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Chocolate the Restaurant, Santa Cruz, CA

Chocolate the Restaurant

4.6
4.6
98 Reviews
$31 to $50
Californian

Make a reservation

2 people
7:00 p.m.
Booked 8 times today
  • Neighbourhood gem
  • Great for outdoor dining
  • Charming
Now celebrating 25 years, Chocolate the Restaurant provides an attractive dining environment for couples on dates, friendly meetings, and special occasion meals. Dine outside on the heated garden patio. Celebrate special occasions with up to 25 guests in the private street-side party room. Maybe start with a Chocolate Martini or a Passion Fruit Margarita. Chef David Jackman's fresh baked pasta rosettes, slow-roasted meats, and delicious seasonal organic vegetable dishes are all a prelude to our many chocolaty desserts. Our wine list focuses on local and on Italian wines. Our cocktails are all made from scratch; often using locally distilled spirits, and always using fresh house-made mixers. We are at your service for dinner every night! Afternoon walk-up cafe' service Friday thru Sunday. . We are open for dinner every holiday except Thanksgiving and Christmas Day.

Additional information

  • Dining style
    Casual Elegant
  • Price
    $31 to $50
  • Cuisines
    Californian, Mediterranean, Dessert
  • Hours of Operation
    Dinner Daily 5:00 pm–10:00 pm
  • Phone number
    (831) 427-9900
  • Payment Options
    AMEX, Discover, Mastercard, Visa
  • Dress code
    Smart Casual
  • Executive Chef
    David Jackman
  • Catering
    Offsite catering for up to 150 guests. Weddings, or any other kind of occasion. Wedding cakes, or other special desserts. Chocolate mousse truffles. We can work with you to design a custom menu, based on your comfortable budget parameters.
  • Private party facilities
    Rehearsal Dinners, Graduation Parties, Birthday Parties, Anniversary Parties are our specialty
  • Neighbourhood
    Santa Cruz
  • Cross Street
    Cooper Street
  • Parking details
    Large multi-level public lot one half block away. Also, several parking spaces in front of restaurant on the street.
  • Public transit
    Metro bus station with links to San Jose, three blocks away.
  • Additional
    Banquet, Beer, Cafe, Cocktails, Corkage Fee, Dog Friendly, Full Bar, Gluten-free Options, Non-Smoking, Patio/Outdoor Dining, Patio/Outdoor Dining, Private Room, Wheelchair Access, Wine

What 98 people are saying

Overall ratings and reviews

Reviews can only be made by diners who have eaten at this restaurant

4.6
4.6 based on recent ratings
  • 4.5Food
  • 4.5Service
  • 4.5Ambience
  • 4.4Value

NoiseModerate

Loved For

  • Santa Cruz / Capitola / Aptos

    Best Overall

  • Santa Cruz / Capitola / Aptos

    Best Value

  • Santa Cruz / Capitola / Aptos

    Innovative

  • Santa Cruz / Capitola / Aptos

    Healthy

  • Santa Cruz / Capitola / Aptos

    Neighbourhood gem

  • Santa Cruz / Capitola / Aptos

    Great for outdoor dining

Review summary

AI-generated from verified diner reviews
Chocolate the Restaurant is a delightful destination celebrated for its "amazing" chocolate desserts, including the sin cake and various hot chocolate creations. Regular visitors rave about the "tender" fresh pasta, such as hand-rolled fettuccine. With a "friendly owner" and "knowledgeable service," this spot is a favorite for dessert aficionados, offering a memorable culinary experience.

287 Reviews
  1. Wendy

    San Francisco

    2 reviews

    5.0

    2 reviews

    Dined 1 day ago

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5
    This is a spot where the food is ALWAYS well done. The deserts and meals are simply delicious. I’ve been going for years and I’ve never been disappointed

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  2. Eddie

    VIP

    San Francisco

    17 reviews

    5.0

    17 reviews

    Dined 2 days ago

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5
    Feb 14,2025. Full up with Valentine's Day crowd. Reservations highly recommended. We are here every Friday so we were prepared. Had freshly baked mini loaf with butter, main two meals of Oaxacan Mole chicken dish with salad and corn pie. Followed by chocolate desserts - ectasy sundae, special chocolate strawberry tiramasu, and Victoria hot chocolate. Always great experience.

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  3. Gary

    San Francisco

    1 review

    1.0

    1 review

    Dined 2 days ago

    1. Overall 1
    2. Food 3
    3. Service 2
    4. Ambience 1
    This was the worst dining experience I have ever had. My wife and I came here for Valentine's Day. It was very cold and windy. We requested to be seated inside. There were empty tables inside, but we were told that we couldn't sit there because the computer system assigned tables. We were seated in the wind away from the outside heaters. We complained twice to be seated near heat at empty tables we were staring at, but were told no. After I requested to speak to the manager, we were seated at a table that had reservations for an hour and a half later. It was still too cold and we were unable to enjoy the food as we were freezing with the wind chill. I cannot blame the waitstaff for the this poor service policy from the owner or management. I have never experienced a restaurant not accommodating customers to sit at available tables. Unfortunately, they have lost any future business from us.

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  4. Alyssa

    San Francisco

    1 review

    5.0

    1 review

    Dined 2 days ago

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5
    We always love going to Chocolate on special occasions - the new specials are always amazing, but we go for the dessert more than anything else. Treat yourself to come luxurious food at a very decent price (comparable experiences in Santa Cruz are always at least 30% more expensive than Chocolate)!

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  5. Eddie

    VIP

    San Francisco

    17 reviews

    5.0

    17 reviews

    Dined on February 8, 2025

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5
    2/8/25. Our weekly Friday dinner - pasta rosettes for 2, hand rolled fettucine with parmasan, foccacia bread basket. Finished off with usual sin cake and gelato, coconut cheese cake. Excellent.

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  6. Eddie

    VIP

    San Francisco

    17 reviews

    5.0

    17 reviews

    Dined on February 1, 2025

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5
    Weekly visit Jan 31,2024. We have our usual meal of pasta rosettes and hand rolled fresh fettucine with parmesan cheese. Topped with our usual desserts of hot chocolate, chocolate sin cake, dulce de leche torte. Great service as usual. Rainy day doesnt stop us from coming from San Jose tonight.

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  7. Jennifer

    Denver

    12 reviews

    4.0

    12 reviews

    Dined on January 20, 2025

    1. Overall 4
    2. Food 4
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 4
    Fun, unique & really good selection of gluten free options. Awesome desserts!

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  8. Eddie

    VIP

    San Francisco

    17 reviews

    5.0

    17 reviews

    Dined on January 18, 2025

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5
    We make a 75 mile round-trip from San Jose to Santa Cruz to eat dinner every Friday night. Been doing weekly since 2018 (pandemic disrupted the frequency but still did take out during that time). Our focus is on the desserts and our favorites are great - chocolate fantasy sundae, warm brownie, sin cake, truffles, Victoria hot chocolate with oat milk - these are chocolate artisan designs with more cacao emphasis than sugar and chocolate aficionados like us really enjoy it. Dinners are great as well - my longest go-to dish was Oaxaqueño Mo'le chicken plate - literally ate that dish for YEARS from 2018 to 2023. Then I 'discovered' their hand-rolled fettucine and salmon dishes - those are my new go-to dishes for 2023 onward. We are not drinkers so can't comment on the choices involving alcohol. Lastly, I read some of the more negative reviews here and respectfully disagree with most of them. The puzzling one is the recurring mention of 'dry' focaccia bread. We get that every week AND we were one of first to enjoy their switch to house-made focaccia bread. I do not find this to be dry at all - for me it's fresh and has just the right amount of moist texture. However, I understand others have different thresholds of dry. Regardless, this restaurant clearly is our favorite as we vote with our frequency of visits from San Jose for years.

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  9. Eddie

    VIP

    San Francisco

    17 reviews

    5.0

    17 reviews

    Dined on January 11, 2025

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5
    Weekly visit 1/24/25 Pasta rosettes full order with marina Hand rolled fettucine with truffle oil and parmesan Amazing as usual - fresh pasta so tender. Foccacio bread was over the top - very soft and full of flavor Chocolate desserts - its why we make the weekly 80 mile round trip from San Jose every Friday or Saturday night. Sin cake with chocolate gelato and truffle Coconut cream pie with side of chocolate sauce Highly recommended. We vote with our weekly visit.

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  10. David

    VIP

    Central Coast

    10 reviews

    5.0

    10 reviews

    Dined on January 10, 2025

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5
    Very good good and good ambience would definitely go again

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FAQs

Chocolate the Restaurant is rated 4.6 stars by 98 OpenTable diners.

Yes, you can generally book this restaurant by choosing the date, time and party size on OpenTable.

Make a reservation

2 people
7:00 p.m.
Booked 8 times today
Google Map for Chocolate the Restaurant

1522 Pacific Ave, Santa Cruz, CA 95060

Additional information

  • Cross Street
    Cooper Street
  • Neighbourhood
    Santa Cruz
  • Hours of Operation
    Dinner Daily 5:00 pm–10:00 pm
  • Price
    $31 to $50
  • Cuisines
    Californian, Mediterranean, Dessert
  • Dining style
    Casual Elegant
  • Dress code
    Smart Casual
  • Parking details
    Large multi-level public lot one half block away. Also, several parking spaces in front of restaurant on the street.
  • Public transit
    Metro bus station with links to San Jose, three blocks away.
  • Payment Options
    AMEX, Discover, Mastercard, Visa
  • Executive Chef
    David Jackman
  • Additional
    Banquet, Beer, Cafe, Cocktails, Corkage Fee, Dog Friendly, Full Bar, Gluten-free Options, Non-Smoking, Patio/Outdoor Dining, Patio/Outdoor Dining, Private Room, Wheelchair Access, Wine
  • Phone number
    (831) 427-9900
  • Catering
    Offsite catering for up to 150 guests. Weddings, or any other kind of occasion. Wedding cakes, or other special desserts. Chocolate mousse truffles. We can work with you to design a custom menu, based on your comfortable budget parameters.
  • Private party facilities
    Rehearsal Dinners, Graduation Parties, Birthday Parties, Anniversary Parties are our specialty
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Cookies and Interest-Based Ads
  • Cookie Preferences
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