Cafe Mare

They have a pretty standard menu of nicely executed food, but outside of pasta the variety is pretty small. The dining area is one large circular room, which I personally disliked, but some may enjoy. Music is played fairly loudly from the bar, and it rarely fits the mood. If I recall correctly they played mostly pop and pop country.

Family friendly, excellent food and service. The pesto is clearly homemade - vibrant green and yummy, kids loved it and they are huge pesto buffs. Calamari was probably the best we have ever had. So fresh and the batter was light and crispy, oil was fresh. Excellent appetizer and a beautiful salad to start. Ordered the Ravioli Mare and Marsala and they were incredible. My husband said his marsala was one of the best he's had. The Ravioli Mare was full of flavor, so creamy and perfect texture. Kids get to draw on the table and they brought them a fried cheeseball on the house with our other appetizer. Wish we had room for dessert! We will certainly come here again next time we visit. Thank you!

Overall an OK place. Very nice atmosphere, friendly staff, and good menu and selection. But the food itself is bland—I tried the seafood pasta on my first visit and it had little flavor other than the seafood itself. I then tried the lasagna on my second visit and it didn’t have much flavor at all. Not an overall bad experience, but I wouldn’t recommend with so many other restaurants nearby.

We made a last minute decision to have lunch here. It was a great choice. I'm Italian and had my mom cooking fresh past for is growing up. GNOCCI is my test of a good Italian restaurant. They nailed it along with excellent service. Hands down you have to check them out when in Santa Cruz

My girlfriend’s family took us out for her graduation, so we went to this place, one of the fanciest looking places in town.

I always walked past here, and thought to myself, wow, that place looks amazing. You must feel some special kind of way when you go there, be some special kind of rich to go there.

This place was the definition of mid. I’m sorry. The staff were nice, albeit a bit slow. But the food, man. It was so basic. My girlfriend’s gnocchi was bland, of worse quality than the $3 gnocchi from the Trader Joe’s across the street. When I ate my $27 seafood pasta, it was mid. My main thought was “I’m pretty sure I could’ve made this just as good myself.” And I’m not a chef.

When we received our bread, my girlfriend’s Filipino mom compared it to rations, airdropped during floods in the Philippines. It was dense, and lacked flavor. That was the true issue with the food here: lack of flavor. It did not pop off. It was not bussin. No….. it was simply a bust.

If this place were cheaper, I would not be leaving this review, because the staff were nice. But I’m sorry. I cannot recommend this place. You’ll be better off going somewhere cheaper, and the food will probably be better too.

With that said, the desserts were very good. They popped off there.

Came here on a recommendation from a friend who used to be a local. Great recommendation!

Everything from the food to the service was exceptional. We ordered a bunch of different items and the servers (I believe Cheyenne) were very polite and friendly. The portions are great (had some the next day) and they even pampered my dog. Give it a visit if you’re in the area!

Oh my goodness! Italian food at it's finest. Our first time at this restaurant - we will definitely be back again soon. Our waiter, I believe his name was Luca, was exceptional. He gave us time to look over the many delicious choices, told us about the specials, and treated us In a very friendly, professional way.
We had appetizers, main dishes, wine and dessert. All of which were of the highest quality and the portions were quite large.
I recommend you make reservations ahead of time. They had a very nice bar as well, but we did not make use of it during our visit - next time; and there will be a next time soon.

Nice local restaurant with large indoor and some outdoor sitting. The food was good and so was the service. Pizza was ok but I preferred the pasta. Also good mozzarella salad. They have a large bar too. The bread was a bit too stiff and sour.