Dive Bar with heart and standards. Great drinks, fun live bands and entertainment, and impressive service. I believe its because its under new managing ownership with Amy at the helm, leading by example. An industry OG who cares about delivering great drinks, service, and experience while also making sure her staff are well supported. Any bar can make a drink, Mission West makes a fantastic one, but the service and overall experience is what differentiates Mission West. read more

I've lived in Santa Cruz county for almost 10 years and haven't really visited a lot of bars in town. My sister came to visit so I looked up a few to check out and she liked their drink menu here so we checked it out. Walking in its divey inside, but I always love a good dive bar. The bartender was super friendly, happy to chat and offered us the drink list to look over. They had a pickle martini on the menu and that's what we opt'd for. I never had one before, but I DUG it. It's savory and a bit sour, love. We sat outside and they had pizza to order back there and line dancing happening. It was fun to watch the environment and people dancing. Good crowd of folks and friendly to conversation. read more

Mission West is the real thing! There are dive bars that look like dive bars and they serve crappy drinks. Then there are bars that look like dive bars but they serve excellent drinks.. well-made cocktails, even in the correct glasses and the gorgeous cubed ice that looks like glass and has no bubbles. Those are the kinds of drinks only bartenders who care about the drinks they put out there create, and those are the ones who work at Mission West. The location being near a convenience store and busy street gives the bar the appeal of a dive bar but don't let that fool you. Mission West is this dark moody place that's narrow with decent seating and always a good set of customers to talk to. The specialty drinks are solid. Love their manhattan, paper plane, and espresso martini. If you're special, they may even give you one of their fancy stickers. read more

My daughter and I visited Santa Cruz during the Xmas holiday season. She found Mission West on Yelp. It's a small neighborhood Cheers Bar. The bar tenders were quick and attentive. The best part were the drinks. Kettle One Espresso Martini made to perfection $10. Nice pour of whiskey $10. Hands down the best deal in town. I would highly recommend. read more

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Great drinks and ambience. Amy is my favorite bartender. She's an amazing person and part of the community. She lives in SC and is a fixture of our lovely neighborhood. Keep up the awesome work guys. Love your music and extra cold beer! read more

Great service and a really fun bar. If you need a spot on west side Santa Cruz it's reliable and nice :) read more

Mission West - Paper plane, paloma - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Santa Cruz, California

Great drinks, great people, and a fun, welcoming vibe. Huge shoutout to Amy D!!!! She handled a difficult situation with grace and professionalism, making everyone feel safe and taken care of. Can't wait to come back! read more

This bar is so fun! Way to bring back west side energy. Great service, staff is super friendly (looking at you Amy D, you made our night so memorable). Definitely check this place out!! read more

I just so happen to stop in on 90's night and we had a blast! Service was excellent. I definitely recommend checking this place out if you like good times and good vibes. read more

This place rocks! It's like your own family owns the local bar!! Love Amy D and Jamey N ... they treat You like family and the vibes are super sweet.... A wonderful local hang, even though I was from out of town Amy D and Jamey N and the rest of the staff made me feel right at home!! Def will come back! read more

Wow, their liquor options are awesome!!! I couldn't stop ordering their tequilas. Stay away from Don Julio, the rest are great, no hangovers! I'm from out of town and will definitely be back next time I visit. Michelle was a perfect bartender. Chill bar. read more

Mission West - Best tequila options, additive free! - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Santa Cruz, California

It is pretty funny that this place is here, now - I grew up literally down the street, and this was always a sketchy dive bar. Obviously growing up, I also also had no reason to care what kind of bar was down the street - but now, as an adult, a foodie, and a huge cocktail snob, it is rather fun going home to visit, now that I'm *now* down the street from a random cocktail bar that's super unpretentious but also definitely still a cocktail bar. My favorite sort of place, especially in a town like Santa Cruz where everything is *expensive*. Anyway, I'm writing this now not *particularly* close to my birthday, because I'm pretty late at actually writing reviews... but I was home a couple months ago for my birthday, when I discovered I'd signed up for their email list, and they had sent me a coupon for a free drink on my birthday, which I just happened to be there for. Not including the free drink, their cocktails were $12, which was *very* reasonable for it being Santa Cruz and everything being expensive, given the quality of the drinks. As a particular fan of barrel-aged drinks, at the time, I was sad that they were out of the advertised coconut-washed Negroni, but they did have a solid barrel-aged boulevardier (for $12 :)). Solid proper large ice cube setup for their Negroni-style cocktails, too, which I appreciated greatly. Apart from that, they also had, at least at the time a couple months ago (mid-October), *stupidly* generous "flash sale" pours for $5 of random bottles, that they might not still have, but that's still the sort of unpretentious, fun sort of place it is, unless of course things have changed in the last couple months. Also pretty solid, small but curated draft beer list for totally reasonable prices - including one rotating cider from a cider place that should really be more well known than it is, Mission West, so I also automatically love them for that reason alone. (The cocktails are great too though.) For good and bad, it should also be noted that this place is *super* dog friendly. (Bad if you don't like dogs, good if you do - while I was writing notes about the place, I was absolutely surrounded at the bar by dogs hanging out on the floor.) read more

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Mission West is a blast. Great people on both side of the bar. Jamey and Amy D make you feel at home here with great service and conversation. read more

Came during grad weekend and stopped in. Super glad I did! Had a great night. The bartenders were sweet and had a great sense of humor. Good beer, good atmosphere. They had line dancing that was finishing up just as we got there and made me wish we got there even sooner! Looked so fun. The food truck outside was popping, and the outside area had corn hole and tables. Bouncer was awesome! Honestly made my night a 10/10. Was super funny, laughed so hard my stomach hurt and seemed super passionate about his job-- he should be there more often! Overall great place and def will be back when I'm in town :) read more

The posted sign says dive bar. We enjoy that experience so we went in and ordered cocktails. We wouldn't consider the place a dive bar by any stretch of the imagination. It has a menu with high end cocktails and even has an espresso martini on demand machine. The clincher for me was the bar having both green and yellow chartreuse to make the Last Word. It was well balanced and just how I like it. Overall a great experience and dog friendly-the best bonus! read more

Mission West - Old fashioned - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Santa Cruz, California

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Once we found it this place was great! I had to call to get directions and they were super friendly and helpful (assuming this happens often) The owners and bartender were some of the nicest people. This is a great neighborhood hangout bar. Drinks were all great! My aunt wasn't a fan of the absinthe and the bartender made her a different drink out of the absinthe and that she loved! I don't live in state anymore but if I did I would definitely be a regular! read more

Mission West - Absinthe - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Santa Cruz, California

Drinks are good even great environment and the have music and karaoke. Only problem is that there's is only on bathroom with makes it hard to use especially when it gets pack with ppl read more

Went yesterday as part of my friend's wedding afterparty and somehow we were the 2nd wedding there. It's a great dive bar with a normal sized indoor area and a huge back yard. It's in a pretty industrial/commercial area so you can be loud outside until closing, which is pretty rare! Wish they had more than one bathroom but this is normal dive bar stuff so you can't hold it against them. read more

This was a bar, a rare find in Santa Cruz, across from our hotel. While the signs inside say Mission West as does the Google maps but the outside sign says The Watering Hole. Inside is a long bar and a few tables. The bartenders are friendly and fun. We went twice and the first time they were talking about making a kids menu for drinks including Red Bull, and Vodka, Fireball, Long Island Ice Tea all in jest laughing with some drinkers there they seemed to know. It was pretty funny and one of the reasons we returned. It made us laugh The drinks are good and it's fairly priced. It is a darker bar with two TV's one that usually had sports and the other playing movies. They have unique lighting of all kinds of light bulbs above the bar. We had Jack and cokes the first time then a Mescal Margarita the 2nd visit. We had planned to return but other things got in the way. I recommend the bar as a fun little place to drink. It has a popular Chinese food restaurant on one side and a Sicilian pizza and pasta place on the other side. So you can eat before or after without traveling far. Do to other plans we never had a chance to stay long but the bartenders made it fun and were good for a laugh. They do sell merch, tshirts, hats, not sure what else. If you are in the area or stay at The Hampton Inn this is a place to check out! read more

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Second time here and Steve was the bartender. Not only did I see Kendell (mentioned in my previous review) but Steve's energy was amazing and his drinks were equally as on point as Kendall's. If y'all like. Vibey dive bar, drop by mission west. read more

5 star dive bar. Full service bar and skilled bartenders. Get your whiskey sour with egg white they eat it is supposed to be made. Cheers! read more

DOG DIVE BAR HELL YEA! The cocktails are great, the prices are right, and the vibes are emasculate! Plus you can bring your dog!!! Yeehaw!!! read more

Mission West - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Santa Cruz, California

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Great vibe and cocktail are on point! Dogs are also allowed so what more could you want?

super lame new staff. I'm 25 and have been here at least 40 times. some new bartenders looked at my friend and I and snuffed out our IDs for like 4 minutes and told us they wouldn't accept it. mind you, I have a cali real id and my friend was just from out of state. they refused to scan them and sent us on our way. we just got beer from mission liquor instead. fire those bartenders dude, or at least make them actually check our IDs properly lol. I guess I'll bring my passport next time (never). read more

From the outside the place doesn't look like much but it was very clean inside. We only stayed for one drink but they make a great margarita. We also saw in the back they have a food truck we didn't get a chance to try it but we will definetly keep it in mind for next time. read more

Mission West - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Santa Cruz, California

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We had our wedding after-party at Mission West, with dancing and a DJ on the back patio. It was the best decision we could have possibly made. From our perspective, there were zero flaws. The venue has such outstanding vibes, great ownership and staff who run the bar very well and are a delight to work with. Our friends had the best time and it felt like every idea we had they were able to make happen. We were so stoked to support what they have going on there and have since recommended Mission West to a friend who is also going to have their wedding after party there. The cocktails are also very good! Whether you're just stopping by for a drink or hosting an event, this place is a gem! read more

Apple pay is confirmed working here. the little key pad behind the bar accepts it and has the apple pay logo. read more

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Not just great service but amazing drinks! If you don't know what you like to drink, or don't really enjoy being able to taste the alcohol in your drink, this is the place to go! They are great at suggesting drinks and they often have premade drinks they create themselves & they'll let you sample those! While mixing their creations they try themselves, & test on their friends and die hard regular patrons before they start selling, by the time we get them, those mixes are amazing! Their "regulars" are friendly and keep the atmosphere low key yet fun! Everyone is smiling & laughing! If not, it doesn't take much to get them going again! As a female, I have always felt comfortable coming here by myself! I feel safe, I'm treated kindly and can join in on conversations with comfort. They call it a dive bar, but this is not a raunchy place! It's a pretty classy dive bar! Filled with working class folks, unwinding or using it as their place for socialization & good ol' fashioned conversations! It's never felt like a "meat market". Of course I am not here after 8pm, I couldn't tell you what it's like after that. But the drinks will still be good! All their bartenders are skilled, friendly & hustle! Cheers! Enjoy! read more

The vibe at Mission West is just right. We have sat outside with the pup a few times but last night we chose inside. The bar is beautiful and tidy, the mixers made us fabulous cocktails (the smoothest Boulevardier in town), and the other clients were friendly too. There was an engagement party going on in the back and the staff easily took care of the group's needs as well as the others of us. We were impressed that the owner Max came in on a Friday night at 8:30 to help out behind the bar. Mission West is my new go-to neighborhood bar! read more

Honestly rarely review, but this is about the time that it's just warranted. The place is looking GREAT, and the new owners are doing an absolutely excellent job of bringing life back to this former local establishment. The bar is clean, it's impressive, and it's subtle. This is a place that you could definitely bring a first date, or meet for a casual cocktail. The atmosphere is easy and inviting and friendly. Which is a very big and welcomed change. If you're looking for a new bar, a friendly face, or just a great vibe, don't just consider this place, make this a destination you need to check out. Shout outs to Tom, Lisa, Grant and Max for being excellent service and extremely welcoming! read more

Mission West - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Santa Cruz, California

Delicious craft cocktails in a friendly neighborhood bar setting. Sit on the outdoor patio or inside which recently reopened, and was remodeled beautifully just a few years ago. They usually have really yummy food trucks parked by the patio on the weekends. read more

Walking around and saw a sign that said dive bar. Walked in and told the bar tender the floor wasn't sticky enough to be a dive bar. That's when she told me that's what makes this the five star dive bar. Drinks were fantastic. The espresso martini and various tequila's were incredible and everything was price incredibly reasonable. Good people, good drinks. What more do you want? read more

We stood in front of Ye Olde Watering Hole for 3 minutes staring at Yelp - it's the same place! It's a teeny hole in the wall that somehow has sufficient bar and table space. Someone said a five star dive bar, and it's absolutely true. Get the guy with the high skater fade to make your margarita. It was smoky, salty and perfect. The place has a huge cistern of water so you can serve yourself, a great outdoor patio and we were there on taco truck night, so there was excellent food. read more

This is the best bar I have ever been to! The blonde girl working the bar is so funny, kind, and very good at mixing drinks. You can't taste the alcohol in the cocktails, but they definitely have the right amount of ethanol, and most of all: it's clean! No dirty glasses or surfaces to be seen here. The bathroom is rather fancy and classy compared to other bars, and is always stocked alongside plenty of decor. I'm not a local to Santa Cruz, but would definitely come back any time I'm in town. It may be a dive bar by its looks, but the service and drinks are far above dive bar status. read more

Don't judge a book by its cover on this place. Outside looks sketchy, but inside is very nice! I always appreciate a nice clean bathroom in a bar, and they had it! The bartender was fantastic! Makes his own bitters, juices and knows his way around a bar for sure! Very impressed! read more

Best Bar in town , craft cocktails , great staff , favorite place , it's a hidden gem .

Wow, I have never been the person to leave a review, but this deserves it. The new remodel is great, to say the least. To say the staff (Tom was our bartender), is phenomenal, is an understatement. This place has completely changed and come full circle from what it used to be, for those who remember. I am so so happy with the change of hands, and drinks are very reasonable, and am very excited to say it is my new neighborhood hangout! read more

Decided to stop and check out this new bar. Drinks we're great and the service was awesome! The taco truck outside was pretty killer too. It was nice to be able to find somewhere to just grab a drink during the times and not have to worry about ordering food. It was also great that they are open late! Good outdoor seating! Will for sure be back. read more

Mission West - Dirty martini and vodka club soda - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Santa Cruz, California

Had quite literally one of the most amazing spicy margaritas of my life, it had a hint of smoky mezcal and seriously hit the spot. The bartender was a super nice guy who was really knowledgeable. The bar has an awesome atmosphere and a really dope sign that changes colors that I stared at for way too long read more

I went for an event. The place was nice but the employee in the front ripped me off I gave him $20 for $5 cover charge he gave me back a $5 and claimed I gave him $10. If you go to this place and pay cash to get in I would be careful. Not sure I will visit or go back. This was very off putting to an otherwise lovely event. read more