Cypress Lounge

Well any one who knows me knows I like to drink during the day and go home early! haha. So I actually like Cypress for happy hour because it’s empty and can fit big groups on the nice garden back patio. Sweet potato fries? Check. Mini sandwiches? Check. Not the most happening joint but good if you’re rolling, say, 20 deep and know you won’t fit at the Crow’s nest or the Brewery. Once I got a weird glass of wine that tasted like.pee. So that was terrible. But overall? Cool. Just don’t stay too late or all the Burning Man hippies with their crazy dub-​step will come out of the wood work, and that ain’t pretty :)

I came here for a wedding reception a few weeks and this place is still a great location after all these years. The staff is great and the bartenders are very attentive to the people in attendance for the wedding. Hopefully they won’t lose their dance permit all because of politics…

..yeah, I’m at the office (free-​wifi) I’ll get back to you as soon as I finish my pint. It’s all good here.
A little birdie told me a new menu/​theme is in the wings.

I would have loved to experience the Cypress Lounge but when we walked up, we were turned away by someone at the door, who acted eager to get rid of us and told us that there was a «special performance» going on. We went across the street to Café LimeLight instead.

I’ll be honest– one of the main reasons I come here is for the happy hour. I almost don’t want to write about it because it’s such a steal, but I encourage you to go check it out yourself. Cheap pints of oatmeal stout and ½ off pulled pork sliders make for a great afternoon treat. Plus it’s all day on tuesdays.
As for weekends and night time, I’m not a huge fan of the music selection (reggae, dubstep, etc.), but if it floats your boat go for it. The few saturday nights I’ve gone with live talent, the place has been packed.
The ambience is great, really nice furniture, a backyard that rivals the front deck of Pergolesi — just a great overall vibe in general. Usually a DJ on tuesday nights spinning some chill beats. Plus the staff has always been friendly in my experience, not stuck up and ‘could care less’ like some other places in town.
Although they don’t do pitchers anymore… what the heck?!

The lounge is pretty cool. It’s a more relaxed, chill vibe. Went here once for some food, and I must say that their sweet potato fries are AMAZING. They’re probably the highlight of this restaurant. Also had the jambalaya, which was pretty good as well!
Happy hour has some good prices for the food, so I definitely recommend coming during then. I probably wouldn’t come here otherwise.
I went here one time to check out the nightlife, and it was ok. Just not my type of music. Never got drinks here, but from the reviews, it looks like I shouldn’t? I mean why would I when the Red is just a block away!

I used to love going here for their Greek salads. Too bad they only serve bar food now, but oh well. I’m just reminiscing the past and hoping the owners will bring back the food (and bbq sauce!)

Cypress lounge is great! The lounge is actually quite spacious but the erratic placement of furniture sort of makes the place look like a warehouse…
The bartenders and hosts are very chill individuals, a bit on the quiet side but friendly if you want to get to know them.
I’ve never actually come here on a night with a live DJ. I usually go here to watch a bball game and grab a few beers with a buddy. Grab some food if you’re in the mood because it’s not so bad.

This place is great for happy hour. I think the beers are $ 3.
The sliders are a good way to go for food. However watch out for the pork ones. Left me with the worst case of heartburn. Fries are awesome. If you ilke garlic you have to try the garlic fries.

Love Cypress Lounge! If you go here to eat i highly recommend ordering the pulled pork sandwich… Amazing. Also there REAL garlic fries are oh so good! Also they have a full bar that has just been remodeled. They have out side seating which is great (especially if your a smoker). Great food, great drinks, great staff.

Cypress is pretty much my favorite place to go in Santa Cruz… they cook the best food for super cheap, and the staff is really awesome and personable. They must have changed over their staff because when I first went there they had only female bartenders who were always bitchy and stuck up, and I remember hating doing business with them, but the staff now is super awesome and friendly (rare to find in a popular bar!). The fung shui is better now that they moved the DJ set up, the outside deck is always awesome to chill on, and pretty much my only two complaints is that they need more bathrooms and that they have better sound during music events… but I’m a DJ so I’m super particular about good sound… I know they had some problems with neighbors complaining, and I’m happy they finally got to keep the place open later!
But those burgers, man… sooooooo tasty!
And kudos to the staff for keeping up with such large crowds!

Went on a tuesday. went a bit early. place was empty. first timers. excited to see a COUCH! ate dinner on the COUCH!!! was thrilled to see a cozy place to veg after a long day at work. ordered pitcher of local SC hef. it was good. calamari was hot and fresh. sauce for calamari rocked my socks off. held on to it for the fries. bf and i ordered 2 burgers. burgers came out hot, cooked to order, with lettuce, tomato, pickles and onions on the side.1 was with sweet potato fries. 1 normal fries. personally the sweet tatoe ones were better. had a kick. … dip in the left over calamari sauce– mmmm! awesome. i’m SOO coming back. also tuesdays is all night happy hour — so that’s pretty good.
only reason for 4 star review — i was freeeezing! even my bf mentioned that it was kinda chilly. *gasp* a guy, cold?! so yea, turn up the heat, or maybe bring a blanky for the couch. :)

Where am I?
I would never have guessed that I was in Santa Cruz… looked more like something out of the Marina but after closer inspection was distinctly Santa Cruz in a cajun-​y kind of way. Otherwise i really like the space. I felt comfortable here. *taking panties off (martin lawrence reference — cuz I don’t wear panties… I don’t wear anything at all. lmao)
The space is very industrial looking… think a cross between Aqua and Costco. The menu seems very organic and tastes like sin. There were these apps that were being handed to us on the house just because I have no idea why. It was some kind of veggie plate. *drool Oh, vicky got it… grilled veggies in balsamic with hummus! oh yeah! The catfish po’boy was great, just the right amount of deep fried goodness slathered in tar-​tar sauce.
And the whole time I completely didn’t even notice the full bar that was behind me the whole time. I just figured that they made my drinks across the street or something and had a gang load of people just handing drinks over hand over fist to keep up with me and my people’s demand.
;D

So they have completely redone their menu…
Wings are still a go on Wednesdays
No more Jalapeño beer… No more White Sangria house made
They have now gone Cajun and I am not mad to the slightest
1. Alligator bites (think chicken tenders but a million times better)
2. Catfish Po’Boys
3. Red Bean and Rice side
4. Jambalaya
5. still have the beer battered french fries and sweet potato fries
6. Pulled Pork Sandwich with coleslaw I actually like
7. Alligator Burrito– frigging huge and amazingly spicy XOXOXO!
8. where else are you going to get etoufee in Santa Cruz
9. desserts. as usual awesome
10. grilled veggies in balsamic with hummus is still fab.
So I am disappointed that no one else likes the Cedar Plank or the Veggie burgers
I am happy that the chef is cooking what he loves and it shows… will be back for more ragin’ cajun

My favorite happy hour in town bar none.
You simply can’t go wrong with half off pitchers and half off appetizers. It seems like everytime my friends and i were struggling for a place to hangout after work this is where we ended up. I think i’ve tried everything on the menu at some point but my favorite item is the sweet potato fries. Cypress is both a great place to get a beer and a great place to take a date, place like this are few and far between. ‘Go to cypress after work grab a beer and get some sweet potato fries, trust me you won’t regret it.

This is a real brain buster.
It was Davis D’s birthday, so we had dinner reservations at 9PM for 16 people. Of course, being the classiest of people, me and Samantha R. show up fashionably late, where we were greeted by a penis-​shaped table. (It’s not even that big of a deal, something like 8 percent of kids do it.)
I guess it was alright, because Davis D. got to sit at the head of the table (*snicker*)
But they had ‘forgotten’ about Davis’s reservation, and had to slap together this table for him. We had to order in waves of 6 so that their single-​staffed kitchen could handle our orders, which means we all get to eat hot piping food, but wave one finished eating before wave 2 got their food.
Me and Samantha were in wave 2, and we decided to share an order of tri-​tip steak. 20 minutes later, when everyone else from wave 2 had already devoured their tri-​tip sandwich, the waitress comes over and tells us the kitchen has run out of the delicious meat.
Flabbergasted, yet estatic that I could rip this restaurant a second a$shole, we decided to order some sides (Mac & Cheese and mashed potatoes). It could be because we were extremely hungry, but the sides were delish.
Then, the chef realized they had enough tri-​tip left to make a sandwich, on-​the-​house. Not only that, he came out to personally apologize, and gave us a huge bowl of the scrumptious mac & cheese to take home.
The staff was very apologetic and worked their butts off to make our dining experience as comfortable as they could. I let the chef know that his food was top-​notch, and to thank him for that extra mile he went.
Compliments to the chef and waitress for being able to adapt and compensate for our large party. Boo on the misplaced reservation that waterfalled into a trifecta of complications.

Oh, reggae culture in SC, I’ll never get you…
On that note, Cypress Lounge was nothing special, really. It was my friend’s bday (big ups to Davis a few posts below me) so he threw a get-​together at the CL. I arrived late, but he told us that they forgot his reservation. Que terrible. Since they forgot the reservation, they had already sent all but one of the cooks home. We felt bad for the cook since he must’ve been anticipating a not-​so-​hectic last couple hours of work. For the whole night we feared him peeing on our food :|
The food was meh-​meh. We got seated around 9pm and they stopped serving dinner at 10pm, so we didn’t expect any kinda fantabulous meal since the food was probably gonna be hastily prepared. I ordered a Cypress Burger with Mac n Cheese. By the time I finally got my food I was hella hungry so I thought that I was gonna devour that shiz in all it’s glory. It turned out to be not so glorious. Tasted like dining-​hall burgers. The mac n cheese wasn’t so bad, tho. It actually complimented the burger moreso than the sweet potato fries would, in my opinion. My girl got a Tri-​Tip Beef Sandwich with garlic mashed potaters, which turned out to be aight. The beef didn’t turn out to be that tender, but they felt the need to mask it with lotsa BBQ sauce. It’s neat that they served it on 2 fat pieces of white bread, instead of a roll. Her mashed taters were meh too, not too garlicy.
At the end of the meal, the staff started to clear the tables one by one until we realized that our huge-​ass table was the only one left a midst the crowd of reggae dance-​hallers. There’s an umm «interesting» demographic of people that come to this place regularly. It’s mostly just awkward SC locals and hippies with an affinity of dub muzak. So if you’re a city boy looking to eat some traditional American burgers and chill in a lounge (by normal standards), CL might be the right fit for you.

Have you ever had one of those experiences where you just felt the need to write right away? Cypress cypress cypress… I was so ready to love you. I was so ready to find a hidden gem in Santa Cruz…
Instead I found a rollercoaster. I found a bipolar restaurant that liked toying with my emotions, and then basically became a full on bar before I could get out the door.
Here’s the breakdown. Davis D’s birthday was yesterday. 16 person reservation. They never got it apparently. Throw together a makeshift (phallic) setup of a fat round table with a long shaft coming out for the «fashionably late» crowd. After we all sit, they feed us in waves. «The kitchen is too small, so we can only take a couple orders at a time.» This translated to the first wave finishing eating before the next orders.
Needless to say, the knights of the phallic table were starving because they didn’t get any actual food for like an hour (on the head side, the ball side wanted to leave). So anyhoo, I was at the end and by the time my wave was supposed to be served they were out of what I ordered… Awesome. I could see the ball side licking BBQ sauce off their fingers, while I continued to smack my lips and think about what could have been had I not taken so long. The menu was kinda pricey, and I didn’t want to wait, so I just ordered a side to be quick.
Here’s where the roller coaster took an unexpected turn. I was ready to love you Cypress. Then I was ready to 1 star you. Then you turned around… The cook personally came out, shook Davis’ hand and apologized to everyone individually. Some tri-​tip was left, so we got some free on the house. They sent out another jumbo sized (killer tasting) mac’n’cheese on the house too. Basically, we knew it was just an off night, and they were amazingly humble about the mixup.
I felt awful, but at the same time I didn’t ever really complain… I just sat with my surly thoughts thinking about now… review time. The restaurant had deece food, quite tasty in fact, but I came really hungry and felt that I waited far too long to be satiated. Moreover, by the time all the waves were done and the bill came, all the tables had been moved and our table randomly was in the middle of the dance floor and Cypress lounge had just become solely a bar.
I dunno if I’ll go back, but all of my negatives were probably a fluke. Just thought I’d share the tale to add to the Chronicles of Samantha.

This place was really great for a nice affordable dinner. Two of us went on a Wednesday night and there was live jazz, — excellent musicians, nice and relaxing after a long day of work and commuting. The room is nice and big with high ceilings, it feels like a loft. Ok, whatever about the décor, I am so freakin tired right now I can barely see straight, I need to go to bed, but I have to Unilocal now or I’ll forget… so to the important stuff — food and service.
Food was nicely presented, good price, and tasty. Hubby got burger with pepper jack and french fries ($ 7.95) and 2 beers ($ 4 each). I got large house salad ($ 5.95) and side of mac n. cheese ($ 2.95). Total with tip was just about $ 30. Not bad at all. Oh yeah, mac and cheese came out cold and I asked them to reheat, which they did quickly.
Service left something to be desired, they never sat us, we sat ourselves. They never gave us menus, I had to go get them. They didn’t come to ask our order, I had to go to bar and do it. And they never picked up our check, I had to take it to the counter. But for some reason, I really don’t care. Normally I’d give a place like that a 1 star review, but that level of service kinda seemed appropriate for a Wed night in lame-​o Santa Cruz with the surfer crowd listening to jazz. Food, even my cold mac n cheese, made up for it.
So, Cypress, you got lucky, you get 4 stars. And yeah, for some odd reason I plan to go back. But you better shape up next time.

This place is GREAT!!! When I moved to Santa Cruz from LA 8 months ago, I searched high and wide for a place that I could feel comfortable and invite my friends to.
And then I found the Cypress Lounge! Classy and Unpretentious. Great Food and Great Drinks!
On Thursday night they have a Slammin Reggae Night spinning some of the sweetest Reggae Riddims.
On Friday there is The Pyramid of the Rising Sun. «An Oasis in the Desert of Santa Cruz Nightlife bringing a Refreshing Blend of the Best in Local and International DJ’s and Live Music». Featuring DJ Please from the UK spinning underground Garage and Dubstep.

–i got lost coming over, if i knew it was right next to goodwill i would have been on it, fucken google maps
–vicky was my navi and first one there
–the venue was awesome, ideal for an event (*hint *hint)
–oooooo the nachos with the melted cheese topped with pico came and i was like smacking away, literally!
–then the wings… perfect in spicy
–vicky’s homies started arriving and it was hilarious
–wings
–ziru came and missed library since she thought it was tomorrow, good thing i called!
–wings
–linda t. shocked me since i was expecting all 408 to be — mmm what’s snow _​_​_​_​_​_​??? HUGS! bbbwwhahahahaaa
–wings
–bradley o.‘s guest appearance was classic
–wings, nachos, calamari, burgers, and garlic fries yum
–more of vicky’s homies
–wings
–cookies with icecream, yum and a «happy birthday» song to vicky
–wings
–total was like 55 bucks including our drinks!
–wings, seriously look at a pic of our «boner“yard plate/​pile!
–good bye’s and hugs
–a walk with linda t. since i was so stuffed led us to bad ass coffee to see the owner to catch up and tell him about Unilocal
=AH, ANOTHER GREAT DAY IN THE 831