Zachary's Downtown

Santa Cruz... what does it bring to mind? The Boardwalk? The redwoods? Hippies in the streets? Well, if you are a lover of breakfast, then it certainly conjures up Zachary's downtown. It's a morning institution. It's been there for decades and it's top quality food. They bake their own bread. The coffee's strong. And the sourdough pancakes are thin.

Kelly and I met the grandparents there last Saturday for a 9am breakfast. The place was jumping, but finding a seat didn't take long. Much better than Sunday. There's a sign-in sheet in the back corner.

As soon as you sit down, a server with a coffee pot rushes over. Three coffees and a cocoa please! The coffee is hot and strong, just the way I like it. The cocoa comes it a little chrome pot with a small bowl of whipped cream.

The decor has a definite Santa Cruz feel - plants hang from above, red bricks outside, the rustic wooden furniture, pictures of the Boardwalk on the walls. Big windows facing the Pacific Garden Mall allow sunlight to fill the place.

I ordered the basic breakfast ($6.95), which is supremely satisfying. The home fries have potatoes and onions sautéed on butter. They are just too good. My toast was oatmeal-molasses and was just slightly sweet to go well with the savory potatoes. The eggs were over easy and were perfect.

Kelly got her usual - eggs, bacon and pancakes ($9.50). What's not to love? The pancakes are thin but flavorful. The bacon was well cooked - none of those too chewy bits that are hard to tackle. The eggs are light and fluffy. I wish I could make them like that at home.

No review of Zachary's would be complete without mentioning the Mike's Mess ($11.25). A giant scramble of eggs, bacon, home fries, mushrooms, onions and cheese topped with green onions, chopped tomatoes and sour cream. You are not ready for this jelly. It also can be ordered has a half-portion ($9.25), which will still make you full. This pic is from Yelp since I did not get it this time. My brain can only handle this much breakfast greatness a few times a year. You can substitute other ingredients like garlic or avocado ($0.75 each). You can tell who is enjoying this meal by the moans of pleasure across the restaurant.

Zachary's is quite crowded on the weekends, so get there early. There's usually a coupon in the weekly local papers for during the work week. They also serve a fantastic lunch menu with burgers, soups and salads, but that's a review for another time.

Scores out of 10:
Food: 9
Service: 8
Atmosphere: 8
Value for price: 8
Overall: 8.25

I Love Sushi

Back to Santa Cruz! A few side-tracks does not mean I'm changing the name of this blog. Home is where the stomach is. Let's see about some sushi downtown...

Fellow food enthusiast and all-around good guy, Seth and I went to I Love Sushi for lunch last week. For some reason, when it rains, we both get an inkling for Japanese food. Well, it rained.

I Love Sushi on Yelp

Right on busy Front street, we arrived before noon and had no trouble finding an open meter to park. There's a free 3-hour lot across the street, but it never seems to have a spot for me.

Plenty of seats for us to choose from... I love beating the lunch crowd. We took a table and they quickly brought over some free appetizers.

Fried calamari with a hoisin sauce and some crunchy pickled cucumbers. They have a decent lunch menu - noodles, combos and of course, sushi. We each went for a 2-combo meal ($8.50).

First comes the soup! Miso soup is so good on a cold and windy day. Little prizes of seaweed and tofu hide out beneath the miso broth. I like picking them out from the salty cloud and then slurp down the rest. Okay, that may have been too much information.

Can you say abundance? Their 2-combo lunch meal is a generous serving of all kinds of goodness. I ordered the Veggie Tempura and California Roll. It also came with salad and rice. Needless to say, nobody left hungry. The crab in the rolls was fresh, but I could have used a bit more avocado. And the dressing to lettuce ratio wasn't perfect - after the first few leaves, it was just plain iceberg lettuce.

Seth went for the Teriyaki Chicken and Veggie Tempura combo. He didn't have to say he liked it, because his plate was empty after enjoying his meal. He ordered hot tea as well when we sat down, but had to remind our waitress once to actually get it. That's surprising since we were one of only 4-5 people in the restaurant.

This is one of our go-to lunch places downtown for Japanese. The quality of the food is great for the price. Service has been spotty at times, but it's nice to get some free munchies as soon as you sit down. Also, this place is known for its late-night party environment. The owner likes to challenge customers to sake bombs. And the karaoke is highly entertaining!

Scores out of 10:
Food: 7
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 7
Value for price: 8
Overall: 6.75