Santa Cruz Diner
| Address: | 909 Ocean St, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA |
| Phone: | +1 831-426-7151 |
| Site: | santacruzdiner.com |
| Rating: | 3.6 |
| Working: | 7AM–10PM 7AM–10PM 7AM–10PM 7AM–10PM 7AM–1AM 7AM–1AM 7AM–1AM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 7
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Elizabeth Calasopa
The quality of food and service at the diner has seriously gone downhill in the last 5 years. I dont know if theres new owners or what the issue is, but the quality is lacking. It used to be my familys favorite place for breakfast now we would rather just stay at home . The last few times I went the service was really slow despite the fact that they were not really busy. The quality of the food products has also gone downhill. My food has been served cold and it was not fresh. This Diner is on the Main Street as you enter town and it has become nothing but a tourist trap. its crowded its loud and its overrated! They are proud of the fact that Guy Fieri from Diners Drive-Ins and Dives visited there and gave them a great review but that was more than ten years ago and they need to give up this distinction that they feel that they have such a great food. because its not so great anymore. They have a huge menu almost too much to choose from and its overwhelming and overpriced. Im a local Ive been around for almost 50 years and this place I can literally say now sucks! If you like an eclectic interior, you can visit it for all the fun and cute signage that is crammed on every available wall space, but thats the only good thing youre going to find there the food is lousy dont go!
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Tom Jiang
Good food, good value, good experience. I thoroughly enjoyed this restaurant and I would recommend it to anyone visiting Santa Cruz. The restaurant wasnt very busy when I visited (late afternoon), and the waiter for my table was extremely polite and attentive, giving us some extra time as we browsed through the extensive menu. The restaurant serves all sorts of food, and has everything from breakfast to steaks to even pho (which was quite popular with the diners from what I can tell). The prices are quite reasonable considering the amount of food you get, and the atmosphere is one of those old school diners, with signs and various nick knacks lining the walls. When I visited, I tried their Belgian Waffle Breakfast and their New York Steak. I also ordered a coffee which was probably one of the best Ive had at a diner, and our waiter must have refilled my mug at least four or five times. The waffles were good though not very different from what youd get at a dozen other restaurants. The steak was quite delicious, especially when you factor in the price, and I could easily see it being sold for twice as much at a more formal restaurant. All in all, I was very satisfied with my dining experience, and I would definitely go again if I were to visit Santa Cruz in the future.
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A Private User
After spending a whole day writing a paper with my house mate, we decided to go eat. When the idea of Pho, was quickly negated, because of the feeling of exhaustion, we decided to go to Dennys. Our luck, Dennys was performing maintenance. So we strolled down ocean street and came across Santa Cruz Diner. I quickly pulled my bimmer to the side, and parked. Getting out the car quite ecstatic, since we found a place to eat, we thoroughly loved the ambiance of the place. We ordered our food. Garlic Fries, Calamari, Omelets, Pancakes, and a Country Fried Steak. All to test the wide array of different foods. Turns out the array, was all bad. Eggs were the only thing slightly good, but who can mess up eggs? The Garlic Fries were stale and oily, the calamari, looked like it was fried 10 different times. Omelet was dry, and the Country Fried Steak looked like a fried, giant chicken nugget. Avoid this place. However, if you must try it to validate my claim, go ahead. Remember, when you eat, you dont just feed your tummy, but your mind and soul, so eat the best.
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Brian Harris
Terrible service. Walked in to the sign "Wait to be seated", the hostess asked how many of us there were, handed me the 2 menus and told me what booth to go sit at. My mother and I sat down and the people two tables over said they had the booth and other table being held for the rest of their party on the way... we walked up to the register and were trying to tell the other hostess what was going on and she said oh sit here and Ill take your order. I explained that we hadnt even gotten to look at the menu yet because we had sat down for less than a minute. She said "Oh I thought you were ready to order", asked what we wanted to drink, brought the water and asked if we were ready to order, not giving us time to review the menu and said "Ill be back when you are ready to order." Extremely rude service, we walked out after that. I will never return to this restaurant on my future trips here. I was extremely excited to try this diner, big disappointment. If you would like better service I recommend going to the Dennys about two blocks away
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Adrian Rey
We came here to Santa Cruz on my birthday to spend the day on the beach. Got a hotel+everything.... The family wanted to take me out to eat so we stop here because we saw it on Guy Fierery Diner, drive etc..Looks really interesting... I was completely wrong... Guys show was one of our favorite food show but Im really second guessing what this guy really eats.. The food was awful.. No flavor at all..... Terrible.. The service was really slow. We came in as a family of 13 and notice that people came in after us was seated, eating before us.. The waiter kept apologizing and saying the food coming out... But really didnt.. We got upset three times before we decided to leave... some of the family members didnt get to touch any of their meals. In the end our waiter ended up apologizing once again and even discounted our meal to 50% off!! We ended tipping the guy because in reality it wasnt really his faults..He ended up with our table when they were switching their shift...Plus my wife was giving him a hard time.. A real hard time.
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Eric91611
Went here 7 or 8 years ago and it was amazing. Looks like its going a lil downhill. Giving you the 5 stars cuz the food was really good. Especially the onion rings also the burger was awesome. Service wasnt amazing but they pulled it together. The worst thing id say is how THEY DONT WALK you to your table they point n say go there. Definitely should improve because you guys wont last just because your near the boardwalk. You need to actually try harder not just lax cuz of your location. People travel from all over the world and expect great things and your going to wind up disappointing people sometimes. Really good and great potential. Keep your standards up this is a famous area. Also has ownership changed in the past 7 or 8 years? I remember it used to be open 24 hrs is that even a thing anymore? Anyways tl.dr great food but feels like they could improve a lil bit. Still an amazing place! A must try for anyone visiting.
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Bryan D
I had previously given the place four stars, but things have turned downhill over the last year. The quality of the food and the portion size have both taken a turn for the worse. My baked potato had the texture of a reheated, day old potato. Very chewy and not nice. My partners seafood pasta was overly sauced (looked like soup) and had very little seafood. Our drinks came in ice filled eight ounce glasses and were told we only got one refill for our $2. The item that really got them the low rating though was a kids toy box. Nice feature you would think, but very dangerous. First, the toys are absolutely filthy. But most all of them are broken and many have jagged edges on them. Very dangerous. If I ever go back Ill ad a photo. If youve never been there, Id take a pass Im afraid. Guy Fierri ate there in like 2010, but wouldnt eat there now.
