This place is in my neighborhood and has a huge menu so my husband and I go there pretty consistently. The food is always good and very affordable. It's nice because there are so many things on the menu so you can always find something that fits your mood. They have a full bar but it's hard to know that if you've never been there before because it has "Diner" in it's name. We went there yesterday again though and they've gotten a new drink menu which we ordered what I think was called "The Red Rocks". Yummy!! read more

Good food, pleasant wait staff. I love the French dip. Tonight I had the special: lemon butter pasta with shrimp and a lobster tail. It's fun to eat here! read more

I don't often take time to write reviews, but this wonderful restaurant needs kudos for its delicious food, excellent service, great wait staff, amazing chef, and that old-fashioned home atmosphere I love. Reminds me of those nostalgic diners from my childhood. New tables and booths are going in now, but still in keeping with that great nostalgic feeling we all love. Thank you, Capitola Diner! I hope your business next year excels any prior time and continues growing as people re-discover what a great dining experience this is! Very affordable, always more reasonable than anywhere else! Alex, the waiter is great, and I can't recall the name of the waitress, but she is great as well! read more

I grew up in Capitola, and I think I died and went to heaven finding this place. Fantastic menu, friendly fast service and local clientele, homey atmosphere and THE FOOD! Whoever they've got in the kitchen is a saint. No where else can I order pancakes, bacon and eggs, tuna melt, bacon cheeseburger, bloody Mary, potato skins, breakfast enchiladas, steak and seafood, and fresh homemade soup with zuchinni and spinach. Watch Jeopardy and enjoy a quiet meal at 9pm. Bar prices and portions are THE BEST in town. 20 oz draft beer for six bucks! First I ordered a bloody Maria with fresh celery and shrimp. It was like eating a soup. THEN they came with a mango smoothie margarita that paired the tequila flavor exquisitely. Crazy generous with real parmesan on the fried zuchinni, real cheddar on the breakfast skillet, a bucket of ranch on the appetizer platter, and a vat of blue cheese dressing with the giant side salad. I was surprised the pancakes were served with margerine instead of butter, until I remembered I was at a dive diner and my bill was only $50. I want to move in and live here. read more

This review is way overdue! My husband and I love coming here whenever we have a chance. Jeff and the rest of the staff are so sweet and always take such great care of us. The food is good and the prices are too. Definitely our favorite local diner! read more

I've been here four times with two other dining companions. We've always ordered from the sandwich category, mostly burgers with fries. The fries are the best in the area, hands down. With a sandwich, you get unlimited refills on fries. Prices are reasonable, overall food quality is pretty good for this category of place. Beer and wine license has been applied for but not available as of late December '09. Service is attentive, but a little overworked - one guy is usually covering the whole place. Definitely better than Denny's and the chains that cater to basic American food. I think the place is often empty because of its location and (in)visibility, not because of what they are doing. read more

absolutely gross. service was horrible, the food was gross, and the waiter i had ignored my party as we flagged him down. I got probably the worst french dip ive ever had, it seemed like the cook just microwaved the mead and bread. My grandmother also got steamed vegetables that looked like they were out of a frozen bag you microwave. If i could give no stars i would cause this is a gross diner at best. Highly UNrecommended!! read more

Two orders of nachos, two ciders, under $20 during happy hour. Happy hour nachos include home made fresh guacamole and delicious skirt steak... great and very plentiful food experience. Also, the seafood is from Stagnaros. And the people who work there are really nice, attentive, really a good experience. Already a great place, and still evolving. read more

people need to know how good the food is here! shocking actually since this building in the past did not produce anything quality... from the Sonora burger, to the pork chop, spaghetti or fish dinners,... fish and chips, sandwiches and Oh man the chicken noodle soup!.. it's all top notch for flavor, presentation, quality and quantity. ... really loving this diner ! read more

Understaffed. Waited 25 minutes this morning for coffee, finally got it after flagging down the waiter. No refill. No attention whatsoever. With specific dietary restrictions but none of our requests was honored. Used to be a favorite hangout but not anymore. No check, left money on table. Two dollars short, the waitress chased us down the parking lot! read more

We had been given a coupon from GCI Adventures for the Capitola Diner. The coupon states thet Capitola Diner invites you and your guest to enjoy one complimentary entree when a second entree of equal or greater value is purchased. No dollar limit, no exclusions. We decided to have the prime rib and chicken fried steak. They would not allow these food items to be part of the buy one get one free deal, even though the higher priced item was the prime rib and that would have been paid for in full. The waiter attempted to explain this to the "manager on duty". He said no steaks could be purchased or served if using the coupon. Nowhere on the coupon does it have this limitation. There was one other table with customers there at the same time we were. Now I see why. The "manager on duty" was a jerk, he spent more time chatting with his buddy than he did caring about customer service. This evening out would have probably been a $50 dollar profit for their establishment, one would think in this economy the restaurant should be serving customers and not having "gossip hour' in the bar ares. This place is a joke, not worth the time or frustration. read more

My friend and I have lunch together at least once a week. Yesterday we decided to be brave and try a new place in Santa Cruz. Our wanderings took us to 41st Ave to the building that used to be Loves restaurant. With the economy down, its hard to tell if the empty restaurants are due to hard times, or bad food. Let me assure you, the Capitola Diner on 41st Ave is empty because the food sucks and the service wasn't much better. Our waiter, Geoff, was friendly enough, but should find another day job. The menu is expansive, so if you like variety you'll find it here. If you want food you can eat/enjoy, you WON'T find it here. My salad had stale croutons, and canned sauce. The CRACKERS were dated 2008 and tasted like powdered milk- ewww gross. We both opted for chili. Not hard to screw up there. My friend's FIRST complaint? "It's watery, runny..." I don't think we got chili at all. There were no kidney beans, no tomotoes, no onions, no garlic, no meat. Basically I call what we got "Pinto Bean Soup" because all I had in my chili were the beans used for refried beans (pinto beans)...And that's about all I could taste. The food was expensive - her BOWL of chili was $8.00. Service - mediocre at best. This is a must miss, unless of course you're heading home from the bar with a bunch of friends, you're all drunk (except the designated driver, of course), no place else is open, and you need to sober up a little. Hopefully, the taste of tequila is strong enough in your mouth that you won't notice the (lack of) taste of the food. Yeah, it was THAT bad. read more

Wow! What a pleasant surprise with the Food and Drinks! We came over from San Jose and really enjoyed our great FRESH & HANDMADE drinks & food! We ordered a fresh Mango drink and a fresh Berry drink- yummy! Go see Louis at the Bar and try one of his hand-crafted drinks, I guarantee you have never had before! The fresh hand made Fried Zucchini was delish- not greasy at all, and topped with fresh parmesan! We also had the Ceviche tostada- very tasty, and served with handmade salsa! We learned that the owner was the one doing the cooking too- very impressive- he roasts the chiles for his salsa on site! We split the Shrimp Scampi that came with capers, tomatoes and spinach which was served a nice romaine, carrots, tomato salad with the yummiest cheese bread I have ever tasted! You can tell that care is taken when Capitola Diner & Sports Bar make your food and drinks, so go enjoy & check it out with your peeps! read more

I went here last Thursday night for dinner with my family, and was pleasantly surprised. The drinks from Louis at the bar were amazing- really great margaritas , and the food well- portioned,fresh and priced well. The ambiance is lacking but the food and drink more than makes up for it. Definitely worth going to if you are in The area. read more

I have no idea how the food is because I didn't even get a menu. I wasn't even acknowledged for several minutes, the waitress pointed to a dirty table and told me to sit there. I sat at a cleaner one and was there for seven minutes without being acknowledged or brought a menu or even water. There were 2 waitresses and 2 busboys manning a restaurant with 10 customers they weren't incredibly busy. Don't bother there are far better restaurants in the area. read more

Only been here two times. Dead quiet, bad service, ok food. Pretty bad expierence.

If you have nothing to do and don't care much about great food, by all means come here. But it does take about 10 minutes for anyone to even acknowledge you are there, which is a big non-no in my book. I understand that you may not be able to seat me right away but at least smile and/or say Hello. But all the staff walking right by us totally managed to ignore us. Once we were seated, we had a really nice waitress but she wasn't ready to take our order when she came over, she forgot part of our order, she wasn't familiar with the menu... And while checking out the manager actually got upset at some people who came in and wanted to be seated. He told them in a rude tone of voice that they were busy and the customers needed to wait a minute. Which wasn't untrue, but (1) you use a different tone, and (2) maybe they wouldn't have been so impatient if someone had actually acknowledged them at all during the couple of minutes they had already been there. Would not recommend this place unless you want some cheap food but have time and don't much care about service. read more

sooo convenient --gene and i have been walking to the capitola diner for many years now---we love their happy hour menu. especially their calamari ---it's the best we've ever eaten ---tender yet crispy---no chewy parts---each strip is totally edible and can be dipped in their beautiful tarter or seafood sause---my favorite dish is their skirt-steak quesedia----wow soo tender with beautifully grilled onions and or any vegetables you want--served with guaquemole---be sure to ask about their seasonings--very fresh ---but might be too spicy for some--gene asks to leave it out of his meal and substitute sliced tomatoes--they will try their best to accomedate your needs---the reason things take a little more time is because they are not run by machines--alex, veronica. cynthia, and all do their jobs the "the old fashioned" way---they actually manage guests checks by using their mathematical skills and a ballpoint pen ----soo you cannot hope for a power outage if you've overindulged---in fact they will remember you next time you dine with them--especially if you can tell them a good joke while you wait patiently for their services--ps--look for a new cocktail called "the micki-ritta"--please help me get this on their menu----it is soo good--ice, spiced rum. splash of margurita mix, 7up and splash of orange juice--don't forget to say "buenos nachos " read more

I've lived close by this place for quite a while and have been here many times, both for breakfast and dinner. I would say the food I've ordered has always been really good. It's a diner, the food is going to be pretty much what you'd expect. I've never had eggs swimming in grease or anything horrible, it's always been satisfying and a very good deal price wise. Dinner also has been good experiences, the specials are always good, but my husband and myself have tried a variety of items and have never been disappointed in the food. The fried zucchini appetizer is amazing! As for the service, well they definitely need help. Their "not so good" service is no fault of the wait staff, it's clear they need a hostess, a bartender and a busboy at the very least! They have 3 or 4 regular servers and they have to work like slaves doing everything! It's not fair to them, they're obviously trying as best they can to give good service but without the proper support, what can you expect? It's definitely not fair to the customers and is only hurting the business. The ambiance is also really lacking, but it's comfortable. They also shouldn't have a full bar without an actual bartender! It's ridiculous to expect food servers to be bartenders in a diner! Sports bar is really pushing it, they need way better TV's and sound to even begin to claim themselves as a sports bar! All in all we will continue to support this local business and hope they can grow. read more