This casual & seductive restaurant was fun and a great date night spot. They have regular indoor seating, or in between seating where you can be a puppy in the glass on high table tops or cozy on a patio covered with heaters. We came in late on a Friday night and the service was superb from the very start of being greeted at the hostess desk, bartender and wait staff. Some of our food items were more delicious than others. This still didn't take away from our experience there. Definitely a return spot.

I had my birthday dinner here and it was absolutely amazing!!! Everything was so tasty!! Everyone at my table was trying everyone else's food because the flavors were so amazing! The POSOLE!!!!!! I got the blackened chicken salad and the prawn tacos with the slaw had a great spice level. The best way to describe the food was Californian! The best parts of Mexican food with a slightly American twist! Our server was Abel! I almost said I love you to him at the end of the night lol ‍ everything we asked for showed up in seconds, and he even surprised me with some ice cream and a candle for my birthday! I felt so special! Lastly! We sat outside and the twinkling lights and with all the plants and vines really did it for me! There were heaters so we stayed all toasty!

Delicious as always - both drinks and food. We always request to sit in the room off of the dining area because we love the ambiance with the surrounding plants and it tends to be a little quieter in there on the weekends. Service is always fantastic - attentive - and responsive. We always have a good time at cafe cruz.

I wanted to follow up and write an updated review. This most recent visit to Cafe Cruz was a much more pleasant experience. Even though it was a busy rainy weekend evening, our waitress was attentive and extremely sweet (and cracked some cute jokes). I was stoked to see oysters on the menu and to give those a try. They were delightful. Our table shared the brussel sprout dish (so cheesy and tasty) and the olives. Everyone enjoyed their entree and drinks and after that experience, I would go back. My only feedback is once again, the asparagus was on the chiller side (intentional?) and under-cooked (to me) so I didn't touch them (again). The mashed potatoes made up for that though. ;)

Beautiful restaurant with an amazing atmosphere! The whole is staff was very nice and attentive. I went to Cafe Cruz with my boyfriend, who has been there a few times, but It was my first time there and really liked. I ordered Linguine and prawns, which tasted pretty good. The sauce was good, prawns were well cooked and the pasta was delicious. I also ordered fried artichokes, I personally didn't like them because it was too oily. I ordered a glass of red wine and had an amazing time with my bf there. Looking forward to coming back soon!

I always thought this was a tiny Mexican restaurant and felt like an idiot to discover it's American-style cuisine with a bar and outdoor patio. The food and service are excellent and quite literally the coolest place is the bar area. This local staple has been here 28 years and owned by the same person. The only thing they don't have is breakfast. Jeanette is the treasure here, although all the employees seemed cool, despite many being younger. They have wine and spirits, but my focus was the six taps of local craft brew from Discretion, Coronado, Corralito's and North Coast Pacific. Corralito's is far up in the hills behind Aptos and I never get up there, but fortunately they get kegs every week. The Richter Red Ale is excellent. It's nice you can sit in the bar and have lunch easily and without a reservation or huge rush. The pastrami sandwich was excellent and I'd expect everything here to be good from the other patrons food I saw. They have a happy hour from 3-5PM where drinks are $2 off, but really the only negative is everything is pricey and it can be occasionally difficult to park if it's busy. I think $9 for beer is quixotic but they have excellent food and service, plus it's a relaxing ambience that also can be cordoned off for groups. The closest thing to Mexican food they have is the Taco Salad btw...in case you wondered. I expected to get an enchilada plate or taquitos and had no idea how wrong I'd been for years driving by. This is also a good place to eat if your going to visit Discretion Brewing in the same parking lot. If that's not good enough, you can buy weed, furniture and mattresses next door as well as a Safeway, Best Buy and Home Depot across the street. So, the location is convenient for doing errands after or meeting folks, being right off PCH. They have parking spots in the front for takeaway orders, with the rest of us using the carpark behind the restaurant. In case you wondered, this was a restaurant 28 years ago before Cafe Cruz, but before that, it was originally a private residence, hence the intensive repurposing you observe today. There's one other small house which survives today in the carpark and the defunct breakfast/lunch place behind Cafe Cruz is slated to open as something similar as Cafe Opal was, with breakfast and lunch only. If Cafe Cruz had breakfast, I don't think any restaurants would ever survive behind them. Cafe Cruz reminds me a little of a favorite family-owned chain in Los Angeles called Hof's Huts (now defunct) but had a very similar model, with a bakery and all-day breakfast being the difference. Anyway, if you can, sit in the bar if Jeanette's working. She knows all the restaurants history and is cool.