17 Best Cafes in Santa Cruz

“Great tacos and great view🏄‍♀️“

“11th hour coffee is the best in town! Small batch quality direct trade coffee roasted with love. Happy to support a local growing business in the community.“

“Every time we drive over from San Jose we eat there.“

“We are grateful to have had Flower Bar Design Studio provide flowers for our wedding. Sharon promptly responded to our emails, making us feel at ease with our choices. When it came to the flowers, my husband and I were completely stress-free leading up to our wedding day. Everything was perfect!“

“Love this place!“

“Emozioni Pasticceria made our wedding pastries and they were so delicious and perfect! We decided not to do a cake but do small pastries instead, and they were such a hit! We did a tasting where Chef Enzo prepared multiple pastries based on our preference. We ended up choosing the tarimisu, tart, cannoli, and cream puff. I wanted the pastries to have an Iranian flare, and although this is a traditional Italian bakery, Chef Enzo incorporated some Iranian flavors perfectly. Chef Enzo and Dan were so great and easy to work with. We will be going back often and ordering all our sweets from them from now on!“

“Great food, atmosphere all the waiters are nice. Great location.“

“My Favorite place downtown❣️❣️❣️ Best Scones I’ve ever had!!! Super sweet staff💜 and breakfast sandwiches that keep you coming back every day😁“

“So yummy, very refreshing also addicting.“

“Great scone mixes - even my BIL now likes scones! Very fast delivery (I live out of state) for mixes. The Lemon Curd is delicious - on top of scones or licked off of a spoon.“

“Had the mushroom tacos today and they were delicious and well crafted. I was impressed how a vegetarian version of these can be so fulfilling and hearty.
I recommend it even for the traditional meat lovers to give it a chance for a change once in a while.
Also tried one of their mushroom tea , cookie and red orange kombucha . All very tasty and flavourful.
Definitely worthwhile my 40 minutes trip from San Jose.
Will return whenever I can

Thank you for your service guys 🙂“

“I was in town with my daughter for college visits and came across this restaurant in Santa Cruz via google maps. We went on a Sunday morning and were seated immediately after ordering, and the food arrived very quickly. We ordered vegan versions of a couple of their menu items and they were VERY good. Lots of flavor, not heavy sitting. We liked it so much we went back the following morning for breakfast before we took off to another state for another college visit. There were still more vegan items I would have liked to try on their menu. Definitely recommend this quaint little restaurant. Vegan friendly, but also good choices for omnis too.“

“This is my wife and I’s favorite local laundromat. We love coming here because it’s clean and well maintained. They take quarters and they have a coin machine. They also have an ATM if you forget to bring your cash. There’s only 2 downsides that don’t make it a complete 5/5 review for me and it’s that the parking lot spaces are pretty tight. So if someone’s bad at parking, then good luck trying to open your doors. There’s usually always a homeless person wondering inside using the bathroom for a half hour. Which is fine it doesn’t bother me but something to be mentioned. Other than those two factors I love it here! A plus is having a market next door if you want a snack while you wait or grab a bite at the taqueria across the street.“

“A great place to eat, shop, and walk around. It’s also home of the Diversity Center, Santa Cruz County’s LGBTQ+ Center.“

“Breakfast Burritos are absolute UNITS. My girl and I have tried half the burritos and we have not been disappointed once. The potato’s are good but the potato fries are my favorite. The owner makes a mean latte and Carmel macchiato.“

“Open early is a plus. (5:30am as of July 2026) Friendly staff but coffee recommendation was okay not great. Ordered extra hot but was about normal and not as strong as I like.

Would have purchased food but when I asked what they had at the walk up window they didn't offer a menu or suggestions.

Cute place, best for drive through. Seating area is limited with bench perimeter and small tables. Very cute.

Located in the Whole Foods Market Parking lot. No bathrooms available.

Might give it another shot but for espresso I favor other coffee spots that open later.“

“Good place to grab a coffee only steps away from the beach. They offer fun and inventive coffees, such as thin mint and raspberry truffle mochas, alongside everything else you'd expect. In addition to coffee, they offer bagels, pastries, and other snacks. The staff are friendly, and the drinks are good, but I did have an issue when my mocha wasn't stirred, as well as my friend's on one of the visits. Overall, it's a good place to grab a coffee, and the location is unbeatable.“