Clouds Downtown

Clouds is closed and i’m crying :’(

I hear so many good things about Clouds before deciding to have a meal there. In fact, I had even read about their delicious eggs Benedict in the local news paper. So, I had to try it.
A friend and I went to brunch at Clouds one Sunday morning not too long ago. The interior of the restaurant is nice, but the atmosphere is somewhat unpleasant because the live band that should be softly accompanying your dining experience is too loud for you to hear yourself think let alone speak (yell) to someone across the table from you.
As for the food, I was impressed at first glance when I noticed both vegetarian and vegan options on the menu. However, the food itself is less impressive than the menu led me to believe. The vegetarian Benedict was overwhelmingly salty and buttery, so I felt bogged down after I was just a few bites in. As for the potatoes on the side, which could have been the salvation of the meal, they were completely flavorless and undercooked.
While this meal was promising in the beginning, it ended up being a disappointing experience.

I came here another time with some friends on a Friday night. Of course we’re poor college students and didn’t leave a tip for one of the drinks and the bartender told us VERY RUDELY to get off his bar just because we didn’t leave him a $ 1 tip for ONE of the drinks we ordered.
I came here another time with a couple friends during happy hour. Happy hour is everyday from 3 – 630 with ½ off appetizers and $ 3.50-$ 4.00 for a pint of beer or champagne or 2 choices of wine. The food is just okay, nothing special, but definitely worth it during happy hour.
There were never really a lot of people both times I came in here. The atmosphere is okay, the place is always pretty dimmed and they have a separate place for the bar and for seating for dinner/​lunch. There is separate seating at the bar if you want to eat happy hour which is kind of weird.

Okay, the one star is for the bartender (cannot remember his name, unfortunately. He’s very personable and seems to be a genuinely nice guy — I’d come here for just for his drinks (always tasty!) Unfortunately, my last experience here was abysmal. I came for a birthday party with friends. The waitress was incredibly rude to us the entire time, and acted like she had some sort of attitude that night.
We wanted to add another table to our row, since two more individuals were coming to the dinner. She asked us very snidely if we really needed that table, and we said that yes, two more people were coming. She told us that they’d end up bringing one over for us. (No big deal there, right?) Well, the owner happened to walk by (an older man with a ponytail), and he proceeded to get upset at us and tell us that we «couldn’t talk to the waitress like that», as if we had said something wrong. What a jerk! Especially when she was the one who was extremely rude, and we were nothing but nice!
WIth such rude management and wait-​staff, I see no reason to patronize this establishment any more. I’ll gladly take my business elsewhere.

I came here for my friends 21^st and they had some pretty tasty drinks. We came on a Thursday before a lot of people showed up but they had good drinks. I just told the bartender to mix me up something strong which he did. They are famous for martini’s so next time I’ll try and get one. The men’s bathroom however had water flooding out of the floor which was a little gross but good bar.

We went here recently at 1pm on a Sunday hoping to have lunch and it wasn’t till after we were seated that our waitress informed us that lunch didn’t start till 2pm. Uh what, really? I’m pretty sure 1pm anywhere is lunch time.
I was happy to see that there was a burger on the brunch menu but once it came I was disappointed I ask for medium-​rare and it came medium-​well. The fries too were disappointing, some were soggy and some were over-​cooked (not sure how a cook accomplishes that). My husband ordered the eggs benedict but the eggs came over easy, not poached. His favorite thing was the crossiants. We were also disappointed there were no salads or a side of vegetables.
The hostess/​bartender also had a bit of an attitude.
My recommendation try another place close by instead.

I’ve experienced better fast food than this place has to offer. It has absolutely the worst customer service I’ve ever experienced. The food was over cooked & dried out. It wasn’t fresh.
I asked the waiter for a couple of requests that he either completely forgot, or ignored. Asking the water boy however, yielded results.
The atmosphere was similar to Denny’s but without being greeted by a host or the guidance of the specials.
Even though they advertise certain specials on the local TV, the service people aren’t going to necessarily mention them.
If you are in the Pacific Mall area, there are better restaurants in that area for sure. I can think of two of them right now & they are less than 1 – 2 blocks away.

I love downtown Santa Cruz. While walking around and browsing the shops, I got hungry so I pulled out the mighty iPhone and found this place.
Clouds popped up. Without knowing anything about it, I instantly assumed it was some kinky night club. Boy do I have a dirty mind. And where did that come from? And why do clouds make me think of kinky night clubs? I must have been starving and hungry or my brain was deprived of oxygen. Who knows…
Either way, Clouds is pretty swanky and classy. It’s a fancy place for lunch with table cloths and cloth napkins and fancy napkin rings. Yet it’s a surprisingly inexpensive place to eat. The lunch crowd was light but service was unbelievably slow.
I ordered a chicken gyro pita sandwich with steak fries. The meal was good but they were slow to refill my glass and slow to hand over a check. It took forever to get anything done and get out of there. I love that this place is classy and high end but affordable and cheap but they really need to step up the service.

Went here for brunch with the ladypal and her father. First bad sign was that the restaurant was dead, with more staff than patrons. Second bad sign wast he amount of time it took to get the food in an empty restaurant – close to thirty minutes passed before the food came out… and went back to the kitchen.
My ladypal ordered the crab cake benedict. Her poached eggs were disgusting – the yolk was mostly cooked through and the eggs were cold. The hollandaise sauce was watery and flavorless.
I ordered the ribeye and eggs. I asked for medium rare and got well done.
Another fifteen minutes passed and our orders came out again. This time the steak was cooked correctly, but I had to leave a third of it on the plate because it was gristle. Instead of correcting the mistake with class, the kitchen sent out the shittiest piece of meat they could find. Ladypal had given up on eggs benny and ordered the basic breakfast. When she went to pepper her breakfast, the top of the shaker came off and doused the plate in black pepper. Way to check your shakers, Clouds!
The worst part of the meal, though, were the shitty looks that the «cooks» gave my 9-​month-​pregnant ladypal as she made her way to the bathroom. If you can’t poach an egg or cook a steak to temp, you shouldn’t be working in a kitchen. And nobody should ever try to make a customer feel bad for not wanting to eat disgusting food.
The manager begrudgingly reduced the bill, but there was little in the way of an apology or graciousness in her demeanor.
The only nice thing about the restaurant was the jazz band. They were tight. Hopefully they can get a gig at a good restaurant after this failure closes.

Great Monday and Tuesday night happy hours! Happy hour = all night!
Lots of yummy ½ price appetizers. Nicest bartender! Clouds is a great bargain early week for some pretty delicious fare that won’t break your wallet. I’m in love with the lobster pot stickers. I tried their onion rings for the first time last night and they were so tasty… like the best tempura mix battered tasty! Mmmmm mmmm so good. I indulged in some bruschetta as well which was smothered with chunks of artichoke heart. Such a great early week happy hour place. Oh, I almost forgot about the pesto gnocchi, also a super tasty treat.
I’ve been to clouds on many occasions over the years for lunch and dinner. The food is always very good. Service has always been good. Very casual but nice atmosphere.
On weekend nights Clouds caters to a younger partying crowd (not my thing so I avoid this place on the weekends after 7 pm) but during the week it’s a nice quiet place to watch sports and indulge in their fabulous early week happy hour.

This review is for the bar: Chocolate Martini! I want to marry the bartender who made my awesome chocolate martini this afternoon! I prefer to have a liquid lunch and I prefer to do so by having a chocolate martini!

Due to the dim lighting, I was a bit worried when we walked into Clouds. We called ahead to make sure that it was toddler friendly and just the whole ambiance didn’t look toddler friendly at all. Anyways, the gentlemen in the front was super friendly and sat us down right away, which was great. My fear soon disappeared as we walked down; the place was super loud! I thought to myself, «Great, if Averie has a fit, no one will be able to hear!!!» PERFECT!
The waiter came by with some tasty bread and all three of us, dived into that basket like we haven’t eaten all day. It was soft and warm, just like it should be.
The hostess/​waitress then came by in a timely manner to take our order. We ordered a sushi roll for appetizers and two entrees. I ordered the Chicken/​Prawn pasta and David ordered the Skirt Stuffed Steak. The waitress said the pasta was really delicious, so I was eager to try it. Plus, I love seafood!
First of all, the appetizer took FOREVER! I was thinking to myself, «Really? I can go run a 5K and come back and we would still be waiting for the darn 6 pc sushi roll!» Anyways, it finally arrived. David thought it was fresh and delish! I thought, «Ugh…another sushi roll.»
Entrees arrived soon afterwards. I remember looking down at David’s plate, «Yumm, I should have ordered that.!» It looked great! The presentation looked awesome and the steak looked so juicy! I couldn’t wait to sneak my fork onto his plate. Then, I looked down at my plate… didn’t look great as David’s, but it looked alright. I set aside a small portion for Averie and dove right in. After taking two bites, my hands reached straight to the salt and pepper shaker. I felt that my pasta had no taste, it was so BLAND. The prawns didn’t taste fresh, it tasted like it came straight out of the freezer and onto the pan. You know the taste, when it’s been hibernating in the freezer for 6 months or longer and it has that old taste? I literally took five bites and I stopped. I can’t believe we had to pay $ 19 for that plate!!!
When I looked up onto David’s plate, his plate was literally empty. I manage to get one bite of the steak. I should have gotten the steak!!! It was so good! Anyways, that is the only reason I gave three stars… because of the steak. If we ever come back here again, I am getting the Skirt Stuffed Steak.
And another thing, I was hoping that someone would stop by to remove our dirty plates, but no. The appetizer plates and the bread basket sat on our small table during the whole dinner. Even David mentioned something about that.

Fun environment, killer cocktails, but their service tends to suffer like so many other successful Santa Cruz restaurants, and that’s too bad. With better service, I’d give them three stars, but combined with their sub-​par steaks – the ribeye was the fattiest ribeye I’ve veer been served, and their skirt steak tasted like liver – they’ll have to settle for two from me.
Too bad. I really want to love this place, but they cannot live up to the reputation they earned from their long-​gone Clouds on the wharf.

8 years ago the food was so good. Now the only thing Clouds has going for it is the bar and the atmosphere. I wish they would get a good, consistent chef in because the location and the venue are perfect.
They took away the Pretzyl Chicken which was the best! Bummer. I have not had a good meal in this restarurant in 4 years.

I love the food and atmosphere at Clouds! I didn’t want to cook dinner and was alone so I sat at the bar and had a nice conversation with the very busy bartender who never missed a beat on his cocktails! I ate the lobster pot stickers and tzatziki french fries which were out of this world! And to my pleasant surprise the food was half off since it was still happy hour!
Gosh, I love a bargin!

I take it Clouds emphasizes the bar more than the restaurant. We came for dinner based on a recommendation from a local, but the middle of the road (at best) food was overpriced, over-​salted (fries), overdressed (salad) and over cooked (chicken). The service was overly pretentious. Over it.
The bathroom backed up the notion that it was a bar more than a restaurant. Dim, dirty and in disrepair.
Also I notice this place is classified as a «wine bar» on Unilocal.If by that you mean they serve wine, even though the waiter has no idea what wines are on the menu, then yes… this is a wine bar.

Some friends and I had a double date here last night. I was expecting more for the price we paid.
We started off with cocktails — the Espresso drink was rather tasty, and my Pink Slipper was the kind of girly boozy I really like. We ordered some kalamari as an appetizer, and while it was tasty, it was a little undercooked and chewy for my taste. Our server was rather slow.
They do two entrees and a bottle of wine for $ 36 if you ask, so we both did that. Among us, we got the Blackened Ahi Tuna, Steak Medallions (both specials from last night), another steak dish, and fish tacos. Both steak dishes were amazing — the special was served with a creamy sauce and onions, and the other steak dish had spicy, amazing mashed potatoes. The fish dishes could have been a lot better. They were both lacking in flavor, and the fritters that came with my ahi were pretty plain.
We shared two desserts: the hot apple sundae and the bread pudding. Both were excellent! The caramel on both was great.
Nice ambience, but if you’re going to pay $ 200 for dinner for four people, you could pick a better place.

I came with a group of more than half a dozen but less than a dozen, and we all tried a different martini. (Except for lame-​o me, ordering champagne.) I don’t remember all the names of them, but there was not a badly-​made one in the bunch.
The chocolate one was surprisingly delicious. I loved the chocolate lining the glass.
And the pricing was very reasonable. $ 8 a martini? Hellz yeah.
Our waitress was cute and nice too. Always a plus.
We were only at the table a short while though, so I didn’t get to experience much more.

I can forgive a lot of things, but ruining a steak is not one of them.
Came here to celebrate my sister’s graduation from UC Santa Cruz.
For an appetizer I ordered the Coconut Prawns ($ 13.95), which were pretty good only because of that delicious sweet chili dipping sauce!
For my main course I ordered the Blackened Ribeye with wasabi butter ($ 23). Instead of getting a beautifully cut piece of beef, I got this
. Obviously some leftovers from a ribeye roast. It was three pieces (each was different size and thickness) and all of them were barely holding on together with tendons or whatever that was. One side was almost burned, while another was still bleeding… The areas between each piece were grossly undercooked… Who ever made that needed to be punched in the back of the neck… seriously!!!
I gave them one extra star because the service was outstanding. We had a very large group and the servers were on top of everything. Also everyone else seemed to be enjoying their food and supposedly loved their Appletini with caramel.
But I can’t forgive them for ruining my beef!!!

This bar at Clouds Downtown provides the great juxtaposition of classy and inexpensive. We chose to drink at Clouds because it was near where we parked downtown and looked like a fun scene.
We entered at about 9:45 PM when some were finishing up their dinner and others were starting to crowd the bar. Our first round of a rum and coke, peach absolut and soda, and a bud light was $ 16.50… very reasonable! We capitalized on the dinner to bar transition and took over a great table. As the bar area got extremely packed throughout the night, we comfortably chilled at our table and people-​watched the bar area. A sweet cocktail waitress took care of all of our beverage orders so we never had to leave the comfort of our table and were never parched. We enjoyed a round of my new favorite drink– Captain Morgan’s spiced rum and pineapple juice. Yum!!!
The people in the bar area began to look a bit uncomfy as they became more and more like sardines. Simultaneously, a long line for entry began to form outside. I think we, by lucky chance, played our night at Clouds just right!