Seabright Social — Restaurant in Santa Cruz

I'll be totally honest. The main reason I go here is because I'm a local and I can walk here from my house. I've been coming here for years and looked forward to the new ownership. I supported during covid and I've seen all the iterations of the menu changes (of which there have been way too many) and overall, they've lost the locals... Except for the few of us who'd rather walk than drive. Why do I come back? Because of the bartenders, and most of the staff (every place has a few duds) and sometimes the food is delicious. My main gripe about the food is that it's not consistent. I could have the same menu item on a Saturday, and then on a Tuesday, and it's just not the same. And one day is definitely better than the other.... But, I keep coming back. Partly for the trivia on the 2nd Tuesday of each month...The location and patio are awesome, sunny during the day and heaters and firepits at night, and the drinks and beers are solid (although I wish they had some Shanty Shack on tap sometimes, especially a hazy IPA). But, I keep coming back. If I were to expand, I used to call this my my local Chili's, not the best, but I could count of it. Certain food items I would crave, and the vibe used to be cozy and warm inside, like a classic pub should be, but now it's cold and sterile inside, with no booths. Instead, replaced with cold metal chairs and some throw pillows, and feels like I'm going to the gynecologist who hasn't figured out that you can put oven mitts on the stirrups so your feet aren't cold. I write this to be honest, in the hope that my two cents can be taken seriously and perhaps changes can be made and that this place survives so Tad, Corey, Sue and Emmett can keep their jobs and make more tips (and don't get me started on the rockstars they let go....for, I don't really know? Being too good at their jobs? Don't worry, they all landed somewhere else and are probably doing better than they would be if they stayed working here). Get the chimichirri steak frites, or the shrimp & grits, or the fish & chips, stay for the sports on tvs. Support local...

It was 5 stars as The Seabright Brewery. They've cleverly kept the reviews intact by just changing the name here under the new ownership. While the place isn't bad, it's NOT the Seabright Brewery anymore. Like everything, they've tried to "upscale" it, raised the prices and serve "foofoo" dishes that are not a good value as they were before. Why people always feel the need to buy long standing iconic successful places and make them "better" by "upscaling", I'll never know. And doing that just as Covid was hitting... Well, I really don't know. But lower Seabright doesn't have a lot of options, and maybe jacking the prices up helped them survive the pandemic restrictions. But I can be pretty certain those prices aren't gonna drop. Many of the familiar faces working there, and a few of the familiar locals... So there's that. The removal of all the sports and local memorabilia, new tile flooring, new color scheme that's consistent with all the "modern upscale California fusion loungy gastropub blah blah" places makes it feel generic and detached in comparison to the former favorite place it was. Would I recommend it? If you were staying within a block of it, had no transportation or everything else was closed, and you had a pocket fu of money and needed to go to bed early because that's just what you do... Then ya, maybe. Will you like it there? Maybe. If you've never been there when it was Seabright Brewery, you like those generic places with overpriced drinks and dishes that look like some gourmet chef worked all day on placing the 3 oz chunk of meat on top of the little mound of mashed potatoes (for $29 or other "market value"), you're visiting with old friends you haven't seen in a long time, and even if you weren't too busy catching up to notice all the lackluster, you'd ignore it to look good in the eyes of your friends. But other than all that, I'd call it a...

Nicest patio in the area, good grub, and decent brews, although the new brewer has a flair for the weird. Spinach salad w grilled salmon is a fav. I wish the Sacralicious would make a comeback!!

^^ wrote that 3 years ago, classic Seabright Brewery.

Went back today to the Seabright Social as its now called... They did a pretty good job cleaning the place up. We sat on the patio, they had nice new seating, fresh paint.. socially distanced tables, it was pretty busy at 5pm Friday still dog friendly as long as the dog is friendly.

new menu. i had a hamburger, medium rare was on the rare side of medium rare, but still quite good. tasty house made mustard, and a brioche style bun, white chadder, lettuce+tomato+onion served on the side. crispy tasty shoestring fries, my wife had the rock cod over the romaine and fresh stuff salad, it looked like an excellent large piece of fresh local rockfish, lightly breaded and fried, over a great salad.

both the Purrfect 11 'red IPA' and hte Orange (something something) fresh IPA were tasty.

** 2nd visit to the new Seabright.... my wife had the burger, ordered medium rare, was served very overcooked. I tried the sandabs n chips, the fish was fried in an overly hard crust with the skin on one side, gross. Waiter never showed up until we were done, he did take the fish off our bill, but I doubt I'm going back. Shame, it's one of the nicest outdoor dining patios in town.

*. Visited again a few years later for Burger Week .... The inside is all remodeled except the nice bar, was too cold for outside. Their classic Blur IPA is still quite decent, and the burger was very tasty.... Might have to go back on a sunny day for patio action. The formerly juicy burger is now a "smashburger", and many of my old favorite menu items are gone, no more spinach salad with...