I have a client visiting this week who has never seen the Pacific Ocean. I think we will have Friday afternoon free before she flies home, so I thought I would take her over to Santa Cruz. We are in San Jose and we will probably have just enough time to pop over to Santa Cruz, wander around a bit, have something to eat, and come back over the hill. I haven't eaten in Santa Cruz in awhile, so I am looking for recommendations. I was thinking of taking her out to the wharf for the view, even though I know that the wharf restaurants aren't always the best - but I am open to other recommendations.

The restaurant doesn't need to be anything fabulous (when I was visiting this client at her offices, she took me out to Olive Garden for dinner), but I'd like to go someplace with decent since I will be eating too

Thanks,
J

At the Santa Cruz Yacht Harbor you will find the Crow's Nest and Johnny's Harborside. Both have good food and good views. If this is a business meeting, you might prefer the Crow's Nest because it is the quieter of the two.

The new Aquarius Restaurant is wonderful. Right on the beach, gorgeous view, upscale and very good food. Ate dinner here on Thanksgiving 2009 and was really happy and impressed.

It is right next to the wharf, attached to The Dream Inn.

Olive Garden - LOL. Definitely go to the Crow's Nest.

I'd consider going for sunset drinks at the Wharf somewhere, then having dinner at Shadowbrook. Nice atmosphere and views, though admittedly not of the ocean.

Thanks for the recommendations. I think we will probably go to the Crows Nest - that was the choice when we moved to Santa Cruz in 1985 and it is nice that some things remain constant

I don't want to choose Shadowbrook or Aquarius (although they are great recommendations) because I think those might be too upscale for the situation - this being a business relationship, I don't want to one-up my client with my restaurant choice compared with her choice when I visited her offices - or set the bar too high and then next time I visit, she feels compelled to choose a higher end restaurant than she is comfortable with. You know, the whole dance we do so that our clients feel comfortable and keep giving us contracts. Plus we aren't in a "wine and dine" industry, we are in an industry where people go out to eat, if that makes sense.