Great cocktails, excellent dj's. but a bar that doesn't allow you in for a drink before 10:30pm? How about you finish your patio instead of turning "50-100 people away at the door" each night? And how about you don't pretend that your capacity policy is a "long standing" policy that "you would know about if you were a local"? Dear 515, your bouncer lost you this long-standing patron's business. (and yes, despite your bouncer's assessment, we are in fact locals...)
Review Source:The food here is good but this is why you get one star... We are in the middle of enjoying our dinner when all of a sudden am on a coughing spell...this restaurant allows smoking right in front of their door & keep their door open. I run outside for air as soon as I notice the smoking, thinking its coming from the upstairs bar I rushed outside for fresh air when I get trapped in a cloud of smoke from people smoking right outside the door! It baffles me that the restaurant management allow this. I report it to the waitress who only excuses the smokers because "its not allowed on the other side of the street" all while I was gasping for air as am highly allergic to smoke & asthmatic. No apology & no asking if I needed further help. Furthermore I was still enjoying my meal. We had to rush the waiter to get our bill so we can get out before I could breath no more...unacceptable!
I started to write this review on 10/09/12, the night it happened and did not publish it as after this event with the asthma attack was in and out of the hospital for a whole month. If you are sensitive to smoke, do not come here. The food was very good. I wish I had the opportunity to finish my meal.
Main course analyst, cuisine enthusiast
On Fridays I'm the booziest, love women at their flooziest
Never been the choosiest - when last call hits
I'll take home a woman with some mad small...
Okay, this is another establishment I liked so much I felt inspired to freestyle about it. This was one of the few bars/lounges I went in Santa Cruz that had a hint of urban sophistication. There was a female DJ spinning old school hiphop and dance music downstairs, and there's a nice bar and a deck upstairs. I loved the little lounge area downstairs, loved fried chicken night (Thursdays), thought the service was always excellent, and the place had an excellent vibe. Oh, and did I mention there were a lot of elegant ladies up in there whenever I went?
I like all types of ladies, from suburban to urban
especially when I'm swervin' off gin, vodka, or bourbon
you might see me in a plush bathrobe, rockin' a turban
flash a heifer a smile, Hefner style, like yeah I'm pervin'
thinking about servin' you D until you purrin'
cuz Lonny has a magic johnson like Earvin
Thumbs way up! 21 thumb salute!
I love almost everything about this place. Well at least if I'm sitting upstairs at the bar. I enjoy the bartenders upstairs at night. I think one is named Nick or Ryan. Either way they make good drinks and are very knowledgable on mixed drinks. I LOVE the frida! Strawberry infused tequila?! Yes, please! The salmon is always good and minus the no-flavor aioli (just add salt pepper and lemon) the grilled artichoke is great. I always leave here with the memories of a good time. Thanks baby for taking me here!
Review Source:The vibe: Less Santa Cruz-y, more hipster-y.
The outdoor patio, cocktails and fries (rosemary, sea salt, truffle oil - say what?) are top-notch.
I've eaten here a few times and find it to be pretty average, and not quite worth the price (excluding happy hour, fries, and salad). However, I find the same to be true for a lot of restaurants in beautiful SC. But let's be honest, none of us are living here for the food, am I right?
Disclaimer: I'm mostly gluten-free, so there's a chance that their breadier items, in all of their glutenous glory, are better than average.
I had the cocktail of the day (a gin something...with Tanqueray, fresh lime juice and soda) and my husband had the Pamplemousse martini. Â Both were great, but it was the AMBIANCE that we came back for later that same day. Â Attic-like, cozy. Â Absolutely the coolest drinking hole ever.
Review Source:My friends and I went to have a drink for my 21st birthday but, did not eat there. When we walked in, it was very relaxed and floor was dirty.
We were asked if we had reservations but, did not so, we just picked our own seating. I suggest sitting upstairs instead of down, due to the weird Charlie Chaplin movies playing unless, you enjoy those types of movies.
A wide selection of food and beverages. It would not be somewhere I would go again unless, it was a celebration.
This is my favorite lounge in Santa Cruz. It has this warm, lived-in feel to it. I prefer sitting upstairs as its more casual; it's very easy to meet people as eavesdropping is commonplace. Downstairs plays movies against the wall next to the bar, and white-clothed tables sit against the windows facing downtown. It's relaxed, neighborly, and twenty-something to thirty-something cool. I'd get a glass of the Acrobat and an order of crab cakes. Enjoy the fire on the upper patio, and just, relax.
Review Source:Loved our romantic dinner at 515.
DRINKS:
I had the orange cocktail they offer at happy hour and the Holly Go Lightly. Both were deeeeelicious!
DINNER:
This place is wonderfully priced! My boyfriend and I ordered several small plates at $4-8 each and were fully satisfied by each one. We had the truffle frites, braised pork, marinara polenta, and AMAZING pumpkin ravioli. Oh my goodness what delicious raviolis (Now, those were a little overpriced at $15 for a small bowl of them....but they were mega-yummy.)
DESSERT:
They were out of several things and the desserts they did have were mediocre-sounding...The table next to us had the chocolate cake and it looked really dry. I asked if I ordered the chocolate  cake, they could add a scoop of ice cream. They don't HAVE ice cream- in the entire place! What kind of restaurant doesn't have ice cream? They had another offering that was a sampling of cookies, but...again....no ice cream! :( *sadness* I would have ordered dessert if they had ice cream, but instead we went somewhere else for dessert. Ah well....(That's really my only complaint.)
SERVICE:
The service is pretty good because they have several people bringing out your orders, so as you order more drinks and food it gets brought out pretty quick by people other than your server. Which helps keep things moving, and I appreciated that. Â
ATMOSPHERE:
We sat inside, which was nice. But upstairs looks like a  more fun lounge-like scene. I'd love to come back here on an evening where it's warm enough to sit on the upper balcony. We enjoyed our dinner here! Thanks 515! :)
xox
Finally got around to having the burger here... Â It was well cooked and tasty. Â An artisan burger, with great ingredients, but nothing else really special about it. Â The fries were very tasty (though my friends thought they tasted like McDonald's fries).
My buddy ordered some steak thing that looked equally tasty. Â
The atmosphere is fun, lively, and intimate. Â They have a nice upstairs with more casual seating, and a downstairs with more formal dining.
Recommended. Â It's a surprise to find a place like this in Santa Cruz.
This place could truly be a gem in Santa Cruz. Â The food and drinks are fabulous. Â
Complaints: Â Not one reservation has stuck. Â I've reserved specific seating several times and if someone happens to sit in your reserved spot, you lose your reservation which is what happened to me when I made a reservation upstairs for 6 people. Â The hostess is smug and rude, that is if you can even find her. Â The last reservation we had last week was around 5:30pm on a Friday and it took us 10minutes just to find the hostess to be seated for our reservation. Â I reserved a table downstairs and she tried to seat us up stairs in the lounge area. Â It's obvious that management doesn't manage. Â I've also called to speak to a manager and the staff refuses to allow you to connect with them, so I will be going in person this weekend. Â
ANOTHER BUMMER: 515 will only take reservations a month out so graduating seniors, they will not accommodate early planning. Â Lame! Â : /
This is truly my fave Santa Cruz eats or drinks place, but the 515 is poorly run. Â I have had some great experiences with the majority of their staff, so maybe if the management actually manages how the hostess runs the place, people's perception of the 515 will change too.
I've been to 515 many times and i've always been extremely disappointed with the slow service and the dirty carpets and seating. But this is a favorite of friends due to their longer happy hour hours and cheap appetizers so I went to this bar fairly often.
However, I will never go here again.
A few weeks ago I sat at the bar upstairs with a friend of mine from 5:30-7:30 pm on a Tuesday. We each ordered and drank two beers during this time. The beers we ordered were poured at the downstairs bar and brought up to us at the upstairs bar. One of the beers I was served had a roofie (or xanax or something else similar) put in it. Â I would like to say that I have no way of knowing if a bartender, the server, or some random sicko that walked by the bar when our drinks were waiting to be picked up did this, but either way, I will not be going back here. I was lucky to have a friend with me who was able to take care of me, but I could have easily not been as lucky.
I tried for days and days to call the bar and speak with a manager or staff member, anyone, and let them know what happened. Every time I called the bar the phone rang and rang and rang and no one ever picked up.
Just a warning to those out there, WATCH YOUR DRINKS BEING POURED. Don't take your eyes off of them for a second!
My friend had recommended this place for Valentines day and boy did this place impress me! Located just off the main street in Santa Cruz, this place just looks cozy. Looks like an old house turned into a casual restaurant. The inside is like a lounge, but has dining tables next to the windows.
They were serving a Valentines day special: 4 course meal for $40 per person. The portions were not quite my size, but boy did they make up for that with the flavor of the food. Absolutely delicious, didn't get a bad plate. The simple baby greens salad was great, the red wine risotto (I think that's what I ordered) was great, the filet mignon was absolutely amazing, and the tiramisu was probably the best I've ever had.
The service here is also really good. Our waitress knew all the items on the menus, was very helpful about letting us know what had dairy in it since my girlfriend is lactose intolerant.
I will definitely be coming back here, maybe for drinks next time as they had a huge selection of specialty drinks and they do have a happy hour!
Thank you sooo much 515 Kitchen & Cocktails!!!
Just came here for drinks and wow were they good. I didnd't know what order so the waiter asked me what I liked and said he'd take care of me and he did. I wasn't expecting a mixology session in Santa Cruz, but it was amazing. Their frieds are also good, wish I could say more for the other food but that all we ordered. Cozy little romantic spot with good service, drinks, decor and a nice relaxed vibe.
Review Source:I am giving five stars based on the most amazing and creative cocktail menu I've had the pleasure to enjoy!
My husband and I went here Saturday night. Â We asked the front desk at our hotel for a recommendation...something mellow, age appropriate (i.e. not overrun with college kids...we're in our late thirties), etc. Â This was his first (and strongest) suggestion, so we hopped in a cab and away we went.
We were seated on a plush comfy couch by the downstairs bar. Â The film "Roman Holiday" was being projected onto a screen. We noticed a large shelf in the wall behind us filled with games like Trivial Pursuit, Boggle, etc....so fabulous..yay! It had such an awesome, old-timey, mellow and comfortable feel...it was perfect. Â I felt that our server(s) were very responsive and saw to all our needs.
I started with a champagne cocktail (which was delicious) and planned on trying some of the other concoctions. Â The next drink I ordered (I can't recall the name...but it had a word like "farm" or "garden" in it's title) was AMAZING! Â I can't recall all the ingredients, but I think it was like cucumber infused gin, basil, absinthe, fresh mint, some other components I can't recall...wow! I can honestly say it is the tastiest cocktail I've ever imbibed. Â Due to it's complete and total perfection, I couldn't bring myself to order anything else the rest of the night. Â My husband tried a few different cocktails that I did get to taste. Â Everything was amazing and it seems they do a lot of in-house liquor infusing.
We had eaten an early dinner, buy my husband was hungry again so he ordered a burger with fries. Â He enjoyed it. Â The menu looked like it had a lot of neat and creative food options. Â I would love to try going for dinner the next time we're in town....and hopefully that's sooner than later.
We were so comfortable and pleased with everything that we didn't make it to any of the other places on the list.
OMG!!!! Worst service ever!!!!
I ordered a glass of wine and appetizer, it took at least 5 mins to get my wine and the appetizer never arrived. A server delivered my wine and within 7 mins asked how long I would be at the table she had people waiting!!!! Really!!
I asked for my bill twice, and again someone asked me how much longer I would be occupying the table.. My reply "all I need is my check" check came and I never had a chance to finish my wine and never received my food!!!
So awful!!! Â PS. My wine was $11 a glass!!
Been here several times and most of the time a good experience. I can recall a few times just having to wait awhile at the downstairs bar. Like some people have said, "hit and miss".
I've never had dinner here, so I can't give a full star review. Items can be on the pricey side, so if you're on a budget, go for the Happy Hour.
Took someone here for their birthday last night and had delicious spicy crab cakes and pomme frites - (that's pretentious for French fries) :P The champagne cocktails were excellent. We also got some entertainment by a local magician, which I thought was going to be annoying or cheesy and it turned out to be really impressive and fun. Good times for all.
What a great surprise to find a place with great cocktails and great food! I made a reservation and we were placed at a table in the second floor lounge. Fab. Service was awesome (Ella was our server). The service was prompt and helpful. We were going to order from the dinner menu, but the cocktail hour specials were uh-may-zeeng. We ordered them all! The truffle fries, the crab cakes, the red leaf salad, white bean and pine nut hummus... all wonderful. We also ordered the pork shoulder small plate. All while being checked-on throughout our time there by attentive staff. The drink specials were really good. We had the Le Pommemousse and it really was delish! Great atmosphere and great experience. Our new fave place. We can't wait to go back!
Review Source:I almost never give five stars on the first review. I was sorely tempted here.
The cocktail menu was inventive and eclectic. I'm pretty jaded about traditional cocktails and it takes a lot to get me to try something new. 515 has sold me on the Vieux Carre.
Dinner was inventive and tasty as well.
Definitely must return.
A warm, cozy and intimate cocktail bar and restaurant (though the decor is a tad too stuffy for my tastes). This is the perfect date night or girls' night out place.
The big draw for me was the cocktails. I'm a certified bartender (not that that means much) and am pretty obsessed with mixology, so I love going to cocktail bars and watching other mixologists do their thing. 515 has a very unique cocktail list with ingredients that skew toward the more unknown and under-used. Unfortunately, most of the drinks contained at least one ingredient I'm not very fond of--gin (I know, blasphemous right?), faux-absinthe (because there's no such thing as real absinthe in the US) and various sweet rums (I find rum sweet enough on its own without all that artificial flavoring). So I settled on the Pamplemousse, which was every bit as tangy and zesty and grapefruit-y as your heart could desire. It was also $4, thanks to a seemingly never-ending happy hour.
My friend had a custom chocolate martini made from the real stuff. None of that rich, creamy, name brand liqueur (though I do enjoy that too). This martini had cocoa, but it was clear and light in texture, accented with a cherry at the bottom of the glass. Mmmm!
We sat at the bar and about 45 minutes into our visit, I noticed a huge plate of fries in front of a woman a few stools down. Now, french fries are one of my favorite foods (starch is proof God wants us to be fat and happy), but they're especially saliva-worthy when I've been drinking because I tend to get reeeally hungry when I drink. So, I might have been a liiiiittle loud in conveying my enthusiasm for the beauty of those fries, and the nice lady very kindly offered us some. Ahhhh! Truffle rosemary fries! The skinny, gourmet, made-from-scratch kind that make you want to lick the plate! I honestly could have devoured that whole thing, but that would not have been polite. No sireee.
But for serious, those fries were incredible. I don't care if you could make the same thing with a bag of McCain's, a sprig of rosemary and a bottle of truffle oil. 515 does awesome truffle fries! Oh yeah, and cocktails too.
Super chill vibe with a small cushy lounge area and outdoor patio perfect for people-watching. My group of ten sat in the lounge area upstairs and tried to solve some more puzzles for our epic Treasure Hunt. The servers and bartender were attentive and obviously very entertained by whatever the heck it was we were doing.
Fell in love with the Truffle Fries, devouring more than my fair share of these. Got nearly owned by the Green Vesper (minus the green), which is basically 3 shots of alcohol -- gin, vodka, and a splash of absinthe. This is not a drink on their menu, but our friend ordered it custom-made, and 515 surely delivered. Props to the bartender for being able to create a custom-made drink on the spot, and 10 of them for our whole group. I'd be interested to come back and try more food.
TIP: While chillin' here, it may be necessary to completely ignore the death stares of some of the people dining, especially if they're on an awkward date or have children with them. Guess the food must be really good if you're willing to have your children dine in a lounge at prime happy hour time!
how often do you find a place that can mix a cocktail out of fernet and other nectars of the gods? Â never. Â 515 does it right.
what a great nitecap place for a great day. Â comfy couches, chill vibe, and amazingly done cocktails with class and that laid back santa cruz vibe. Â 515 has class and beach-town feel. Â what more can you ask for?
next time in santa cruz this is a must stop. Â next time i'll grab dinner, too. Â but those cocktails? Â holy geeze. Â if i lived in santa cruz i'd be here a lot.
The service can be spotty which means sometimes you get your drink quickly but other times you can wait for 20 min for a beer (as we did last night). Â The cocktail menu is very interesting and diverse and the food is decent but a bit overpriced. Â
We have gone 4 times and I'd say 1 of those 4 visits was stellar.
The place is a quirky, typical Santa Cruz-type place with an unusual flare. Â Maybe not the place to take your grandmother. Â You'll hear eclectic rock music from Velvet Underground to Arcade Fire. Â The food is simply wonderful. Â I had the Sea Bass with beets and potatoes. Â It was excellent and simple but the flavors complex. Â The other tables echoed the same review- wonderful. Â
My only regret was not getting a dessert.
I really liked the ambiance and felt like I was in someone's living room. The staff was friendly and attentive. Basically a very good vibe. Surprisingly there weren't too many vegetarian options on the menu. When we arrived for dinner around 7:30 pm they only had one of their vegan entrees left.
Since I wasn't very hungry I opted for the grilled vegetable small plate. It was okay. The two sauces it came with weren't inspired -- aioli which is basically mayonnaise and butter with parsley. It shouldn't take much effort to come up with jazzier sauces. My friend had a pasta dish which she enjoyed but needed help with salt & pepper.
The menu teems with creative cocktails. I would suggest that some of that energy be directed toward the food dishes.
I very much enjoyed my experience at 515! It's a converted victorian house that is now a restaurant. The best part is the rooftop dining overlooking downtown Santa Cruz. The house is a little bit old and creaky, but it adds to the charm. The hostess and server were very friendly and helpful with the menu. Although it was a little bit of a bummer they were out of quite a few appetizer dishes, at least you know it was for good reason - their food is fresh and their most popular dishes go fast (fried chicken leg).
The kale salad, crabcrakes, and french fries were all really good. Unfortunately, the goat cheese risotto left a little to be desired - it in fact did not taste like much.
Other than that, really enjoyed 515 and look forward to coming back!
I have only come here for drinks. The drink I had-- a raspberry lemon drop-- was good, but at the price, I'd expect it to be.
The crowd seemed a little more yuppy than what I was expecting in Santa Cruz, but if you are looking to get away from the students, then this is the place to be. As for me, I'll likely just go to one of the numerous other places in downtown.
We came here on a Friday night looking for some small plates and cocktails. Â It's about a block away from the main strip of Santa Cruz. Â It's definitely a very eclectic place - parts of it look like a lounge, parts look more like a formal restaurant. Â Regardless, you could show up in either flip flops or a nice dress, and either would be ok.
As for cocktails, they're surprisingly reasonably priced (mostly $7-8 each) and pretty strong. Â My favorite was the Bernice Frankel - citrusy with sparkling wine, not too sweet. Â The Marilyn Monroe was a pomegranate liqueur based one but tasted a little too much like cough syrup for me.
Of the appetizers, we chose the apple halfjoun and beer steamed mussels. Â the halfjoun is a half sized flatbread (true flatbread crust - not just a thin crust pizza), topped with lots of goat cheese, caramelized onions, pine nuts, and spiced cooked apples - it was a combination of all my favorite things. Â The beer steamed mussels were tender, and the fries on top were thin, crispy, and well seasoned. Â The broth underneath had a strong beer flavor and wasn't too buttery (ask for some bread to soak it up!).
For entrees, I had the tiger prawn salad - a generous amount of arugula topped with well seasoned prawns, but the dressing was a little tart for me (get it on the side). Â The special of the day was lamb chops - seasoned well, very tender, not overcooked. Â The polenta underneath had a lot of flavor but was a little heavy. Â Overall, done very well and reasonably priced.
Service is pretty good - everyone helps out with drinks, orders, clearing plates, etc - you don't have one specific server. Â The walk down the bathroom can be a bit treacherous if you've had too much to drink. Â I'd recommend patio seating if possible; otherwise, I'm not too sure what to make of the ambiance inside. Â Prices are reasonable for what you get, and portions are pretty well sized.
Parking at the meters or in the lot next door is 50 cents per hour, free after 8pm. Â It gets more packed as the night goes on, so if you're planning ahead, call for a reservation.
On the first day of our visit to Santa Cruz, we ended up going to this place for dinner because we were looking for something a) quality; and b) possibly not too heavy. Â We had lunch at Pono's Hawaiian Grill and I was still feeling full five or six hours later. Â I browsed the Yelp reviews for places close to our B&B (Pacific Blue Inn) and this seemed to fit the bill. Â Even though it was St. Paddy's Day, we got a table for the two of us immediately. Â The servers/hostesses (doing double-duty) were all dressed up in green to celebrate the day. Â The vibe of the place is like going into someone's house kind of. Â It's obviously a converted residence. Â Very cozy. Â We got a table right by the front window, which was entertaining because there was a lot of activity on the street what with all the St. Paddy's Day people popping out all over the place. Â
Their drink menu is pretty good. Â Some nice beers, including a few Belgians, and some inventive mixed drinks. Â Based on other reviews, my wife ordered the Pamplemousse. Â She loved it.
In keeping with my desire for something light, we ordered a green salad, steamed clams, and a polenta dish. Â The dressing on the salad was delightfully bracing and exactly what I needed. Â The clams were cooked perfectly, swimming in a flavorful broth, and topped with arugula leaves. Â Only grumble was a small amount of grit/sand in the bottom of the bowl. Â The polenta dish was fantastic! Â Super-creamy polenta topped with an acidic, chunky tomato sauce. Â We didn't have dessert.
Possibly the best restaurant in Santa Cruz. Â At least in the downtown area.
I like 515 so much I just went two nights in a row. The first night was for drinks only. When I walked in and saw Friday projected on the wall, I knew I'd love the place. And indeed, I was ultimately taken with the cozy ambiance upstairs, and the dance music downstairs. Our bartender was really nice and made some killer cocktails form their drink menu. Le Pamplemousse is one of the better drinks I've enjoyed in a long time.
The second night we came for dinner. The only seating available was in the "lounge" area, which is four chairs and a loveseat situated around two low tables. Actually a fine space to eat, and would have been better if we had the opportunity to be choose different seats. I tried the deviled eggs and roasted pumpkin raviolis, which I'd spied on the menu the night before. I was not disappointed! The deviled eggs are so good and I can already see myself ordering them (and the white bean hummus) as a snack with my drinks in the future. The pumpkin raviolis are amazingly savory, with a brown butter sauce that has to be tried to be believed. The dish is really rich though, and I'd probably split it with someone in the future. I'm excited to go back and try more of the menu!
I REALLY wanted to like this place. I went here for drinks once and had a great time, very tasty drinks, nice bartender, etc. But this past December I came here for a more romantic dinner.
First, they lost my reservation, then the waiters ignored us for 10 minutes after we sat down. THEN the waitress suggested this horrible new drink the bartender had created, ugh I couldn't even finish 1/3 of it. Our table's bread came out on the tiniest plate EVER, where as all the other tables had normal sized plates. Our vinegar and oil was a deep bowl of oil with a splash of balsalmic, how is my bread supposed to reach that?!?!? Trust me, I tried and the bread was super sad after only getting to play in the oil with no hope of mingling with the dark vinegar.
Now, I've had bad waitresses in my day, forgetful, stupid, lazy, new, etc., but I rarely, if ever find, a waitress who is a MEGA BITCH. This waitress was acting as though we were bothering her on her day off, rolling her eye, persing her lips, and acting as passive aggressive as that one roommate in college who used to slam the drawers just a little too loud, would leave notes on the back of the toilet seat about the empty TP, and would not so subtly leave the room with a HUFF every time anyone she didn't like entered. Ya that was the person bringing us our food. It's safe to say I didn't want to leave a very big tip.
The only saving grace for this place was that the food was great, and the drink my date was enjoying was pretty good. I had the pork loin and my date had the burger, both were very enjoyable.
As we left the restaurant we had a discussion about if we ever opened a restaurant and a waitress acted like, she would not only get fired, but we would personally make sure no one ever hired the mega bitch again.
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