Surfrider Cafe

Hello there, fellow food eaters and welcome to the Santa Cruz Food Blog. The latest eatery to be reviewed is Surfrider Cafe on Front and Cathcart, downtown SC. It used to be the Pontiac Grille, for those of you with good memories, and that place was fantastic. Will Surfrider measure up?

Surfrider (link to their Facebook page)

This place is on a corner with two other restaurants: The Greek and an Asian buffet. So there's a good variety of food if you head over there. But Surfrider has something the others don't: craft beer. They are owned by the Boulder Creek Brewery and have all their beers on tap. Quite the nice selection that I've enjoyed before, but today was lunch. Going back to work after a few beers is not recommended!

We actually got there at 11:25, so the kitchen opened in 5 minutes. We sat at a booth and read the menu. Lots to choose from, but my guest had never had the Avocado Fries ($8.95), so that was a must. They bread avocado slices in panko crumbs and lightly deep fry them. The salty crunch on the outside is a perfect match for the smooth, creamy inside. They paired it with their jalapeno aoili. So good!

She ordered Jack's Sliders ($7.95) that came Angus beef, bacon bits, cheddar and thin, stringy onion rings. She liked it but said the buns were too crunchy. She did like how the lettuce and pickles on the plate were cut into smaller pieces to add to the sliders.

My lunch was the Buffalo Chicken sandwich ($8.95). It came with coleslaw and a bleu cheese sauce. The spicy chicken was very good and my bread was soft and chewy.

On other visits, I had and can recommend the chili-cheese fries and artichoke dip. We usually stop by Surfrider for drinks and apps before the Santa Cruz Warriors games. It's just down the street. Here's a link to the Boulder Creek Brewery webpage if you want to see the beers they serve.

All scores out of 10:
Food: 7
Service: 7
Atmosphere: 7
Price: 7
Overall: 7