East End Gastropub — Restaurant in Capitola

The last few years I’ve felt like the ‘good brunch places’ have slowly disappeared or quality declined. When I read the breakfast menu at East End this morning on my phone I quietly thought to myself ‘fusion is rarely that great, maybe this won’t be either’ but since all other breakfast places stopped serving at 2 we made our way there anyway. Crikey was I wrong! The food was a.m.a.z.i.n.g!!! Where do I start?

Actually - I’ll start with the menu which was fun and there were several things I wanted to try. It was hard to pick. A combination of American traditional dishes and others inspired by the East. The drinks menu was impressive and fun with choices I haven’t come across anywhere else.

Now to the food- the home fries were crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside, the Benedict sat on a moist delicious home made biscuit, the buttermilk pancake was dreamy with hints of vanilla and maple… but the part I loved there most was the Bhan Mi, which pulled off tasting authentically Vietnamese yet breakfasty with egg and mortadella. It was wasn’t fusion, it was evolution!

All ingredients were high quality and deliciously cooked on their own. Nothing was overwhelming, none of the dishes were riding on only one or a couple of special ingredients. There were no ‘filling ingredients’, there to bulk up your plate, no excess, yet lacking nothing.

Eating there was exciting and fun, i didn’t always know what to expect. I discovered new things. I wanted to try everything.

The drinks were also great, as was the...

Great environment to eat at. The restraunt looks like a downtown high rise loft, and it goes further with their home made foods and homey feeling kitchen. It just feels and tastes home made, which to me is a good thing. Definitely does not at all feel or taste "generic" or food chain like. I tried one of the craft sodas, not my thing, but just adds to the unique style that you should expect. I ordered the Spaghetti and Meatball and I got to say, as a thin spaghetti lover, thick noodles are the only way I will accept my spaghetti now. Just amazing flavor and the texture just meshes so well that I am flabbergasted more restaurants don't use thick boi noodles in their spaghetti. The meatballs were good and ginormous. I wasn't a huge fan of them, but they have a good taste to them, and the sauce just makes it that much better. Tables inside are nicely spaced and it felt like they are doing well keeping up with covid standards. Wish I would have ordered some spaghetti to go, it was that good. You could share it, but I was able to finish the whole thing and I'm not the biggest eater. All and all, a wonderful dining experience and I would happily come back and try their burger, my friend ordered it and it looked AMAZING. Carmalized onions is the only true way to...

Such a fun place. They've made the best of the space they have, part of the restaurant is upstairs. That's probably the only downside, if you don't like stairs or like for us another customer comes in doused in cologne, since there's such few tables upstairs, you will be smelling it. Vs downstairs the tables are really close together but because of the high ceilings it wouldn't have been so bad. Also for everyone reading this, please don't douse yourself in cologne or perfume but especially if you're going out to eat. People don't want to smell that and eat. So we had to leave early because it was so bad and that was unfortunate because the food was amazing and the service was so kind and intuitive. We had their burger that was a special during burger week and it was unbelievable. The fries were super delicious too. Someone a couple tables over ordered a pizza during the happy hour time. I believe it was $10 so when I saw this giant pizza they brought them I was floored! Definitely a great deal. Dinner entrees are fairly priced for the environment they are bringing and would be fun to try. Check them out if...