Upscale - food is really tasty, bar menu also good. Enjoyed the experience very much!

I've been to Oswald over a dozen times but in the last few years I feel the quality of the food has really gone downhill while the prices have skyrocketed. $14 for bread and butter, $36 for a burger, $20 desserts are fine if we're at a top notch Michelin restaurant, but the food here is just "fine." Our cod was way oversalted and the other entrees were a alright, albeit a bit bland. I also didn't appreciate the added 4% fee for using a credit card (doesn't everyone pay with credit card?!) on top of the already exorbitant prices. Will not be going back. read more

The food was genuinely good. I had the skirt steak, my wife had the greens and farro salad, and both were excellent. Our server, Aya, took great care of us -- she's not the reason for this review. The problem arrived with the check: a $5.18 line item labeled "SVC Fee" that didn't appear on the menu or the table. When I asked about it, our server said there was nothing she could do. I asked to speak with a manager. Without an introduction or any salutation whatsoever, Shannon just launched right into a rationalization that "a lot of restaurants are doing this now" and explained that processing fees cost the restaurant $7,000-$10,000 a month, that they've been adding the surcharge "for a few months," and that "no one has batted an eye." She offered a $10 gift certificate (which I declined) and agreed she'd "explore" adding the fee to the menu (it's not presently on their website either). She said she doesn't want customers to be "confused" like I was. No, I wasn't not confused about anything. It isn't the $5.18. It's the principle, and the law. California's SB 478 (Civil Code § 1770(a)(29)) requires advertised prices to include all mandatory fees. SB 1524 carves out restaurants -- but only if those fees are "clearly and conspicuously displayed, with an explanation of [their] purpose," on any advertisement, menu, or other display containing the price. That disclosure requirement has been in effect since July 1, 2024. As of July 1, 2025, the disclosure must also meet the heightened formatting standard in Civil Code § 1791(u): larger or contrasting type, set off from surrounding text. The receipt labels the charge "SVC Fee." But a service charge is squarely a mandatory fee subject to SB 1524's disclosure regime. And even taking management's verbal characterization at face value -- that it's a credit card processing surcharge rather than a service charge -- a cryptic three-letter abbreviation appearing for the first time on the check satisfies neither "clearly and conspicuously displayed" nor "explanation of its purpose". Disclosing a mandatory charge for the first time on the receipt isn't compliance, and it certainly isn't transparency (as Shannon characterized it). It's statutorily noncompliant billing -- "no one batting an eye" notwithstanding. read more

Unfortunate valentines dinner Got the recommendation to take my girlfriend here for our Valentine's Day dinner. We had a late reservation and they were also out of quite a few dishes by the time we ate which wasn't their fault. We waited a little over an hour for food but considering it was Valentine's Day I guess it's understandable. The only thing is by the time we were waiting for our food there were only about 6 others groups eating/waiting. When the food FINALLY came out my risotto was undercooked + clumpy and my chicken was cooked to hell. My girlfriends burger was medium rare at best after asking for medium and their fries were overcooked to the point of crumbling. Our waitress came over to ask how everything was going and we politely told her about our dissatisfaction. She comped us two free drinks which was nice but then proceeded to go back to the bar and tell her coworkers about how much we were complaining. If you're gonna complain about customers at your restaurant maybe do it out of ear and eye shot. Just very disappointing considering we were apologetic for everything despite the food being unsatisfactory. Will gladly steer other people clear from this place from now on read more

Wowza!!! We selected this restaurant to celebrate our Slugs graduation and it did not disappoint! The serves and staff are AMAZING! The interior is cozy and warm. We were seated by a window with a bench seat and chairs. Very inviting. Let's get to the very best part-FOOD! Unfortunately we did not get to try the Focaccia (out) or the lamb(out). Our seating was later in the evening so that is understandable. We dined in lasagna, Sirlon tips with roasted carrots and a burger. All were amazingly flavorful. read more

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We loved Oswald. We had heard it referenced as a classic spot in Santa Cruz, so it had been on our list for a while. The burger was, easily, the best burger I've had in Santa Cruz. They cooked it perfectly medium rare, and the add-ons to the burger were wonderful. The Dungeness crab was solid as well (though in my opinion a bit overpriced at $36 for the quantity). Would definitely recommend as a whole! read more

Oswald - Dungeness Crab - New American Near Me - Santa Cruz, California

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We allowed 90 minutes to enjoy dinner before a show. I splurged and ordered the ahi cornbread appetizer and Australian lamb. They forgot the appetizer and I literally couldn't bite into the lamb chops they were so tough. Lord knows I tried. Had to send them back and just ordered the 34 dollar burger because by then we were getting tight for time. 15 minutes later I asked for the bill and had to cancel the burger because we were out of time. 90 minutes and left as hungry as I was going in. There are way too many great restaurants in town for me to take another chance on them. They also only carry one crappy na beer. Come on folks, there are so many good na beers out there now, wake up! They were fair enough with the bill but it was definitely a bad experience. read more

Food is really good here. Hands down best bistro style burger around here. Drinks are solid too. Happy hour is 100% worth it. Service is great and the bartender cares about making good drinks. Not a huge fan of the location, but I'd imagine it will get super busy in a year or two once those apartments are complete. read more

Oswald - Old fashioned - New American Near Me - Santa Cruz, California

In downtown Santa Cruz, there's a lovely restaurant that makes wonderful food. It was my daughter's choice for her 20th bday family dinner. We were sat promptly, brought our bread appetizer and drinks once prepared and then the order was taken. It was a Friday but despite it being full, it wasn't noisy with loud people. It was very relaxing. I had the best duck breast and ate so much, we couldn't get the chocolate soufflé. I'll have to go back for that some time. read more

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I love this place. Its owner operated and the attention to detail shows. The food & drinks are always amazing, the service 5-stars. Vibe is awesome. read more

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The servers are fast and make sure you have everything you need. It is a very nice place to sit and have a quiet meal.

I hate to do this because I wanted to love this place. 30 years in town means a lot. But then you have to be honest. The food here is good, but for the prices they charge everything needs to be excellent. The place has prices as high as any top end restaurant in NYC or SF. $32 for a burger and fries. $59 for a skirt steak.... Ok fine, but very little room for error at this price. You need ambiance, you need service, you need a great wine list, you need a lot to charge this price and not leave the diner underwhelmed. Unfortunately that was not our experience. Food very good, everything else for that price point really lacking. Hope they can make some changes and get it right otherwise save your money for a big night out somewhere else. read more

Summary: decent food, good drinks, attentive staff, needs more ambiance Details: Oswald has been around for 30 plus years so you know they are doing some things right. Most weekdays, it's full of locals who have their favorite tables or eat at the bar. Weekends the tourists take over. I suppose it's like an old pair of jeans -- comforting and not surprising. Heads up: the house made focaccia s quite good but an extra charge. Some severe explain this and others don't. A few items from my recent visits: Halibut served with lentils and rice. The pesto really makes the dish. This one wowed me. Mushroom bread pudding. Sounds odd, tastes good. By all accounts, this is their most popular dish. Lasagna (beef) served with an unusual salad they label ozzie (not sure why). The lasagna is a comfort dish. Fine but not special. Fried chicken: I'm a bit of a fried chicken snob. This one is middle of the road. The crust needs extra seasoning and the bird was a touch overcooked. Generous portion though. The desserts are all pretty good too. The almond custard torte was flavorful but not too heavy. Amusing note from the menu: "Please note that we do not have a hard close time. We close at the discretion of our owner. " Oswald's may not be fine dining but you'll be fine dining here. read more

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We completely stumbled onto Oswald because we were in the area and had a terrible experience somewhere else. Oswald saved our night! Oswald had the ideal blend of sultry ambiance, swanky decor with local artwork and cool lighting fixtures, great cocktails, delicious bites, and too-notch attentive service! Our server checked on us so much that I knew she caught whenever we finished a plate or a drink because she'd swoop in to take it or offer something else. She was fastastic. Customers seemed happy and the noise level was medium. It's not a family/kids place; more of an adult vibe, just fyi. I can't wait to return to Oswald for a full dining experience. read more

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We wanted to try Oswald's for a while now. We had a good dinner with good food and the service was great. Only thing though was the prices of dinner. I can understand that a restaurant needs to charge what it needs to charge but I thought that $45-$50 a plate was little on the high side. Enjoy. read more

Cute spot. Very good food. I had the fried chicken and husband had the rack of lamb. Shared the squid and shrimp appetizer. Service was friendly. read more

Lunch today with a friend to celebrate my birthday --we met in the middle and ended up at Oswald. I hadn't been here in over 10 years and wax looking forward to trying it. One thing about laid back Santa Cruz is well, it's way laid back. The restaurant was mostly empty today. Rather sterile interior. Our server was the bartender, bus person, food server -- I didn't see any other staff in the restaurant the whole time we were there. Felt a little strange but he did a good job and was helpful. The food: speaking just for me I thought it was pretty bad. I had fish and chips. No self respecting Brit would have eaten one bit of what they called, Fish and Chips. Funny I looked at the current reviews and pics and not one picture of P and C-- I should have guessed why. Ok here's the bottom line -- 5 very small little thin pieces of fish deep fried in a non traditional batter. Literally zero fish maybe 1/8 inch thick 4-5 inches long and 1 inch wide. Zero taste. Zero fish and batter that looked like it was cooked 3 days ago. Fries were ok. Just to be fair, my friend had the fried chicken sandwich that came with a slab of cheese melted on top (?) and said it was ok. The extra salad side looked ok too. I know it's not fair to judge the whole restaurant on one dish so I am reviewing just my meal. I won't be running back but maybe you'll have better luck. read more

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Always worried about spending a lot of money and not getting quality. This exceeded my expectations. Food was amazing. Drinks were killer. Service was exceptional. Great date night, everyone was having a good time and still could talk with my date. read more

We went for our anniversary and the food did not disappoint yet again. We ordered the halibut and a Caesar with trout. Both were scrumptious and we were members of the clean plate club. Service was good as always. However, our cocktails were good but not of the caliber that we usually experience there, hence the one star deduction. read more

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For the mediocre food you get, you can go somewhere else and have 3-4 meals for that price. This is also the first restaurant that's overpriced and charge me a service charge for using a credit card. Slow service and diner food, nothing fancy. read more

Great fried chicken and salad lunch!! Terrific bar drinks and a good wine list. We are a regular there.

If the hostess didn't seem to have purposely had her panties showing I think we would have had a better meal. There seems to be a sad lack of class in SC and it's upsetting to see high end dining not establishing a dress code. People can express themselves and not have their underwear as an accessory. Food and cocktails were amazing but again. The lack of class puts a bad taste in your mouth before you can even taste the food. read more

Great service and a fun restaurant for dinner in Santa Cruz! Amazing dairy free butternut squash soup and also had a great lasagna

One of my go to date night spots!!! Food is always so good, and I love the olives garnished with the martinis. We also love the crab appetizer. read more

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I'm conflicted. Overall Oswald is a nice restaurant with nice food. I have given higher ratings to much less nice restaurants with pretty objectively less nice food. But experience and expectations matter, and I was underwhelmed. It has a welcoming, clean, classy indoor space. The service was attentive (although perhaps a bit relaxed if you were in a hurry). The food was good, but it wasn't innovative or impressive at all. The scallop appetizer was probably my highlight, but I still can't say anything about it that really made it stand out other than that scallops are delicious. My Halibut dish was well put together - although perhaps ever so slightly overdone. The lamb was tender. The Creme brûlée was cold and too creamy. I don't know. I won't say it's not a nice restaurant, but there was nothing that impressed me very much. read more

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Unfortunately, I have to give this place a bad review. Yesterday (7/5) we came in (my friend and I) and there were only 3 other people in the restaurant and about 5 staff. As we walked in, no one greeted us. The bartender and the waiters looked directly at us and said NOTHING. The bartender looked me in my face and walked to the end of the bar and began speaking to the guy at the bar. I proceeded and said, UMM HI, very loudly. A young lady came to us and grabbed menus. As we walked to the table, the waitress says "do you have a reservation"? Again, there were 3 people in the restaurant. The staff were very much aloof and the service was horrible. It's really unfortunate because the food is phenomenal. Please train your staff. Customer service "makes or breaks" the experience. read more

I came out of review retirement for this one. Anniversary night. Debated going to the wharf (should have)--but ended up here. I ordered the $54 +T ribeye and risotto dinner. When it came out, it looked like a piece of ribeye that came in a 5 pack from food max. I EASILY could have made a better one at home, and purchased a superior cut at Costco--rather pay $75 for a 3 pack of THICK ribeyes than the carne asada version of Oswald's ribeye. My wife (not partner) ordered the $45 +T trout dish which was equally underwhelming. We could have defrosted one of the packaged frozen ones from Costco and decoratively splashed the plate with balsamic the way Oswald's did, and I guarantee it would have came out better. This place's menu pricing suggests it's upscale, but it's absolutely mediocre, at best. Servers were nice though. Ultimately we could have spent our anniversary at Panda Express and been more satisfied with our meal. Sorry Oswald's--if you charge ridiculous amounts of money for a dish--you reap what you sow. read more

We had the rabbit and the lamb. Both were amazing, the butternut squash puree was on point too.

The only problem I have here is deciding if I'm going to have the best burger in town, they're delicious fried chicken, or their lasagna. Tough decision because they are all fabulous. read more

My meal was mediocre. Biscuits were sealed and like hard tack with a skimpy portion of biscuit gravy. Not the ideal of locations either (i.e. parking garage corner complete with trash, graffiti and the stench of urine all around). read more

I think overall, the food is above average. The entrees and appetizers were not exceptionally phenomenal but were solid. We had a party of 6, so we were able to try a variety of dishes, which included a bowl of chicken orzo soup, caesar salad, marinated shrimp, and Peruvian scallops for the appetizers and duck confit, local halibut, braised veal osso buco, and marinated bavette steak for entrees. For drinks, I got the seasonal special signature cocktail with gin, and I thought it was just okay. The standout was actually the dessert though. The chocolate souffle cake was extremely delicious, a must-try here. The creme brulee was also super good. The service was pretty standard, nothing too special. The ambiance is more so for a nice dinner, especially if you aren't looking for something too upscale. My party came for a graduation dinner, which I think this restaurant fit the vibe for. read more

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Came by for dinner the other night and it was a fantastic experience! Parking is available on the street if you pay by coins or credit card via the app. Parking is capped at $3.75 per day due to Covid. Made a reservation via OpenTable and our table was ready upon arrival. Staff throughout the restaurant had masks covering their mouth and noses. Service throughout the meal was great! Started off with the bone marrow appetizer which was fantastic! The bone marrow was super fatty and juicy! The side of salt definitely added some color to the dish! The weakest link to this dish was the bread... Moved on to the Dungeness crab appetizer which was excellent! Huge chunks of Dungeness crab topped over crushed avocado with a side of light arugula salad! Had the skirt steak for dinner and it was excellent! The skirt steak was seared to a perfect medium rare and seasoned perfectly! The side of carrots were tasty. The potato side was on the heavier side. Finished off the meal with the chocolate soufflé which was excellent! Super light and not too sweet! The pomegranate sorbet was on the sweeter side. read more

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Nice dinner at Oswald. We had the Skirt Steak, potato gratin, roasted carrots, blue cheese butter (2 orders), the Fried Chicken, with ozzie salad, and shared the Meyer lemon bread pudding, berry cocktail, whipped cream. The food was very good as were the cocktails, and the service was reasonable. read more

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This place is pretty good. The food can range from really awesome (e.g., duck confit) to just okay (e.g., caesar salad). Service is usually pretty friendly, though they do get very busy on the weekends and can be slow. I try not to go on the most popular days myself, and usually the service is pretty good. I usually order some wine with my meal, which has been good. They have a decent amount of bottled wine, but their wines by the glass are a bit more limited. I got a glass of rose and a glass of sparkling the last time I went, and I ordered the duck confit for my dinner, which was absolutely delicious. I ate every last bite. It tasted perfect. I've also gotten the carrot ginger soup and caesar salad. The soup was pretty good, and nice and warm for a chilly day. I personally don't care for the caesar salad because the dressing isn't caesar (like the best tasting part of a caesar salad). It's some sort of aoili type sauce that doesn't taste great paired with the greens and anchovies. I mostly just ended up eating the anchovies, and they did give me some extra anchovies which I super appreciated. One thing I didn't like when I went in last time was that I did ask for a new knife because I watched the waitress see something on my knife, kinda flick it it off, and rub the knife against her apron. I think she thought I didn't see, but I definitely saw, and asked for a new knife from a different waiter. If there's something on my knife, please just go ahead and get me a new one (especially in times of COVID where I'm extremely hesitant of eating at restaurants already, but trying really hard not to be). Will definitely be back for another glass of wine and duck confit for dinner, though!! So far my favorite duck confit in Santa Cruz. read more

Oswald - Duck confit - New American Near Me - Santa Cruz, California

Place has gone down hill, I had the scallops and they where extremely over cooked and so hard I have to saw through them with a knife. I ate one of them and told the waiter about it and he said he "wish he knew sooner" paid 53 dollars for one horrible scallop some rice and sent the other too back. read more

Have only eaten there once. But so good. Had steak a d cooked to perfection. Medium rare. The mushroom risotto was to Die for and had blueberry dessert. Have forgotten name but melt in your mouth. They do change the menu though, but pretty sure they always have steak. May have gotten more pricey as meat has gotten more expensive. But still....a real treat read more

Absolutely hands down excellent food. Presentation is beautiful. There is no rushing through the dinner lots of time to eat and chat. Will be back. read more

This is my favorite restaurant in downtown Santa Cruz. Great menu, delicious food and attentive staff. Went last week for husband's birthday and everything was perfect. Forgot to take photos but he had the lamb shank over gnocchi (best gnocchi I've had in ages) and I had the duck confit. Both amazing. My picky 16yo had the fried chicken off the pub menu. I really appreciate that they have that pub menu which has yummy options at a lower price point than the regular menu. I always recommend this place when people ask me where to go in Santa Cruz. read more

Went there on a busy Driday night without reservations and they were able to squeeze us in quickly. We sat at the bar and were served right away. The cocktails, meal and service were very good. I had the burger which was cooked perfect and the French fries were excellent and super crispy. Someone in my party orders the duck and although it was overcooked, it was tender. It was a bit loud in the restaurant compared to other similar places I have eaten. read more

I love Oswald's. The food is great as are the drinks. The owner is awesome! The staff is basically so so. Sometimes good service, sometimes not so good. But the food and drinks are always excellent. I particularly love the fried chicken and their hamburger. read more