The Daniel Birthday Month “Best Of” List
A Double Meat Please Guide
March is Daniel’s birthday month, which makes it a good excuse to look back at the places that kept showing up all year. The spots we recommend when friends ask where to eat. The meals that come up again weeks later in conversation. The ones that completely derail your afternoon because you ate too much.
This is the Double Meat Please Best Of list, Daniel edition.
It is not scientific. It is not complete. It is just the food that stuck.
Burgers
Best Actual Smashed Burger
Emerald Mallard – OG Smash Burger
Crispy edges, soft bun, and the kind of burger you finish faster than expected.
Best Fat Burger
Forever Warped at Food Talk
Big, messy, and built like it knows you are hungry.
Best Burger at a Sit Down Restaurant
Oswald – Blue Cheeseburger
When you want a burger but still want the night to feel like dinner.
Best Late Night Burger
Forever Warped at Food Talk
Same burger, different energy late at night.
Best Affordable Burger People Don’t Know About
Jeffrey’s Burger at Johnny’s Harborside (Happy Hour)
Ten dollars for a burger by the water still feels like a mistake someone has not corrected yet.
Burritos
Best Burrito from a Taco Truck
Ruben’s Tacos – Brisket California Burrito
The brisket alone would be worth ordering, but wrapped in a California burrito it turns into a full event.
Best Breakfast Burrito
Busy Bees – The Bene Burrito
Busy Bees – Biscuits & Gravy Burrito
Busy Bees does not believe in small portions. Both are worth the commitment.
Also Worth the Drive
Cat & Cloud – The Cat & Cloud Burrito (Swift Street only)
One of the few coffee shop burritos that actually holds up.
Best Breakfast Burrito from the Locals
The Point Market – The Its Breakfast Burrito
Classic neighborhood move. Grab one and eat it outside.
Best Burrito That Ruins Your Afternoon Plans
Busy Bees – Biscuits & Gravy Burrito
You will need a nap afterward.
Pizza
Best New York Slice
Pizza My Heart – Slice Only
Ordering a whole pie is fine, but the slice counter is the move.
Best Detroit Style Pizza
Slice Project – Pepperoni
Square pan pizza with crispy edges and plenty of pepperoni.
Best Fancy Pizza
Bookie’s – Pepperoni
A pizza that makes you slow down and stay a while.
Best Neapolitan Pizza
Buzzo’s Pizza – Potato Pizza (add sausage extra crispy)
Trust the potato move here.
Also in the Conversation
Pizzeria La Bufala – Diavola
Tomato sauce, mozzarella, Italian salami, pepperoni, and Calabrian pepperoncini.
Best Pizza at a Sit Down Restaurant
Cavalletta
Dinner spot that quietly turns out really good pizza.
Best Affordable Pizza
Costco
Also the $2 slice at Pleasure Pizza on Tuesdays, which is hard to beat.
Best Pizza Pop Ups
Girasol – Beef Pizza (Chicago Style) – slow braised beef with green bell peppers, onions, mozzarella, pecorino, and hot giardiniera relish
Sleight of Hand – Bees Knees (pepperoni, mozzarella, honey)
La Pizza Piccolo 831 – Elote Pizza
Sandwiches
Best Pastrami Sandwich
Garden Deli
Straightforward deli perfection.
Best Specialty Sandwich
La Bottega del Lago
A sandwich that tends to turn lunch into a long lunch.
Best Deli Sandwich
Seabright Deli
A reliable Santa Cruz staple.
Best Sandwich People Sleep On
New Leaf
Quietly one of the better deli counters in town.
Drinks
Best Fancy Cocktails
Both places take cocktails seriously without making the room feel stiff.
Best Cocktails at a Restaurant
Mentone
Always worth ordering one before dinner.
Best Old Fashioned
Oak & Ale
Simple and strong.
Best Cocktail Bar for a Date
After Hours
Low lighting, good drinks, easy place to talk.
Vibes & Life Categories
Best Date Spot
Hook & Line
Mentone
Shadowbrook
Jack O’Neill’s
Home
Best Happy Hour
Venus
Johnny’s Harborside (the $10 burger is wild)
Best Dinner Without a Reservation
Best Spot Open on a Monday
Hook & Line
El Palomar
Cavalletta
Trestles
Best Place to Take Out-of-Towners
After Hours → Full Steam → Chubbs → 11th Hour Coffee
All within a block. Full Santa Cruz experience.
Best Sit Down Spot for Out-of-Towners
Best Comfort Food
Busy Bees
Emerald Mallard
Bookie’s
Buzzo’s
Best Celebration Meal
Best Treat Yourself Spot
Wild Card
(
Daniel Coded)
Best Meal of All Time Anywhere
Lucali’s, New York.
Three hour wait.
One size pizza.
BYO wine from the liquor store.
Pure chaos. Best pizza of my life.
Best Bite in One Single Mouthful
Busy Bees Biscuits & Gravy Burrito.
Best Thing You Crave Randomly
My father’s approval.
Best Place You’d Spend a Gift Card Immediately
Downtown Santa Cruz Dollars.
Anywhere. Gone instantly.
That’s the list.
Not complete. Not objective. Definitely biased.
But these are the meals that stuck with us this year. The burgers we keep ordering, the burritos that require a nap afterward, and the spots we send people to when they ask where they should eat in Santa Cruz.
If you see Daniel out celebrating his birthday this month, there is a strong chance he’s halfway through one of these.