Walnut Avenue Cafe

A few weeks ago we had absolutely gorgeous weather in the Bay Area. As much as I love and miss having a true winter, I love the Spring just as much so it was extremely exciting to have 70+ degree weather in January. Now that we have Charlie, Nick and I are really into going places that we can take him with us. So we got up way early one Saturday and went into Santa Cruz (my new favorite place) and walked around for a bit before getting lunch at the Walnut Avenue Cafe.

I had searched for restaurants in Santa Cruz the night before because I've now been to two different places and wanted to find something new to visit that wasn't on the main road. Walnut Avenue is one block away from the main street in Santa Cruz, but I would not have noticed it had I not purposely kept my eye out for it online.

Obviously, as mandated by the law and by the gorgeous weather, we sat outside and ordered an amazing brunch. WAC's food has a lot of traditional hearty American fare. But while they have a lot of familiar staples, many of the items one up the basic options. Not just french toast, but french toast with bananas, walnuts, and whipped cream. And not just a hamburger but a pesto burger or a burger with blue cheese. I'm not sure if you've noticed by now, but Nick and I are really into traditional food with a kick. So this homey restaurant was definitely our cup of tea.

For the life of me I can't remember what Nick got, maybe the mushroom burger or the veggie melt? Either way, he loved it. Normally I'm the one who gushes over food and says how good it is, but this time it was Nick's turn. Don't get me wrong, though, the whole reason I can't remember what he got was because I was so busy gushing over my own meal of Ahi Tuna Benedict. Eggs Benedict is one of my all time favorite meals (I will usually ask for a crab cake or smoked salmon instead of Canadian bacon), but this one was over the moon fantastic. The sauce was amazing and the hashbrowns were so good I didn't even mind that I forgot to ask for french fries instead (although the fact that Nick had some of their amazing fries on his plate made up for that too).

We stuffed ourselves until we could stuff no more and begrudgingly did not look at the dessert menu. And when we paid the check, Nick forgot his credit card behind! It wasn't until we were over 30 minutes away walking with Charlie in one of the redwood filled state parks that we realized it. But after a quick phone call the manager mailed us the card and pretty much guaranteed without a doubt we'll be back again.