Linda’s Seabreeze Cafe

Solid breakfast, tiny place down near the harbor in Santa Cruz. Had the artichoke omelet which is a different kind of menu item for breakfast but definitely reflects the local agriculture; well done and lots of cheese. Homemade jam for the toasted rye… fresh squeezed orange juice. Good service. Home fried potatoes done well. really all good. Great for breakfast! CASH ONLY!!!

I ordered the Heuvos rancheros, pretty good. Flavorful beans, satisfying eggs and mushy over crunchy potatoes. Though, the salsa is not at all spicy.
The tuna melt was also nice and satisfying, but nothing special.
If you order a side of potatoes, expect enough to feed 3 – 4 people

FYI — Cash or check only
I’m not in the Santa Cruz area very often so I’m not well versed on the local hot spots, but for lunch, and in the area of Santa Cruz I was in, Linda’s Seabreeze Café came up as highly Unilocaled restaurant.
It’s a small mom & pop café and although the sign told me to wait to be seated, the one server seemed surprised I didn’t seat myself. I chose a table pretty close to the kitchen as I was dining alone and didn’t think I needed 3 extra chairs at my table. Cellphone service was not good in the restaurant as I couldn’t even check in to Unilocal.
The menu is fairly standard for a café like this with many American breakfast choices, salads, sandwiches, soups, and I think they had a couple of burger choices, etc. I was attending a funereal within the hour and didn’t have a ton of time on my hands so I opted for the BLT and instead of getting French Fries, I chose a salad. I’m glad I did! They brought the salad out to me pretty quickly and it’s quite large! I chose the vinaigrette dressing (which is also really good) and dug in as I was pretty hungry. Fresh tasting salad though the one croûton I had was quite large and made for a bit of an awkward eating situation! The sandwich came out next which was on wheat toast and had quite the smattering of mayo. It was decent, but nothing that put this on the list of restaurants I’d highly recommend.
My server did a great job. I asked if this could all go quickly since I had time constraints and she assured me it would, and it did! Salad came out within a couple minutes of ordering and the sandwich was on the table before I finished the salad. I think the meal took a whole 10 minutes to prep, serve, and for me to eat! I got the bill and when I pulled out a credit card, I learned from 3 different servers who all politely informed me that it’s cash or check only and referred me to the ATM they have in the back corner of the restaurant. Interesting. I wonder how much cheaper it is to have an ATM in the restaurant than to allow cards for payment. Either way, I took out some cash, paid my bill and headed out.
It’ll likely be my only experience here as I am so rarely in this area, but not a bad choice for lunch or breakfast.

Lovely people and a tiny spot on Seabright. Our usual spot was closed due to repairs so we went here based on positive Unilocal reviews. It’s a very small place and they have really friendly service. The menu is simple, but they do have a potato dish that is very delish. It’s covered with cheese, sour cream, and scallions. Their breakfast menu has basic offerings, but they do have interesting veggie options that includes tofu. However, their lunch menu is decent. My husband ordered a crab melt which he loved and I went with a BLT and it was good. We shared the potato dish. They also have a homemade salsa that is super good. I put it on the potato and my BLT. MMMM… MMMM…GOOD.

Fist things first… CASH only.
This breakfast is legit! I ended up getting the eggs Benedict which was excellent. The wife got the huevos yucatan, which was ridiculously good. To top it off we got a homemade cinnamon bun, a must have… Enjoy!

I have to lower my rating. The food just doesn’t seem as good as it used to be. We’ve only been by twice in the last year, and each time we were underwhelmed; the execution wasn’t spot-​on as it used to be, the flavors didn’t seem as fresh. The Seabreeze was never cheap, but I used to consider it a good deal considering what you got. Now most breakfasts there are in the $ 11 – 13 range, and for that you get what you get for the same price anyplace else.
As for why it isn’t as good: could be them, could be me. I’ve been exposed to some pretty high quality breakfast cooking lately, and the Seabreeze just doesn’t measure up. We’ve been eating Sunday Brunch at Ty’s Eatery, a popup over at the Food Lounge that only uses the freshest ingredients, and we got spoiled. I thought it expensive, but when compared to current Seabreeze prices it’s only a dollar or two more, But the flavors are wonderful.
Even the Crow’s Nest does better. I’m not a fan of their dinner, but they have a pretty dang professional crew turning out breakfast in the morning. It’s not especially creative, but execution and flavors are wonderful. If I ask for corn tortillas with my breakfast, I get them steamed, in parchment. The price is about the same, and you get that beach view. No, you don’t get as many potatoes. I never needed that many potatoes. The coffee, nine times out of ten, is superlative. Like Costa Rican, or something equally smooth.
I love Tex, I love Claire, I love Gabriel and everybody else. But I just don’t love the food anymore.

Love this place, has a nice selection and quality is good. Been here many times never had a complaint besides the coffee is okay.

I came for the potato pancakes that someone took a picture of,
Sort of because I am always inclined to go out of my way for potato pancakes,
And sort of because tonight is the first night of Chanukah!
Alas, the seabreeze lacking in holiday spirit.
But plentiful in corn pancakes, which also sounds great!
And in tofu scramble.
Cash or check only.

Always good. Great American breakfast place. Even the oatmeal is good. Specials are inventive but always wonderful. Home town feel – very friendly.

Food is good, servings are MASSIVE. The breakfast bird (3 egg omelet, turkey, avocado, cheese) was probably bigger than a human stomach, and that’s not counting the sides!
Speaking of which… the most interesting thing about this place is the variety of sides. You can substitute potatoes with fruit or brown rice at no extra charge, and instead of just having different types of toast, you can also choose cinnamon buns, muffins, etc, often made with a seasonal theme.
If the exact omelette combinations they offer don’t strike your fancy, they’re very flexible with the mains too — They let me substitute cheese for tomatoes in my omelette at no charge.
Cons:
— Cash only
— Massively long wait for a table
— No free coffee during this wait like another review mentioned (you can start having some, but you take your mug in so they can charge you ~$ 3)
— Parking is limited
— Prices have increased

A happy childhood memory is relived here via blueberry pancakes. Came here many times when I was young with my mom always got the blueberry pancakes. Many years later I sat waiting on a Sunday morning with my bro and bf. Many delicious specials calling my name. Comes time to order I get the blueberry pancakes. Not dissapointed they were great and left my stomach and heart full.

This place is absolutely terrible. I can’t remember having a worse experience-​ever. Please NEVER go here-​EVER.
(Now, GTFO you hipsters!)

We were planning to go to another place in Santa Cruz for lunch, but it happened to be closed — so the glowing reviews on Unilocal directed us here. This is a pretty legit brunch place — very good quality and yummy food. We went on a weekday and there was no line then, but it seems like this place has a pretty long line on the weekends.
My boyfriend had the Breakfast Burrito with chicken apple sausage and a cranberry juice. I had the California Eggs Benedict with a side of homefries. The Breakfast Burrito was pretty yummy — would definitely recommend. The California Eggs Benedict is also pretty good — it came with avocado and poached egg. I also added shrimp, which I thought was a delicious touch. They didn’t skimp on the shrimp, which some places do. The homefries were not seasoned as well as I would have liked, but it was nothing some hot sauce on the side couldn’t fix.
I feel like this would be a great place to grab brunch/​lunch/​breakfast before heading to the Santa Cruz boardwalk. It has a great casual, chill vibe. On a nice day, it seems like it would be great to sit outside under one of the giant umbrellas. Next time I come here, I’d like to try the tri-​tip omelet, that looked super delicious too!

Seriously don’t know why it took me so long to discover this place. (Thanks mom!)
Because I’ve tried so many good breakfast places in SF and LA, I just didn’t think there would be a good go to breakfast place in Santa Cruz, BUT this café proved me wrong.
Starting with the outside exterior, it is so petite, small and cute. There’s even coffee outside for those who are waiting. The outside décor is simple, yet very cute. Definitely was impressed. I don’t know why, but I really liked the atmosphere.
The service was so friendly, and the food was very delicious. What more can you ask for? Great food & great service. It’d be so nice if all places were like this.
Note: If you come on the weekends (esp SUNDAY), you will probably have to wait. But I personally say it’s worth it!

Breakfast before the beach. We wanted to grab some food before setting up camp in Santa Cruz for a family beach day.
Unilocal comes thru again! I Unilocaled this place and saw it had great reviews and was close to the beach. When we drove by we saw people standing outside waiting. That’s a good and bad sign to me. It means it’s probably good but makes you wonder how long of a wait there will be. There is street parking and the meters are the parking mobile app so that was cool.
We put our names on the list and they stated it was a 30 minute wait. Ok cool!
The restaurant is a small place but so homie and quaint. They have coffee and logo mugs outside for all the customers waiting outside which is such a nice warming thing and great customer service. I don’t drink coffee lol but I thought it was great. I love hibiscus and they have a beautiful pink hibiscus plant at the front door.
Our wait was only about 20 minutes but it was so worth the wait! Once seated we were asked what we wanted to drink and our attentions were directed to the specials board. Which had a lot of yummy options. The orange juice is freshly squeezed and the apple juice was so crisp and refreshing.
I decided on the tostada omelette which is an open face omelette topped with olives, tomatoes, Ortega chile, cheese, sour cream, and avocado. It was served with a side of fruit and a warm cinnamon roll. Omgggggg this whole dish was so freaking yummy! The flavors and freshness were so great! The cinnamon roll was the perfect end to a great meal.
The staff was so friendly and attentive. This is such a great place and I can see why it received such great reviews. Thanks fellow Unilocalers for the help.
We will definitely check this place out again when we are in the area and others should too.

My go to breakfast spot in Santa Cruz!
Everything is delicious and service is friendly. There’s pretty much always a wait but there’s coffee and benches outside.
Favorites:
Cinnamon roll
Chai
Eggs Benedict– the hollandaise sauce is incredible
Spuds

I am so mad! Not at this restaurant but at Unilocal! What on earth this restaurant got 4.5 star? Ok I am from Silicon Valley where there are many good restaurant in every downtown maybe people in Santa Cruz never had breakfast in another restaurant so they think THIS ONE is 4.5!!!
1. 45 minutes wait! What!!!
2. Ugly place, dirty parking lot, bad neighborhood with creepy people around and check on CHICKEN cages !
3. There was a HAIR in my scrambler! :((((((it is a nightmare and the trigger i cane to write this! I did not finish my food we just left!
4. GROSS bathroom!
People need to know that 5 star is not only food (which was not good too), it us the whole combination! The environment, being clean, good and kind service, everything included! Why 4.5 star??? I just hated this place! I don’t understand.

I came here to fill up before we headed to Big Basin. They were opened early, but they were already pretty packed when we came in.
Service:
The server was super friendly, professional, attentive, and quick. Definitely no complaints here!
Food:
I had the sea breeze spuds and it was delicious! The portion was huge as well. I really should have split the dish with my friend because he was barely able to finish his entrée on well. The potatoes on my dish were well made, seasoned well. The gooey cheese melted on top was an added extra sensation that one must enjoy.
Overall: I would definitely recommend this place.

Linda’s is legit! First off they open early. 6 am! On our way to Butano State Park we decided to check this place out. I’m a breakfast person and this is definitely a must for fuel before the hike.
It’s a local hangout. People seem to know each other but everyone’s friendly. The staff was welcoming and helpful with suggestions.
Their menu is full of inviting dishes but somehow I zeroed in on one off their specials on the board. The Fresh Asparagus Scramble. $ 10.70. It’s a huge portion with very generous amounts of both eggs and asparagus. Very tasty. I was impressed! I boxed the leftover. Huge portion I tell you! It came with a perfect side of potato wedges to add to that much needed carb for the hike! It also came with their delicious freshly made in house Cinnamon Roll. Just what my belly wanted! It’s like Linda’s knew I wanted proteins and carbs (one sweet and one savory).
Service was quick. Clean. There’s parking on the side albeit limited.
A fan!

Came here on a Sunday afternoon. Wait was about 30 mins for a table of 3. I ordered the Popeye Omelette (Spinach cheese and mushrooms) which came with your choice of muffin/​cinnamon roll and homefries/​fruits. Friends got Breakfast bird omelette. The Popeye was way too watery and lacked in flavor. Friends said the turkey in the Breakfast bird was way too dry as well.
Pros:
–There is parking on both sides of the building. Plenty of parking
— The cinnamon rolls.omg. These are delicious. Note: There are nuts in these, so avoid if you may be allergic!
— Friendly staff
— Salsa! Yums! They give you a cup of salsa to share and eat with your food.
Cons:
— The food… the omelettes were not good. (See above!)
— Cash only
Overall, I was expecting more. Yet again Unilocal has given me higher expectations for a restaurant. I would come back here again, just not for an omelette.