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The best restaurants in Santa Cruz, CA

Quorum ranked 80 restaurants in Santa Cruz, CA that clear a high rating bar, ordered by how many independent sources agree on them. 13 have been featured on Eater and 66 are recommended on Reddit. The top pick is Linda’s Seabreeze Café, scoring 92.6 out of 100.

Updated October 5, 2026

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Quick answers

Best restaurant in Santa Cruz, CA
Linda’s Seabreeze Café · 92.6
Best affordable restaurant ($–$$)
Linda’s Seabreeze Café · 92.6

Top 25 restaurants in Santa Cruz, CA

  1. 92.6

    Linda’s Seabreeze Café

    542 Seabright Ave, Santa Cruz, CA 95062, USA
    Google4.7★ · 1,321$$RedditEater
    GoogleRedditEater
  2. 92.1

    Pretty Good Advice

    3070 Porter St, Soquel, CA 95073, USA
    Google4.7★ · 585$RedditEater
    GoogleRedditEater
  3. 90.0

    Cafe Brasil

    1410 Mission St, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA
    Google4.6★ · 1,750$$RedditEater
    GoogleRedditEater
  4. 89.5

    The Penny Ice Creamery | Downtown Santa Cruz

    913 Cedar St, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA
    Google4.6★ · 1,881RedditEater
    GoogleRedditEater
  5. 88.9

    Humble Sea Brewing Co.

    820 Swift St, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA
    Google4.6★ · 732RedditEater
    GoogleRedditEater
  6. 88.6

    Zachary's Restaurant

    819 Pacific Ave, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA
    Google4.6★ · 2,195$RedditEater
    GoogleRedditEater
  7. 88.4

    Zoccoli's Delicatessen

    1534 Pacific Ave, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA
    Google4.6★ · 1,023$RedditEater
    GoogleRedditEater
  8. 87.8

    Lago di Como

    21490 E Cliff Dr, Santa Cruz, CA 95062, USA
    Google4.6★ · 598$$$RedditEater
    GoogleRedditEater
  9. 87.7

    Pretty Good Advice

    1319 Pacific Ave, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA
    Google4.6★ · 160$RedditEater
    GoogleRedditEater
  10. 85.9

    BAD ANIMAL

    1011 Cedar St, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA
    Google4.6★ · 293RedditEater
    GoogleRedditEater
  11. 85.6

    The Walnut Avenue Cafe

    106 Walnut Ave, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA
    Google4.5★ · 1,890$$RedditEater
    GoogleRedditEater
  12. 84.4

    Pana Venezuelan Food

    725 Front St Ste 102, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA
    Google4.9★ · 813$$Reddit
    GoogleReddit
  13. 83.3

    Bookie’s Pizza

    1315 Water St, Santa Cruz, CA 95062, USA
    Google4.8★ · 385$$Reddit
    GoogleReddit
  14. 82.5

    H&H Fresh Fish

    493 Lake Ave A, Santa Cruz, CA 95062, USA
    Google4.8★ · 185Reddit
    GoogleReddit
  15. 82.1

    Sampa Brazilian Kitchen

    841 N Branciforte Ave, Santa Cruz, CA 95062, USA
    Google4.8★ · 352$$Reddit
    GoogleReddit
  16. 81.9

    Seabright Deli

    415 Seabright Ave, Santa Cruz, CA 95062, USA
    Google4.7★ · 442$Reddit
    GoogleReddit
  17. 81.7

    Restaurante Los Pinos

    2019 N Pacific Ave, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA
    Google4.5★ · 457$RedditEater
    GoogleRedditEater
  18. 80.0

    Harbor Café

    535 7th Ave, Santa Cruz, CA 95062, USA
    Google4.6★ · 1,351$$Reddit
    GoogleReddit
  19. 80.0

    Café Cruz

    2621 41st Ave, Soquel, CA 95073, USA
    Google4.6★ · 1,292$$Reddit
    GoogleReddit
  20. 79.9

    Gobi Mongolian BBQ

    1308 Pacific Ave, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA
    Google4.7★ · 261$Reddit
    GoogleReddit
  21. 79.9

    Vim Dining and Desserts

    2238 Mission St, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA
    Google4.8★ · 227$$$Reddit
    GoogleReddit
  22. 79.8

    Hula's Island Grill

    221 Cathcart St, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA
    Google4.4★ · 2,650$$RedditEater
    GoogleRedditEater
  23. 79.8

    The Midway

    1209 Soquel Ave, Santa Cruz, CA 95062, USA
    Google4.7★ · 111$$Reddit
    GoogleReddit
  24. 79.6

    Bagelry

    320 Cedar St # A, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA
    Google4.6★ · 824$Reddit
    GoogleReddit
  25. 79.5

    Staff of Life

    1266 Soquel Ave, Santa Cruz, CA 95062, USA
    Google4.6★ · 1,238Reddit
    GoogleReddit

See all 80 restaurants in Santa Cruz, CA

How this list is made

Most restaurant lists are one source with one opinion. Quorum starts from restaurants with excellent Google ratings, then looks for corroboration in the Michelin Guide, Eater and Reddit. A restaurant several independent sources praise outranks one with a slightly higher star average and nothing behind it. Scores are out of 100.

Michelin, Reddit, Eater, Google and Tabelog are trademarks of their respective owners, referenced here to cite sources.