Tramonti — Restaurant in Santa Cruz

We were visiting Santa Cruz for 4th of July weekend and happened upon Tramonti for dinner on the 4th of July after another place we tried around the corner was closed. We had an amazing experience! Especially in contrast to a very negative experience we had at another restaurant on the pier the day before.

First off, we walked up to Tramonti randomly and asked if we could be seated for a party of 7, 4 adults and 3 children. We were asked if we had reservations. We did not. We were told it would be a 45-60 minute wait. We figured that was probably our best bet at this point anyhow, so we opted to wait.

The hostess was very kind and accommodating. There was some outdoor seating where we could wait for our tables, we were even able to order some drinks for the adults and the children while we waited. There were some arcade machines inside for the kids while they waited. I doubt we were even waiting a half an hour before our table was ready.

We sat on their outdoor patio. I'm not sure if it's a temp COVID setup or what, but the large picnic style table was nice and set up for us. I really enjoyed the outdoor setting.

Shortly after sitting, a man who I presumed to be the owner came by and passionately described the evening's special in his Italian accent. At that moment, I knew we were in good hands and that we were in for an excellent dinner.

Dinner did not disappoint! We ordered a wide selection from the menu, and everyone shared a little bit with everyone else, and it was all exquisite! This place has ruined Italian food for me. It will be hard to find anywhere in my neck of the woods that is nearly as good as this was.

The staff treated us and our children with kindness, the service was great, given the quality and amount of food we ordered, I think everything was reasonably priced.

I can't recommend this place enough! The next time we're in Santa Cruz, I'm sure...

Review of restaurant based for service and meals on Monday July 17, approx 9pm. We really wanted to like this restaurant but sadly it was a disappointment on many different levels. For a party of five, we were seated promptly, unfortunately we were seated next to a large party who thought they were cheerleaders. When I say we were close, my chair kept getting bumped by the server each time she attended to the loud party, No matter how much I scooted in she plowed through without even an excuse me. The staff should have dealt with these diners, or warned us before seating us that there was a large group having a loud celebration; every diner should have had the opportunity to enjoy their meal and sadly we couldn't.

The menu sounded delicious, and despite the hand clapping 'cheerleader" group we ordered. I'm assuming the waitress couldn't hear our order because she totally missed the fifth person's selection. Now for the food. The Octopus special was delicious, cooked to perfection, beware the olives have pits. The short rib ravioli were plentiful, shapped to resemble wontons or tortellini, the pasta was tasty and perfectly cooked. The "ravioli" was swimming in butter with a sprig of sage. If there was Parmesan I couldn't see or taste it. The short rib filling was flavorful, but the texture of the was meat mushy as if it has been through the blender. The Penne alla Pescatora was a truly delicious. Perfectly cooked pasta in a light tomato sauce with tender seafood. The Beef Skewer Special (cooked medium well) was perfectly seasoned with a nice char. Unfortunately it arrived after everyone else had finished eating. The meat was lean and plentiful, sadly it was so tough it couldn't be chewed or even cut with the dinner knife. The artichoke side must have been brined, it was...

This place was participating in restaurant week and we decided to make reservations for our anniversary. Things ran late which is understandable on a busy weekend. What is unacceptable is when the staff seemingly forgets that you are there. We put in our whole order and withing 10 minutes had our appetizers. The seafood stew was good but just fell flat to me. My husband's was simply disgusting. Cold thin sliced ribeye under what could only amount to a mustard sauce with capers. At first we thought that is just how it was supposed to be served until I read the online menue. After that and our plates were cleared it was a 45 minute wait for our main dishes. In that time we were brought someone else's tab, harrassed by outrageous number of flies, finished our drinks (room temperature water, for me), watched as patrons who had come after us get their meals and leave, and seriously contemplate paying for what we ate and going to get a burger. When we finally got our main dish mine felt as if it had been reheated. It was warm in some spots, cold in others, and steaming in still others. My husband was pleased with his choice but had lost his earlier interest and just wanted to leave. As per our already entered orders we waited for dessert which we simply ate to finish out our order. It was not at all how we wanted to spend our anniversary dinner and frankly if it wasn't rude we would have just walked out. Maybe we caught them on a bad night but we WILL NOT be going back...