Location: Santa Cruz
Top Restaurants in Santa Cruz
Top Things to do in Santa Cruz
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Most Popular Asian food in Santa Cruz, California, United States
Find out what Asian restaurants to try in Santa Cruz. The quintessential California beach town of Santa Cruz! It was here that surfing was first brought to the mainland by Hawaiian royalty. Home to the legendary Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, a pedestrian-friendly, tree-lined downtown area, and the historic Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf, which stretches out a half-mile into the waters of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. Other highlights include UC Santa Cruz, the Santa Cruz Surfing Museum, and nearby redwood forests.
Things to do in Santa Cruz
10. Akira Sushi
Overall Ratings
4 based on 41 reviews
Reviewed By Akibomb
Excellent food. High-quality fish. Everything is fresh and well-prepared. I especially enjoy their shrimp sticks. They are served crisp and salty and wonderful, with the head on ( as they should be). They have some really creative rolls, that are tasty and beautifully presented. They also have a large variety of vegetarian rolls, if you have a veg in tow.They have a really great happy hour which is very affordable. This gives you a chance to try many of the cool and eclectic items on their menu. I highly recommend the shrimp sticks and their Hawaiian roll.A word to the wise: At dinner time, this place fills up quickly. Do not arrive hungry and expect to walz right to a table if there are more than two people in your party. They do have an area in the back of the restaurant ( where you enter) where you can sit and have a beer while you wait for your table.
9. Naka Sushi
Overall Ratings
5 based on 19 reviews
Reviewed By jeffb1
We tend to visit at least one sushi restaurant wherever we travel since my wife is a sushi fanatic. Nice large pieces of fresh fish and BIG rolls. They don't press the rolls tight, like most sushi places, which may be part of the reason they look so large and tend to fall apart, but they are very good. This is a real "mom and pop" restaurant with no fancy décor, just good food. Prices are reasonable by sushi standards. Definitely worth visiting.
8. Guang Zho
Overall Ratings
4 based on 23 reviews
831-465-0988
Reviewed By jaseaton
We just needed an easy Chines take-out dinner on our first night in Santa Cruz for a week. We shared a broccoli with snow peas and an order of pork with hot garlic sauce. Both were fine. The woman at the counter was exceptionally welcoming and thankful for our order. The tiny dining area seemed unpretentious, quiet and comfortable. Parking was a bit of an issue, and our orders didn't automatically come with rice.
Most Popular American food in Santa Cruz, California, United States
7. At Thai Recipe
Overall Ratings
4 based on 22 reviews
Reviewed By mariamhennessy
We stumbled onto this place. It's not elegant, and has only a few tables, but the food is fantastic and affordable. The place was filled to capacity, but they also have take out. We ate curry, eggplant and a Thai specialty that knocked our socks off! Highly recommended!
6. Sabieng Thai Cuisine
Overall Ratings
4 based on 51 reviews
Reviewed By centralcoastguy
Six of us went to this casual restaurant for dinner, based solely on the good reviews. The atmosphere was clean, with Thai decorations and photos. The staff appeared to be all Thai, which was encouraging. The dining area was basically furnished and a little crowded, so it was not a romantic or fancy environment. But the excellent food and very nice staff made it a pleasant place to eat. We shared a variety of dishes and appreciated that brown rice was an option. We started off with the green papaya salad and followed with a variety of dishes including Pad Thai, chicken yellow curry, roasted duck, and an excellent fish dish. We enjoyed all the food and our bill was quite reasonable. We would definitely return!
5. Shogun Japanese Restaurant
Overall Ratings
4 based on 68 reviews
Reviewed By awartak
We had dinner at Shogun, ordered meals that included beef - it was below any standards; undercooked, fatty and chewy. And on top of everything: low quality meat used. Very disappointing experience - hoped for much more. The cook should review lessons on how to cut meat.
Top 10 Mexican food in Santa Cruz, California, United States
4. Mobo Sushi
Overall Ratings
4 based on 162 reviews
Reviewed By JeriLG
I had heard great things about MoBo and was eager too try it. We went for lunch. We were seated quickly. The menu is rich with choices. We took time to go through it and ended up choosing some house favorites. Once we ordered, the food seemed to take forever. Thirty minutes to be exact. One of the entrees came with the appetizer of edamame and then nothing. No water refills, no check in. Once the food arrived, it was very good. Just canât give four stars for this kind of wait.
3. Betty's Noodle House
Overall Ratings
4 based on 43 reviews
Reviewed By MichaelMc777
This little restaurant is located next to the bus station. There are a variety Asian noodle dishes to choose from â from pho, to Thai, to Chinese. I tried the spicy Red Sezchuan Noodle Soup. It had the Authentic peppers, that left your mouth a little numb. The ingredients/portion was on the smaller side for this dish. I tried it with veggies. I gave the dish about a 3.5. The restaurant does look very clean. But, it does seem to have a fair amount of loyal local clients. They did not have a restroom to wash your hands. This brought it down to three points for me. I did not have an upset stomach and was on the less expensive side.
2. Sawasdee By The Sea
Overall Ratings
4 based on 124 reviews
Reviewed By Luis M
We visited the place on Saturday 10/12/19 at around 5:30 PM. We were taken to our table right away. Waitress and servers were very polite. We ordered 2 Thai Ice Tea, Pineapple fried rice with chicken and prawns, and, Duck curry. pineapple fried rice had only 3 prawns and it needed a bit more flavor.Duck curry was delicious and with a lot of pieces of duck. However, although tomatoes are part of the recipe, I would strongly recommend not to eat them. The flavor of the cooked tomatoes was very bad.We also ordered dessert: Fried banana with coconut ice cream. Dessert was not that good. Banana was dry and ice cream did not have much flavor. We have visited many Thai restaurants and we know that flavors could be better.Overall, it was a good experience, but there is definetely room for improvement. We are planning to come back in a near future and update our review.
Best Italian food near Santa Cruz, California, United States
1. Santa Cruz Diner
Overall Ratings
4 based on 503 reviews
Reviewed By Jehrlich2
As a big plus, this is a place where locals congregate. They enjoy the friendly service and the large portions. While the food is just fine, it is not anything to write home about. I had the pho which had great broth but the chicken lacked flavor.
Most Popular Pub food in Santa Cruz, California, United States
