Gildas - Santa Cruz (CA)

5 /5 Erin Clements: Gildas was the last meal in California for our honeymoon, and I honestly wish we had found it sooner in our trip!! The waiter was super nice and personable, and the food was delicious!! My husband got chicken fried steak and eggs, which was a fresh, in house made chicken fried steak. I got the crab cakes benedict. The crab cakes were thick and majority meat. I would have got a plate of them on their own, but they were even better in the hollandaise. We were there very early, so I dunno if they get busy, but I wouldnt be surprised if they do. But the breakfast was 11 out of 10 in my book.

2 /5 Bill Freeman: My wife and I tried Gildas happy Hour on Monday afternoon, 9/29/25. We first went into the bar. Its a very cute but small bar. Eight people could fit comfortably; 10-12 if you were all friends and showered. I asked about the happy Hour, and the bartender said we could have it in the bar - which was full up at the time - or go into the main restaurant for it. Seeing that there was really no room at the bar, we went into the restaurant. As you can see from one of the accompanying pictures, the place was nearly deserted (about 4:45 pm). By the kitchen there was a man who appeared to be either the main waiter or the manager. I asked where we could sit for the happy hour, and he pretty rudely repled, "Happy Hour is in the bar." When I told him the bartender told us we could get happy hour in either the bar or the restaurant and that the bar was full, he begrudgingly told us to sit wherever we wanted, and promptly ignored us. Thank goodness there was a young lady there who obviously could see we were extremely put off by the guys attitude, and she very kindly and amicably showed us to a nice window seat. If it werent for her, we would have left immediately. She helped us with the happy hour menu for drinks and food, and we ordered. The food at happy hour is - thank goodness - half price, but still pricey. As you can see from the bill, we had crab cakes and calamari. We received two small crab cakes that were very mealy without much crab meat, and some very rubbery calamari. Even at half price, the two dishes were disappointments. Now to the cocktails. I had something called a "Smoke and Smash," which was little more than a couple ounces of mixed fluids, somewhere wherein there was some kind of distilled spirit - not very good. The Merlot was fine. The kicker is that our food was out and on the table long before the two simple drinks arrived. In fact, we were finished with the food before the drinks even came. I saw the bartender was busy with his eight customers, but ... really? The ONLY bright spot in our "experience" at Gildas was the young lady who helped us out. Jocelyn was kind, friendly, and helpful. She is a true ambassador for Gildas and should be recognized for her work. I only gave Gildas two stars for service because of the other employees there; if it had just been Jocelyns review, it would have been a 5+. Needless to say, we wont be going back to Gildas, and Im fairly certain that "Gilda" would be sorely disappointed at the treatment of some of her customers.

4 /5 Clint Chapel: I had the Wednesday Prime Rib Special, and it was delicious. My waitress was very sweet and attentive at the right time.

5 /5 Nina: We came on a Thursday afternoon for happy hour. Got a drink and beer for $8 each. Server was very friendly and noticed my husband didn’t like his beer so she asked if she can replace it with another kind at no cost to us. Second beer was much more delicious compared to the first (light) one that tasted watered down. Very old and “tired” building inside and out, it’s dated and due for a makeover; the atmosphere is of a “cafe/diner” rather than an oceanside restaurant. Got the $16 salmon special to go.