The good news: Chefs all around Santa Cruz County have channeled their creative powers into crafting special menus to please both the palate and the pocketbook. Three courses, with three different items to choose from, multiplied by 31 different restaurants. That’s a delicious math problem.
The bad news: Many of these seasonal treats will be around for seven days only, during Santa Cruz Restaurant Week.
Who’s participating? Some restaurants are coastal landmarks popular with both locals and tourists, such as Gilda’s, the Crow’s Nest and Margaritaville. Others are neighborhood treasures that draw diners from around the county, like Tramonti, Sugo and La Posta. Some, like Rosie McCann’s, Obló and Mozaic, are part of the economic ecosystem that makes downtown Santa Cruz a destination for those in search of late-night entertainment.
Among the participants are eateries that have been around for decades. Gabriella Cafe, marking its 32nd anniversary, was created by owner Paul Cocking 32 years ago: “I saw the building and bought myself a job. Others are fresh faces, like Dos Pescados in Aptos and Hook and Line, both seafood-forward eateries marking their anniversaries in mere months.
For the next seven days, hometown folks and visitors alike can explore the culinary landscape, visiting favorite hangouts or trying something new. We talked to many of the participating chefs, and we’re sharing some of their comments on these pages.
But in short, all share one thing in common: a focus on produce grown in local soil, fish harvested from local waters, and meats from local butchers—as well as kitchen staff and managers with deep roots in the community. Stop by and say hi.
To see menu details and make reservations, visit santacruzrestaurantweek.com.
Back Nine Grill and Bar
Chef Ben Krajl learned something important from the pandemic: when supplies were hard to find, he was happy to make everything in-house. He’s excited about sharing truly housemade tastes—even the breading for the coconut prawns and the fresh-cut potato skins—with new diners.
He’s pulling out the stops for Restaurant Week, as the restaurant on the golf course is celebrating its 10th year. His specials include his “go-to” Chinook Salmon with lemon zest compound butter. He’s also keen on the flatiron steak, a tender piece of meat with little fat, a red wine demi-glace served with oven potatoes and broccolini.
For the $35 lunch he has an outlaw burger, barbecue chicken salad or a mahi mahi sandwich with his own wasabi aioli and whiskey glaze. Appetizers include coconut prawns and a very special artichoke souffle. For dessert, berry cobblers with cornmeal crust topped with Marianne’s vanilla ice cream, peach crisp, or a gluten-free tort. And, he reminds us, there are gluten-free options for each meal.
Bruno’s Bar and Grill
Joanne Guzman, co-owner: “We want to showcase the things that people love about Bruno’s. We’re gonna be doing our wings. They’re super popular—the salt-and-vinegar English-style wings—and also our mango habanero wings. And our Brussels sprouts—those are a big hit. And then our pear gorgonzola salad. Those are the appetizers we’re offering. For entrees we have the salmon from our regular menu—it’s in a lemon beurre blanc sauce—and our ribs, with three different sauces to choose from. And then we did our Surf and Turf, because that’s one of our specials that people really love. Steak and prawns, mashed potatoes and sautéed vegetables. For desserts, we picked two of our most popular ones, and for the third, my husband always makes, every week, a different type of bread pudding—so he’s doing a raspberry chocolate with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce. It’s good stuff.”
Gabriella Cafe
Paul Cocking, owner: “We’re doing some of our more popular items. Brussels sprouts are very popular, and our Caesar salad is another choice—our Caesar dressing is uniquely delicious. Some people are afraid of anchovies, but we put anchovies in there, which is not only authentic but a little tastier. People say that it’s the best they’ve had. We’re stuffing a kabocha squash with shiitake mushrooms and cashew nut cheese—that’s been very popular. We’re also doing it alternately with a vegan, gluten-free mole sauce. The fish this time is going to be a local yellowtail, which I personally like a lot. Nice to have a local fish on the menu. The duck confit is something you don’t see on a lot of menus. And then our desserts: chocolate torte, panna cotta, apple cobbler. We have a dedicated pastry chef, which a lot of restaurants are avoiding now and buying their pastries frozen from food companies.”
Hook and Line
Santos Majano, chef: “I’m excited to do Restaurant Week. We are a new restaurant, six months into it. My sous chef and I were like, ‘Let’s do something fun, let’s create something delicious and seasonally inspired, and let’s play with the theme. The market greens salad was inspired by the farmers market—Happy Boy, Blue Heron Farm, all those greens, with shaved radishes, shallot vinaigrette. The rockfish is local; we source from Real Good Fish and Ocean to Table—those are our two choices to go for seafood. It should be nice, fresh fish from our local waters. And that’s who we are, that’s who we represent. And we also have the squid with fried rice—that’s a very fun, simple dish, fresh herbs. The Moroccan spiced quinoa with sweet potatoes—that should be a fun dish for a vegetarian. Of course, you want to finish up the meal with something sweet and delicious. Pumpkins are in season, so why not do pumpkin cake?”
Hula’s Island Grill and Tiki Room
Francisco Cervantes, general manager: “We’ve been in Santa Cruz for a while now, over 15 years. We’re excited to bring back for our Restaurant Week menu some of the old items which were fan favorites in years past, and we have newer items that we might add to our regular menu. We used to have a habanero lime chicken taco—those guys are coming back. And we’re bringing back the Mongolian beef bowl—the yellow curry sauce was delicious. We’re also trying some new items. We have Maui onion soup; we’re gonna see how it does. If it goes well, we might add that to our actual menu. For our desserts we brought back the Ohana Pie and Lilikoi Pie, which are staples, but this year we have a coconut layered cake; that guy’s real tasty. Layers of white cake with cream cheese frosting and oven-roasted coconut chips.”
Izakaya West End
Geoff Hargrave, chef and owner: “We want people to come in and see something new. We recently changed concepts, so it’s kind of important to do that. So we’re putting some effort into Restaurant Week this year. Our first course is a spicy vegan sesame broth known as tan tan broth, or two pork belly bao buns, or hamachi sashimi. Course two, there will be teriyaki-cured pink salmon over rice; it’s like a rice bowl with many accouterments. We have our ramen bowl—miso ramen with cured pork belly, enoki mushrooms and soft-boiled egg—and we’ll have a vegetarian option with tofu. Then the third is fried chicken—that’s with cornbread, mesquite smoked butter, sesame green beans and a spiced maple syrup. Typically we don’t have desserts, but for Restaurant Week we will have an ice cream mochi flight (green tea, black sesame and strawberry), a chocolate pot de crème and an ice cream sandwich with vanilla ice cream and sesame seed cookies.”
Jack O’Neill Restaurant and Lounge
Gus Trejo, executive chef: A standout feature of Jack O’Neill Restaurant at the Dream Inn is that it sources ingredients from local farms and fisheries. Gus Trejo says, “This one’s going to be savoring the local flavors. We’re supporting those micro farms that are rooted in sustainability and protect our watershed. I’m searching the best micro farms from Big Sur to Pescadero.” For Santa Cruz Restaurant Week Jack O’Neil Restaurant offers a three-course dinner that includes a choice of harvest salad with citrus vinaigrette or harvest soup with morning harvest vegetables. One entree is a Pacific “Gracie” Catch with heirloom beans, fennel and turmeric stew, rainbow chard, with crisp garlic chimichurri. Beef short ribs come with butter whipped potatoes, braised greens, jus, horseradish crème fraiche. Or there is Chickpea Stew, with flatbread, harvest vegetables and saffron rice.
Laili Restaurant
Xander Nicolai, general manager: “For Restaurant Week, we chose a selection of dishes that represent the heart of Laili’s culinary identity. Our appetizers, like the kadoo boranee and Mediterranean plate, offer a vibrant and flavorful introduction to the fusion of Mediterranean and Afghan influences that define us—rich in texture and layered with spice and freshness. The entrees, from the tender chicken kabob to the savory pomegranate eggplant, showcase our dedication to balancing bold, comforting flavors with refined, high-quality ingredients.
“Finally, our desserts, including the cardamom creme brulee and flourless chocolate torte, reflect our passion for creating indulgent, memorable endings that perfectly complement any meal. These selections capture the essence of our restaurant, where tradition meets innovation, and each dish tells a story of flavor, culture, and over 14 years of dedication to our craft.”
Laughing Monk Brewery and Gastropub
Matt Laughlin, general manager: When he took over as general manage, Matt Laughlin says he knew all about the great bar food and the 20 different beers on tap, but he was blown away by the sense of community at this Scotts Valley neighborhood pub. “It’s where you come on a date night or where you come to host your kid’s birthday, or anything in between.”
Laughlin says, “Our community has asked us for a menu with seasonal differences, and we listen to what people want. I heard person after person talk about how much they missed the Brussel sprouts we used to serve. Brussel sprouts are kind of in season so, we put sprouts back on the menu with a little twist, we do them in Honey Sriracha.”
For restaurant week Laughing Monk will have the best in bar food with fish and chips, tacos, crispy chicken sandwich, a pesto pasta, burgers or Beyond Burgers and their smoked Gouda burger, two smash patties with smoked gouda and red caramelized onions.
Lillian’s Italian Kitchen
Chris Moreno, chef: “We’re proud of our eggplant parmesan—it’s my grandma’s recipe and it sounds so traditional Italian, but the way we do it, it’s one of my favorite things on the menu. Arancini has been a staple for us, and everybody loves it. I have to bring arancini home to my neighbors all the time. But you know … I will be more stoked on the specials that we’ll be offering. My brain, I get in the kitchen and I do different stuff every night. It could be vongole, it could be chicken cacciatore—we’re going to have our servers let our Restaurant Week customers know that whatever our special that night is will be available for them as an entree. You never know what we’re going to come out with on any given night. It could be an appetizer special or an entree special, or it could be both.”
Makai Island Kitchen and Groggery
Chelsea Holmes, executive chef: “We just launched a new menu that I created two weeks ago. One of our specials is our tacos—sweet Shanghai-style braised pork topped with Korean cucumber salad on a fluffy bao bun. They are fantastic. For soup or salad selections, we are running our brand-new chicken tom kha soup. It’s got kaffir lime, a coconut milk base, shrimp paste and chicken thighs—it’s like happiness in a bowl. It’s so good. One of the specials for Restaurant Week only is vegetarian hot and sour soup with egg and tofu. I always try to do something that’s vegetarian for Restaurant Week. One of the main highlights is we have a new green curry halibut. We cook the halibut skin side down in a pan, simmer it in the green curry sauce with vegetables, and then we serve it with the skin off. It never gets tough. And it comes in fresh every day.”
Mozaic
Jay Dib, owner: “We are Mediterranean with a Middle Eastern flair. The three-course dinner starts with a choice of three appetizers. We have grilled prawns, and we have a classic hummus with pita bread, and the third one is homemade dolmas—vegetarian. As main courses, we have sustainable farm-raised salmon, which comes with rice and sautéed vegetables. We have grilled chicken breast on skewers—chicken souvlaki—with rice and sautéed vegetables along with Greek salad. And the third dish will be lamb shanks, bone in, with rice and sautéed vegetables as well. For the dessert we have baklava and pistachio pudding. It’s a flan style flavored with rosewater and orange blossom and topped with honey and salted pistachios. That’s a very popular item on the menu. It’s a signature dessert that Mozaic offers. … We have a full bar and we have a belly dancer every Friday. We thank the locals for their support for the past nine years. And we want to have the exposure to people who haven’t tried us.”
Pete’s Fish House
Desmond Schneider executive chef: “We are offering modified dishes that represent our current season’s menu. We are additionally offering supplemental caviar options for a few of the dishes and giving the diner the option to pick and choose their courses from the options we are offering for Restaurant Week. We wanted to include dishes that have been favorites since we opened—kanpachi crudo, sautéed mussels, tiramisu—and also showcase some items that will reflect our change in season moving into the fall: a butternut squash bisque for a starter, and a halibut ballotine entree.”
The Point Kitchen & Bar
Erick Gonzalez, general manager: “We feel that our Restaurant Week menu is truly an incredible deal. We will feature dishes like ribeyes, scallops and pastas. Normally our ribeye and scallops plates go for $42 on their own. Basically giving them away so we can showcase to new customers. Everything is house-made from our dressings, and sauces, to our sides.
“Our 12oz ribeye is our best-selling entree and sprouts are our best-selling appetizer. Many customers believe we have the best polenta, which is made with three different cheeses. We have salad, soup, meat, seafood, vegetarian option, dairy-free dessert. I think we have every type of customer covered with the nine featured items.”
This week’s entrees include ribeye, pan-seared scallops and butternut squash gnocchi. Appies are a BLT chopped salad, soup and crispy Brussels sprouts. Desserts? Sorbet with berries, creme brulée and New York–style cheesecake.
“Last year was a huge success, biggest week for us of the year.”
Riva Fish House
Chelsea Holmes, executive chef: “For the appetizers we’re offering a personal-sized order of the cheesy garlic bread—with or without crab. Or we have a crabcake appetizer. And we’re also offering an oyster trio, which is one of each of our oysters: guacamole, Rockefeller and diabla—all broiled. For the soup or salad we’re offering a cup of chowder or one of our salads. Also, for Restaurant Week only, we’re going to run a yellow coconut curry chicken soup. For entrees we’re going to offer cioppino, and our surf-and-turf tacos—shrimp, prawns or veggie. But we are also bringing back our Land and Sea Plate, which will be a grilled six-ounce New York with a three-prawn skewer topped with chimichurri, served with house-made mashed potatoes and garlic-butter vegetables. I think that’s going to be the winner.”
Seabright Social
Keiki McKay, co-owner: “We chose the Chanterelle Mushroom Pinsa, as Jon Bates, partner and general manager, is an avid mushroom forager and is traveling this week to the Oregon coast to forage for mushrooms. This special pinsa is only available during Restaurant Week due to the seasonal availability of the chanterelles. Pinsa Romana is similar to pizza. It is a flatbread that originated in ancient Rome and is known for crispy edges and soft interior. The dough is made from a combination of soy, rice and wheat flour, which makes Roman Pinsa low gluten and a much lighter and easier to digest alternative to traditional pizza.”
Sevy’s Bar and Kitchen
Ken Drew, chef: “Since Restaurant Week happens at the same time every year—autumn—I use it as the transition point from our summer menu into more of a fall/winter menu. Because of that, our ingredients will change to match the season. During Restaurant Week, we typically use more seasonal products—cranberries, carrots, butternut squash, pears … more earthy flavors. Before the year’s end, we always update our restaurant menu to include many dishes that were successful during Restaurant Week.”
Tramonti
Luca Viara, co-owner and founder: “We just switched to the updated menu for the fall/winter, so we included some of those dishes for Restaurant Week. … For the seasonal appetizer we have a French onion soup. My business partner Eric [Taillan] is French and I’m Italian—we have a lot of influence from the two sides of the Alps. The burrata, which is something that we always offer, is with roasted heirloom beets instead of the caponata that we serve for the summer. We also have as an appetizer our meatballs and polenta, which is probably one of the most sold dishes. It’s usually a main, but we decided to do a smaller portion. Regarding the main, we will have gnocchi pasta served with a lamb ragu; this is only for Restaurant Week. We have a ling cod—delicious fish, very hearty for winter. We get it locally. And then we have a pizza with porcini mushrooms. But in the case of Restaurant Week we serve it with fresh shaved black truffle. … In addition to panna cotta and sorbet, for dessert we have the tiramisu…we cannot take it off the menu—people would protest.”
Venus Spirits | Beachside
Steven Patlan, chef, Venus Beachside: “We just added the kale salad to our menu on the Beachside, which we’re sharing with Westside for Restaurant Week … organic baby kale from Bay Farms with candied pecans and feta and a lemon poppyseed vinaigrette and some apples. I’m trying to use as much fruits and vegetables from the season—apples, pears, persimmons, pomegranates and figs. … The Manhattan filet and the cacio y pepe—those are new dishes that I’m creating exclusively for this Restaurant Week. Cacio e pepe—a really nice, comfort humble pasta dish—has fresh cracked peppercorn, Parmigiana regianno imported from Italy, bucatini pasta, pecorino romano. My rendition has a Parmesan nage, which isn’t really traditional but I think it will help elevate the dish and make it a little creamier. The steak we’re offering is a Manhattan filet—it’s the center of a New York steak, the best part—with crispy duck fat potatoes. We’re going to be serving that with broccolini and a sherry demi-glace that Carlos is sharing from the Westside location, so I think it’s going to bring the whole dish together.”
Venus Spirits | Westside
Carlos Perez, chef, Westside: “You’ll be able to see a little bit of our styles [from both locations] during Restaurant Week. Our theme [on the Westside] is elevated comfort food. We have shrimp and grits: some really nice, creamy white hominy grits that we serve with sauteed vegetables—collard greens, sun-dried tomatoes, sweet peppers—and Andouille sausage that we get from Neto’s Sausage, and some beautiful cajun-style shrimp. For appetizers, the lamb lollipop is going to be an old-school, traditional lamb with a romesco sauce and a mint herb oil. The scallop appetizer is one of my favorite ones—a Hokkaido scallop that sits on top of a vanilla corn puree that is a play on a Mexican esquite salad, so it’s going to have charred corn, cotija cheese, Aleppo peppers and micro greens. Really nice, really vibrant.”
Zelda’s on the Beach
Jill Ealy, owner: “We often use Restaurant Week to highlight our best dishes or specials that we are considering adding to the menu. This year we are doing both, with our very popular cioppino and summer’s best-selling special, halibut risotto. We also wanted to ensure guests had the option to taste our homemade coconut cheesecake and bread pudding.”
All Restaurant Week Participants
Back Nine Grill and Bar
555 Hwy. 17, Santa Cruz, 831-226-2350, backninegrill.com
Bruno’s Bar & Grill
230 Mt. Hermon Rd., Ste. G, Scotts Valley, 831-438-2227, brunosbarandgrill.com
Crow’s Nest
2218 East Cliff Drive, Santa Cruz, 831-476-4560, crowsnest-santacruz.com
Dos Pescados
21 Seascape Village, Aptos, 831-662-9000, dospescados.com
Gabriella Cafe
910 Cedar St., Santa Cruz, 831-457-1677, gabriellacafe.com
Gilda’s Restaurant
37 Municipal Wharf, Santa Cruz, 831-423-2010, gildas-restaurant.com
Hook and Line
105 Walnut Ave., Santa Cruz, 831-225-0434, eathookandline.com
Hula’s Island Grill and Tiki Room
221 Cathcart St., Santa Cruz, 831-426-4852, hulastiki.com
Izakawa West End
334-D Ingalls St, Santa Cruz, 831-471-8115, westendtap.com
Jack O’Neill Restaurant & Lounge at the Dream Inn
175 West Cliff Drive, Santa Cruz, 831-740-8137, jackoneillrestaurant.com
Kianti’s Pizza and Pasta Bar
1100 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz, 831-469-4400, kiantis.com
Laili Restaurant
101-B Cooper St., Santa Cruz, 831-423-4545, lailirestaurant.com
La Posta
538 Seabright Ave., Santa Cruz, 831-457-2782 or 831-457-9782, lapostarestaurant.com
Laughing Monk Brewing and Gastropub
262 Mount Hermon Road, Unit 103, Scotts Valley, 831-226-2870, scottsvalley.laughingmonkbrewing.com
Lillian’s Italian Kitchen
1148 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz, 831-425-2288, lilliansitaliankitchen.com
Makai Island Kitchen & Groggery
49A Municipal Wharf, Santa Cruz, 831-466-9766, makaisantacruz.com
Margaritaville
231 Esplanade, Capitola, 831-476-2263, margaritavillecapitola.com
Mozaic
110 Church St., Santa Cruz, 831-454-8663, mozaicsantacruz.com
Obló Kitchen and Cocktails
740 Front St., Santa Cruz, 831-600-7770, oblosc.com
Paradise Beach Grille
215 Esplanade, Capitola, 831-476-4900, paradisebeachgrille.com
Pete’s Fish House
231 Esplanade, #102, Capitola, 831-453-0801, petesfishhouse.com
The Point Kitchen & Bar
3326 Portola Drive, Santa Cruz, 831-476-2733, thepointkitchenandbar.com
Riva Fish House
31 Municipal Wharf, Santa Cruz, 831-429-1223, rivafishhouse.com
Rosie McCann’s Irish Pub
1220 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz, 831-426-9930, rosiemccanns.com
Seabright Social
519 Seabright Ave., Santa Cruz, 831-426-2739, seabrightsocial.com
Sevy’s Bar & Kitchen/Seacliff Inn
7500 Old Dominion Ct., Aptos, 831-688-8987, sevysbarandkitchen.com
Sugo Italian Pasta Bar
1116 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz, 831-431-6965, sugoitalianpastabar.com
Tramonti
528 Seabright Ave., Santa Cruz, 831-426-7248, tramontisantacruz.com
Venus Spirits Cocktails and Kitchen | Beachside
131 Esplanade, Aptos, 831-688-8917, venusspirits.com
Venus Spirits Cocktails and Kitchen | Westside
200 High Rd, Santa Cruz. 831-600-7376, venusspirits.com
Zelda’s on the Beach
203 Esplanade, Capitola, 831-475-4900, zeldasonthebeach.com
