really diverse tap list. You'll find plenty of NorCal stuff on there, and also places beyond (e.g. Jester King, even the occasional Side Project). A good spot to grab Cellarmaker and other cans as well.

Beer Thirty has a good tap list as well, and gets some cans that Lupulo doesn't (e.g. Moonraker).

FYI, Sante in Capitola (the only one open for in-person consumption at the moment) allows you to bring food from the outside (well, at least they did pre-pandemic -- I'm assuming that's still true?). A really nice feature if you're going to camp out there.

So I'll focus on a few places nearby:

San Marcos Charquito is very close by with better-than-usual Mexican food. They make their own bread for tortas, for example.

Surf City Sandwiches is quite good.

My personal favorite in that area would be Village Host Pizza, which is unabashedly American style pizza (not thin crust, loaded with toppings) but they do a great job and it's not overly salty.

 

Kind of random that Campagno's is a must hit for you. Its legit sandwiches one makes at home all the time.

In downtown Santa Cruz is Taqueria Los Pericos, best Mexican food in town by far, very authentic Al Pastor (the best).

Vasilis on highway 1 basically on your way to humble sea for Greek grubs.

Burger. has a pretty solid taplist most of the time, there is one in Santa Cruz and Aptos. Im not too impressed with their food though.

Beer Thirty is a must stop, great vibe, solid taplist, and cans TOGO.

I like New Bohemian brewing. they do lots of lagers and different styles you don't usually see. Good BBQ too.

 

The Mexican restaurant that best marries good food and cocktails is Copal (on Mission St), which opened this past year and specializes in Oaxacan cuisine. I haven't had their margarita, but I have tried other cocktails and they've been very good. Mole and other Oaxacan specialties are excellent.

Pizza and beer: my personal suggestion is to avoid Woodstock's at all costs. I think their pizza is abysmal. The best choice is to bring pizza to Sante. If you don't like that idea, then Mentone (whose owner is David Kinch of Manresa fame) may be your best bet if you like Neopolitan style pizza. They take their beverages seriously (especially wine and cocktails, but they usually have Sante IPAs in cans) and their food even more seriously. Surprisingly, I don't think there's a spot that excels in both. The other good pizza spots in town are Bantam (Neopolitan style) and Village Host (American style as mentioned above).

 

I wouldn't call Village Host high end, but I agree Bantam and Mentone are in a different class.

To me, Pizza My Heart is far better than Woodstock's and Upper Crust. And you can get reasonably decent beer on tap at the downtown location. The main reason I didn't suggest it is because there are so many locations in the Bay Area.

 

If you want your pizza minds blown and you like the deep dish crust, here’s what you have to do... it will take some planning.
1. Get Instagram (I know, I know)
2. Look up Pizza Pals pizza
3. Message them to order ahead of time.
4. Pickup is only available at the SARA SC Portal Friday 3-7pm.
* They tend to be sold out by Friday, so it does really take some planning. Looks like John might not be rolling in until Saturday though.

 

It’s still pickup and to-go only.

 

I moved out of Santa Cruz 5 years ago but back then our go to pizza place was Engfer Pizza Works for great pizza with a huge selection of quality can/bottled beers plus a few on tap. You may even be lucky and have a chance to play some ping pong.

 

Glad it worked out for your group. Mai Tai IPA on tap is certainly not the worst way to spend a warm evening outdoors!

 

No thanks needed!

 

@Dansac did you ever make the trip? Any highlights or surprises?