The Crow's Nest Reviews

Decent prices for some really beautiful food. Ambiance excellent, service also excellent. Loved the drink special too. Never disappointing.

Upstairs restaurant has the best calamari that I have ever had. If you can find a seat.

We ate in the main floor dining room. Good service, good seafood. Arrived early and didn't have to wait. The place filled up quickly but was not to noisy to have a conversation.

I can't speak about the food, but we did make reservations and 30 minutes after our reservation time we still were not seated. We ended up leaving hungry and still had to pay for parking.

Having lived in Santa Cruz for quite some time you'd think I'd have been to the CROW'S NEST... but no.
We finally went on a recent trip. First and most importantly, the foods are top quality here! I thought the CROW'S NEST was some tourist-y place. WOW, WAS I EVER WRONG!
The Crows Nest is a phenomenal star restaurant and it's set up beautifully!
Of course you're looking out at the waves but the FOOD is FABULOUS! Linens are on your table, the servers are 100% invested in their customers and the kitchen staff rock!
Hurry to discover a truly special place.

+ Breathtaking views, + great happy hour

The Breakwater Grill atop Crow s Nest is my second home in Santa Cruz. It is located at the harbor and overlooks the shore and the lighthouse. During sunset this is the place to be to enjoy the scenic panorama from the deck.

The bar and the deck (weather permitting) are usually packed with locals, especially during the Breakwater s happy hour from Mon-Fri from 3:30 6pm and Wednesdays all night. But even off happy hour the prices are moderate and you get a beer from draft for $5 or wine $6. Appetizer, salads and sandwiches range from $6-10.

A laid back atmosphere is the key with surfboards dominating the grill s interior, as you would expect in a surf town. Coming here the first time don t mix up the grill with the white tablecloth restaurant (Crow s Nest) downstairs, which is far less inviting as the grill in my opinion. Most people don t know about the Breakwater Grill upstairs and miss this hidden gem.

+ Breathtaking views over Santa Cruz s shore
+ Good food and drinks
+ Happy Hour
- Sometimes really packed

We weren't sure if this place was a tourist trap. We were pleasantly proven wrong!!! Great food, even better service, great manager, amazing views!
We are a family, many other families were dining here.... But amazing for romantic dates... Several dinning areas.. Beautiful outdoor seating, decently warm, shielded from the wind with warmers on chilly days! Literally steps from the beach

great views fair prices nice staff

be ready to pay for parking but it s cheap

Excellent food. Great bar upstairs, with its own menu. Right at the mouth of Santa Cruz yacht harbor. Excellent views. Be sure to catch the excellent Thursday beach parties during the summer with some of the best live music around.

Lovely restaurant with an ocean view. Good food. It's a very busy spot, busy parking lot, but the water view makes it worth the wait. Lovely lighthouse and sailboats. The old wood decor can be refreshed, restored from scratches, but looks fairly clean. Food and drinks were great! Service was not fast, but we didn't mind since we came to enjoy a relaxing dinner with a god view.

Very busy our wait person was good
Her name was Lauren.

In my experience, you get what you pay for at The Crow's Nest - it's a bit pricier, but the service, food, and atmosphere all show what Santa Cruz high-class culture can provide. As a bonus, the upstairs bar / cocktail lounge is very comfortable for weeknight meetups or stage shows. If you come here expecting to pay $30-$40 per person for a pleasant experience, you won't leave disappointed.

Nice views of the ocean and a really nice salad bar.

Extremely overpriced for average food. Fish was overcooked. Prime rib was raw and tough. Waited over an hour to sit while half the restaurant was empty. Not worth the wait.

Nice reaturaunt with a wide variety of food. Good customer services outdoor seating is interesting. Tight spacing. Pigeons trting to est your food.

Really good food and usually good customer service, although, this not the place to come for a lunch break, parking is way to ridiculous and staff seems a little sub par during lunch. I came during burger week to place a togo order, they sent me upstairs to the bar saying that they cannot put in my in my burger order down stairs at the hostest station. Then the bartender upstairs sent me back downstairs to put in my order in with the hostest saying that is where to place to go orders???? I then came back down to the hostest who was unsure of the burger week deal (even tho its been going for a week) and then finally i was able to place my order. Not cool!!!

Upscale restaurant with excellent service and food.

Epic view and most amazing service. Thank you all for the prompt service and friendly atmosphere.

Really fresh food. Sat outside for a great view. Salad bar had very fresh food. Waitress was very good service

Cold vegetables. The rice was burnt, like they'd scraped it off the bottom of the pan. The halibut was okay. Given the prices, you'd think they'd take a lot more care to present a nice plate of food.

Classic Santa Cruz place right on the beach and boat harbor. Wholesome, tasty breakfasts and lunches, as well as dinners. Great place to bring visitors. Your breakfast comes with a fresh orchid blossom! Always busy.

Delightful place! Drinks upstairs with friend, and dinner on the patio, even in these times. Totally worth while!

My meal wasn't all that. Dessert was amazing tho. And the coffee cup for my birthday was a sweet touch.

A great place for a 1st date ;) and the Calamari isnt too bad either lol. I gladly give it 5 stars!

This place is wonderful! I've only ever been here for cocktails and dinner before, and didn't even know they serve breakfast. You'll fall in love with the views of the Santa Cruz beach. Our server, Lisa, was friendly, efficient, and accommodating.

There were lots of little details we loved:
* The potatoes have onions and peppers.
* The avocado was perfectly ripe (and you know that avocados can be huge jerks).
* The omelette had bits of green onion in the egg mixture.
* The eggs for the Eggs Benedict were perfectly cooked.

Get there early, as it fills up. And you want to sit near the window!

Very nice place right next to the beach. Volleyball nets and everything.

Iv`e ben going to the Crows Nest for over 30 years...It was always a place that you could count on to have really good food served in a great location, even if their prices were a bit on the high side, you always said that it didn't matter because the food and service made up for it...The reason I`m only giving this a 2 Star review, is that it seems that over time, the quality as well as the service has declined considerably over the years...As usual I was expecting some wait time, as we didn't reserve a spot for breakfast, and we were with a group of 8 Family members that were visiting from across the States, so last minute was sort of how things worked out...After waiting for about 25 minutes, we were finally seated, but from there, it ended up taking another 30 minutes just for our waitress to bring waters and menus, then another 15 minutes to just take our orders. We told her that we would appreciate separate bills for each couple, she said "no problem" then continued to take our orders. After waiting another 20 minutes, we started receiving our orders. Some of the food she brought to the table didn`t match what we ordered, so she said she would begin to have those orders freshly made..So now we had 1/2 of our group eating their food, and the other 1/2 waiting for their orders. While waiting longer for those, we had to go to the Bar ourselves to order more refreshments, because she didn`t come back to check on us, until she said that it was time for her to get off work, and the new waitress would take care of the rest of the meal...Well, lets just say that by the time we received the remaining orders, some of the food wasn`t cooked thoroughly, having been rushed to get it to us, so we just decided to leave, as the rest of the day was passing us by.,,When we got the Bill. the waitress had combined ALL of the orders onto one bill...When I asked her to please break that down so we could each pay for our portion, she left and came back after 5 more minutes, handed me the Bill, and asked ME to break it down so she could determine what the correct amount were for each couple...I just ended up paying the Bill out of frustration, as I overheard other patrons standing in line to pay, having similar issues...So Overall, The 2 Stars that I give this review is for the Location of the Venue, ONLY...It is a wonderful location...It is sad to see just how far this place has changed for the worse over time, from employees to Management, to the quality of the food...If you want to have a GREAT EXPERIENCE. with GREAT FOOD, and GREAT ATMOSPHERE, go next door the the Palomares restaurant, right on the beach....Don`t waste your time or money at The Crows Nest...

We had a awesome meal. The waitress was great and our server Cody was the best

One of my got to spots when in SC. It's all good... and right on the beach.

Great veiw, great drinks! Foods ok. Fun music venue.

Good food great views can get a little pricey for large groups.

Really good shrimp and crab omelet. Very fresh food.

Great view. Solid bloody Mary. Prime rib not rare enough but they fixed it. Great french fries. Good mango key lime cheesecake

Love this place. Seafood is delicious. Take a seat with ocean view.

Love their breakfast! They open early everyday so you can avoid weekend brunch for a delicious weekday breakfast too. The crab cake Benedict and the smoked salmon hash are my go to. The heated patio is really nice and the view is amazing.

Great food, service, scenery and ambiance. The cheese cake is best this side of NY!!!

Amazing food and the outside tent set up because of Covid19 is a great place to gather. GREAT job rolling with the punches and making social distance bearable.

Aside from the amazing and tasty food and drinks, the service here is absolutely terrible! Never in my life have I ever been treated so horrible at a restaruant for no reason at all. Came here for lunch one day while visiting the city from out of town and everyone here was very rude! All of the servers and the wait staff made it seem like we were putting them out just to place our order! The only nice person in the whole establishment was the bartender, Scott. His drinks were very good, and his service was impeccable! If only they could get their servers and staff in order.

Excellent food, good service, great ambiance, gorgeous view.

Nice view if you get the window table.
Simple and affordable menu.
Food test good, I went for breakfast and you know classic breakfast can't failed except if the restaurant have bad food quality.
I'll be back

The best food, service,view and memories one can expect.

The food was amazing and the location is great, but there were a few small things we weren't super impressed with.



Also, we were a party of 18 and they stuck us in a back room, in the corner, against a window/wall. No one else dined in this room until about 15 minutes before we left. It was just a little odd that with this two-story, gigantic restaurant, they stuck us in a back room alone.

The last thing was that the wait staff seemed a little less than attentive for being a high-end restaurant serving a party with a guaranteed gratuity.

My youngest child insisted we come here for supper. We ate the BEST clam chowder I have ever had. A great spot for family dinning and casual dress was ok. There is a nice salad bar though we did not have salad this time. Worth the detour.

Nice place for a meal whether you're coming to Santa Cruz for the first time or it's your 100th reggae night (although I don't think they do reggae night there anymore). Nice atmosphere and good, American cuisine (seafood, beef, pasta, etc.)

Place to go for special occasions, love the place, the food is always,always excellent.

Man this place was awesome. I had the Prime Rib it was delicious. Our server and the other staff were friendly and we were served in a timely fashion. Thank you Crows Nest my Birthday dinner was great

I ordered the Seafood Risotto and it was really good. Great service and beautiful view.

Good views, nice environment, tasty food and drinks. Good place to spend a Sunday or early afternoon.

Perfect place to eat right on the water. Window views are amazing of the water and boats coming into the harbor. Dress code casual, but you can dress up if you wish. Food was delish!

Loud music and slow service. But, it was busy, and to be expected. The food was good. The margarita was not. The views we're nice.

Great views of the Bay with fabulous cocktails and yummy food.

Good food. A bit pricey but good quality and worth it. Parking is cheap. Usually no wait

Great view and service...food was amazing!!!! Try the shrimp and avocado croissant.. you won't regret it.

Good food and service. Salmon appetizer was dry/smoked chunks. Calamari was fresh and amazing. No reservations and no parking validation.