I Really Love Thai Food and have eaten at most of the Thai restaurants in and around the Santa Cruz…read morearea and that's why I say that Thai Basil (in Capitola) is by far the Best Thai restaurant I've ever eaten at and is probably one of the Best restaurants in Santa Cruz, period! Sure there are good Thai restaurants in Santa Cruz but they are what you would expect at any decent Thai eatery...But Thai Basil Is So Much Better than those other Thai restaurants! Rather small and unassuming, Thai Basil takes the normal Thai dishes and bumps them up several notches, serving you cuisine that is different from what you've gotten used to, from other Thai places! All of their dishes are unique, as they are so delicious and fresh, tasting like you're eating at a Thai home, rather than a restaurant! And in a way, you are. Thai Basil is a Family Run business that serves family recipes, as opposed to traditional restaurant dishes. Each dish looks and tastes different from what you might expect. The sauces explode with flavors of fresh herbs, spices and freshness that only comes from a family's favorite home recipes, cooked and prepared traditionally! Thai Basil is so definitely a "family affair"! Mom & Dad prepare the meals, (from their own recipes) while their daughter and son wait on tables. The more I went to this cafe, it became obvious that this was becoming a Capitola favorite too! You will see many locals eating here, store owners, city workers and law enforcement officers, filling up on the amazing Thai family food! So, my recommendation is that you get over to Thai Basil and eat like you're part of the family!

Authentic food, great taste, you can choose between 1-5 spicy levels, we chose 3 and it was…read moreperfect. Crispy rolls were served hot straight from the frier-excellent! Enough stuffing. Green curry was authentic, umami and comforting.

I finally branched out to try something different than my beloved Indian platter and I was rewarded…read morewith another fantastic meal! Tried the fresh spring rolls, SO refreshing -- like a salad -- but with delicious and gluten-free peanut sauce. Loved it. Quite filling as the two rolls are chonky. Chased my rolls with an indulgent vegan GF lemon cake. Super lemony which is awesome. Dense and drier but so tasty, I don't mind a dense cake, actually. A huge hit! Will order both again!!! I took home the extra peanut sauce and used it on steamed potatoes, delicious. My father-in-law had a breakfast burrito which he took home half of, extra value, it's two meals. Hubby had the tofu scramble which was a bit dry, he added some of my peanut sauce to jazz it up. He wish he'd ordered his usual fave, the Bo Thai. But points for trying something new!

I come here because this is one of the last restaurants in Santa Cruz that I am trusting that their…read morefood sourcing is from holistic, healthy and sustainable outlets. The Chai here is the only house made Chai of quality in Santa Cruz. The prices here are a bit high for a working class budget, but you can understand that almost every meal you order here is good for 2 meals. The owners and employees are what you would expect from people that are serving healthy, soul and body enriching foods. Please continue supporting this Santa Cruz landmark!

We came to Capitola to celebrate a milestone and randomly chose this place. It was the best…read moredecision we made. The food is DELICIOUS, staff were attentive, and the ambiance is very friendly. We asked for recommendations on food and genuinely everything was as good as it looked. We had the Mango salad, Crispy Pad Thai, Yellow Curry, side of roti, and the Mango Sticky Rice. Everything tasted fresh and that it was made with love. Also they make delicious home made ice cream and it's dairy free! Upon talking with our server about the restaurant, she stated that they had been opened for about a year and that it was a family owned restaurant. With that being said if you like to support local businesses, this is your spot!

Craving Thai? My Thai Beach = 5 Star Satiation!…read more A friend and I were hungry after the beach and we'd never tried this place and Thai sounded good, so we decided to give it a shot. I am SO glad we did! OMG we had the Tom Yum glass noodle soup. I still can barely believe how delicious it was! Flavors: Tangy lime juice (and tamarind?) spicy garlicky chili (or chili paste?) a touch of fish sauce for nice saltiness, with fragrant and flavorful lemongrass, slight sweetness...touched ALL taste bud bases at once! I could not get enough. Generous portion, too. It was almost impossible for my friend and I to have a conversation, because with every other bite one of us was expressing our delight in the INTENSE and PERFECT combination of heady flavors in the soup! We also split a Shrimp Pad Thai; the shrimp were LARGE, FAT and cooked perfectly, no chewiness whatsoever. We also had the mussels appetizer; I can usually give or take mussels at most places, but these were also above average, such yummy seasonings. The service was outstanding, as well; knowledgeable, friendly, expeditious. I WILL be back for more items, and will recommend it roundly in my circles!

So friendly and accommodating, and the food really scratches that Thai itch…read more Reviews need like 80 characters I guess, so I am writing more.

Amazingly great red curry! We used to go to My Thai Beach in Capitola until they changed ownership…read moreand recipes. So, so glad we tried Sawasdee a new, for us, Thai place. No question...this is now our go-to place for Thai. Had the lunch special red curry chicken. Sooooo good! Wifey had chicken gad ka prow. Good but not nearly as great as my curry.

When I lived in Santa Cruz, this was one of my favorite lunch spots. They have a good range of…read moreoptions and unlike a lot of sandwich places, there isn't a taste of sameness across all sandwiches, most likely because they don't use the same signature house sauce across all sandwiches. I think you can make the wrong choice on your 1st/2nd/3rd visit depending on your taste, but I also think you should come back and you'll absolutely find something that 100% tickles your pickle. I've tried most of their hot sandwiches: - Noni's Pesto Chicken: this is one of my favorite sandwiches of all time. It's not very complex but for some reason the combination of flavors just is *chefs kiss*. 5* for this alone, don't fight me - Surf City Philly: can be surprisingly spicy, heavy but SO good. This is my third favorite. - Chicken Cowabunga: not that great, would skip, but I also have a whole website on fried chicken sandwich rankings so I'm picky - Vulcan Mind Melt: sounds so good on paper but it's just heavy. I would skip - Crispy Cod Wrap: I've had a bite or two of this and I thought it was pretty good but not that memorable - Pork Belly Banh Mi: this was good, and I don't usually like pork belly - Chipotle Chicken Club: also kinda heavy but I really enjoyed this! This is my second favorite. - Cubano: not particularly memorable Not a sandwich but Beer Barnacles: ugh I enjoyed this more often than I should have, sorry not sorry. 5*

Ordered on line. Food was ready on time. Customer Service was great…read more BLAT, Cubano and garlic fries were tasty Took food to go, but lots of area to sit outside

I was walking around town, just exploring the city and came across this very cute Boba place. I was…read morecraving for Boba and saw this very cute logo of an otter. Upon walking in, you see this gigantic cat in front of you. Super cute and there's a lot of swags that you can buy on your left and right. There's a class that you can order Self Service, or a staff member to help you order. She was super nice and very welcoming and explained one of the drink that I had a question about. I ordered their tiger milk tea with Boba. There's no ice level or sugar level like in the Bay area, so it's just your order and it's by default. The sugar level was about 75%, which is great. I don't like lots of sugar in my drink. I also felt that there wasn't much ice in my drink, which many people appreciate less ice for more liquids. I think I taste more of the brown sugar than the tea itself. Overall, the milk tea is pretty good out here. I would recommend to try this place and give it a try. They also make the food fresh so it does take time and they had a sign for it as well.

Just an average boba store. They sell lot of cute boba related stuffs…read more Jasmine green tea with strawberry was pretty bland. Mango refresher was great but a bit too sweet even with 50% sugar.

Everything was amazing! We had the Garlic Chicken and Chicken w/ Eggplant lunch specials. They each…read morecame with some of the best hot n' sour soup I have ever had. Both chicken dishes were amazing, I wish they bottled the garlic sauce, it was pure heaven, with a mild kick, not too spicy. Pure perfection! The eggplant was damn near candied, unbelievably delicious. Perfectly cooked, melt-in-your-mouth deliciousness! I will definitely be back! Our only co

The food here is ok, but the service leaves a lot to be desired. If you're short on patience, this…read moremay not be the place for you. Despite repeatedly giving them the benefit of the doubt, I find myself consistently let down. My biggest frustration is with their pickup and takeout process. Every single time I call ahead, I'm given an estimated wait time, yet no matter when I arrive, whether it's on time, a little late, or even deliberately late to compensate, my order hasn't been touched. EVERY TIME. It makes me wonder if they intentionally delay orders out of concern that customers won't show up? To make matters worse, this doesn't appear to be an isolated issue. On most visits, I find myself in the company of other customers who called ahead and are facing the exact same problem . . . their orders haven't been started either.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ After many unsuccessful tries, I'm done.

My family and I have eaten at Jeffries for many years, the food, the servers and everything about…read morethis place was like coming home to a dinner breakfast alway there go have a hot meal and the fact that everything was homemade Miss You All

This was my second experience here. I don't recall much about the first experience, it was years…read moreago. But due to unexpected events we found ourselves here a couple days before Xmas, not terribly busy, a rather off time. We were flagged over, given menus and sat. Same guys brought over some coffee. We took a couple minutes to get settled. Menu is good size so it was challenging to decide what we wanted. We were given many minutes. So many minutes that two booths (on our wing of the restaurant) paid, left. Next was the test. Another couple was finally sat in our wing. We were ready to order and were definitely going to make sure we politely got noticed bc we are really hungry now. Finally the server takes our order, was pleasant enough and walked away. The 2 stars go to the cooks, food and the nicer lady who works behind the counter. One minus star goes to the almost unbearable smell in the restroom, absolutely disgusting. And the other minus two for our server. Seems she's been there awhile. Seems we were not the type of people she liked in her section. We could not think of any other reason for the complete lack acknowledgment. Noted, lady. Santa Cruz is progressive-ish. Until you run into humans like this. Don't get seated in the old white lady's section if you're anything but that.