I ordered mac and cheese ($11.50) for my child and received what appeared to be a pre-prepared dish that had been reheated in the microwave.
The pasta was significantly overcooked and breaking apart throughout the bowl.
After already waiting quite some time for our initial order, I felt I had no choice but to allow my hungry child to eat what was served.
When I politely requested a grilled cheese as an alternative, the staff kindly agreed but unfortunately took over 20 minutes without completing the order.
When we finally said we couldn’t wait any longer, I noticed the staff smiling to each other and saying “good news”.
Overall this felt rather unprofessional given our situation as paying customers with a hungry child.
I understand busy kitchens face challenges, but I hope the restaurant can improve both their food preparation standards and customer service.
Fresh preparation and genuine concern for customer satisfaction would make such a difference.
July 4th - 2pm
Family HY
The beet sandwich was incredible! Be advised though that the Mac n Cheese may be a little different from what the kids are used to.
Brenda Ramshaw
Long time favorite breakfast and lunch stop while in SC. The new direction to “Grab and Go” for the former amazing salads is disappointing. Putting up with eating in the street and standing in line was worth the delicious freshly prepared food in the past. I might try it again but will avoid the pre-made bulk of the menu. $35 for a no protein salad, kombucha and cookie.
TheOne Anjel
I found this place several years ago when I lived in Santa Cruz, I always ordered the frittata panini on gluten free. It was the best sandwich! Now I live 2.5 hrs away & go once a year. The last 2 years the sandwich was barely yummy & in fact this time - last week - they had the nerve to hand me a burnt sandwich - for $22! People were waiting on me so I opted not to send it back but it should not have been served that way in the first place. It's also been lacking flavor and little or no butter was used, plus they seem to remove the potato when I add avocado (which costs extra). The sweet carrot missing, as well. They obviously have different cooks now& less concern on what comes out of the kitchen. On top of only going once a year, it's also my only cheat day per year, so the disappointment was palpable. Last week was my last visit. They obviously don't want my repeat business.
Jeene Leahy
Super delicious
Jason Brewer
I've come here several times over the past few years when staying upstairs at the Beach Street Inn. Coffee is always good. Food is expensive, but the portions are large. Service has always been super friendly.
Júlia Joósz
Salads are not fresh at all, the veggies in them are withered.
Bhupendra Mahawar
Got a cappuccino and a mocha. On the pricey side and taste sucked. You can drink muddy water from puddle and it might just taste better than both of the coffees we got. Oh and you get it in to go paper cups. I would give negative 10 stars if I could.
Atmosphere: 3
Service: 2
Cardiff Brunch
FANTASTIC - A must visit if you’re after a fresh prepped sandwich. After a trawl of local eateries we chose this one based on reviews and so glad we did. They also did salads and gelato which looked great. Highly recommend ??
Because the name “The Picnic Basket” was such a turnoff, i had avoided eating here for years. I expected a retirement-paced cafe that was barely passing safety inspection but staying financially afloat due to its tourist-bait location. So when i recently ordered a breakfast burrito with bacon and avocado, my expectations were through the floor. The breakfast burrito left me shook!! There is a dark horse of culinary innovation working in that tiny kitchen and he’s making breakfast burritos on a whole other spectral plane! Someone call France, the Michelin hommes are gonna want to get in on this.
Secondary restaurant factors i will happily endure to get another burrito in the future:
Service: cashier/food guys, totally great, A+. The drinks area by contrast felt like goodwill donation space for hot drinks. Not well defined, kinda cramped and awkward comparatively.
Atmosphere: if you enjoy the 11 minutes of waiting in a regional train station, squeezing past fellow travelers and seeking out a comfortable place to eat, the indoor seating is for you. (Outdoors is lovely tho)
Stopped off at Santa Cruz on our way down the coastal road maybe a week ago now. The food was nice, no problems there for sure, but we met two staff members that were like Jekyll and Hyde. The first who served us was really lovely, told us to take a number card and sit down. Really good service and such.
However the second decided to ahem, mock my accent when I thanked her, threw our food down on the table, and kept glaring at us throughout. She then came over to collect the number card which made a large snapping sound as she snatched it from the table
Now, we didn't actually do anything wrong...? We were respectful, didn't make a fuss, we're very much the type to apologise ourselves if the staff gets anything wrong, tipped the max (25% I believe). It genuinely baffled us how she treated us to the point of uncomfortable laughter. Now I don't know if we missed something since all three of us are autistic, but the other two in my group left genuinely feeling quite gutted trying to figure out what we might've done wrong. I was pretty embarrassed and humiliated that she treated us like this in a shop with other people sitting and eating too.
So to the staff, We're sorry if we did something wrong. But whatever it was, I really don't think it warranted such a response from said staff member. It felt childish and just needlessly rude.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 1
Recommended dishes: Chicken Salad Sandwich
Mike Lafaille
Staff was spectacular. The dining area was very well kept and cleaned.
The food, however, was not what we were expecting. Ask what your order will be made with before deciding on an item, or check the online menu. We ordered from the in-store board, and should've looked into it a bit more. We ordered breakfast burritos with bacon, and they were absolutely overflowing with red cabbage. I absolutely detest red cabbage, but gave them the benefit of the doubt. I shouldn't have. I choked down half, but was unable to finish the food. My daughter got the same thing, and was equally disappointed in the choice to include red cabbage. There was quite a lot of beans, very little egg, and the bacon was rubbery and undercooked. We payed over $40 for just the two burritos (plus tip) and left feeling a bit cheated.
Please understand that this is an incredibly biased opinion from two people that can't stand a very present ingredient, so take this review with a grain of salt. And READ THE ONLINE MENU! :)
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 1
Service: 5
Maya
We visited the shop at 9:00 AM and were disappointed with the service. Despite observing the employee assisting another customer in a friendly manner, we experienced a different treatment. As a black person and my husband's brother, who is Samoan, we felt that the service was discriminatory and biased. We were met with a negative and rushed attitude, and our requests were not handled with the same courtesy as other customers. We experienced errors with our order, including incorrect sizes and a lengthy wait time. The total bill came out to be $60, and unfortunately, the service did not meet our expectations. We hope that future visits will bring improvements in customer service and fairness, regardless of race or ethnicity.
This is the spot if you are looking for high quality food in a casual environment. Don’t let the pre-pack service area scare you, the salads are creative and delicious. The Turkey Avocado sandwich is packed with flavor.
I ordered mac and cheese ($11.50) for my child and received what appeared to be a pre-prepared dish that had been reheated in the microwave.
The pasta was significantly overcooked and breaking apart throughout the bowl.
After already waiting quite some time for our initial order, I felt I had no choice but to allow my hungry child to eat what was served.
When I politely requested a grilled cheese as an alternative, the staff kindly agreed but unfortunately took over 20 minutes without completing the order.
When we finally said we couldn’t wait any longer, I noticed the staff smiling to each other and saying “good news”.
Overall this felt rather unprofessional given our situation as paying customers with a hungry child.
I understand busy kitchens face challenges, but I hope the restaurant can improve both their food preparation standards and customer service.
Fresh preparation and genuine concern for customer satisfaction would make such a difference.
July 4th - 2pm
The beet sandwich was incredible! Be advised though that the Mac n Cheese may be a little different from what the kids are used to.
Long time favorite breakfast and lunch stop while in SC. The new direction to “Grab and Go” for the former amazing salads is disappointing. Putting up with eating in the street and standing in line was worth the delicious freshly prepared food in the past. I might try it again but will avoid the pre-made bulk of the menu. $35 for a no protein salad, kombucha and cookie.
I found this place several years ago when I lived in Santa Cruz, I always ordered the frittata panini on gluten free. It was the best sandwich! Now I live 2.5 hrs away & go once a year. The last 2 years the sandwich was barely yummy & in fact this time - last week - they had the nerve to hand me a burnt sandwich - for $22! People were waiting on me so I opted not to send it back but it should not have been served that way in the first place. It's also been lacking flavor and little or no butter was used, plus they seem to remove the potato when I add avocado (which costs extra). The sweet carrot missing, as well. They obviously have different cooks now& less concern on what comes out of the kitchen. On top of only going once a year, it's also my only cheat day per year, so the disappointment was palpable. Last week was my last visit. They obviously don't want my repeat business.
Super delicious
I've come here several times over the past few years when staying upstairs at the Beach Street Inn. Coffee is always good. Food is expensive, but the portions are large. Service has always been super friendly.
Salads are not fresh at all, the veggies in them are withered.
Got a cappuccino and a mocha. On the pricey side and taste sucked. You can drink muddy water from puddle and it might just taste better than both of the coffees we got. Oh and you get it in to go paper cups. I would give negative 10 stars if I could.
Atmosphere: 3
Service: 2
FANTASTIC - A must visit if you’re after a fresh prepped sandwich. After a trawl of local eateries we chose this one based on reviews and so glad we did. They also did salads and gelato which looked great. Highly recommend ??
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Turkey Avocado Sandwich, Avocado
Because the name “The Picnic Basket” was such a turnoff, i had avoided eating here for years. I expected a retirement-paced cafe that was barely passing safety inspection but staying financially afloat due to its tourist-bait location.
So when i recently ordered a breakfast burrito with bacon and avocado, my expectations were through the floor.
The breakfast burrito left me shook!!
There is a dark horse of culinary innovation working in that tiny kitchen and he’s making breakfast burritos on a whole other spectral plane!
Someone call France, the Michelin hommes are gonna want to get in on this.
Secondary restaurant factors i will happily endure to get another burrito in the future:
Service: cashier/food guys, totally great, A+. The drinks area by contrast felt like goodwill donation space for hot drinks. Not well defined, kinda cramped and awkward comparatively.
Atmosphere: if you enjoy the 11 minutes of waiting in a regional train station, squeezing past fellow travelers and seeking out a comfortable place to eat, the indoor seating is for you. (Outdoors is lovely tho)
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Restaurantji Recommends
Stopped off at Santa Cruz on our way down the coastal road maybe a week ago now. The food was nice, no problems there for sure, but we met two staff members that were like Jekyll and Hyde. The first who served us was really lovely, told us to take a number card and sit down. Really good service and such.
However the second decided to ahem, mock my accent when I thanked her, threw our food down on the table, and kept glaring at us throughout. She then came over to collect the number card which made a large snapping sound as she snatched it from the table
Now, we didn't actually do anything wrong...? We were respectful, didn't make a fuss, we're very much the type to apologise ourselves if the staff gets anything wrong, tipped the max (25% I believe). It genuinely baffled us how she treated us to the point of uncomfortable laughter. Now I don't know if we missed something since all three of us are autistic, but the other two in my group left genuinely feeling quite gutted trying to figure out what we might've done wrong. I was pretty embarrassed and humiliated that she treated us like this in a shop with other people sitting and eating too.
So to the staff, We're sorry if we did something wrong. But whatever it was, I really don't think it warranted such a response from said staff member. It felt childish and just needlessly rude.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 1
Recommended dishes: Chicken Salad Sandwich
Staff was spectacular. The dining area was very well kept and cleaned.
The food, however, was not what we were expecting. Ask what your order will be made with before deciding on an item, or check the online menu. We ordered from the in-store board, and should've looked into it a bit more. We ordered breakfast burritos with bacon, and they were absolutely overflowing with red cabbage. I absolutely detest red cabbage, but gave them the benefit of the doubt. I shouldn't have. I choked down half, but was unable to finish the food. My daughter got the same thing, and was equally disappointed in the choice to include red cabbage. There was quite a lot of beans, very little egg, and the bacon was rubbery and undercooked. We payed over $40 for just the two burritos (plus tip) and left feeling a bit cheated.
Please understand that this is an incredibly biased opinion from two people that can't stand a very present ingredient, so take this review with a grain of salt. And READ THE ONLINE MENU! :)
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 1
Service: 5
We visited the shop at 9:00 AM and were disappointed with the service. Despite observing the employee assisting another customer in a friendly manner, we experienced a different treatment. As a black person and my husband's brother, who is Samoan, we felt that the service was discriminatory and biased. We were met with a negative and rushed attitude, and our requests were not handled with the same courtesy as other customers. We experienced errors with our order, including incorrect sizes and a lengthy wait time. The total bill came out to be $60, and unfortunately, the service did not meet our expectations. We hope that future visits will bring improvements in customer service and fairness, regardless of race or ethnicity.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 3
Service: 1
Recommended dishes: Breakfast Burrito with Bacon & Avocado & Verve Coffee & Cream
Food lacked flavor, service was very slow
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 2
This is the spot if you are looking for high quality food in a casual environment. Don’t let the pre-pack service area scare you, the salads are creative and delicious. The Turkey Avocado sandwich is packed with flavor.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Turkey Avocado Sandwich
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