Paulas....such a good locals place for food! Quick food, yummy choices and CHEAP! I'm a vegan and there are lots of options for me:) Home made from scratch! Owner is better than original owner. Been coming to Paul's for 15 years and everything is good from food to coffee, service and customer experience! Interesting little spot with limited seating so the earlier the better:) Also: No talking on phones so you get a different experience:) read more

Paula's - Potatoes, with a spinach and mushroom scramble and toast! No vegan creamer or butter so bring your own or go without! - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Santa Cruz, California

Quaint place with a home cooked vibe. Great place to take a book and sit on the patio and have a great Santa Cruz morning after walking East Cliff. Staff is friendly and their homemade red salsa is yummy for those like tomatoey goodness. read more

Paula's - Ano nuevo. Gravy over potatoes with eggs and sourdough toast. Salsa and jelly upon request. - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Santa Cruz, California

Disappointed, from the reviews I was expecting better. Toast was burnt on both orders. Potatoes were nothing special . I think Paula needs to come back! As my husband said; you can have anything the way you want it as long as it's the way he makes it! read more

Paula's - Basic breakfast with kielbasa and scrambled eggs with avocado. - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Santa Cruz, California

The Best Breakfast in town. This is an old school place with a surf vibe, historic photos of Capatola and other nostalgia. Check out the "word of the week" and look it up with a dictionary at the counter! Ok, it's not the cleanest place but I can look past that for the experience. Russell is the owner & cook but sometimes has counter help. Cash only but there is an ATM if need. Eat inside or outside on the patio, or, eat inside the Scooby-Doo van! This is my Go To Breakfast place on the Point. read more

Weird place. Couldn't find it at first. They weren't the cleanest and they got our order wrong. They didn't really seem to care much about customer service. The food wasn't that good. Honestly I'm surprised they're still in business! Maybe it was an off day‍ read more

Man, this is so sad. My best friend and i would walk here and eat breakfast many Saturday mornings. Russell was rough around the edges, but a sweet man if you took the time to talk to him, who kept the place affordable and welcoming. It almost felt like eating at a grandparents house. We loved going and loved saying hi to him each day we went. We were confused when we tried going a few weeks ago and they were closed. RIP Russell, youll be missed. read more

Prices have gone up. Not entirely what it used to be but I like to go for the experience.

This is an iconic classic Santa Cruz beach, breakfast and lunch shack. they've been serving up a low price affordable breakfast (used to be $1.99 now it's $5.50 for eggs, toast, and potatoes- make sure to ask for the salsa for your potatoes) since as long as I have lived here. Best place to grab your breakfast before heading out the point. It is really the old Santa Cruz before it got all gentrified and fancy. Where else can you eat your breakfast in a vintage conversion van? This place is classic! read more

Great Old School place with friendly faces, regular portion (not obscene amounts), no frills fresh food for a no frills price makes this place a long time Pleasure Point staple. I always look forward to stopping by when I am in the area and have time. Old rare photos to look at on the walls while waiting for your meal! read more

I was going to write this elaborate review about how bad this place was. However, I'll let this picture of their biscuits and "gravy" do all the talking. Do better or close your doors. read more

Paula's - Biscuits and brown water. - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Santa Cruz, California

This place used to deserve 5 stars, but not anymore. The food tastes cheap and the portions are a reflection of how the food has changed. It's just not the same good food anymore. Still not taking credit cards. read more

This review is for my last visit before all this covid craziness. We have been here several times. The last visit was not good at all. I don't know if they changed staff but they should go back to whoever worked there before. The girl at the counter was hella rude not only to us but other patrons who apparently had not been there before. The food has suffered a bit too. Kind of like whoever was working that day didn't care. I'll stick to Cliff Cafe from now on. Sorry Paulas but until your staff treats people better we won't be back. read more

Paula's - Good lil brrakfast spot. Gets busy quick. Ya cant miss it they have the old dodge van parked out front. - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Santa Cruz, California

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The food was excellent. The prices are VERY reasonable. The owner was friendly. Nostalgic little place.

Tried this place since it looked cool and wanted to try another breakfast place in the area. We tried windmill breakfast yesterday and we're impressed. Breakfast menu was large and they offer lunch sandwiches. They don't take credit cards and you just use the ATM there. We ordered the basic breakfast which was 2 eggs potatoes and toast. You can add any side for a price. I chose bacon for 4.75 and french toast for 6. Food was cooked right behind the cashier by one cook. Food came out warm and didn't take too long. The quality of the food was the issue here. As you can see in the pic, bacon was mostly fat and unevenly cooked. Toast was burnt and potatoes were mealy and soggy. French toast was obviously a cheap bread with alot of cinnamon sugar to make it taste decent. They only use egg whites as well for all the eggs. For a quick breakfast id skip this site and go to Windmill breakfast shop, as their food was of a huge higher quality. read more

Reading other comments, I see that i am not alone. Apparently, the 'man behind the ounter' is the owner, and he was totally rucde to me as welll. counter person seemed new on the job and very stressed. I hand it to her for holding it together. She was really trying. I waited my order for... 20+? minutes, watching the dynamics of the kitchen. It was toxic. I inquired as to when my hot dog might be ready, and the owner snapped at me that he had a $60.00 order and that I would not get mine until he was done with that order. It would have been nice for him to tell me that it would be a while, before I had to ask. And apparently the owner is not reading these comments, because there are many other reviews saying basically the same thing. I won't go back PS~ hot dog was good tasting, but it was not really hot... read more

Food was ok, service ok, ambiance is rad I will give it another try. Hash was not that impressive and looked unappealing and bland. read more

We've been to Paul's a number of times, each time ignoring the owner's bad attitude, not washing his hands after taking your cash ( cash only business) and before preparing our breakfast order. But this morning was the last straw! I was observing him buttering our toast when he sneezed on our toast! Tried to be chill and overlook some faux pas' but no more, we won't be back! read more

Haven't been since pre-Covid, wasn't too bad then...not anymore. Common theme with recent reviews was the old guy behind the counter. Lousy service and bad attitude to say the least. After seeing others, who came after me, get their meals, I went to check. He misplaced my order, only made my meal, and didn't make my daughter's bagel special. And he didn't get my toast until I asked about it. Even then, no apologies to be found. I get it, business has been rough, but sorry, people have options. Guy is in way over his head. Save your time and money. Never going back there again. read more

Paula's - Corned beef hash with eggs and 1 wheat toast - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Santa Cruz, California

Horrible breakfast and service. Not what it used to be to, not good anymore. I won't waste my time going here

My boyfriend was snapped at for misunderstanding a question about toast, I was super uncomfortable the entire time, older guy behind the counter gave me a bad vibe, and seemed annoyed at us the whole time we were ordering for even being there, looking in the kitchen it seemed unclean (as someone who works in food service) and I felt uncomfortable eating the food with the messiness, non handwashing practices and lack of gloves I saw after our cash was handled read more

Worst food I've had. Save your money and go to Scott's Valley cafe. Robert left and took the quality with him. Sad read more

The food here was actually disgusting. A friend and I got an eggs benedict and a cornbeef hash and a couple of days ago and our stomachs have not been able to settle since. The cornbeef hash felt like it was just barely heated up out of a can because it was so pink and the benedict was just two fried eggs COVERED in watery down hollandaise sauce. Also the biscuit it was served on had this funky cheesy taste which was off-putting since it was supposed to be a plain biscuit. Not worth the stomach ache. read more

I wanted to like this place. It looks like one of those neighborhood secrets. Nope. Ordering was a feat for the clerk, food was slow which would be fine had it come out hot. I got Biscuits and Gravy. Biscuits were cold, dry, and may have been from Pilsbury. Gravy was cold and I'm certain was from a packet of Knorr. The other plates were dismal too. Too bad, because it has the environment to be so much better. read more

A great meal for the price you pay however, the "cash only" and the layout and execution seems to be disastrous. The cash register is a few steps away from the entrance which means the doorway is always obstructed or blocked completely. I had the Toss Over. It was delicious and incredibly simple. It did take about 30-40 minutes to get our food because it was busy that Sunday morning. Kudos to the girl working the counter; she memorized our order and reassured us that it was on its way. I saw that they were focused on the pickup orders instead... My toast was overdone and burnt on one of the edges. The mushroom and pepper jack cheese melted nicely on the toast. The sliced avocado was fresh. It's the perfect portion. I will return if they start accepting CC's. read more

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Be careful- Unsanitary practices! Our first time here ever, hubby wanted to try something other than our usual go-to places. We walk in at 8:30 on a Saturday morning and nobody is here at all, no diners and no one waiting for a to-go order. This is where I start to get a lil concerned. I mean, It's a beautiful weekend Summer morning in Santa Cruz, the dozen other places we cruised by on our way here were buzzing with people. red flag. an older man is in there, sitting alone reading and drinking coffee, he doesn't look up or acknowledge us, whatever I think he's just a grumpy guy dining alone. we walk in past his table and to the counter. no one is behind the counter. Ok, strange, but maybe someone will pop out from behind the counter in a sec? Nope, it's then that I hear old guy sitting alone is sniffling and blowing his nose, loud. Next, he gets up and walks into the kitchen/behind the counter. I'm standing there in disbelief because he definitely did not wash his hands after that nasty very wet sounding nose blowing sesh. In this moment, my Hubs must be oblivious to what just went down so he orders, what I don't know because I was so disgusted I couldn't focus. I'm so dumbfounded at this situation I think I mumbled "I'll take the same thing" or something, I'm actually not sure because I was on the verge of passing out from disgust. I'm a bit of a germaphobe, not like OCD, but I think pretty basic things likes hand washing after touching your nasty snotty tissue when you're in the food service are pretty important.... Now, it's like time is going in slow motion in my mind and I'm trying to talk myself out of going all Karenish on him and lecturing him about hygiene and food handling. maybe he's waiting till he takes our order then he'll wash his hands, surely he's not also the cook!? Nope. He immediately turns to start making our food, reaches in the bread bag grabs our slices, bare handed and tosses em in the toaster. I'm still watching in disbelief, he keeps on cooking. I give hubby a horrified look as we walk to a table, tell him what the hell just went down. We awkwardly wait for the order knowing we're just going to toss it in the trash immediately. Should I have spoken up about my disgust, probably. But the dude was giving such IDGAF vibes what would've been the point. I hope the health department pays him a visit. read more

An awesome little breakfast shop with the best atmosphere, and great prices. Homemade breakfast, good quick service. They have an ATM in shop, but they don't accept card. Make sure and say what's up to the locals that hang out in the van out front. I don't know what "grumpy old men" the other reviewers are talking about. My experience is that these homies are super funny and nice if you are. read more

---- RACISM ALERT---- My family and I just experienced racism from the cashier and the cook. They served several Caucasian customers first, who ordered after us. My 6 year old son was so hungry, and he had to wait longer so that the white people could eat first. I practically had to stand in front of the cook so that he could start cooking our food after they serve the white customers first. I'm addition, our French toast was burnt. My family is 2nd generation and my son is 3rd generation in this country. Why are we still experiencing racism. If you care about equality, don't support this business. There's a better food choices out there. There's taco truck across the street. read more

Ok so I would give Paula's a 4 star for what it is a quaint little breakfast spot but overall it's a 3. So Paula's is different and here is the low down so you don't have to feel lost. Walk up the counter menus are to your left. Grab one and then order. They will call you when it's ready and you bus your own table. They do not make things crispy so no crispy potatoes. Do not use your cellphones in the restaurant it's forbidden. The prices are cheap and the vibe is chill. I would say wat in the van that they made into a seating area. Also outside with kids and dogs. They got eggs, potatoes, toast for 4.50!!! I got the weekend special kielbasa, eggs, pancakes with a small oj 8.25 The pancakes where moist and fluffy !!! Add ones are pricey .. 1.90 for cheese on my eggs. Food is good just like you would cook in your kitchen. Would I come back .. yea but I like trying other places it's not like Harbor Cafe that I refer people to go all the time. No alcohol here. read more

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Basic breakfast that you can make at home. French toast bread was so small and way too sweet. Waffle was so thin and didn't have much flavor. Just not worth spending the money... read more

‼If I can give a zero I would I came for breakfast me and my coworker I'm a Hispanic female and my coworker is white , from the minute I walked in the owner was rude to me told me I couldn't be on my phone told me I couldn't have my eggs made a certain way, didn't want to tell me where the restroom was he was super angry for no reason I felt like cause I was Mexican he didn't want to serve me . Don't go here avoid this racist guy restaurant read more

Crappy, slow, and grumpy service from two guys begging someone to put them out of their misery. Want someone to handle your filthy dollar bills (cash only!) and arrange bacon on your plate with the same dirty fingers? Yell at your kids? Snap at you when you ask about condiments? Serve you undercooked eggs with cold and runny yolks on a paper plate? Step right up. read more

This place used to be good. Fun atmosphere, long lines worth waiting for, cheap prices... but now that the owner has taken over - every part of being there is miserable from the (lack of) greeting, to every single fucking thing he says while taking our order. Is wanting to come there and spend money really that much of an inconvenience? It sure seems so, so we won't bother him anymore with our money, nor will we encourage our friends to go there. And I am not sure about this, but it seems that they place used to be crammed full of people and now there is no-one... coincidence? I think not. It seems nowadays that everyone is so concerned about COVID's effect on businesses - well, that doesn't mean that basic business practices no longer matter. When the owner is nasty - that doesn't have anything to do with COVID, nor lack of help, nor minimum wage... No more. There are a LOT of fantastic breakfast places: Linda's, Silver Spur, Cliff Cafe, Zachary's, to name a few faves of mine. read more

What a bummer. Used to really love this place. I am usually not very picky but I asked for over easy eggs and they were over medium, my boyfriend's bacon was raw he couldn't even eat it, and the potatoes looked really gross and they weren't good at all. I used to really love this place, they need a new cook since apparently the old one is gone . read more

I have lived in Santa Cruz all my life and I have been to Paula's many times with my husband this time was horrible the guy who took my order Caucasian older male rude and had no sense of being kind I'm sorry but the old owners were much more welcoming made me not want to come back. Asked for a large orange juice and got this I asked for a refill he stated no it is a extra charge only if you get coffee do you get a refill. Pitiful Food was not as good as it used to be so sad. read more

Paula's - This is not a large? - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Santa Cruz, California

Small cute little breakfast /brunch place . Food was ok . The food took for ever to come . Like 30-40 min to for a basic breaksfast ! ( they only have one cook) I order a coke so they gave me can which is ok , but then I asked for ice and they said they had no ice . Everything is self Served !!!! Wouldn't come back again . read more

I've been dying to try Paula's since I moved to Santa Cruz and the one time I come I'm first in line,thought everything was ok but it looked like the one chef that running the whole kitchen and taking orders was having a hard time, he didn't greet me or say " one moment please" so I said " hi I'm ready whenever you are" and he seemed like he was going to snap at me. He told me "there's only one of him and I have no choice but to stay in line." I just wanted some bacon and eggs so I went somewhere else to get it where I don't feel like I'm being an inconvenience, food is probably good but the service was ‍ read more

Bad service, owner was rude, food smelt bad, unclean. It's a cute looking place, but I wouldn't recommend.

Worst customer service ever the older gentleman behind the counter was a total a-hole.

Very disappointed. We have eaten before. We have a service animal and was denied seating in an empty restaurant Told we could only eat outside Pets lovers should boycott read more

Pretty good spot. Cousin recommended this place as an old surfer joint. A little skeptical at first but man it was off the hook!