Lillian's Italian Kitchen

Welcome to the Santa Cruz Food Blog!

Hello, I'm John and am a life-long Santa Cruzan and love to go out to restaurants and am always asking friends where they like to go. There are so many great places in SC, that I wanted to create a record for reference.

I was inspired by another food blog from a few years ago called "jatbar", that was written by some Silicon Valley engineers, who critiqued the restaurants they went to for lunch. This blog will be a bit more sporadic and will focus on mainly eateries in Santa Cruz County.

First up: Lillian's Italian Kitchen

I had heard from several friends that this place was fantastic and had authentic Italian food. It was also always busy and didn't have many tables. My guest, who's Italian and was joining me for dinner, said it was one of her favorite places. At 6:15, we had to wait outside for 20 minutes. Luckily, there were overhead heaters set up. The hostess was very friendly and said there was a concert at the Rio down the street, which was why it was extra busy. Every time the door opened, we could smell delicious aromas from within.

We were finally seated and a few seconds later, the bread came. I was hungry and dived in, spreading what I though was chopped up butter onto the bread. My guest said it was garlic.. what? She said no self-respecting Italian place would put out butter! There was olive oil and Basalmic on the table along with grated parmesan. They had a full wine list, but I was feeling like a beer and ordered a Peroni ($3.50). When in Rome...

She wanted to try the Creamy Artichoke and Asparagus soup ($5) and said it was quite wonderful. I ordered the house salad with gorgonzola dressing ($7). It had perfect salad to dressing ratio, which I think is important. I hate it when you have leftover dry salad in your bowl!

The dining room was small with only about 12-15 tables. The kitchen was in the back and you could see and hear the chefs working their magic. The whole environment reminded her of her grandma's kitchen, which is what Lillian's was working towards. Lots of pictures and shelves with knick-knacks gave it a homey feeling. There was lively conversations and efficient waitstaff going back and forth. Yet somehow we felt cozy and relaxed.

Our dinners came quickly - one nice side effect of a smaller restaurant - and they looked incredible. She got the Brussels Sprouts Risotto ($14), which had sautéed chunks of brussels sprouts mixed in. The risotto dish changes weekly, so be sure to ask. I wanted to start my dining experience here with the classic Lasagna with their Sunday Gravy ($17).

We were not disappointed. The risotto was creamy, cheesy and full of flavor. The brussels sprouts were cooked perfectly and were not bitter at all. My lasagna was rich and also flavorful, with its sweet and tangy meat tomato sauce. The layers of noodles and cheese were a bit lost in the bowl, but the flavor was amazing. I guess I'm more used to a lasagna "stack".

We both needed to-go boxes since the portions were very generous. We couldn't even think about dessert, but they had the very Italian cannoli and tiramisu plus ice cream options (from Polar Bear).

All scores out of 10:
Food: 9
Service: 9
Atmosphere: 8
Price: 8
Overall: 8.5

So glad to have finally tried this place. I know why people recommend it now. Worth the wait and is a good value for the price. Come hungry and leave full.

Lillian's contact info