Wait time was terrible! They took 1 hour to serve our food, and the waitress had a really bad attitude. Other waitresses were nice. Do not recommend it for breakfast. read more

The service was dreadful. It took nearly an hour and half to get a salad. Some of the food was awful, particularly the pasta with mushrooms. Other dishes were clearly re-heated, having been left neglected in the kitchen. When we asked what the restaurant would do to set things right, we were offered essentially nothing (and made to wait a long time for that answer). The manager was rude and claimed a complete inability to do almost anything about the situation. We are long time customers, but the standards have slipped (service and food), and we do not plan to ever return. read more

We love the cafe! This has been our go to meeting spot for brunch with friends and family. Its causal, comfortable, and the food is always good. The staff is so nice and friendly! Most recently we showed up with a group of eight, plus two babies and a busy toddler and they did great accommodating us in a timely fashion. If you can try their bloody mary garnished with bacon, can't remember the official name, the bacon is deep fried in something delicious and when dipped in a spicy bloody mary it becomes my husbands favorite treat! read more

Great crunchy chicken crunchy with black sesame seeds in perfectly grilled ciabatta. Had lemon chicken with carrots and celery. Delicate soup read more

Excellent food. Excellent service. Outdoor seating for our Sunday brunch was fantastic. Our server Mary was awesome!

We had a fabulous rehearsal dinner here for 37 people on a Friday evening. Beginning with appetizers on the private patio and then moving in to the private dining room. The food was beautifully presented and delicious. The chocolate mousse was a show stopper. The service was well paced and attentive. Our guests were still raving about it 2 days later! Thanks for a memorable evening! read more

Every time I've eaten here, the food is great, and the staff is super nice and very good! my wife and I took our friends out to dinner and it was awesome. Great food and tons of it, great service, amazing desserts. For those people who have negative reviews, most places, especially Bittersweet staff/owner will make it right. It's a great place, and should have 4+ star average reviews. I am a fan, thanks :) read more

The food is very good, I really like the fish served there. But it's the desert menu that brings me back. Especially the fantasy desert, but everything is amazing. Definitely worth a trip. read more

This bistro is GREAT!!!! The service was impeccable with helpful suggestions by our waiter , forgot his name but you cant miss those dreads. Get his section for a magnificent meal and entertainment. The food was wonderful. He suggested the salmon that was refreshing different w/ a strawberry chipotle glaze, the best salmon throughout the bay. My husband had the lamb shank also exceptional. Our waiter helped pair our meal with the wonderful Trio platter and Gloria Ferrer for a finishing touch..Can you believe they serve Ferrer by the glass....The best read more

The restaurant business is hard. I am thankful this place is here. There are less and less choices as you go south in the county for a reason to go out. The bar here is great. You can order off the menu and avoid the whole pretenscious high end restaurant thing. Great food, great drinks, and good service. By the way, we went to a corporate banquet here and it was so good in every way that we began to have an occasional Friday night dinner at the bar ever since. read more

uPON SOME CLOSE ADVICE i decided to really experience the whole concept of dinning in courses rather than just selecting a salad,entree and dessert,. Well maybe we picked a bad saturday but i'll remember this experience for a long time. My salad had a cute little wasp in it that thought the lettuce looked worth checking out before checking out for good and having its funeral on my plate. And for the record what exactly is a rice melange. If that means a collection of the weeks rice leftovers mixed with some wierd flavors at 35 bucks a plate i'll think twice before reordering it with a piece of tuna that was stone cold in the center which i guess is the fashionable rare way to eat tuna but it just didn't taste great. The rest of my dinner was some heavily seasoned melange of veges where here the word makes sense indicating variety but ginger and chunks of garlic seemed to be piled on as if to finish that container and move on to the next. Each Vege had globs of this stuff I heard the chefs keep calling gak what ever that means other than ginger fried tounge. The wine was really good but you get what you pay for. I really had a hard time swallowing the idea of paying $30.00 for a bottle of berringer that trader joes sells for 5.95 max. but my wife insisted Dessert was pretty cool though as we ordered this massive overkill of chocolate everything,cookies,built up like a flying circus act with pieces going everywhere which collapsed when i tried to pull a section off. My error for not getting dismanteling instructions but each piece was remarkably good. There was even real belgian chocolate the taste is distinct and worth $10.00 a pound minimum. Do not bring your own wines unless you expect to pay heavy corkage fees. Most chefs will be happy to share a taste of a great bottle of wine like in this case a 91 silver oak saved for a special event this was to be. Ok no go so I paid the corkage and left a rather large lump of my tuna. I ended up actually filling up on the dessert which hit me in the stomach about as hard as the bill. My wife had a classic puttenesca pasta which had something old in that reminded me of old squid barfed up by a caught rock cod stuck in a gunny sack, after removing the foul squid the pasta was edible and my wife just eat it and did not want to ruin the evening by complaining so she just fished out the offending chunks. Lastly skilled service staff cost real money and untrained staff is always a major bummer. In fact if it had not been for a lucky grab the wine knocked over during service would have been lost but reflexes on his part were good enough to only lose a little. Anyways This was to be a romantic date and a fire place moment which turned into a chocolate and wine extranaganza with to much bar noise and confusion going on but the funny part it really wasn't that crowded. I still see the potential here for greatness of old but without the staff no way! You do not get trained chefs for nothing and the entrees proved that. The service staff was bored and basically fighted over who would serve us so you would have figured the service would have been awesome,Wrong! About half way up highway17 my wife and I both felt kind of like we over did it on the chocolate and wine and a usable pack of pepcid ac's somehow feel out of freinds pocket into my back seat as if god had placed them there. Dinner is more than chocolate and wine its a colaberative effort of both the front and both of the house working in harmony to create one of a kind experiences. I guess we did't get pulled over for a dui but other than that we spent about as much for a meal as you can for three courses and thought 3hundred not including our silver oak was steep for what was ordered. I wish it could have been better but I guess there there name says it all bitter and sweet. read more

i love happy hour here. they have great deals on apps and amazing drinks. i love to order their mojitos! they put a fancy sugar stick in them and never give me attitude about making them. the bartenders are the reason i go there for sure! read more

Average - good atmosphere, comfortable bar, the food and service is inconsistent, and be sure to skip the pizza-like substance on the menu (it's awful). Recommend that you share the "small' plates because some of the dishes are actually good. I go here because there are few good restaurants in Aptos (except Cafe Sparrow) and i live nearby. read more

This place is great. The recession busters are the best thing going if you want a nice evening with drinks and aps. Great atmosphere and the food is always fantastic. One of the only real nice restaurants in all of Santa Cruz. I highly recommend it. read more

Nothing special!!! The food is not bad but its also not anything to write home about!!! It's pricey for the quality of food. I've been there several times with many different friends the wait staff is always very short and not friendly. Bottom line; I would select a different place to eat. read more

The food is generally very good. Pizza is good but pass on the veggie pizza. Service excellent, can be hard to find a table some nights. Reviews are correct, only 3 beers on tap and large markup on wine. Miss the wine about taxes deals, maybe I missed them this year. Dishes are consistent but predictable. You can rely on a decent dinner here. 3.5 stars, yelp should allow half star ratings. read more

This restaurant and the manager were absolutely horrendous. I came with my family for Father's day and it took us over an hour to get our food. When the food finally arrived, many of the dishes were reheated and overcooked. We had no choice but to send a plate back, as it was completely inedible. Cliff and Ari, whom I am told are in charge, were rude and entirely unsympathetic. Ari was completely out of her depths as a "manager." It is appalling that they would tell us to "calm down" after making very reasonable complaints and then threaten us during this discussion. Overall one of the worst dining experiences I have ever had. It would have been very easy to compensate us adequately for the burden it was to spend two hours at this restaurant. read more

Once Reviewed as one of the best bistros in America, now reduced to offering $6.00 recession buster meals? . Bittersweet bistro is best described by the name of the bistro itself. Bittersweet has nothing to do with the chocolate variety , the bistro was named based on the bitter and sweet of running a high level hopeful dynasty bistro. A rebuild of the former Deer Park Tavern, turned the tavern into a elaborately designed bistro with elegant tables, decor, a fire place set in the back of the main dinning section and seating where the chefs at work can be seen. In its early years the bistro featured 5 or more fresh fish entrees nightly, intricate elaborate desserts and a wine list that would rival any found in any upscale bistro., However as the years have passed the cost of operations have turned this once amazing bistro into a carnival act were almost anything goes. Feed your dog a steak for $7.00 or a burger for $3.00 while eating a $6.00 recession buster meal which could be anything . Its insane!! The bistro also offers very upscale intimate dinning with rare wines that run into several hundreds of dollars per bottle? A doggie menu ? varying cafeteria menu food offered as a $6.00 recession buster meal. power drinkers watching sports at the bar,very load kids running around and yes a doogie menu that was not a misprint! Imagine taking your loved fiancee for a proposal dinner, or take clients out for a business dinner and have yelling sports fans,kids loudly whining,and pooches welcome! I for one would not make such an ass out of myself in the process. The founders taking over the location once called deer park tavern are a plummer and a psychologist with Chef Thomas designing the food/ running the back of the house and his wife Elisabeth running the front of the house/win menu. The money to open the restaurant coming from parents, a plummer and psychologist who had no previous experience entering the culinary arts business. Their is really no controlled seating, which means you might be served your selected items immediately or wait extended periods of time for service as the orders are flooded into the kitchen all at once. You might get perfect service ?The quality of the food thus come out in any manner hence the varying reviews. The bistro also does not pay for chefs instead hires young kids who inspire to some day be a chef making the quality of preparation day to day a crap shoot at best. Weekends their is more staff so a better chance. Quality wise ,the finer bistro menu paired with one of the premiere wines can be a culinary experience to remember. Paired with the bizarre $6.00 recession diner concept / menu ,dogs and kids would you bring your fiancee or special occasion party here for the more elaborate diner menu? Financially for the finer bistro Its like putting two or three more rounds into your foot because there is still toes attached. Why? The owners have lost their frikin minds and seem to be willing to do anything to earn a buck. Its a Greek tragedy in progress as Chef Thomas devotion is handcuffed by greedy owners who never realized what they were getting themselves into. A fine bistro with a wood burning oven costs huge dollars to run. The dot. com market supporting the bistro died. No need for a review of the food, you get exactly what you pay for!! Cheap food cheap price ,finer bistro fare expensive. Come casual bring your dog and eat cheap ,or bring your best Armani, diamonds and tux but be prepared for anything An experience that might put a crunch in your credit card spending several Benjamin's or only spend a Jackson ($20.00 dollars?). This is the craziest, weirdest concept bistro in America, I wonder if they are going to except food stamps next as the lack of money can be experienced every moment eating here. Its certainly not opperating why the bistro was built and its misson statement to be a fine dynasty bistro with fresh fish the premiere entree's sinfully rich desserts and exotic or premiere wines. Consider this. with the new format you might spend more on a steak for your dog, than your meal? What does that tell you about the establishments financial situation. If your broke and have but a few bucks to spend on food why come to a upscale bistro? Discover there is a segregation of who dines where based on your wallet size . This says we need money badly now and willing to do what it takes to survive even offering guests dogs a meal? Please that's desperation not accommodation. MY GOD THIS IS NOT THE SANTA CRUZ DINER EITHER!! Thomas is a dedicated chef with amazing skills as well as wife Elisabeth who's wine knowledge rivals any in the area. I send my thought and prayers, the economy improves so you many one day resume the years of former glory ,and achieve the dynasty bistro you guys worked so hard for. read more

I ate at a restaurant in Sacramento a couple of nights ago that had a counter order system. I had better service there. We were seated outside and left out there like a bad dog. The drinks, appetizers, and entrées all showed up at various intervals, with no concept of timely delivery. When they finally brought my salad out it was wrong. I sent it back and it returned wrong. I think it was correct on the third try. It was decent, but certainly not worth the money because of the service. There has been almost no follow up with any of the dishes brought. After they brought me the steak sandwich I had to check on the roll it came on (I ordered it gluten free)--after all; the salad was wrong twice. As our waitress was nowhere to be found, I asked the stunned-looking hostess. She had to retrieve the manager(?-I hope to all that is fear that this person is not the actually a manager. She should be scarring hobbits under a bridge somewhere), whom have me a bad attitude about questioning the service. This is a typical substandard Santa Cruz restaurant. The staff are all low-functioning adults, the food is mediocre, and they all have a skewed point of view on their own position in life. Do yourself a favor and save some money. read more

Sunday night my wife and I decided to revisit the Bittersweet. We arrived a little past 7:00 with a bottle of our favorite Cabernet to accompany our dinner. We sat in the inviting bar area, quickly perused the menu and decided on Oysters Rockefeller, their fire-roasted fig salad and New York steak. A friendly waitress asked if we would like the wine opened. I said we were ready to order and please open our bottle. She asked if I was aware of the corkage fee. Well, I usually bring wine to restaurants and in Santa Cruz corkage is usually $15, sometimes $20, and once paid $25. She informed me that their fee was $35. A bit stunned we proceeded ordering. The wine was opened and poured. During the next half hour we were served water, bread, and an offer to pour more of our wine. "No" I said, I wanted to save some some for dinner. Some time after that the waitress apologized for the wait and offered us a desert on the house as some kind of compensation. I declined. At 8:00 we still had not been served anything but our own wine. At that point I corked the remainder of our bottle, left a twenty dollar bill on the table, and head for the door. The waitress approached and asked "what happened?" I replied "nothing happened and that was the problem." At that point she offered us some kind of crusty thing on the tray she was holding, explaining the cook had burnt the oysters. We are locals that will not be returning read more

I just dropped over $1,000 at this establishment on dinner for 16 colleagues, unfortunately with very bitter regrets. Waiting 2 hours for our entrees is not what I consider an appropriate dining experience, nor was having to repeatedly flag what seemed a very busy server down for drink refills. When I asked to speak with the manager I was told she was too busy in the back room "counting money". How ironic...So I was left to express my disappointment with our extended wait with someone at the hostess stand. I asked, at the very least, if something could be done about the bill, like at least comp the desserts and some of the drinks. The hostess said she couldn't do that, and had been watching our area the whole night and nothing was wrong to her, then took the bill back to the kitchen to consult with the server, came back and said she talked to everyone in the kitchen and they all said it was all appropriately handled. I gave her another opportunity to right her obvious misjudgment of the situation but unfortunately there was no other possibble perspective than hers. She did comp the desserts, "I did take $24 off your bill" was her only response. Expressing regret that things did not go well was beyond their comprehension as they saw nothing wrong with it. I can't recommend an establishment that doesn't care about the customer's perspective, especially when given multiple opportunities to do so. read more

We went to the cafe for lunch today. We waited over 45 minutes for our lunch while other people who had come in way after us were served. The waitress finally came over and said they had to redo somebody else's omelet and then they would do ours. So they had not even started making our lunch yet. My husband had to get back to work. He told her forget his lunch, put mine in a to- go box and that he had to get back to work. He handed her his credit card to do the bill. What part about " I have to get back to work- we need to go" did she not understand ??? She disappeared with his credit card for another 15 minutes so we could not leave. Then she finally comes out with my lunch on a plate. We told her before make it to go and we needed to leave why would she bring it on a plate. I repeated- we told you to make it to go. We need to go! She disappears for another 5 minutes so I got up and went almost to the kitchen and said " I told you we need to go!!! ". By the time we left it had taken 50 minutes. So my husband did not get lunch. They comped the iced tea? Really? That's the best you can do? Big whoop. Get my sandwich home and the meat had rainbow shiny sheen to it so it was old. The French fries had been fried with the fish and chips and tasted like fish. Yuck. Plus, they were not cooked enough and were soggy. Epic fail today. The waitress should have been on top of our order. She failed in so many ways. Disappearing for another 15 minutes after we told her we needed to go was unacceptable and ridiculous. If she didn't have our credit card we would have left. Will not be back. Wild horses will not drag me back. Horrible service, took too long, food horrible. Minus 5 stars. read more

This review is a long time coming. Last year I had a Birthday brunch at the Bittersweet Bistro. I had made reservations in advance for a party of eight including one friend in a wheelchair. Due to bad weather, the patio was closed. When we arrived our table was not set up yet. (Normally, no big deal). However, when we were seated our large party was squished into a very high table in the very back bar area of restaurant next to the restrooms. My friend in a wheelchair? They decided to add a tiny, very low table to the end of the very high other table we were at. Awkward, to say the least. It could better be described as feeling like "the kids table" at Thanksgiving isolated from the "adults table," if you get my drift. It was completely ridiculous. When we asked if we could move to ANY other available table, we were told no. Not only was the area that we were sitting in almost entirely empty, the ENTIRE rest of the restaurant was completely empty. The employees told us they were not allowed to seat anyone anywhere else in the restaurant. Really? Come on- I understand policy and all but this was pretty ridiculous. To accommodate a reservation of a large party with a wheelchair you can't make an exception? Or maybe instead tell us ahead of time when I made the reservation that you would not be able to accommodate us in the first place? We would have GLADLY gone some place else. The food? Average, and way over priced. The service? Sparse and disappointing. I feel it necessary as well to point out that along with food our party ordered numerous alcoholic beverages & dessert. Our bill was needless to say, quite large. Despite the shoddy service, the tip we left was quite large as well. Unfortunately, not well deserved- but hell just because the Bittersweet Bistro was less than classy doesn't mean we should stoop to their level. read more

Ok.... I have been going to bittersweet for about 4 years! At least once a week if not 2 times. Before the redecorating (which is nice) the food was not bad and the expresso was nice. The price for a breakfast burrito( which has potatoe, egg, and cheese) simple! And 3 shot latte( in med cup)= 1025 or so....pricey but not bad! I liked the people and it was a quick trip from my house. As the remodeling was going on I would still go in and get the regular..then all of a sudden new change in people new look no more pastries and all fancy! Little did I know that they would make the people that go every week pay for it!! Now just 2 weeks ago.... I go in place my order....and the price=13.35!! REALLY!! How outragous to charge 5.75 for a coffee!!! I ask why so much today then it was last week...and she replies that how much the owner wants to charge now and we only have 1 size of latte that only has 1 shot=which is their idea of a grande!! And the burrito is now 7 & change! REALLY!! I responded by saying I WILL NEVER BE BACK !!! Tell your OWNER they just lost someone who use to come every week!!! VERY SAD:( read more

Wow, I have eaten here about 4 times in the last 2 years. Each meal, not terribly remarkable, a little pricey, but we like the venue. We had a special occasion, my sister's 25th wedding anniversary and so I thought this might be a great place to splurge. I could not have been more disappointed in the food or service and will continue to take our guests to Cafe Cruz. We first ordered appetizers and drinks and it took about 30 minutes to get them, even though there was only 3 or 4 tables of people in the dining room. We didn't mind at first, having a great visit and catch up. However, about 10 minutes after the appetizers arrived, so did our meals. We didn't even have enough room on our table for everything. We had to put the flowers, salt & pepper and some extra plates on the empty table next to us. I am a pasta person and so when the daily/weekly menu showcased a stroganoff over bucatini. I jumped at that expecting a nice al dente pasta...foodies know that bucatini is a hollow tubular noodle. The dish was served with overcooked fettucine. My sister and I were disappointed and I asked the server why we didn't get bucatini and he didn't even know what that the difference was and it took him some time in the kitchen to come back and let us know that it was unavailable (SO CHANGE THE MENU, OR LET THE FOLKS KNOW WHEN THEY ORDER), he did offer to bring us another entree but by that time we had eaten some of the stroganoff and told him we could make do. So then he said he would comp up to a free cheesecake dessert. I told him that wasn't what we came to Bittersweet, we wanted to order the Chocolate Trio and not cheesecake, he said that was what he was told to offer and left us to finish our meal without bread, without water (we asked for water) or offering us refills of our beverages. When you spend over $300.00 for a meal, you expect to get better service and at least the food you order. I stewed over this for several days and decided to call the manager. I left 2 messages and got no return phone call...so I decided to use the power of the people and let people know about our dismal and disappointing experience. read more

Disappointment! This is the only word that describes my last visit. My husband and I have always gone to Bittersweet for dinner or just salads and appetizers. We figured let's go for dinner....the weather was nice so we were seated outside. Once seated we waited and waited and waited, until I got so annoyed I went inside to ask the hostess if we were gng to get a server? I told her we've been out there 20 minutes and the other tables were getting served, but since we were near the koi pond we were farther from the other tables. A few minutes later a server comes out and we ordered a salad and the appetizer platter for two, thinking this wouldn't take too long...WRONG!!!! 25minutes later our salad came and you could tell it had been sitting awhile since the dressing had wilted the lettuce as for our appetizer platter...it came 5 minutes later and the items were cold. The server only filled our waters once and basically ignored us. This was truly the worst service I have ever had at a restaurant...we will not be going back for a very long time. It's sad because there is so much potential there to make it a nice dining experience. read more

I ordered the clams and linguine with the gluten free pasta. I took two bites and realized it was wheat! The waitress came back and said "don't eat it we made a mistake" but it was too late. She said it would take 20 minutes to get my dish with gluten free pasta and suggested I order the fish since everyone else had their food already. I ordered the tilapia which was fabulous but cost more than the linguine. When the bill came I got charged the price of the tilapia! I felt since I was going to be sick with diarrhea and aching all over that they should have comped my meal. A restaurant of that caliber Should be willing to make up for their mistakes! I asked for the manager and when she got done trying to blame it on the server (who did not make the mistake, she showed me the order saying allergic on it) she asked me what I wanted and I said she should comp my meal. She finally conceded but left me with a bad feeling for her and the staff. This could have been avoided by being gracious from the beginning. Now I'm writing a bad review which I wouldn't have one otherwise. BTW I did get sick and lost a day. read more

OK so here we go , I made a reservation for 18 during a golf tourney which I host every year in santa cruz half the golfers are from the santa barbara and los angeles area and are avid wine drinkers , so we bring 8-9 bottles to share and taste during dinner , the hostess and manager watched us arrive and gather in the bar after a few minutes they had us all go to our seats and as I pass the hostess stand I stop and ask how much the corkage fee was the manager in a rather snide snappy voice she said $30 a bottle and $60 for magnums at that point I went to my seat and we all agreed to open one regular bottle and none of the others , our waiter was very nice and I asked him to see if we could pay $20 per bottle and $40 for the magnum as we had at least 8 bottles to open , he came back and said no deal ..... so instead of making $200 on opening our wine they chose to get nothing and we just got a dirty look from the host station after spending $1200 dollars on dinner ,drinks and appetizers wow i don't get this one ..... I will say the servers were great and food was great so we had something going our way . and to all who say big deal you couldn't drink your own wine,,,, well yes it is a big deal we wait for a year to all gather from all over and bring amazing wine to share at dinner we have ate at a lot of places and never has this happened , just me two cents cheers read more