Bantam is a delicious restaurant. Always do a small bite - they are so tasty! We had a take on fried mozzarella which was insanely great. We also had the ragu which was delicious (the only reason I took away a star though was it was $20 and a very small position). We also had the sopressata pizza with spicy honey which is always great. Overall really good food! Some stuff is just pricey for the portion size. Great service & cute place. Definitely would recommend! read more

WOW, this pizza is absolutely worth the drive from the Bay Area. Highly recommend the Sausage Pizza & while you're at it try the Margarita. You'll absolutely thank me! Great job Bantam Pizza. We'll see you again soon! read more

Local ingredients, meaning local bugs? Service was awful, even before a tick burrowed into my skin. (Read below for more on that...) Didn't get asked if I wanted a second drink, because the server didn't come back after the food was on the table. Should have backed away when I first walked in and was stared at across the room by 2 hostesses and the manager, instead of seated right away. You weren't doing anything except perhaps talking about the fact I was with a young child who was going to be a handful? This was perhaps the reason the service was bad, maybe all of your bad reviews are from people with kids? The octopus stew was great. Pizza was mostly thin bread with a sprinkle of toppings. Unfortunately I made the mistake of using the bathroom at this establishment, which has erased any good food experience I might have had. :( I found not one but two ticks in the ladies restroom. Both toilet seats, in separate stalls placed 10+ feet away from each other, had at least one tick on them. I first saw the one tick in the one stall, took a picture and went to the second stall. Alerted the manager who didn't go to the bathroom or send a female there to eradicate the issue. (I saw you looking over at me after our conversation, suddenly very busy with food service). Next day I find a tick burrowed into my skin. Yeah that's not a health code violation or anything. When I called to report back about my experience, the female manager told me she "was sorry if she sounded unsympathetic" but that there was likely nothing they could do and that there was "no way the ticks in this area carried lyme disease". Sorry, but you're wrong -- lyme disease is way more common and dangerous than you think. Santa Cruz is an area KNOWN to have ticks which carry lyme disease. She said the owner would call me. I never got a call or apology, and it's been two months. It's blatant that it was assumed other people had brought them in, despite the fact Bantam's restroom is the only section of the restaurant which isn't renovated and it looks exactly like an outdoor restroom. The entire wall is made up of a glass block window and ground is cement. There's also a lot of foliage on the other side of the wall. Bantam's employees treated me rudely the entire time I was at the restaurant, but at least the owner popped his head out the door as we were leaving to thank me for "the heads up" about the tick. Shooting your head out the door to thank me -- that's the part of customer service you should be upholding at your restaurant. Except it shouldn't be a last minute after thought. Neither should cleaning your restrooms. They say a restaurant's restrooms are a good indicator of what the kitchen looks like... I'm going to assume it's not the most hygienic but at least it contains local ingredients? Local bugs that is.. :( read more

Bantam - Pizza Near Me - Santa Cruz, California

"Don't panic, it's organic" Is printed on their menu. This place is one of my favorite restaurants of all time. I love that they not only source ingredients from local organic farms, but they choose farms that have ethical practices that are beyond basic organic. And the fact that this restaurant uses all organic ingredients means that they are also non-GMO. They also make their own cheese, sausage, and vinegar. They make the vinegar in oak barrels next to the back door. Be sure and get a salad with their homemade vinegar dressing. It is amazing. I have never before had anything like it. I also love their Margarette pizza with rockets added. I am not usually a dessert fan and most of the time I will skip it. But that is not possible here. They have the most amazing desserts ever! I especially love their chocolate Nemesis. It is amazing. I have been here more than 100 times and they are always consistently great. read more

My first time here today and already I'm impressed, the staff is very attentive. My waitress acknowledging its was my first time asked if I wanted some history about the restaurant and went on to tell how the produce and most ingredients were all locally sourced and explained the menu a bit pointing out some "hidden jems". I started with the warm marinated olives and they were good but not great. Maybe they were cooked too long so they got too soft for my taste. Then I ordered the spicy salami pizza, now this thing was awesome! I ate all but a small piece of crust to share with my dog. It had spicy salami (pepperoni as we Americans call it), onion, olives, mozzarella, tomato sauce, and after the (wood fired) oven they put fresh whole parsley leaves and pecorino romano cheese over the top. The parsley leaves were a surprise as they added a welcome earthiness to the pie, awesome! Also the pie was perfectly cooked and the dough, obviously stretched, was super thin and had a great soft spongy crust with little speckles of char on the edges, yum! I'll definitely be back! read more

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While I haven't been here often I have always been happy with the food. The food is fresh, the place is clean, and service is good. If they took reservations I would probably come more often. The last visit we had a delicious tomato salad, a pizza and a peach dessert. All were quite tasty, prepared promptly and presented nicely. Bill with one beer and one drink was about $60 which seemed like a fair price for the meal. Only con was the server may have enjoyed correcting my pronunciation of a couple of menu items a little too much. read more

I love Bantam. Everything on the menu is excellent, including lovely cocktails. Got pizza to go during Corona. Can't wait to eat there in person again! Please support Bantam! read more

So happy to have found this gem! Bantam is the best of both the culinary world and sustainable, organic produce, what a concept! Stephan and I are really diggin this Monday night eat out thing, and we've been wanting to try Bantam for some time. I'm so glad we did, because it might just turn into our go-to spot. The ambience is very hip, the waitstaff are pleasant and friendly, and I liked the open kitchen because it's fun to watch the chefs at work. For our meal we went big. We started off with the squash blossoms, which are as decadent as they are flavorful. Definitely worth a try. For our salad we ordered a corn, cucumber, cherry tomato, buttermilk and herb salad, fresh and delicious! Feeling overly indulgent, Stephan and I both ordered our own wood-fired pizzas, but I'm sure glad we did because I did NOT want to share :) I'm a huge fan of the broccoli di cicco pizza, crispy veggies with chili and riccotta cheese, fantastic! I better stop now before I drool all over the keyboard...in conclusion, if you're looking for a real culinary treat that showcases both excellent flavor and organic ingredients, then Bantam is just the place you've been searching for! Enjoy! read more

Bantam - Corn, tomato and fresh herb salad with buttermilk dressing. - Pizza Near Me - Santa Cruz, California

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Omg I love this place. The ambiance is perfect. We got some burrata thing as an app, short rib rigatoni, a sausage pizza, and chocolate pudding with sea salt caramel for dessert. Best date night spot for sure. I love that it's not downtown. I also got a mezcal paloma that was read more

Bantam - Around the corner - Pizza Near Me - Santa Cruz, California

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Food: The nettles pizza is basically the best I've ever had. No joke. The crust is thin and crispy, the ingredients are fresh, interesting, and so flavorful! Such a great combination! The friends I've taken to try it agree with me. So good! Their appetizers and desserts are also really unique and delicious. Price: A bit on the expensive side, but you get what you pay for, so it's worth it. Service: It's always a bit crowded, so there's usually a wait, but the servers are fast and friendly, and they're very helpful when it comes to explaining the exotic ingredients in some of their dishes. Overall: Wonderful place. You can taste the love in the food :) read more

Best pizza I have have had. We ordered a total of 4 pizzas. 1. Squid 2. Prosciutto- with added farm egg because it was my husbands dream 3. Spicy Sausage 4. Margherita Those go in order of favorite. Not that any of them were not good because everything was exceptional, but the squid was just that good. We were with friends who have lived in Brooklyn for a long time and have had amazing pizza and they even said this was better than anything they have had. Omg that squid was perfect. I'm 3 months pregnant and I could have eaten the whole thing myself, I almost made my husband order me another. Service was great super friendly staff which is also something u don't get on the East Coast Go here you will not be disappointed read more

Fantastic spot for a special meal with family or friends. Beautifully decorated, great food and killer cocktails. read more

Can't wait for the bar to reopen. A main stay in the area. Some of the best food in the neighborhood.

Oh my goodness the pizza here is so good! I think it is the best of anywhere. I love the salads, too. The space is pretty and well, it is just a great place to go! read more

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This is the second time I have come here, both were disappointments. Food is overpriced, pizza is bland and they are sparing with the toppings. You're better off going to upper crust if you want decent food resembling pizza. Ordered a drink, watered down flavorless. Asked the bartender to remake it and got more of the same. read more

The owner is rude. His sense of hospitality is completely lacking. We had a group of eight adults. We first asked to slide to tables together so we could be seated at one table. He said he would not rearrange his dining room for our group due to his personal COVID policy. We respected his decision. In the meantime, the group at the table next to one of our tables volunteered to trade tables so that we could be closer together. Thank you whoever you are. Unfortunately, at that point, the owner refused to allow us to swap tables. BTW, orders had yet to be placed. He said he would not allow us to rearrange his dining room. I explained that we were not asking to move furniture or in anyway change his dining room. We simply asked to swap tables with another friendly group. He said "No." I said that seems to be very obstinate. He said "I know. ". At that point we felt our only option was to leave and write this review. This owner does not understand that the line out the door will remain only if the food AND service are good. Santa Cruz is pretty chill. He is not. read more

Eh... They're trying, but it's just too expensive and too long a wait for mediocrity. Just, eh... read more

OK...I don't give out 4 or 5 stars lightly, but Bantam has clearly earned 5 stars in my book! We'd heard of Bantam for years but for whatever reason we have never stopped by. We shared toe following: pickled cauliflower, plum burrada salad, fried chicken, Brussels sprouts & bacon pizza, and lastly chocolate-almond ice cream sammich. The pizza crust was thin with a melt-in-your-mouth topping. The fried chicken thigh was crispy yet moist. The plum salad was tasty with the creamy cheese balanced with sweet/tart plums, toasted hazel nuts and pomegranate seeds. I'll definitely come back! read more

Bantam - Pickled Cauliflower - Pizza Near Me - Santa Cruz, California

Finally got to try out Bantam and it did not disappoint. The decor is cute, wide open space. Wait time can be long so hanging out at the bar was great for us. The service was friendly, fast and you can tell they all work together as a team. Menu had snacks, first, second and pizzas. Love that the menu is always changing because of ingredients they get so I can't wait to go back to see what they come up with. read more

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My wife and I go here all the time. It's our favorite restaurant in Santa Cruz. They serve seasonal dishes which are all delicious. Their pizza is phenomenal and their cocktails, beer, and wine is all above average. This place is a 5 star for sure based on the food! During rush hour on week nights and on the weekends, they can get really busy which creates long wait times and makes inside seating loud and noisy, so try going before or after the rush hour and avoid weekends if waiting and noisiness isn't your thing! read more

First of all, I wanted to love this place. Dinner started off great. Drinks were out in less than 5 minutes, we had our salad and 1 of the two pizzas we ordered really quickly. All the food was good and we liked the atmosphere. About 20 minutes after we finished what we were going to eat of the first pizza our waitress comes up and asked if we wanted a box. We at that point asked if the second pizza was going to come out soon and she had the "oh shit I forgot look" and quickly walked away then went to the computer. Everyone makes mistakes and that is no strike against a restaurant but it was really weird that she didn't say that she was sorry or acknowledge the mix up. I was sitting directly with a view of the pizza oven and could see that no pizzas were being made at that time and they were just prepping and even sweeping out the oven. After another 20 minutes or so and watching half a dozen pizzas roll out of the oven, we decided that we would just ask that if the pizza had not started to be made to just cancel our order. Again, not a huge deal but at that point we were not sure when our pizza would come. I would have been happy to take the pizza if it was almost ready. When we brought this up to the waitress she just started making excuses about why it was slow and that it was because our order got behind some other big orders. Not sure how our order got behind a bunch of other orders when our first pizza was out 45 min earlier when we put the order in at the same time as the first pizza??? There was no I'm sorry, I accidentally put it in late. At this point I was just annoyed that she was making excuses and not acknowledging the mix up which I would 1000% understand!!! I asked her just to bring us the check. She brought out the check a few minutes later and said it would only be two minutes and that if we wanted it she could just box it up. Looking at the bill, they charged us for the pizza. It felt super wrong to be lied to then charged after a mistake had been made in entering our order. I would have had no problem with any of it and would have been happy to pay for it if the waitress had just said "oh I'm so sorry, I forgot" and "that was my bad that it got stuck behind a few other large orders". Shame on this restaurant for not making the wait staff feel that it is okay to own up to their mistakes. Also, a word of wisdom for the woman taking our order is that honesty will get you a whole lot further that trying to pretend it is just a back up in the kitchen (especially when your guest has a strait view of the kitchen and can see no pizzas being made). People would rather know if there has been a hiccup than be lied to. Had there been honestly here, we would have walked out happy to find another great date night spot. Such a bummer poor customer service had to take the spotlight over the highlights. read more

Still a meh from me. I was in town at dinner time, headed home, and I thought it would would be a great time to support a local restaurant (during these Covid troubles) by ordering takeaway food. I happened to be near Bantam when it had just opened up for the night, and the place was still empty. Shouldn't be a long wait for food, right? So I went online to order a meal from this fully open but certainly not busy place. With their ordering system you have to enter all of your personal information before they'll provide an ETA for your order. I go to all that trouble, and then get to the part where you're asked to choose a pick-up time. "ASAP" is an option, but next to that is the notation that ASAP, at that moment, is one hour and a half! I could eat an entire sit-down meal in that time. With dessert and coffee. Needless to say, I passed on takeout. read more

I wish I could give 5 stars because the food is amazing!!! The Pizzas are delicious and flavorful. However, the service was extremely disappointing. Hunter was our so called waiter. His behavior lacked customer service. Simply brought out waters and we waited for our food to be served. He didn't even ask if we wanted to order drinks. His energy was off. By all means food is great, but customer service needs improvement especially during the current circumstances we are currently facing. Take out only is a must! read more

Always a great time at bantam. Sat at the bar and Evan was super attentive and offered me several options on my Negroni. She suggested the steak special that night, which I opted for over the fired chicken, my usual favorite. Evan suggested a great Nebbiolo to go with the steak and kept an eye on me through the my meal, checking in on my enjoyment and even offered me a 'custom' Negroni for dessert. read more

This is my go to restaurant for when I have people visiting from out of town. They always have a fun menu that changes with seasons and what's available. The food is always delicious and they have fun cocktails. I always order the burrata appetizer and a napoli pizza (add fresh mozzarella) with a glass of tempranillo. Don't forget to ask for the chili oil to accompany your pizza! read more

I don't know if one piece of fried chicken can cost $27. How ridiculous it is ... other than that, the place is very standard. I won't ever consider of coming back here though ... no 1-piece fried chicken in the world can cost $27 read more

My mother-in-law saw the raving lines for this place and was really stoked to try it out. She had made reservations for dinner to avoid the wait. Their menu changes daily pending on fresh ingredients. The food was alright, a bit on the pricier side. The fried chicken was interesting. I think the pizza was probably the best deal. My husband didn't want to add an egg to it, otherwise I'd totally give it a try. read more

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This is such a unique restaurant with the best service and food, that I will eat here every time I'm in Santa Cruz. My wife and I always get 5 star service from the wait staff and chefs. I'm not even sure how to describe the food other than just plain excellent. Every dish is a must. I know it's organic and farm to table, but there's more to it than that. The choices are unique. I'm not a foody, or into anything exotic, but everything that comes out of their kitchen is some new creation that I just sit and say "wow! More please!" And you have to have dessert! When I lived in So. Cal., it would be worth the 300 mile drive. Now that we are in the Bay Area, it's worth the move. read more

As an absolute lover of marinara pizzas- like obsessed with perfect dough and sauce- this place does not disappoint. Very accommodating with all my vegan requests. Gorgeous building and amazing service. Highly recommend! Thank you Bantam! read more

Fresh farm to table food and great ambiance! On my visit to Santa Cruz month ago I was looking for a clean and safe place to pick up food or dine out and Bantam was the perfect destination. The food was fresh and simple, and I loved the outdoor patio. Highly recommended! read more

I became a regular here shortly after moving to the Westside, and every single meal/drink/snack I've tried has been consistently excellent. My particular favorites are the fried chicken (that chili butter makes it, and the veggies that come on the side are always perfectly prepared), the classic marg pizza, and the Soppressata (it's really the spicy honey on this that makes it the best). The quality and the sourcing of their ingredients and the care put into the preparation certainly justifies what might be a pricier check for some. A special shout out to Greg the bartender who makes the best cocktails I've had in Santa Cruz, hands down. If you partake, don't pass up the cocktails. I rarely leave Yelp reviews but this place really deserves my props for being so consistently awesome. I just moved from town but plan to make it a point to return here whenever I'm back in Santa Cruz. read more

Extremely limited menu with barely any gluten free options. They don't offer substations, so if you have food allergies, you're pretty much out of luck. Plus, they are discontinuing their chickpea flour pizza! For more options (plus more accommodating and much bigger servings), I'd head to Venus Spirits and Kitchen. read more

Really good food. menu rotates seasonally. Fresh produce and ingredients from the farmers market!

Santa Cruz is a real bummer for foodies, it's a town of Burger joints and Taquerias, $60 for 1 Snow King Crab leg and general disappoinment restaurant-wise. There a a few places with some.promise, but in 2012 the best restaurant in the county, IMHO, opened on Fair Street: Bantam. They don't even take reservations now because people have caught on, seating is first- come first served. The staff and ambience are on point: courteous and friendly, great understated and airy interior with pleased finished-wood accents - you get.the feeling they know what they are doing. The food utilizes the freshest local, organic ingredients, but its the.chefs flair for combing ingredients that makes the food so good. He or she does the best salads ever, using baby greens, and dive, rocket.. whatever the base happens to be that night, with clever combinations of fresh nuts fruits such as Stone fruits fresh cheeses and nice light, vinaigrette type dressings to make some of the most outstanding salads I've ever had. And these aren't just some boring first course that you got that you got just to fill out your meal, these are outstanding flavor experiences that I never fail to miss when I go there to eat. Two entrees that feature quite regularly are the awesome fried Chicken, done pretty much traditionally but with a nice deboned either thigh or breast I believe great accompaniments such as butter beans fingerling potatoes different types of smaller sweet potatoes kale etc and very well thought out sauces that tend to be light but very delicious, and lots of great flavor. Pork belly is another entreated features quite prominently sometimes with pork tenderloin as well or just the pork belly. Really it's not necessary to go into a lot of detail about the different items that they have, just keep in mind that the small plates first courses and main courses are very innovative and delicious. And certainly necessary to mention, is the wood fired pizza oven from which come awesome European style pizzas with I believe some house made charcuterie pepperoni, Margarita pizzas, and others such as Napoleon, which is done in a traditional Italian style, much like something you would actually get in Naples. So, in short if you're in Santa Cruz and you want a delicious meal and a nice pleasant environment, be sure to stop at bantam and get there early unless you want to wait for a bit because the place is quite popular, because people that appreciate outstanding fresh farm to table style food, they go to bantam. A standout in Santa Cruz but a five-star restaurant in any town. read more

Best restaurant in Santa Cruz. Period. Way more than a pizza place. Every time I go there the menu is different. The non-pizza dishes may be cooler than the fantastic Napoli style pizza which is mind bendingly good. Eat there. Now. What are you waiting for? read more

This was the best pizza hands down!!! The Sopresetta pizza os unbelievable. Enjoyed every thing we got here & service was impeccable!!

Our waitress was super unfriendly and not personable. We ordered the house bread with the salted butter. First off the bread on the outside was completely burnt, but atleast the butter was tasty! We ordered two pizzas. We got the pepperoni pizza for our son, tried to do half only with pickled peppers in case they were too hot for him but apparently they can't do halves like that. Second pizza we ordered was the soppressata and tried to add garlic since that's an option for another pizza but they couldn't even put garlic on our pizza. How is that hard to put another item on the pizza or do halves or something even if we are willing to pay for it? Makes no sense to me. To end it we did have some chocolate dessert that was good, but a tad rich. read more

Not very flexible with their pizza toppings. We wanted mushrooms added our margarita and they refused to add them. At least the server asked Management for us but the answer was still no. read more

We didn't like the dine-in experience the few times we were there with friends, finding it very noisy and overpriced. But now, with COVID-19, we LOVE their take-out menu and the quality of the food. The fried chicken dinner is wonderful, and feeds at least two hungry people; the prawn linguini is also a winner. Sides and main courses vary, and we nearly always find things we like. read more

Because sometimes you just want fried chicken. So we drove all the way across town to get this fried chicken. It was totally worth it. Juicy, and crispy on the outside. Boneless, which was a surprise. Set perfectly on some tasty smashed beets. Who knew they were smashing beets these day? Not this girl. The sauce was a touch spicy, but they had no problem putting it on the side for me. read more

Bantam - Pizza Near Me - Santa Cruz, California