The brussel sprouts are always outstanding---salty/sweet and crispy! The stratiatelli appetizer is a generous portion for the table to share. The butternut squash soup was tasty, but not overwhelming. Everything we ordered for our party of 4 was delicious--especially the short rib and the salmon entrees.
Alana
Excellent service and ambience Burgers were a little too medium for us, would have liked a little pink. Salmon was also a little too dry
Greg
Our reservation for six shrunk to four, but no probs for the restaurant. Server was FANTASTIC, but don't know her name. She handled the complexity of and changes to our orders with aplomb, and repeatedly checked in. Food and drinks were all well-crafted and met or exceeded expectations, and the birthday boy's slice of chocolate torte was much appreciated!
Jim
Apparently the host neglected to tell our server that we'd been seated in a far corner of the patio. So we waited quite awhile until she found us. Helen was most apologetic, offered our cocktails on the house, and brought us a comped dessert. Very professional, charming, and classy. We thoroughly enjoyed our evening, despite the initial (minor) hiccup. We'll definitely return!
Natalie
Venus Kitchen (separate from the distillery and in a different building) is a great little gem in Santa Cruz. Their menu is unique and full of hearty dishes as well as some smaller ones too. The staff is super sweet, attentive, and very helpful when advising on menu selections. We went with the crispy brussel sprouts with the jalapeño cashew cream and black garlic drizzle. These are not your average brussels. As someone who orders this dish regularly at other restaurants, this was one of our favorites this year. We also got the (plain) fries, ribs, and chicken wings. All sizable portions and each with great flavor. The mole ribs were fantastic, but let me say that again. MOLE ribs. These are not your stereotypical BBQ ribs, so if you go in thinking that, you will be immensely disappointed. However, if you like mole, this dish is for you. Four big ribs, super meaty and delicious. The chicken wings were sweet with a hidden heat and came with six pieces. My only qualm with the wings was that they were really fatty and not crispy. The fat would've been OK if they were crispy, but they just ended up being kind of squishy instead. The flavor was there, but the texture took a hit. Otherwise, great meal, fun drinks. Will be back! 
Cari
Venus is a reliably good experience. My burger was on the small side however, which was a little disappointing.
Patricia
The food was excellent and innovative, with very good seasoning. The first dish, "beet carpaccio", was tiny, priced at something like $20. Total rip off. Then the 2nd course (this was restaurant week with a fixed menu) was really good and a large portion. The dessert was also very good. Overall it was way overpriced. The gin was amazing!
Brianna
Amazing food. We love the atmosphere, too, although it can be a little loud. Overall, we had a great birthday celebration for our friend's 60th.
Joy
This was our first time to Venus and we were totally impressed with everything. My dinner which was a Thursday special was the biggest & best chicken parmigiana ever. We will definitely return.
Jacqueline
The food and drinks were great as usual. Service left a bit to be desired, but it was a mellow weekday so we didn't feel rushed and still enjoyed our dinner
Expensive, but dining out now is always expensive which is sad. Everything was good, not great, the server was particularly nice but busy.
Stephanie Zappel
We had our 25 person rehearsal dinner here in August and Tory was so helpful with the back and forth of determining the menu and cost. The food and drinks were excellent. Service was friendly too, but we did have one issue. We had a few people running late, so they delivered appetizers, but waited until everyone was there to get the orders. I think this would not be been a problem except we had 3 young children in our group and they were getting antsy. When the food finally started coming out, they served the table with kids last and at that point they were pretty fussy. Just some feedback for large groups—always make sure the kids get fed first!
Otherwise, we loved the food and drinks and will be back for a date night sometime.
Colleen
This is our favorite neighborhood restaurant. The food is consistently good as are the cocktails!
Judy
restaurant basically empty at 5:30 we came for happy hour took 15 minutes to get a waitress yo make eye contact 25 to get cocktails frustrated by now smash burgers disappointing
Charlien
My husbands burger was raw inside and the waitress took 20 minutes to bring out drinks. The drinks were a beer and a pre mixed cocktail so there was no mixing/bartender needed.
The brussel sprouts are always outstanding---salty/sweet and crispy! The stratiatelli appetizer is a generous portion for the table to share. The butternut squash soup was tasty, but not overwhelming. Everything we ordered for our party of 4 was delicious--especially the short rib and the salmon entrees.
Excellent service and ambience Burgers were a little too medium for us, would have liked a little pink. Salmon was also a little too dry
Our reservation for six shrunk to four, but no probs for the restaurant. Server was FANTASTIC, but don't know her name. She handled the complexity of and changes to our orders with aplomb, and repeatedly checked in. Food and drinks were all well-crafted and met or exceeded expectations, and the birthday boy's slice of chocolate torte was much appreciated!
Apparently the host neglected to tell our server that we'd been seated in a far corner of the patio. So we waited quite awhile until she found us. Helen was most apologetic, offered our cocktails on the house, and brought us a comped dessert. Very professional, charming, and classy. We thoroughly enjoyed our evening, despite the initial (minor) hiccup. We'll definitely return!
Venus Kitchen (separate from the distillery and in a different building) is a great little gem in Santa Cruz. Their menu is unique and full of hearty dishes as well as some smaller ones too. The staff is super sweet, attentive, and very helpful when advising on menu selections. We went with the crispy brussel sprouts with the jalapeño cashew cream and black garlic drizzle. These are not your average brussels. As someone who orders this dish regularly at other restaurants, this was one of our favorites this year. We also got the (plain) fries, ribs, and chicken wings. All sizable portions and each with great flavor. The mole ribs were fantastic, but let me say that again. MOLE ribs. These are not your stereotypical BBQ ribs, so if you go in thinking that, you will be immensely disappointed. However, if you like mole, this dish is for you. Four big ribs, super meaty and delicious. The chicken wings were sweet with a hidden heat and came with six pieces. My only qualm with the wings was that they were really fatty and not crispy. The fat would've been OK if they were crispy, but they just ended up being kind of squishy instead. The flavor was there, but the texture took a hit. Otherwise, great meal, fun drinks. Will be back! 
Venus is a reliably good experience. My burger was on the small side however, which was a little disappointing.
The food was excellent and innovative, with very good seasoning. The first dish, "beet carpaccio", was tiny, priced at something like $20. Total rip off. Then the 2nd course (this was restaurant week with a fixed menu) was really good and a large portion. The dessert was also very good. Overall it was way overpriced. The gin was amazing!
Amazing food. We love the atmosphere, too, although it can be a little loud. Overall, we had a great birthday celebration for our friend's 60th.
This was our first time to Venus and we were totally impressed with everything. My dinner which was a Thursday special was the biggest & best chicken parmigiana ever. We will definitely return.
The food and drinks were great as usual. Service left a bit to be desired, but it was a mellow weekday so we didn't feel rushed and still enjoyed our dinner
Restaurantji Recommends
Expensive, but dining out now is always expensive which is sad. Everything was good, not great, the server was particularly nice but busy.
We had our 25 person rehearsal dinner here in August and Tory was so helpful with the back and forth of determining the menu and cost. The food and drinks were excellent. Service was friendly too, but we did have one issue. We had a few people running late, so they delivered appetizers, but waited until everyone was there to get the orders. I think this would not be been a problem except we had 3 young children in our group and they were getting antsy. When the food finally started coming out, they served the table with kids last and at that point they were pretty fussy. Just some feedback for large groups—always make sure the kids get fed first!
Otherwise, we loved the food and drinks and will be back for a date night sometime.
This is our favorite neighborhood restaurant. The food is consistently good as are the cocktails!
restaurant basically empty at 5:30 we came for happy hour took 15 minutes to get a waitress yo make eye contact 25 to get cocktails frustrated by now smash burgers disappointing
My husbands burger was raw inside and the waitress took 20 minutes to bring out drinks. The drinks were a beer and a pre mixed cocktail so there was no mixing/bartender needed.
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