The Hophead Public House

So so sorry but this will not be a go to place for us… came in on a Saturday at 7 and no one offered us seating so we ended up on the bar that has plywood (again I don’t see how this is sanitary) the unpleasant bar stools and the great wait staff
The burger was one of the worst I have had and that was after the even worse first one!
The fried pickles were gag-​me!
No changes in beer either except being down 3 taps
Then come the fruit flies and this oh so appetizing photo of a communal fridge
I saw some unsanitary food handling by the cooks too

Great local beer place in Scotts Valley /​Felton. A good beer selection — always rotating (which I like), a little pricey, but on par for good beer. Always friendly waitstaff. Fun place to watch a game, no meatheads, which is good. Food is fine, aspiring to be great, but not quite there yet. Also around the corner from Steel Bonnet Brewing which deserves a visits.

We visited Hophead for the first time. They had a Chicken and Waffle appetizer and it was AH-​mazing. The waffle had a strip of bacon cooked inside, lol. The chicken was boneless, crispy and perfect. The only downside is it’s an appetizer so you only get one waffle. I wish they’d offer it as a main entrée with a larger portion. It was so good. Their menu is elevated pub food — reminds me of items you’d get on a gourmet food truck. They have salads (beet and goat cheese!), fresh pizza, burgers, fish and chips, pulled pork, mac & cheese etc. The food took about 15 minutes, because they make it fresh each time. Great beer on tap. I can’t remember our server’s name, she was so friendly and had a great attitude. We will return.

Burgers are really good. Atmosphere is cosi, but the service is really slow, I mean it is not a big problem, but you really need an hour ahead to get lunch there. The price is really low considering the quality of the food.

Solid 5 stars. Best brewpub in Santa Cruz area-​no contest. The duck fat fries are supurb, succulant and salty. The angus burger is a handmade patty and charbroiled. The wings are the best in any restaurant from Watsonville to Scotts Valley. Amazing beers and a helpful and what appears to be a genuinely happy staff.

Tried to go here, but the menu did not contain a lot of vegetarian options that suited my daughter’s palate.
Hope to go back and experience some brew and a fine carnivorous meal.

Cant go wrong with sunday all day happy hour! Great food, nice service, and all day sports.

I made my 2^nd trek to the Hophead last night.
The food has been fantastic both times I’ve eaten there. This time I had the Pulled Pork Fries… DELICIOUS!!! I washed it down with several incredible creamy stouts (the name had something to do with New York City — a hotel — Christmas Eve… yada yada yada) The ladies behind the the taps are always cheerful and engaging.
Thank you for another great evening at the Hophead Public House!

I wish this place was there when I lived in Scotts Valley.
I was heading back to SJ and met up with a friend along the way here.
If you are looking for upscale, then don’t come here. Its definitely about the beer & food and not spending money on the décor. Which is okay with me.
Good beer selection, or should I say a selection of good beers. We didn’t eat, but their menu looked good.

Beers are awesome.
Mushroom pizza is an awesome paring with the beers. IPA battered avocado was pretty good. The aioli was lost in the flavor of the avocado. We’re thinking a spicy sauce or chutney to help offset the buttery flavor of the avocado.
Great beer joint! You gotta love a place that has pandora set to Gary Clark Jr. Staff is attentive friendly and knowledgeable.
Wife really liked the cleanliness of the restrooms. thats a bonus.

After being here a hundred times thought I would share my thoughts.
Pizzettas, Wings, Pulled Pork and specially the Spring Rolls is the best pub faire you’ll find in Scotts Valley hands down!
Great service, almost too attentive.
On Tap: I’m easy when it comes to beer but I normally go with a pint of the ‘Fresh Squeezed’.
Attn bar manager buyer guy, Bring back ‘Foggy Forest’ another of my faves.
Live music is another reason to visit this establishment.
From Bluegrass to Hard Rock it really fits the bill.
Could use a little more real estate for the drum riser.
I saw the best hard rock band there a few months ago,
I think their name was something like… ummm… RUMBLE STEELSKIN.
I heard they will be playing there Saturday Oct 10^th.
Cant wait to go, I heard a rumor they are serving free beer that night.

Great beer selection and a friendly knowledgeable staff.
The IPA Battered Avocados sure were good to nosh on also! Next time I’ll try the Hop & Parm Fries they have Saaz hops and looked really good.
I’ll be back for sure.

So glad we came here WOW…
Service: On Point, greeted immediately, and they spent time helping us select the perfect Beer.
Food: HOLY CRAP SO GOOD, We had Deep fried Spring rolls with Avocado, bacon and jalepenos in it, the best thing I have ever ate OMG! The BBQ chicken pizza with Cilantro was also off the hook good! Mac n Cheese also very good comes out literally bubbling hot!
Beer: I am not the biggest beer drinker but how great they were to help us pick a beer was awesome!
Can not wait to go back and try other things!!!

Good god damn!
I still love this place.
Beautiful staff, seriously the girls who tend bar are just the sweetest prettiest ladies on the planet.
Still the best grub… grub, would be an understatement. Best fries I have ever had. They have a flavor for music, that matches my flavor for drinking beer and food.
So if I can describe food here, in the means of a band… it would be the meat of Credence Clear Water, with the spice of Pepper (the band, not the spice) and the love of Def Leopard.
If you get any of that… or not
Eat and love the beer, grub and staff.
Tip the shit outta the crew, cause they always make you feel like family!!!

EDIT: I originally gave this place four stars but am reconsidering after watching some girl bring her dog in to sit down and eat with her. this is a health code violation! Asked employee to please remove the dog and she told us that the owner has allowed dogs in here before. It seemed odd to me that the employee feigned surprise when we brought up the dog as she was standing about two feet away from it when it first entered…
The food is amazing but after this incident and watching employees eat/​drink beer behind the bar (while we stood at the register waiting to pay), this place gets a big fat F for customer service.
Also didn’t give us a receipt when we left, and my mom could hardly stand to sit on the wooden chairs. Cute idea but totally uncomfortable.
Courtney P., I know that was with you with the dog so please don’t send me messages referring to the incident in third person. Tell your friends to stop messaging me as well. If it was a service dog, why didn’t you say so when confronted instead of quickly take it out the restaurant? No one would have had a problem with it.
Stop crying «discrimination» at me for being unhappy that health codes are being violated when your «service dog» has no marking on it to indicate its status. Not my problem!

After being here a few times I had to go back and upgrade my initial review. It’s obvious the owner is listening and the growing pains are going away. The service has improved and the ergonomics of the seating has gotten better…
That being said, it’s cool to finally have a place in Scott’s Valley that is worth hanging out at. They have an awesome rotating beer selection and they serve all their beers in a 16oz. pour despite the ABV (which averages pretty high). The menu is also rotating for the most part but always contains a few standards.
Try the pizzas, the mushroom masterpiece is pretty awesome but I personally like to add bacon to this one (I like meat on my pies). A blend of 3 mushrooms topped with crispy fried leeks. The leeks are a unique and tasty addition you won’t find anyplace else.
The spring rolls are insane! Bacon, avocado, cheddar, and jalapeños deep fried super crisp served with a mustard dipping sauce and ranch. Gotta try em!
Besides good food and beer, hophead is leading the charge for supporting live music from local acts. I hope maybe someday they could host an open mic night…
Scott’s Valley has very limited options for fun and this one is my pick, give them a shot.

Stopped in here after work on a Friday. The place was packed and loud (but in a good way). There were lots of folks having a great time; loads of laughter and a great pub vibe was going on. The ambiance and décor are spot-​on for a pub. I’m assuming it was the owner going around and saying «hi» to folks. Service was friendly and attentive and the bathrooms were super clean. They were serving a LOT of micro-​brews that I had never heard of. I let them know
that I was into hoppy IPAs and the server came back with three samples for me to try. How awesome is that? I ordered the fish and chips. It was fresh cod with beer-​batter, dipped by hand. The serving was one HUGE piece of cod and the fries were super skinny. All in all, it was very good and something that I would order again.
Can’t wait to return to try other yummy items on the menu.

Here is SC for vacation and looked this place up to give it a try… upon entering we where immediately greeted by a super friendly waitress that took her time to go over their menu. The particular thing about their menu and beer selection is that is that is it is ever changing. Which to me if I was local would be pretty cool! …we sat down and decided on a few beer selection and some food items.
On a side note the only reason this place isn’t getting a 5 star was because after our immediate server the secondary server was not friendly and super awkward… maybe she was new but her knowledge of anything was non existent. So we decided to do the give us a few minutes and that was like the black plaque for her, but good for us the original nice young girl came back over to help us.
We deduced to share the mushroom pizza, wings, beet salad and pulled pork fries. Ooops well that is another reason for a missing star they came out after ordering and told us no more fries? After the food cam out everyone was super happy with everything and absolutely no complaints. We lived the laid back atmosphere and changing menu plus the great beer selection. I would for sure give this place another try!

I like this place a lot. It’s near to my house, and the pizza/​beer is really good. The service is always friendly and prompt, and it’s great to kick back and relax.
I particularly like how the menu rotates based on local selection.
I’m happy to see that it’s usually pretty crowded, and hope that they continue to improve and do well.
I know it’s limited space, but I was bummed the other day when none of the outside tables had more than 2 seats.

New gem in the SC mountains?
rotating craft beer selection with some mainstream prices.
attentive staff. we talked to the owner and he wanted some feedback on how to make the eats better.
the food is a couple steps above normal pub fair. we got applewood bacon pizza, wings, skirt steak, and duck fries. all tasted great like its from specialty eatery from San Fran or LA. all were well presented. kind of a surprise to be found in scotts valley. menu appears to be rotating too.
i enjoyed the atmosphere, the small talk with the staff and craft beer/​gastropub concept with decent food.