Restaurant review: Coastal comfort food paves the road to recovery at Davenport Roadhouse

After two weeks of the flu and living on soup and juice, I was craving real food.

[RussJ]

Dang, can any journalist write an article without filling with "I" "me" "we" and "my"? It's not about YOU. Readers are interested in the subject of the story. You're just not that interesting. See if you can state your opinion without saying "I" or "me" or "my". If the reader cares whose opinion it is, they can look for the author's name.

[John]

Oh, be nice. The nice lady wrote a harmless restaurant review in the first person narrative. It works fine.

[consumer]

Food is mediocre and service is bad...then it's expensive...given all the hype. Location, Location, Location, however...

[Omnivore]

Wow. I love this restaurant. I think the food is great, the service is excellent, and the prices are reasonable! Go figure! Nice review.

[Real West Side]

I thought it was far too expensive for the total experience we had there.

[C Vanatter]

I wasn't impressed with the service or the food... I grew old waiting for a simple cup of coffee and desert.

[Coulrophobia]

"The crisp-edged bread pudding tasted as if it had been made with whole-grain French toast, an interesting change for this often bland dessert..."
Huh? Bread pudding made with French toast? Bread pudding IS, essentially, French toast in a mounded, baked form.
The other odd detail here is chicken-under-a-brick made in the oven. Bricked chicken is done in a grill pan or on a grill. The brick is there to get good contact between the meat and the hot cooking surface, to cook it quickly and create a crisp crust. Even in a high-heat, wood-fired oven, the chicken would just bake -- brick or no brick.

[Krill]

I like the food a lot, but I had a terrible experience with a rude server.

[Samuel]

I live in Bonny Doon & Ann Parker described perfectly why I don't eat at the Roadhouse - every item is ala cart & not worth the price. I will not recommend it to anyone - very overpriced for the taste & quality. Once was enough for me & our family. Never again.

[richie rich]

no mention of the chef. weak at best

[Midtowners]

Sounds like half the people who posted complaints about the price should stick to McDonalds. Endless sniping at people who work hard, how very Santa Cruz. My family and I eat here regularly, and love it. Great article.

[Twocents]

richie rich wrote:

no mention of the chef. weak at best

Unfortunately, it's just an "ok" restaurant for the price, service and quality. It has such great potential with the location. The only new place I've been impressed with lately (for the price, service and quality farm-to-table food)is the new Bonny Doon Vineyard Cellar Door. The Exec. Chef Parker, was hand picked by Chef David Kinch..and he may be even better or at least on par with Chef Kinch himself.

[ouch]

sorry, midtowner....price doesn't make up for waiting in line longer than 10 minutes for a coffee & pastry.(and there was only a 3-person family in front of us!)

Price is high for stuff you can make yourself. BUT, if you want to eat in Davenport, it's 2nd only to the Bakery down the street~~ Whale City?...although their coffee needs to be improved.

Overall, a bag lunch at the beach w/homemade seared ahi (or whatever) takes the proverbial cake!

[exUSMC]

This one of my family's favorite restaurants, and have never been disappointed. They are making fresh food from scratch and using great local ingredients, supporting American farms. Expensive? Try $3.00 tacos, and all the weekly specials that I bring my family to attend. I consider this place a rising star of the Santa Cruz food scene. I think these folks are working hard and deserve community support.

[John]

My wife and I ate there about three weeks ago on a Saturday; the place was fairly busy and we thought it all was running well. The food was fine, and the prices are about on par with what's being charged in other places....if I had to be critical at all I would say that the coffee could have been better but other than that we had a good time, and I like this place alot better than the old cash store from 15-20 years ago.

[Dooner]

I would love to support this restaurant as it is super close to me. Unfortunately, I have had two disastrous experiences in the last 6 months and won't go back. 1st time - all four people at my table had to have their food returned because it was either undercooked, had not been de-scaled, or was cold. The server had filthy hands and was rude to us when we meekly asked for our food to be cooked a bit longer. The second time (three weeks ago!) we waited 17 minutes before a server came to us (and the place was maybe 2/3 full). Our fish was dry and our bread was stale.
Sorry, I'd love to have a neighborhood place to fall in love with - but the Roadhouse is certainly not that place.

[Coulrophobia]

Dooner wrote:

I would love to support this restaurant as it is super close to me. Unfortunately, I have had two disastrous experiences in the last 6 months and won't go back. 1st time - all four people at my table had to have their food returned because it was either undercooked, had not been de-scaled, or was cold. The server had filthy hands and was rude to us when we meekly asked for our food to be cooked a bit longer. The second time (three weeks ago!) we waited 17 minutes before a server came to us (and the place was maybe 2/3 full). Our fish was dry and our bread was stale.
Sorry, I'd love to have a neighborhood place to fall in love with - but the Roadhouse is certainly not that place.

Unscaled fish and dirty hands just about does it for me. Rudeness is the proverbial straw...

[santa cruz resident 2]

I have eaten several times over the last few months at this restaurant and will NEVER go back. Every time we went in, we waited forever, food was tastless and boring and the service truly sucked. Even location can't make up for it.

The reviewer must have been paid off somehow.

[twocents]

"The crisp-edged bread pudding tasted as if it had been made with whole-grain French toast, an interesting change for this often bland dessert..."
Huh? Bread pudding made with French toast? Bread pudding IS, essentially, French toast in a mounded, baked form.
The other odd detail here is chicken-under-a-brick made in the oven. Bricked chicken is done in a grill pan or on a grill. The brick is there to get good contact between the meat and the hot cooking surface, to cook it quickly and create a crisp crust. Even in a high-heat, wood-fired oven, the chicken would just bake -- brick or no brick.

[Coulrophobia]

twocents wrote:

"The crisp-edged bread pudding tasted as if it had been made with whole-grain French toast, an interesting change for this often bland dessert..."
Huh? Bread pudding made with French toast? Bread pudding IS, essentially, French toast in a mounded, baked form.
The other odd detail here is chicken-under-a-brick made in the oven. Bricked chicken is done in a grill pan or on a grill. The brick is there to get good contact between the meat and the hot cooking surface, to cook it quickly and create a crisp crust. Even in a high-heat, wood-fired oven, the chicken would just bake -- brick or no brick.

Why did you copy my post? What game are you playing, 2C?