Center Street Grill

Awesome place. Excellent service. The food is basic dishes done really well with fresh ingredients. Plus they are never as crowded of some of the other good breakfast places in Santa Cruz. And they have a very nice quiet patio. An excellent little secret spot :)

I will never come here again!
That being said please refer to the picture I have included of their menu since it plays an important role in my review.
1^st time here.
Walked in: sign said please wait to be seated… Waited about 3 minutes before I even saw a staff member to seat us.
Reviewed the Menu: On the top of the menu it states that «All entrees will be served with Center Street Potatoes and your choice of toast»…
I emphasize «ALL ENTREES»
They only have about 15 items on their menu and they are categorized as such:
Scrambles, Benedict’s, Sweet Stuff, etc… (NO «entrée» section).
So to me this translates to… everything on their menu is considered and Entrée…
Meaning that all items would be served with potatoes and toast.
This is where I was wrong!!!
I asked for clarification because I wanted to order the French Toast and get the potatoes and toast with it. When I asked the waiter he said he would have to check with the kitchen. He took a very long time then came back with No that is not included. I explained to him that the menu is misleading and asked him to clarify what constitutes an entrée since it was unclear on the menu.
He said let me go check, after another long while another waiter came up and said that it was not included because the french toast was already so cheap. So many things wrong with this statement…
After enough of this hassle and as not to cause a scene, I decide on the scrambled eggs which apparently counts as an entrée… which is funny because it is cheaper than the french toast and yet I was able to get the toast and potatoes with it.
The food took forever to come out and the restaurant only had about 4 other customers.
The food itself was decent other than the fact I found a piece of green paper underneath my toast, but I will never come back here.
I can get a better meal with more options and better service at Denny’s.
If you are in Santa Cruz and you are looking for breakfast do not go here, go to Santa Cruz Dinner or Denny’s. You will be much happier.

So many things wrong… where to begin? Sunday Brunch few customers, waited 10 minutes for water; son noticed server handling silverware by by food end rather than handle end; table cloth dirty; crumbs on bench; waiter never looked up and after 15 minutes flagged him down: took order… we were visiting and noticed others being served; what happened? Oh it will be right out. We waited, stopped waiter again: oh they dropped your ticket. After 45 minutes, we left and heavy set woman manager (?) was miffed… they do not have their act together!

Kill dinner service, I beg you. Keep brunch, that has been good in the past, but our service on Saturday was so bad I will never return, ever. No busser, nobody refilling our water, nobody bringing what we ordered, kitchen missing half of the menu items, a one-​hour check fiasco that resulted in my friend and the chef in a yelling match just so we could get our cards back.
To the owner, I have liked you in the past, but I can’t believe you left for the night when our waitress was obviously flailing.
Three hours from start to miserable finish when only three tables had patrons is insane. Fix your computer system. Train your staff. And PLEASE KILL DINNER SERVICE. Worst dining experience of my life.

Have you ever had a dinner experience so bad it’s laughable? I did.
My friend decided to have her birthday dinner on 8÷16÷14 at Center Street Grill in Santa Cruz at 6pm. I had an appointment earlier in the day, so wasn’t able to make it until 7. There were 3 other parties in the restaurant of 2 – 4 people. Two servers. Our server looked frazzled, on her last nerve and about to have a meltdown. From what I saw, she was only helping our table, the other server was working with the other 3 tables.
At 6, I texted to let my friends know I was on my way. At 6:15, my friend let me know they hadn’t even had their drink orders taken.
I got there at 7. They had JUST ordered food. They told me tales of how the server was bringing them drinks one at a time, how they had to ask her 3 times to bring the drinks out and that they asked for water multiple times without any result.
They told me to order immediately because if I didn’t, I might not get my food. I looked at the menu, which my friend had to fetch for me because the server was nowhere in sight, and decided on the Pasta Primavera. I flag down the server. «Oh, we’re out of all the pasta and pizza.» Okay… that’s, like ¹⁄₃ of the menu. It’s about ⁷⁄₈ of the vegetarian menu. Because I have an allergy to mushrooms, I had to skip the portobella sandwich. My only (ONLY) option was a Greek salad. So I ordered that.
The server came back to our table 10 – 15 minutes after all orders had been taken and let us know that they were out of this or that or the other thing and what the subs would be. Fine. Whatever. Just FEED US.
The party ordered appetizers, 4 plates. They came out one at a time. The cheesy garlic bread was good, the fried zucchini and onion rings were not cooked right (greasy as f – k), the blue cheese fries were uninspiring. The calamari never came. Because they were out of it. Which we weren’t told until all the appetizers had come and we asked about the calamari.
Finally, around 7:30, the food comes. We are ravenous. We have been at the restaurant now for about 1.5 hours. Without water or drink refills. Our server never asked us ONCE how we were doing on drinks.
My Greek Salad was not exciting, but the others in the party seemed to like their food. I was HELLA hungry AFTER eating.
The check comes around 8. We start dividing it up, most people put down cash. Then we notice we are short. We were overcharged for drinks, so we had them take the check back and bring us the corrected version. She takes the check, and as she turns around, I see an eye roll and a huff. It took 20 minutes for to come back with the corrections made. We turned it around quickly and gave the check back to her — cash and 3 credit cards. We also asked for some change on the cash (5s and 10s and singles), which she isn’t able to do. The birthday girl was sitting there watching our server in the kitchen area throwing things around. THROWING THINGS AROUND IN THE KITCHEN OUT OF ANGER. Are we in Pre-​K here?
She (our server) takes the check and disappears for 10 minutes. We are like, what? Half the party leaves to go put my friends prezzies in the car. The server comes back and says the system won’t let her charge the cards for a dollar amount and that we have to charge by item. WTF antiquated system is THAT? Makes no sense. We decide that it’s because she’s obviously incompetent. But fine, whatever. We are really annoyed and just portion out the bill by item to pay on the cards. The server comes back another 10 minutes or so after taking the check and says the system won’t work and that she’s really sorry blah blah blah. We sat there for another 10 – 15 minutes while another guy tried to figure it out and he couldn’t either.
At this point I was getting really angry. Before, it was kind of snark. Now it was full on anger. We’ve been at this restaurant for 3 hours. THREE HOURS. One FULL hour dedicated to trying to pay. The idiot guy from the kitchen says he thought we are sitting around enjoying each others company. What? Half of the party LEFT while we were trying to pay the bill! How is that enjoying each others company???
He says he’ll give us a discount. Of course it never materialized. They sit there for ANOTHER 10 minutes trying to figure out how to charge us. This is ridiculous. Absolute ridiculousness. The girls who went to put the presents in the car are locked outside, so I bring them back in and we manage to scrounge up the cash to pay the (non discounted) bill and leave in a huff. I honestly did not want to charge my credit card anyway because I feel if I had, they would have overcharged me somehow or done something shady, that’s how little faith I had in these people. I was so eager to get out of there, I didn’t even deduct the tagged on 18% tip, which I should have done. They did NOT deserve a tip.
We were really upset because we were planning to go to the chocolate shop and get our dessert on for the birthday girl, but they were closed by the time we got out of there.

The service was non-​existent. Finally seated but not one server came to bring us water or coffee. Waited 15 minutes and was completely ignored. When we finally got up and was leaving the owner looked annoyed and told us she was short-​staffed. A simple apology or explanation upon entering would have helped. THIS restaurant is now the owners of Heavenly Roadhouse Café on Mount Her on Road. Has the same BAD non-​service and non-​friendly staff… DO NOT go to either places!

Outside looks nice… inside, hard to describe. Didnt feel like a nice restaurant. Ended up being seated but we ended up walking out due to lack of service… kept being told ‘be right with you…’ We ended up going to ‘Hindquarter’ close by and the place was at least filled with customers and service was much better.

Recently came in with another guest for brunch on a Saturday. Took about 7 mins to be seated at table that wasn’t properly set with silverware and napkins. The host (ess) who had to be asked to come to the front to seat us took our drink order. We ordered 2 ice teas. Made the drinks with little ice no lemons no straws and no spoon. We had to ask for silverware and suger at this point and the drinks were warm and we ordered them correctly. Obviously no bartender in house with a full bar. Good thing I didn’t order a hard drink. I was pretty hungry and so was my other guest. I knew I wanted a burger with bacon and cheese. We had to ask who our waitress and she promptly took our order. It took awhile to get the food. My guest ordered salmon scramble with toast. It came out with no toast. The waitress forgot what kind because she didn’t write it down and the cook didn’t know. I had to wait for condiments, when you should bring those prior to the food showing up. My guest was finished with her eggs when the toast finally came out, we then proceeded to ask for the owner to complain. At this point I had my ughhhh face on. She gave a meal for free for very poor service and told us it was because of a party of 40 which shouldn’t be an excuse. We paid and left when I realized I never got my BACON!!! I know the food here is very exceptional, I have experienced it before. But poor wait staff can make or break a restaurant. Training or hiring people with real experience is needed here.

Why do I continue to give chances to a place where the staff could care less, the waiting time is laughable for a simple entrée and the place is empty so there is no clue to why or how this might be. requests for silverware and napkins went by the wayside.
Maybe it’s a new trend in dining: serve yourself.

Expect good food but miserably incompetent service.
We have been going to this place for weekend brunch for quite a while now. I would say we have been here several dozen times, so obviously, there’s something to like. That would be the food. We always have breakfast, or sometimes lunch, so we can’t comment on dinner.
The typical experience is to arrive at the back gate, and find it locked. Eventually, my other half will go around and ask for the gate to be opened. The owner, who is always there, grumbles that it should be open, I tell her it’s not, or hardly ever, and she looks at me like I’m insulting her intelligence and shrugs oh, well, it’s supposed to be.
We take a seat out on the patio, one of the great assets of this venue (the other being the chef). Mind you, they had to go through some motions to find the key and open the back gate. Nevertheless, we sit there for at least 10 minutes, then go inside again to ask someone to please come out and wait on us. After some further delay, someone comes out. No menus, the table isn’t set… the bus station near the patio door isn’t even stocked with silverware, condiments, salt and pepper etc. so if you get up to get your own, you are disappointed and have to wait and ask.
Then, if you are lucky, within 15 minutes you may have gotten your order and some coffee. You still have to remind the waitperson to bring you some silverware, as if this concept is really alien to them, and they’ve never done it before. Then comes the usually long wait for food.
When the food comes, it’s usually very good. However, all too often, something will be forgotten… oh, the toast, yes, you did order toast. And, juice! OK that will be coming right up. (7 more minutes go by, you’re eating your omelette which is delicious, but you don’t have that toast which would make it even more spectacular).
Then, voila, the disappearing act begins. No, your wait person does not come out again to see you. Need the check? Best get up and go into the dining room, hunt down your waitress, and ask.
One of the worst and most embarrassing things I have ever witnessed was the OWNER coming out onto the patio, and pulling the waitress aside as she is taking the dining order from a table full of patrons! The owner saw this very plainly, yet interrupted her to tell the waitress that some person inside the dining room wanted French Toast, but was told there was none left, and then saw someone get French Toast, and by golly and dammit, can’t you please take care of this person’s request for French Toast??? Oh, no, you are NOT that table’s waiter… hmmmm… ok… God almighty, how can you be that incompetent? This is why this place does NOT run like a Swiss watch, but more like a Marx brothers comedy show, with people running around not getting much done, to the consternation of the diners.
But, as I said, THREE STARS because the food is pretty darn good and we love the patio!

I am giving 2 stars because the food was amazing but I am taking the other 3 stars away because of the bartender Bo. He was rude. The bartender was on the clock. Went out of his work area and started to watch baseball on the tv. Right before he did that I (costumer) was watching World Cup and I was enjoying it. As a European I grew up watching football (soccer) and World Cup is my treat. I asked him politely to change back to World Cup. He said it was half time. I checked on my phone and it was wrong. The half time was not happening yet. I asked him again. He changed it. However, as soon I went to the bathroom he changed back to baseball and kept it. My sister went over and asked if we could watch the World Cup. No one at the restaurant was paying attention to the TV nor baseball. I would be totally fine if someone else wanted to watch Baseball but I was the only costumer who wanted to watch World Cup ! I thought as an employee he did not have respect for his costumers and was rude by being passive. Someone should talk to him about putting the needs of costumers before his. We are there to enjoy our time, and he is payed to make sure we do. Def not going to this place again as long as he works there. He ruined my sister graduation and experience of enjoying my food with World Cup.

I’ve been to this restaurant a few times now and I compliment the Center Street Grill on consistently providing good service and very tasty food. I’ve had pork and steak dishes there which have been cooked perfectly and seasoned well. The service has been very good and the wait staff is friendly… I think this is a lesser known restaurant downtown and hence it tends to be less crowded. The only criticism I have is that the atmosphere can be a bit sterile and the interior could use some updating. Solid choice for dinner overall.

I came here last weekend for their brunch and it was so good. I had the salmon Benedict and an oj mimosa! Amazing and so fresh!

A really underrated place. Inconsistent service, but the food is better than you might expect. Try the caesar.

4÷5÷15 10:30 to 11:30 am.
Place is slow and dead two chefs two waitresses, no service. Asked the waitress who took our coffee order yet never brought coffee what the hold up was and apparently there was no hold up and everything was as it should be. Never mind that out of four tables one has gotten half of their food in the last half hour, never mind d that no tables have condiments or utensils. This is strike one. Management train your waitresses! I will return once more as the food is not bad.

Someone in that kitchen knows what they are doing. Our meal was really great and the chef even made us something not on the menu, a grilled romaine Cesar salad which was excellent. We have been there a few times now and it is becoming my go to place

After a weekend spent with friends celebrating a birthday, we packed up and decided to end our trip with a breakfast here. Our party of 9 was seated immediately and given great service. While I can’t speak much about the mimosas or the variety of breakfast goods enjoyed by all, I can say that for myself, my cup of coffee was never empty, and my smoked salmon Benedict was delicious.

A friend recommended this place to me as a good spot to get breakfast.
Now I absolutely LOVE coming here for breakfast on the weekends. They have a liter of mimosas for $ 11 on weekends but come well before 2pm because they have definitely run out of champagne before. My favorite thing on the menu so far has to be their Crab Cake Benedict, it was awesome and its my go to whenever I can’t decide what to order. I have also tried their bread pudding which was delicious as well.
On top of all of that what makes this place so great is that the service is great. Me and my boy came in on mothers day morning, it was extremely busy, but we were seated in about 5 minutes, all our food was out in time, and our server paid attention to us and wasn’t rushing to take the order, which is something I totally appreciate.
They have also have a patio in the back where they allow dogs.
Come here on weekends for their mimosas!

Stopped here on our way back from a camping weekend in Loma Mar. After packing up our site and a nice drive down the coast, this place hit the spot. Showed up around noon for brunch and didn’t have to wait long since there were only 2 of us. Noticed larger groups did wait a little bit but not bad.
Brunch specials looked awesome but settled for one of their scrambles and a Bloody Mary. Plenty of food for the price and was pretty tasty. Drink was ok, nothing special. Service was ok. Started off really great but then our waiter was missing for a while when we were ready to leave. If in the area, I would visit again.

Ooey Gooey Breakfast Nachos!!!
The Hubby and I came here for breakfast on a Sunday and were seated immediately~ a plus in my book! The place had great wall art and is open and airy. Staff was pleasant and we had Antonio as our server. Very nice, friendly and always had a smile.
The Hubby ordered the ham and pepper jack omelet with sausage, $ 11.95. No complaints from him. He did say it filled him up. A good thing! I saw the Ooey Gooey Breakfast Nachos, $ 8.95 and added bacon +$ 2.00, on the menu and my eyes lit up! I love any kind of nachos so I just had to try these! Boy was I glad I did~ yum yum yum! The chips were thick and the cheese was plentiful! I added bacon to the scrambled eggs which were on top of the chips, lots of black beans and black olives. They served the sour cream, guacamole and salsa on the side. Not once did I use my fork! LOL So delicious! I was surprised that I finished it all with out eating a soggy chip! The coffee was endless and tasted fresh and bold. They were a bit skimpy on the cream, I had Antonio come back with a cream refill every time he refilled our coffee.