Shannon B.'s Profile

By far the BEST tasting coffee on the coast!  This place is DEFINITELY one of my honey spots!  You can tell the staff CARES about what they are making when you taste your coffee!  It makes settling for Starbucks PAINFUL!

I chose this place over Tea House for one simple reason - I am currently 9 mos pregnant, so a hot tub is NOT something I can enjoy unfortunately.  And at this place you can CONTROL the temp of the water in your tub.  UNFORTUNATELY FOR ME - I should watch what I ask for!  

My Hubby took me for my birthday.  Since there isn't much you can enjoy as a big ole' prego - I thought this would be a nice relaxing time for the both of us to enjoy.  We checked in and were escorted to room #1 to the immediate left.  We booked a private Onsen Room for 1 hour.  Upon entering, we were given a brief tour and run down on everything.  Based on the appearance and ambiance of the Onsen room - I give this place 3 stars.  It was tranquil and clean.  It had a sauna, shower and tub for two all set under an open bamboo/stone enclosure.  They provided us hot Tea and plenty of clean towels.  The tub was filling as we entered.

My Hubby tested the water and found that it was not even lukewarm - so he cranked up the heat on the nozzle and just got MORE COLDER WATER!!!!  WTF?  Well I jumped in thinking it would warm up.  IT NEVER DID!  We sat in the tub trying to enjoy it, but with the outdoor setting being a little breezy and the water being barely lukewarm - we couldn't ignore it.  The water pressure was completely sporadic as well.  Finally we gave up and sat in the Sauna with the door open just so we could warm up, but not cause my body temp to overheat  Needless to say we were not too heart broken when our hour was up.

Upon checking out, we were asked by the two less then enthused dude receptionists how everything was...our reply was FINE.  I just wanted to get out of there and move on to my birthday dinner.  Now that WAS AMAZING!  

So 1 Star LOST for water issues and temp and 1 Star lost for staff.

I am ALWAYS leery about trying new, random places to get a mani or pedi!  I found The Nail Club based off a referral from a fellow prego in my exercise class.  I am not much of a girly-girl, but now that I cannot see my toes or reach them to clip, I decided to breakdown and start getting pedi's done.

I had walked past this place a 1,000 times - it looks like any other typical nail place.  It was clean to the appearance, and of course ran by a staff where English is their 2nd language (something I am never too comfortable with).  I was sat immediately without an appt.  There was only one other woman in there getting a mani when I arrived.  

I was assigned Lee and she was VERY soft spoken, but thorough!  They have a basic pedi for $12 and you can add on a "scrub" for an additional $5 - which I did.  She did a VERY nice and spoiling job on my soar prego-feet.  She even knew the pressure points to avoid and which to focus on while pregnant.  Very sweet!  I also decided to add on a "painted flower with jewel" since it was Valentines day and she did a BEAUTIFUL job on this as well!  Towards the end she asked if I wanted a mani as well - and I decided to go along with it!  Why not, I was spoiling myself today.  Plus I wanted to get the FULL treatment to judge the place for what it had to offer.

I sat in the chair, I asked for just a simple mani with no paint since my job is VERY hands on and my nails get pretty banged up.  So she went to work and again it included and very nice hand and lower arm massage.  Then she asked if I wanted my nails buffed, it would be $2 extra.  Now, I thought this was going to be included - so I said yes.....At this point I felt like the day was sort of snowballing, but again I figured what the heck?

So, all in all I was thinking I REALLY liked this place and I could see myself coming back in for a simple pedi real soon!  And I do plan to go back - but I am stripping two stars for these reasons:

1. The buffing should have been included in the mani SINCE I WAS NOT ASKING FOR PAINT, which would have been included in the price if I had wanted it - $18.

2. While doing my mani, she asked me if I wanted my brows waxed!!!!!  Now look, this just PISSES ME OFF!  WHY IS IT every time I go into a nail place or hair place (to accompany my Husband while he gets his hair trimmed) do Asian women want to PLUCK MY FACE??????  It is not like have a uni-brow or Sasquatch face!  I think brow waxing is a VERY personal choice and I do have a normal place I CHOOSE to go to - so my advice is for these places is to NOT include waxing suggestions as an up-sale tactic!!!!  It is RUDE and INSULTING!

Nuff said!  I ended up with a $42 bill which is NOT that bad, but in the future when I go back I will opt just for the Pedi, scrub and flower and NOTHING ELSE!

This is OUR burrito joint!  For as long as I have lived in SC, we have yet to find another Mexican food joint to quench our tastebuds!  We typically order the super burrito with no lettuce (I get Chicken and the Hubby gets the El Pastor) and we are NEVER disappointed!  The wait is never long even when busy and the regular guy that runs the reg ALWAYS hooks us up with a bag FULL of chips and salsa!  If you are looking for more of a plated meal, we recommend the Chicken Flautas or the Torta with your choice of meat.  Really, they are consistently good here!

We were treated to this restaurant to celebrate my Hubby's big 30!  We went during the lunch/brunch hours on a Sunday so it was not busy at all.  We were sat in the back "party room" which was great because we were overlooking the water and didn't have to deal with the noise of the dining room.  The menu is a little on the pricey side - but I have to say all the FOOD was delish and absolutely worth the price!  They don't even charge a corkage fee if you bring your own bottle, which is RARE!  

I had the house salad and dungenous crab cakes - the dressing on the salad was a little strong but the crab cakes were YUMM!!!!  And I have high standards!

I definitely recommend!

====PARTIAL REVIEW======

If you have a VW and need it serviced, then your options on the coast are limited!  However, I find that working with service writer Eric Howard & Shop Foreman Jerry Blount is always a PLEASANT AND HONEST EXPERIENCE EVERY TIME!  They do not over sell you to make money on your car and they are timely and customer service driven.  So, I highly recommend this team!  Next time you need your VW serviced request Eric H. and Jerry B!!!!!

This place is always consistently good!  I only cheat them 1 star because they are located on Pacific Ave and they GET super, crazy busy with out of towner's.  But other then that, their servers are pleasant and their sushi and bento boxes are always yummy!

I drove from West Santa Cruz to Capitola to take a look at their selection and was IMPRESSED by their customer service!  They went out of their way to help me find MORE then what I was looking for!  They even pulled items out of storage that were not even on display yet JUST to help me push my theme farther then I could have ever imagined!  The drive to Capitola was WORTH IT!!!  I wish the party stores in Santa Cruz had service like Paradise Party!

===BAR REVIEW ONLY====

Have to say I am impressed with the service and friendliness of the staff!  My GF and I were Happy Hour Hopping (going from bar to bar) on Friday.  Clouds was our last stop on the train.  We had both tried Clouds for lunch and dinner before and didn't have HORRIBLE experiences (but they were not FABULOUS either).  We had walked by the door around 6 and it was CROWDED, so we opted for another dive bar instead.  However, after not feeling fully satisfied, we wondered into Clouds (about an hour later).  The Bar was full, but upon inquiring from the ready-to-serve-us Bartender where else we could sit, we chose a little two-seater booth just passed the bar.  Within minutes of sitting down we were greeted by a nice waitress.  Within minutes of her leaving, we were served.  Our drinks were STRONG (I had the Lemon Drop Martini & my GF went for a Traditional Martini).

So, all in all I have to say YES to CLOUDS for a good strong (reasonably priced) drink or two.

CHEERS!

My GF and I decided to meet up for Happy Hour.  We are both locals and have spent a lot of time sampling the different businesses in Santa Cruz so we have a good grasp on what is good and what is terrible.  We both wanted to try somewhere we have never been.  And despite the fact that we had BOTH worked on Pacific Ave together for almost a year, we both had never tried Vida's.  My reasons for not trying them before were not based on any fact or anything....So we decided to check it out.

Happy Hour on Friday was advertised from 4:30pm - 6:30pm.  Upon arriving we were a little shocked that the place was EMPTY!  It was Friday, it was Happy Hour, it is Summer - why were there no patrons?  Despite this, we continued in.  We were greeted by a nice guy (who was to become our server), he instructed us that we could sit anywhere.  We chose to sit in the "lounge" area.  Besides us, there were just two other ladies sitting in the lounge area by the front window (maybe strategically placed there so everyone walking by would see there was SOMEONE in the place).  Anyway, we were offered the full or Happy Hour Menu - we of course went with the Happy Hour.  We were given a few mins to look things over.  Our server came back, asked what we would like.  My GF ordered the appetizers first: House Fries (with a un-needed fancy name) and a 2 crab cakes.  I then ordered a Cosmo, at which point I was asked - would l like a regular cosmo or a Vida Cosmo ($2 increase for the Vida)...I asked the waiter, what the difference was and his response was - During Happy Hour, nothing.....So DUH, I opted for one that was $2's cheaper since I didn't want to spend another $2 for NOTHING SPECIAL....I asked GF later, what was the point of asking what type I wanted if there was no difference......um ok!

So, fast fwd - we get our drinks in about 10 min.  We chat for another 1/2hr before my GF realizes that we have not gotten our appetizers.  Now mind you, WE ARE THE ONLY CUSTOMERS IN THE WHOLE PLACE and they are FULLY STAFFED.  So, we asked our server (after he asked if we would like another Cosmo) where are appetizers were...he asked foggily "oh you two ordered food?"  DUH!  So 15min later our food arrived.

Now, let me say - the ONLY reason I am giving Vida's anything more then a 2 is - THEIR CRAB CAKE WAS THE BEST I HAVE EVER HAD!!!  To live by the ocean you would think there are a ton of places to get a decent, fresh crab cake....but up until now Vida's WAS THE BEST!!

All in all, we had fun because of our decently made Cosmos and our good conversation.  But, honestly I do not think I will go back.  For one, the staff thinks that their WAY COOLER then they really are.  And two, for the lack of service provided in a SLOW time.  I can only imagine how shitty the service is when they are slammed.

My advice...pass unless you are jones-ing for a great crab cake!