Bruno’s BBQ

My wife and I went for the Burgers and Fry’s and it was great ! Good service and we plan on going back soon !
Kev and Cherie

Today I came in for lunch and ordered a half rack of ribs (12.99) and 2 sides (5.99). While the half rack was priced fairly, the sides were way too small. They looked more like samples. Perhaps 3 – 4 bites each. For coleslaw and mashed potatoes, 2 very inexpensive dishes to make, I would have liked to see larger portion s. I don’t have a large appetite and even I was left unsatisfied after the meal. If I am going to spend $ 19 on lunch before a beverage, tax and tip I feel I should leave full.
With that said, Brunos has the best BBQ in town hands down! I drive from Capitola to pick up thier ribs rather than make my own. The meat just falls off the bone. And the coleslaw and cornbread are award winning.
Please let me know if you decide to increase your sides portions so I know to come back. Thanks!

Save your money! The food was disappointing & service was completely horrible! I normally never leave bad reviews but when it has to be done it has to be done.

This place is filthy. Ordered two sodas at the bar. They will not filled up to the top and I picked the piece of food off the rim of the glass and the bartender watched me do it to no comment.
The floor looks like it hasn’t been cleaned is ages and the stairs were covered in food crumbs and dust. If this is what the public side of the restaurant looks like I can only imagine what the shape the kitchen is in. Don’t risk it. Don’t go there!

We had the St. Louis style ribs and there appeared to be some gristle. The chicken didn’t appear to be grilled or smoked kinda bland with some sauce thrown on it. Also, the baked beans appeared to have been overcooked they had the consistency of refried beans which was odd to say the least. Also, the service needs to improve we called in the order to go and were put on hold for a few minutes then hung up and had to call again to place it.

Horrible food. Horrible service. It is so bad it feels intentional. But they just lack training, supervision and pride.

Ate here on Saturday evening.
No comment on the BBQ food quality — I had the Rib/​Chicken combo with a $ 7.99 Caesar Salad (it was either that or 2 sides for $ 5.99 extra).
They call this «California Fusion BBQ» which I did not understand. The croutons on my salad were from a bag. The appetizers are pretty much all pre-​frozen.
— I had to get up and ask for BBQ sauce for my rib /​chicken plate.
— I had to get up and ask for a wet-​nap or something to clean my hands
— I had to use the napkins from the place settings around me to wipe my hands during dinner (the ribs).
— I had to get up and ask for a toothpick (‘they are by the door’ is what I was told)
— I think the staff is a little rude (or lazy) — a monkey could take an order, bring the food & beverage and bring the bill.
— The server asked if we wanted dessert as she placed the bill on the table.
— No one asked how my son wanted his burger cooked. He likes it MR. It came out Well Done. Again, why not just ask? (apparently, since I got a note from Rosanna the Proprietor, they do not ask and only do what the customer tells them — if the customer does not say, then the burger is cooked MW).
So basically I did more for myself than the servers did except to cook the food (and I could have done that as well).
(you can see by the pics they share on Unilocal the bagged croutons. And a dead animal hanging in the bar??)

Recently had great burger on excellent GLUTEN FREE bun. They even have GF BBQ sauce. Ask what else for GF!

Rosanna and her talented staff always make me feel special! I love the variety of the menu. I am so grateful for the generosity of Rosanna to our community— she supports our youth, service clubs and can throw a fabulous party for YOU!!!

Don’t bother. Poor service.
This restaurant is not doing well enough to ignore the only customers in the store at 8:30 on a Saturday night. This is not a one time thing either, this has happened two visits in a row. On this visit my wife and I were giving the resturaunt a second chance, this lack of service also happened a few days earlier. The manager seemed put off when I told him about the poor service. If I owned this business I would look into this and fix it. You lost another local customer.

I attended a meeting for the California Association of Licensed Investigators this evening. We move around to different venues in order to make it easier for our group to attend. Tonight the location was Bruno’s BBQ in Scotts Valley. They catered to our every need and was a great place to do some networking and socializing before we started the meeting and end with our meal.
I had the Half and Half, a chargrilled strip steak and BBQ Pork Ribs. It was perfect. The sweat was just the way I like it. The ribs were fall off the bone and very tasty.
I would highly recommend if you are in the area or just driving through the the beach, stop in and enjoy a great meal.

This eatery is the absolute nastiest barbecue I think I’ve ever tasted. The fries, beans and meat all had the same flavor. The meat was very fatty and had a bad taste (3 different sandwiches all had the same poor taste). We paid the bill in full and departed. Note: took over 15 minutes to be acknowledged when we walked in (only 2 couples in the restaurant), which should have been the red flag! Avoid at all cost!!!

First time visit. Will NOT be going back.
I’m not a high maintenance, hard to please person. If you get a server named RIC, ask for someone else. This guy should be fired!
I’ve worked in hospitality/​customer service for 10 years, and everything this guy did was the opposite of what you should do.
— Two waters ordered with no ice came with ice.
— Coffee ordered was never brought out.
— At the beginning of meal ordering, after RIC had gotten a few people’s orders, he was asked if we could do separate bills. He shortly says, «no he couldn’t change anything currently.» I understand this is a pain, but still part of customer service is keeping the customer happy.
— Two hot wing sandwiches ordered without mayo or lettuce both came as fried chicken (no hot wing sauce), and both *had* mayo and lettuce. (We DID NOT send it back, nicely asked for sauce)
Also none of the things stated above was pointed out because they were minor problems.
— Initial request for hot wing sauce was denied; request was honored once complete lack of sauce was pointed out.
— A smattering of sweet potato fries was delivered and charged as a small sweet potato fries.
— Ric got upset when we gave him list of amounts with corresponding credit cards; he said, «*sigh/​groan* you’ve got to be kidding me.» Customer said, «Is that bad?» Ric: «(somewhat exasperated) Yes.»
— customer asked for printed copies of receipts, and Ric rudely says, simply, «No.» Customer says «What?» or «Excuse me?» Ric says «No“again. Customer asks for clarification and verification that Ric is saying that no, we couldn’t have printed receipts; Ric confirms. This was extremely rude (his handling of it). He then rips two copies off of the machine and gives them to Customer without saying anything, then walks away.
— Ric never brought the change. While it was only $ 0.51, the people who paid in cash — and who were due the change — had already left tip in cash, so they should have been given their change. 51 cents is not at all a big deal, but he wasn’t finishing/​doing his job.
— Despite four people remaining at the table for several minutes after the bill was settled, Customer had to flag Ric down to indicate something more was needed, and to ask for the change.
I understand servers HATE large parties (we had 7) but we honestly tried to be as helpful as possible even pre-​busing the table for him. It was overall a super bummer experience. As a local I will not be spending my money at Bruno’s.

Only 2 major words to describe this ’ not even a dive ‘DISGUSTING & DISORGANIZED ok Unilocal says I need to put a longer review worse than any child’s cafeteria. I think the owner manager cook bartender were all absent as well -‘I looked!
ALL food of different temperatures. Pea size fried artichoke dripping in oil. BAD OIL.
I would pity the people who own this but it is thier fault.
Time to WAKE UP OR SELL.

We eat here quite often because this is the best BBQ in Santa Cruz county. A bit pricey but worth it. I alternate between the ribs and the ribeye steak. Someone mentioned that the ribs were dry rub. No way. These are nicely sauced and large. I’m talking the baby backs. Love their ribeye too. Lots of flavor and trimmed nicely. They do a baked potato that’s perfect. Garlic bread is heavenly.
Service varies but we’ve never had a bad experience

Not a BBQ place, more like a fancy diner.
Food was good but nothing to rave about.
Service was good but the restaraunt was very empty.
Even with a mostly empty restaraunt, the hostess seated another couple right behind us and the proceeded to have a very loud interation with them.

Quite possibly the worst BBQ I’ve ever eaten (or attempted to eat). Correction, this is the worst. The pulled pork was dry and rubbery as if it were microwaved. The fries that came with it were all nubs and undercooked. My son ordered ribs and they were crispy and dry. Our whole meal tasted like regret and anger and our waiter was awkwardly inept at his job.
The worst part of this experience was the attitude of the staff and the manager. We paid the bill in full but tried to talk to our waiter and manager about our experience. Our waiter walked away mid sentence and the manager told us that a «dry rub» was supposed to make the food dry. Let’s pause and and take this in for a moment. So you are telling me you are purposely making your food inedible. Brilliant business plan! We will not be back.

Hello there seekers of good eats!
BBQ. So Bold. So Beautiful! So close to my heart (ok and heart valves). If done well it’s a blessing… if done bad it’s a darn shame… but still probably ok to eat.
But real BBQ is an art.
Bruno’s is not true BBQ.
They have a grill and a bunch of BBQ sauce for their ribs but it’s not real BBQ. The ribs are not worth the jaw power to chew them. The burgers are ok and it’s a bit better than BurgKing across the street ;)
So if you go with no great expectations then ok.
I have to say though I probably won’t go back. The staff are bit confused. Tried to order online but the menus you can download and what you see online are different. I finally called direct to place an order to go. They kept saying ‘oh yeah they haven’t got that updated yet… and good that you didn’t order online cuz those orders haven’t been going through lately’.
uhhhh. Online orders don’t work? So fix the website. Call the Geek Squad dude in the funny car. If you are aware of it then fix it OR take the page down. What you don’t do is offer a service you know doesn’t work.
So after placing the order on the phone (and got a confirmation of the order). I got a call from the person who picked up the order saying ‘They don’t have the Turkey an Avo sandwich anymore’…
Then why take my order for the sandwich on the phone… and then confirm it?
With that much confusion I begin to worry about how the food is prepared. Did they forget something? Who knows since the staff is not sure of what ‘Is’ and what ‘Is not’ correct on their own menu.
Honestly I’m having second thoughts about the BKing across the street. I know at least if it’s on their menu they serve it. And I don’t have any pumped up expectations that I am going to get something ‘special’ that turns out to either ‘not exist’ or if it does exist then it’s only ‘so so’ quality and high price.
Actually for BBQ if you are up around Henflings Tavern on Monday night! There is a guy who does KILLER BBQ ribs. I see him startin the smoker around 7 in the morning as I’m heading out to work. Doing it right! Slow smoking… yeah that’s BBQ.
And for a great burger just drive a couple more minutes over the Felton’s Cowboy Bar & Grill. Good eats! Good people!
Gotta go now and find some food. They didn’t have the Turkey Avo sand and I’m hungry.

I first encountered Bruno’s on a weekend away when I was looking for BBQ places to carter my wedding. From first encounter Rosanna and her staff seemed great. Not to mention Bruno’s BBQ is the preferred vendor for my venue Stones and Flowers. I visited several times to gauge quality because of the low reviews here on Unilocal and I chose to ignore the others statements because it seemed like a good fit and everything was good when we ate at the restaurant. Unfortunately, this was not how it went down for my rehearsal dinner at Bruno’s or our wedding catering at Stones and Flowers.
I tried my best to contact Rosanna about all my issues I will mention in the following paragraphs. She provided excuses and unfinished promises.
The thing that disturbed me the most was that she had her staff box the remainders of my wedding cake in a garbage bag. It was our agreement that she’d bring boxes. Her restaurant is 10 minutes from the wedding site. Had I known she’d box my expensive cake in a garbage bag I would have made sure we had appropriate boxes.
The theme of Rosanna’s catering style was laziness. Her and her staff left early leaving my own family to clean the remainder of the mess that was contracted as her responsibility.
She finally paid me for some services (like dinner drinks) that were never rendered. She told me two months ago the check was in the mail.
I could continue to complain about countless other issues but I think I have made the main point clear.

There aren’t many options in Scotts Valley, so I’ve been here a few times (mostly for Mom’s night outs, which is a rare event).
SERVICE:
Slow. The last two times I’ve been here, I’ve had to wait 10+ minutes just to get a table (and it wasn’t even that busy). It usually takes another 10 minutes for someone to come to the table to take drink and food orders.
Once orders are taken it’s a good 20 min. until food arrives (and if you want a 2^nd drink you better order that with your food, otherwise it comes long after your food is served).
The wait staff is super friendly though, even if on the slow side.
FOOD:
It’s ok… Nothing to really rave about. The ribs are good. I ordered the filet mignon last time… The steak was good (again nothing I’d go out of my way to get though.
However, the mushrooms were definitely from a can (so not impressed). The menu said the meal came with a loaded potato… Well the potato showed up with just butter and sour cream (not exactly loaded in my opinion).
A few months ago I had family visiting, so I ordered a few of the platters (thinking they’d be big)…Turns out they were super small (I ordered 3 platters for 7 people and it barely fed all of us).