Stopped here on the way home from Santa Cruz and saw that the reviews were mostly positive. Â The burgers were good, but not THE BEST BURGERS EVER as mentioned in other posts...sorry Malone's. Â But I will say it was a good burger. Â They also had some interesting soups on the menu that caught our groups eye. Â The chipotle tots were great as well. Â
Service good. Â Food good. Â Seating - Indoor & Outdoor. Â Worth the stop if you are hungry and looking for a place to sit and eat.
Had lunch there today and not only was the weather beautiful but the food was tasty and service was perfect! And I'm not just sayin that since the server had my name...Courtney our server was fun and efficient and I'll totally be back for the piano bar she told us about! Good deals, great food enough said!
Review Source:My first trip to Malone's was for Karaoke night. The clientele seems like a cool mix of locals and people who head out just for the Karaoke. And the KJ was pretty amazing as well.
We got there early to have some food. We ordered the seafood basket starter and chipotle tater tots to share. I had the prime rib with the green chile soup (I'm a huge green chile fan ever since I lived in New Mexico). The seafood basket was quite tasty even though there wasn't enough sauce to go with it. The tater tots were just kind of average. The spice I was expecting was really kind of non-existent. It was slightly better if you didn't dip it in the accompanying sauce, but overall I wasn't that impressed with them.
The green chile soup was amazing. But cold. Like barely lukewarm cold. I expect my soup to be hot, and it was just lacking. If they could make it hot, they'd have a winner on their hands. The prime rib was also good, but also colder than it should have been. I was hungry so I didn't complain, but overall the food didn't really cut it for me.
The place is great though, great beer and great Karaoke on Saturday nights. Perhaps some of the other dishes are better, and if I were going there anyway, I'd probably eat there again.
Met my wife at Malones tonight after working on the other side of the hill all day. Just wanted a quick bite and had no expectations. Bumped into several people that we know from the community. We were busy talking to friends when my clam chowder was delivered. It caught my attention. It was some of the best I've had in our coastal county. The chicken Marsala I had ordered arrived. The presentation was completely unexpected. It was kept tightly gathered sitting on the top of mashed potatoes with veggies on the side. Typically the chicken breasts are flatly filleted on the plate at other eateries. This chicken had a crispy skin on it. It was delicious. I started losing track of the conversation going on while enjoying what the chef was doing. The veggies......asparagus, carrots, etc. were ok. The carrots were too al Dante for my taste. A bit of sorting out of the vegetables and I'm going five stars on this (what I thought was a watering hole) restaurant. Good job. Can't wait to get back for the food.
Review Source:We've been going to Malone's grill for years. The food has generally been  good with ample portions. In the last year or so the quality on some items has definitely slipped. Maybe it is the economy. The skirt steak is something other than. There are many small cuts in the meat in an effort to tenderize what is probably a flank steak. The soups have always been good when we've eaten there. Service has been very good and the staff has been accommodating and friendly. We've had good prime rib in the past, but yesterday was not one of them. We both ordered the prime rib "special". The meat came out looking like a million bucks and perfectly cooked. Both were unbelievably tough. Wow! We ate around the outside of the cut but the rich pink center was too tough to tackle. (we both have excellent teeth) My GF took hers home and the cats ate it. We decided not to say anything because we didn't want to cause a hassle, and soup, bread and side dishes eased the appetite. But at $30 bucks a pop we really should have.
I can tell you that we have had very good fish and chips on several occasions. ( they say it is a haddock fillet, and it tastes like it)
Their pastas are not bad. The burgers are large and taste good. Salads are OK too.
Think I'll head to Aptos the next time I'm in the mood for prime rib.
Wow, this place has come a long way in the last 20 years. I went from only dining on the patio (because the inside was kind of smelly) to the establishment adding a nice, new, clean dining room inside with it's own separate entrance. We came here last night and enjoyed some hearty cuisine on a really cold night.
They had a special that included a prime rib open faced sandwich. The ingredients were so good that I didn't want to mash it all together and jumble up the flavors. The arugula was fresh, the tomatoes were nice and juicy, the shoe string onions were crisp, the spiced crust on the prime rib  was out of this world and the horseradish sauce was subtle.  I almost forgot to mention the clam chowder that I ordered to go with it. Maybe it was the fact that it was cold outside but it made it phenomenal. It really hit the spot! Service was prompt and friendly too.
I'll be back. This place is an unexpected gem.
Enjoyed a nice dinner on the patio of Malone's Grille recently. Â We had a really nice young man serve us that evening and enjoyed his personality. Â My husband and I both ordered the french dip sandwich and it was very good. Â This is definitely a place we like to visit - sometimes to dine, sometimes to watch a sports game, sometimes for wine down Wednesday or to listen to the live entertainment and enjoy a glass of wine - whatever the case, Malone's Grille is always a favorite option and we're happy to have a great place so close to home!
Review Source:Worst service ever. Went with
Some friends. Got told multiple times we were her last costumers and she kept telling us they close at 7pm. When we arrived at 620pm. We got told 4 times we were her last table and she needed to close our tab. Then she tried to charge 18% gratuity because our bill was over 100$ after she gave us the bill. Horrible service by "Kathleen"
My husband and I took a weekend trip to Santa Cruz and stayed at the Hilton in Scott's Valley. We asked the front desk to recommend a restaurant and they sent us to Malone's!! It is 6 months later and I am still feeling obligated to let people know of our great dining experience at Malone's! I had the rib eye with some sort or cheese sauce with it and it was hands done the best steak I have ever had! We will definitely be back next time we are in the Santa Cruz area!! Keep up the great work!!
Review Source:Well, I never actually got to eat here but I gave it a 1 because the restaurant didn't even allow my friends and me a chance to...
We called to make reservations for a get together of about 12 people on a Wednesday night. And the owner told us that Wednesdays are a very busy night,(Winedown Wednesdays) and that we would need to order our food ahead of time.
We probably wouldn't have had a problem with that until they told us we only had a choice of 3 dinner plates and that each person would have to pay about $20 each. And that we would also have to pay ahead of time. What the heck? Seriously, that's fine they just lost out on a lot of money that we just took over to Maya's Mexican down the street who welcomed us.
Funny thing is someone accidentally went to Malones that night at 8pm and they were not busy at all.
I've been to Malone's a few times and have always sat in the dining room at the request of some I go with. I've been in the bar, it looks like it's old and dirty and not clean at all so I wouldn't want to sit in there anyway. In the dining room it tries to play an upscale game with the decor, menu, and prices. The place needs a serious modern makeover. The old school red leather chairs need to go! But let's move on.
We are welcomed by a host and seated at the table. He lays down menus and asks us if we would like anything other than water. We answer him and he walks away. A waitress walks up as he walks off and asks us if we would like anything other than water.. We answer her and let her know that we also told someone else. She walks off and we look at the menus for a few minutes. The water arrives and a third person comes along and asks us if we want bread and anything other than water... Just wow...
We finally order and the food was alright. The waitress was nice enough but stood really close up to the table and therefore was REALLY close to me.. Uncomfortable.. I tried the green chile soup which had potential for good flavors but was sadly bland. Hello salt and hello pepper!! The Prawn Cobb sandwich was pretty good. I couldn't finish it because it was pretty big and not with much shrimp in it. Two other tables walked in while we were eating and at some point any waitress was nowhere to be found. I hawked for one and finally got someone's attention. The bill took time to get and when the waitress finally walked around the corner to deliver it she throws it down without a word and turns to help another table. Gee.. I guess we don't get any more nice service after getting our food. We never saw our waitress after that.
So, ok food but haven't had much here, crazy old decor and menus, a little pricey for what you get, and not very good service especially since it was really slow.
STOP. DO. NOT. PROCEED. This place is gross. It smells like mold. The only thing that reedems them is their patio, which is cool. The food is greasy, and over all not that impressed. I will never be back here. Our server Shelly was great, she made sure we had everything we needed and seemed really professional, she made our experience better, even though we were clearly not happy with the ridiculous rules that this place has. You can only get half off burgers in the bar not on the patio, but we didn't want to sit in the bar...because it's dingy and smells bad. We are defenetely not comiong here again, heard that there are better burger joints in Santa Cruz. So, don't waste your time.
Review Source:I absolutely love Malones! I tend to stick to the greek salad with prawns because it is so yummy. It's a bit expensive for a salad but the amount of jumbo prawns on your plate really makes up for it. My other obsession is their cream of green chile soup. I've tried multiple recipes in hopes of re-creating it but have never accomplished it. Â
If you want to avoid the costliness go for a weekday deal night (up on their website) Wednesdays they offer a 6 dollar pasta of the day and on Monday you can get a 6 dollar burger and fries.
More than once during lunch, someone at our table muttered "what the hell is going on here?"
Normally this would be characteristic of a bad review, but in this case, it referred to the waitress, who, while was all over refills, orders et al, certainly had her own brand of quirk. Was she like that with everyone? Did she just see us coming and know we were easy going? Who knows.
Lunch on a Sunday was quiet. We sat in the bar and had burgers and beers. The menu was simple; burgers and sides, most burgers rounding out to the $9-12 range. When mine hit the table, I could have mistaken it for two burgers on their own, not just one cut in half.
Mine was cooked medium, fairly standard fare, and the juice form the burger had begun to soak into the lower portion of the bun. Thumbs up.
All in all, good lunch, laid back bar atmosphere, friendly staff. I'm looking forward to heading back.
I give this one star because I don't have an option for no star. Â We arrived at 8:05pm, the place was vacant (minus one table), and the hostess took 5 minuts to come out of the back and seat us. We ordered margaritas and then we waited... And waited... and waited. 20 minutes passed and no drinks and no order taking. Â We ended up leaving and going to a mexican restaurant down the street.
Review Source:We just went to Malone's for dinner with my parents and our two kids, aged 3 and 9. Â We were pleasantly surprised with both the service and the taste and quality of the food. Â I have lived in the SLV area my entire life (37 years) and had never gone to MAlone's to eat.
We had the Coconut Prawns as an appetizer, and they were fabulous! Â They had a sweet/spicy dipping sauce that made them wonderful.
My husband had the rib eye steak. Â I had the stuffed portabello mushroom. Â My parents each had the Salmon Cobb salad. Â My daughter had the breaded calamari steak. Â My son had chicken nuggets.
Hands down, everyone loved their meals. Â The food presentation was beautiful and minimalistic.
I would have given Malone's 5 stars if the stairs leading to the dining area weren't so jenky, rickity, and out of code for the rise/run. Â These need to be replaced ASAP. Â
Otherwise, the food and service was excellent and I now realize why people rave about this place. Â Can't wait to go back on 3/3 for mom's birthday.
"Are you guys teachers? Â You dress like teachers."
"Can you move out of the way? I'm trying to watch my girlfriend sing (karaoke)."
Yeah we were teachers, and we weren't trying to block the man's way. Â We were just standing around, as one does in a bar. Â Definitely an interesting crowd, but the karaoke was a good time and the staff was nice. Â Overall, good times.
I enjoy the outdoor seating especially on a nice summer day. Plenty of tree shades so you can enjoy the weather without the sunburn.
The food itself is traditional burger, sandwich, fries, salad ensemble- nothing out of the ordinary but nothing disappointing either. It tends to be a good place to please all different kinds of taste buds, especially for a business lunch/dinner.
The services are usually very attentive and the servers are quick to react to anything out of the ordinary- such as special requests, glasses going empty faster than normal, food delayed due to kitchen backlog.
After six years in the San Lorenzo valley, we finally made it to Malone's for dinner.
The restaurant has a smooth jazz theme we both liked; the wait staff was wonderful - friendly and engaging, this makes or breaks a restaurant experience for me.
We both went for the MEAT. I had the 6oz fillet with the roasted garlic & gorgonzola sauce (calories be damned) which was so delicious; the veggies were fresh and still had snap. My hubby went for the prime rib with the pepper au poivre sauce that was outstanding too. The wine list could be more robust.
We will definitely be back.
Have now been here multiple times and have almost always had a very good experience. Â Owner is well tied into the local community and sponsors many fund raising events here.
The wine down Wed feature is very enjoyable, especially if it is tied into an organization you have a connection with.
Most of the menu is pretty good. Â The burgers are OK. Â Bartenders are usually pretty friendly and easy to get a long with.
This place was fantastic. Â Went there for dinner on a whim with the family, toddler in tow on a random weekday evening. Â I saw a bunch of reviews here that recommended the gorgonzola burger, so that is what I ordered -- wow, you guys weren't kidding! Â From the first bite to the last I was marveling in its goodness, with the caramelized onions and focaccia bun -- this is not a burger to put down.
Elsewhere around the table there were many comments about other fantastic entrees, but I was too busy scarfing my burger to notice so I`m afraid I can't tell you too much about the other dishes. Â I can vouch for the margarita however, you can't go wrong with Cabo Wabo. Â Nicole was our waitress and she rocked. Â That was a fun evening and we will be back for sure!
Drove up to Northern CA from LA with a friend for the weekend. I try to make it up there a few times a year to keep my sanity. I swear my spirit animal must be a mountain lion because I get such a high driving through the redwoods.
Anyway, Malones.. Â I could go on and on about the place/food but I'll cut the bullshit and deliver the goods by providing you with my thoughts in bullet point form..
- The Gorgonzola hamburger gave me my first ever food-gasm, I'm still thinking about it
- They use ciabatta bread instead of hamburger buns. This bread is perfection. Soft, airy and absorbs the garlic aioli spread like a f--ing god
- The onion rings are impeccable
- They have Stella Artois on tap
- If you go for lunch, chances are you'll have to sit in the bar section
- There's a little "romantic" spot near the fire place
- They have a stack of board games that are available for use (holla if you like Scrabble)
Thanks to the Yelpers for recommending this place. I will definitely be going there again.
Peace love and onion rings.
We used to come here all the time before it was refurbed and the prices were better. Â But even before the refurb, they jacked up the prices and the food got no better. I never got into the burgers- way too much bread and I can't remember anything that I thought was exceptional.
The patio dining is great and the dining room is fine- better now than the dark decor it used to be, but I hated walking through the bar because it stinks like stale alcohol and urine.
We haven't been there in a long time but if they ever lower their prices or upped the food quality a LOT, we might try again.
I've been here several times with a good friend of mine that lives close by. We threw a Cookie swap/wine party here last week and I had a great time.
When you come in, there is a bar on the right side playing the latest sports game. That night we were there, there was live music which was nice. To the left is the restaurant part. We were able to snag three tables in the bar area and make it a casual dining experience full of appetizers and wine.
I ordered the chicken quesadilla with my friend and shared some potato skins with another. Loved all of the food and everything came out quickly and hot.
Service is wonderful here. The nice waitress kept calling us "Love" when she addressed us and that was really sweet. She was sincere and treated us really well.
I've only experienced the bar area of Malone's but sometime would like to try their restaurant out. Â Drinks are great and they are not stingy on the alcohol either!
Had a great time at Malone's last night for Monday Night Football. Their "Blue's Busters" will sure pep you up. They have great deals for food, beers and drinks four nights of the week. Leaving that place last night I felt more at peace and not so broke. A $6 Rib Eye steak sandwich will sure do that I guess. It was cooked perfectly and tasted great.
The place feels like a good old neighborhood bar, but you will be surprised at the different dining areas they have to offer. The patio looks like a great spot to have a cold beer and a burger in the afternoon. If you stop in at the bar, Kim will take good care of you.
Best Burger in Nor Cal and fairly inexpensive considering it is almost a pound. The burger is so big it is oblong instead of being round. Always a fun place to hang out, Great outside patio. Family friendly and always warm and inviting.
If you love wine checkout the Wine down Wednesday's, great wineries pour for two hours for only $10 bucks. A must stop if you are driving HWY 17!
My first review seems to have disappeared and that's kind of annoying as it was a simple good review. Anyway, since then we've grown tired of their wine down Wednesday's. The food is good and all, but some of the wines are not. It seems that a descent winery comes but pours their crappy wine. We got tired of spending the money and are being more selective. Plus spending $60 each week on wine and dinner, gets to be a bit expensive.
After reading the latest reviews, I was amused by hearing about the servers attitude. My BF and I usually arrive before our friends and order food. When our friend comes, the waitress hovers (which is really annoying when you just got off work and need to vent to friends - the last thing you need is someone hovering over you waiting for you to order something) back off! We'll order when we're ready!
Otherwise, the place is great, never actually been here other than the wine thing, there's other places to eat. We're attempting the wine down again soon and can't wait for the pesto calamari - yummy!
I had heard from a couple people that this place had amazing burgers so today some friends and I decided to see if they were right and try the food for ourselves.
Brace yourself. I have a lot to say about this place.
There were five of us, and we all basically ordered the same thing. My friend and I split a mushroom cheeseburger and added bacon. Two of our friends split the same burger and added bacon as well. Our last friend ordered a burger for himself. When we were ordering, the menu did not say how much it was to add bacon to our burgers so we asked Robin (our server) how much it costed since the menu wasn't helpful at all, and she said, "$1 I think". So obviously, we believed her (what else would we believe? We have nothing else to go off of but her word!) and ordered bacon on 2 of the burgers.
We had also asked for sides of ranch dressing and Robin kindly brought us some. But there were 6 of us and she brought 3 servings of ranch, so we decided we'd need more than that and asked her to bring more. And she literally stopped, stared at us for 3 seconds, and hesitatingly said, "Sure, okay". I know this wasn't just me thinking her expression was rude. All 6 of us kinda looked at each other like, did she really just give us a weird look? When she brought it to us, she said something along the lines of, "Here you go. Are you guys swimming in it?" Hi, I don't exactly appreciate sarcasm from my servers when all I want is some extra ranch dressing. We weren't asking for much, you know? No need for the passive-aggressive attitude.
The burgers itself weren't bad. For those of us that were splitting the meal, the burgers came out on separate plates with half a burger on our plates and the steak fries split between us already. The cheese on the one I shared was nicely melted at least. We asked for medium well, and part of my meat was sticking out of the bread (which is actually not a regular bun. it's some sort of roll which was interesting), so I cut that lone piece off and tried eating it alone. That edge tasted burnt! Like overcooked/charred. Seeing as how I had heard such great things about the burgers here, I must say... it wasn't that great to me. I definitely finished my half and enjoyed it, and the steak fries were good. But it wasn't at all a burger I'd come back for.
Robin came back to our table a couple times to check if we were okay and how the food was. She also brought us a complimentary plate of steak fries that the cook had made for us. So that was actually really nice and we were all really generally happy with our food and service.
Now this is where my experienced turned all kinds of SOUR.
Robin brought us the check and when we went over all the charges, we were completely confused. She had charged us $4 all together for SPLITTING THE BURGERS. So $2 for each split burger. Excuse me? Does it really cost $2 to CUT A BURGER IN HALF, USE AN EXTRA PLATE, AND SPLIT AN ORDER OF FRIES EQUALLY AMONG TWO PLATES? How ridiculous is that. Who really CHARGES CUSTOMERS to split an order? If we had known, we would've just lied and said, "Two of us aren't eating at all", and then cut the burgers in half ourselves with a knife. AND ROBIN NEVER TOLD US ABOUT THE SPLIT CHARGES BEFORE HAND. Don't customers deserve to know what they're paying for?
And on top of that, she had charged us $4 for the bacon we added to 2 burgers. Now as you may recall, we had asked her how much it costed to add bacon, since it did not say it in the menu at all. She told us $1, remember? Well why were we being charged $2 per burger then?? I went up to her at the bar to ask about this. This is how the conversation went.
Justine: The receipt here says it costs $2 per burger to add bacon but you told us it was $1 each.
Robin: Oh, right. Well it actually is $2. I can show you in the system, it is.
Justine: Oh. Okay, well that's different than what you had told us though. You're the one that said it was $1.
Robin: Yeah well I said I THINK it's a $1. It says it here in the menu.
And she proceeds to bust a menu out and attempt to show me WHERE IN THE MENU it says that bacon costs $2 to add. So I'm waiting and waiting for her to find it... AND SHE NEVER DOES. BECAUSE IT'S NOT IN THERE DUMMY.
Robin: Oh, well uhh, it's in here somewhere. *closes menu*
Justine: Okay, well obviously it isn't anywhere clear on the menu and you told us a different price.
And I knew she wasn't going to change it for us so I just stopped arguing. If you screw us over, we screw you over. We took the money out of her tip. If she had only accommodated us and taken off the unfair charge of $2 (the only thing we complained about when we really could've complained about the splitting charge too!) and apologized, we would've kept her tip the same. But sorry. You lose.
And she came out after and GLARED at my friends and gave them a "what the fuck!" gesture and stare.
I'm NEVER coming back here.
This is a place you MUST GO TO if you are in the Santa Cruz area. Â Scotts Valley is just a few exits away from downtown Santa Cruz, and is really hidden so not many people know about it.
Honestly, the BEST, and I mean, THEEEE BEST BURGERS EVER EVER!!!! It's just a burger, but it's... I honestly... don't know how to explain it. Â It isn't served on a bun, but on some fancy bread that i can't remember the name of. Â They're called "Almost 1lb burgers" because they're ridiculously huge, and yes, almost 1lb. Â The meat is so juicy and tender, filled with who knows what because it's just so tasty! Â My mouth is watering just thinking about it.
If you are a burger person, this is the place for you. Â It's like comparing faux leather purses to a Chanel purse, 10 thread count to 1000 thread count bed sheets, a Honda Civic to a Porsche 911 turbo. Â Seriously, THAT GOOD! NO JOKE!
There are other foods here. I've had the pesto salmon. Â The salmon was the best part, it was cooked perfectly, super melt in your mouth and not a hint of dryness. Â The pasta and pesto, something I am a true critic on, was just a 2-3 out of 5. BUT THE BURGERS are the reason for the 5 stars! It's a bit pricey, but I promise promiiiise worth the price! Â You'll thank me later when you've tried this fantabulouso place!
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