Assembly Santa Cruz

Hello all local food lovers, I am back with another quick review. This time it's a downtown eatery that has materialized some buzz of late - Assembly. Farm to table, yo.

Assembly webpage

After some fun rounds of bowling, our group of hungry adventurers decided to converge here. The warm autumn night allowed us to relax at an outside table and watch the downtown activity. Only once was our meal interrupted by some kids yelling "Cioppino" out of their car window. And we weren't even on the wharf.

We picked a few appetizers from the menu - Chickpea Fries ($5) and the Meat Snacks ($12). Both were very well displayed, but underwhelming. The fries were shaped into long blocks and came with a red pepper sauce. Even with that, however, they lacked flavor. Spencer said he was reminded of cigarettes, but I didn't think they were that bad. A little salt would have helped, but there was none on the table. The meat was served on a wood plank with toast, apple slices, stone-ground mustard and pickled cauliflower. The selections were cotto ham, sliced steak and sausage. It was good, but not $12 good. More would have been welcome.

Spencer ordered the Pork Shoulder and Pork Loin plate ($20), which was abundant with peppers, beans, kale and squash. They happily dug in, but again, the lack of salt for the pork loin made it lack the needed flavor. It seemed to be a nice mix of flavors and textures. I was going to ask Spencer what he thought of it, but his dish was already empty!

Jesse and I both got the West Coast Burger ($13) and what a plate it was! I got extra avo ($2.50), but it didn't even need it. The burger was cooked very well and was juicy and delicious. The small brioche bun held up well to the stack and the pickled onions were a nice touch. The fries were firm and tasty - I'd definitely order this again.

Too full for any dessert, we thanked our friendly waiter and he offered to split the checks for us. Sometimes waitstaff will roll their eyes at you when you ask for this, but our guy was very good about it.

I think they struck out on the apps, but made up for it with the entrees. I had higher hopes, but still was satisfied and will go back again.

Scores out of 10:
Food: 7
Service: 7
Atmosphere: 7
Value for price: 6
Overall: 6.75