Santa Cruz Magic ✨

My favorite bites + a few picnic spots and walking paths in beachy Santa Cruz! Best enjoyed with SPF, sunglasses & a hat 🧴🕶🧢

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Updated ago

Coffee

Verve Coffee Roasters

@abby

Classic Verve. I love the bowl of soul with earl grey or chamomile for a cozy day! Their cold brew is the only that makes me jittery. Decent pastries.

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Cat & Cloud Coffee

@abby

Newer on the scene but good coffee!

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Nicer Dinner

Bantam

@abby

My favorite spot for dinner in Santa Cruz! Bright, airy space with good pizza and fun starters. Lots of veg options and some red pie (cheeseless) pizzas. Starters are great, too! New Info!

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Bad Animal

@abby

New bookstore / natural wine bar / restaurant. I poked around at the books which are very cool but haven’t eaten or had drinks here yet. Want to!

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Venus Spirits

@abby

Newer spot. Pretty good gin here! Go simple like a G&T —their cocktails are a bit too sweet for my taste. Their menu is good, too! Trends a little meat-heavy but they have a vegan Caesar and veggie options that can likely be made vegan friendly. For meat lovers, Cornbread is excellent, burger is good, check for specials. Lots of outdoor seating.

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Quick Lunch

The Picnic Basket

@abby

Great spot for a quick healthy lunch by the beach. Could grab Togo and walk from here up West Cliff and eat overlooking the beach - or could walk across to Cowells if it’s not too crowded.

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Zoccoli's Delicatessen

@abby

Good classic deli. Big fan of their club.

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Assorted Other

Humble Sea Brewing

@abby

Cute little brewery with good vibes and good beers. Their stuff skews a bit hazy and IPA forward.

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Lupulo Craft Beer

@abby

Great beer bar with small plates. Good selection. Didn’t used to have outdoor seating but probably have adapted.

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Penny Ice Creamery

@abby

Try all the flavors! They also have a kiosk on Pacific. They usually have at least one sorbet!

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Spots to Go

Panther Beach

@abby

Mellow beach just up HWY 1 from Santa Cruz. Tends to be a little more naturey and less trafficked than the places in town, but definitely be sure to grab picnic supplies before you head there since it’s a ways away from town. During low tide you can explore around the corner of the cliffs to the South - just make sure you make it back before the tides change again!

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Steamer Lane

@abby

Good spot to look out at the surfers and whale watch! The walk up and down West Cliff Dr from here is great (I prefer towards Natural Bridges). There’s a beach just to the right of this area (when facing the ocean) you can walk down to and put your toes in the sand.

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Stripe

@abby

One of my favorite little boutiques! Not sure how they’ve fared with covid but I used to browse here every week when I worked at Looker! They have/had a baby section, kitchen stuff and women’s in one store with a men’s store a few spots down (to the right when facing the store).

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Natural Bridges Beach

@abby

Good for sitting and hanging out by the waves! Walk down from here to the lighthouse by Steamer Lane along West Cliff Drive to watch surfers, or go in the opposite direction and end here.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Abby West

Available for hire

Cofounder @ Thatch 📍Washington, DC My favorite way to get under the skin of a place is to eat! I always seek out new dishes and ingredients that are local to the place I'm visiting. My ideal day in a new city involves wandering the streets of a new neighborhood to get a feel for its energy, ducking into an art gallery or museum to see something inspiring, and then stopping for an afternoon coffee and chocolate chip cookie. At night, you'll more likely find me in a cocktail bar than a club. I also love to hike, camp, and be near the ocean! I lived for 8 years in San Francisco, and spent extended time in Lima, Peru and Mombasa, Kenya. Even though I've moved back to my hometown of Washington, DC, I still stay up to date on the SF food scene and travel back often for work! I'm pretty tapped into the DC food and coffee scene. Conversational in Spanish. Have some rusty Swahili.

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Santa Cruz, CA, USA