Mr. Toots

Love this place. Been going there for years!!! Always great music, with a great vibe. Also the million dollar view is always amazing to see. Great place to eat and shop right around the corner.

Great Capitola beach semi dive bar with dramatic sunset views over the water and wharf. Food is excellent with super happy hour deals. Very friendly ambience as well.

The band was fire. We had a few drinks ....but i can just come and listen to the music

Had a great lil lunch today. I tried The cheeseburger and my hubby had the fish tacos. Was such a great view and the service was super fast.

We had good weather and great views on the small but pleasant deck overlooking the water and pier beyond. Our server, Elizabeth was very friendly and prompt. We had beer and cocktails along with their wings and prawns appetizers. All very tasty. The bar looked like one is belly up to as we're some likely locals while we were there.

Our first time at the Sandbar - easy parking on a Friday morning in January, nice local vibe, great service, and super yummy food. I had the seared ahi salad which was more than enough for two meals. My sweetie had the traditional breakfast with sausage, which was scarfed up before I could get a bite. Looking forward to coming back soon.

Best steak salad I’ve had in decades. Not kidding. The skirt steak was tender and delicious and the view from the back patio is so nice.

We sat outside, view was spectacular this was the weekend of the massive waves that took out part of the S.Cruz wharf. Started with Ceviche and chips, split the calamari sandwich and steak sandwich. I recommend going later so you can stay for the music, 5 nights a week.

Great little dive bar with cool crowd and vibes. The music is a great blend of classic rock and modern hits. There is a cover band that reminds me of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Definitely recommend, good times and dancing..

We had the Veggie Scramble for breakfast. Our table overlooked the beach/ocean/river/colorful houses. Both the food and view are fantastic! Reasonable prices for what you get. Service is very friendly and personable. We ate her twice during our visit :)

This is worth the Long Island tea! Their drinks at any hour is happy hour. Crab cakes sandwich is top of the line, onion rings are crunchy but chewy, and the seared tuna is nicely seared. A stroll around the wharf helps to digest and keep pleasant memories of this restaurant etched into the recess of your mind filed under, "Must come back again for the Long Island Tea!"

The best Fish Tacos. We sat on the back deck in January, in the sun, next to the beach and had wonderful service. The "Painted Ladies Building " was right in front of us.

The nachos are so awesome. We had two of them. Great selection of beer on tap. great view of the ocean and the birds and the wildlife.

Great calamari sandwich. A little too much cold slaw but I ate some with a fork then it was great. Refill in drinks a little slow. We are outside enjoying the ocean view. waitress was very nice and helpful. We’ll be back.

Excellent breakfast! There was nothing I would change! Really! Pancakes, sausage, eggs, bacon, toast all perfectly done. Cute place. Highly recommend.

Excellent customer service, had dinner and drinks, then stayed to enjoy the live music, The Mighty Sons played and they were fantastic! I had steak tacos and my husband had the shirt steak with grilled mushrooms and onions, we both loved our dishes, delicious. We also had the crab cakes as an appetizer and A Couples Paradise is what the drink is called.

Monday night had a live band. Vibe is good. $5 cover charge. Sat outside on deck. Good calamari with fries. Basic bloody Mary. It wasn't strong. Had two, walked out feeling as if I didn't have any drinks. But it was still ok. Blackened fish on a tostada.

Yes! A must! Great staff, food, drinks and live music most nights. Happy Hour specials weekdays. Beautiful views. Back patio sits on the water. One of the Happy Hour Specials: $10 Burger, fries & drink (beer, wine, well, soda) ... Mention Happy Hour Burger special when ordering. And absolute pleasure. Have enjoyed multiple visits... breakfast, lunch & dinner.

Seafood was on point. Went many times, and was great all around. Visitation from Hawaii

What an amazing location it’s not really a dive bar. It’s very high-end if that. Beautiful view for lagoon and colorful houses, you can see the pier from here although it’s not that much after the storm you can also see the beach and people relaxing. Have a beer here a decent price sitting out on the deck.

Sandra Verboom

We had the Veggie Scramble for breakfast. Our table overlooked the beach/ocean/river/colorful houses. Both the food and view are fantastic! Reasonable prices for what you get. Service is very friendly and personable. We ate her twice during our visit :)

M.A. EatsArt

This is worth the Long Island tea! Their drinks at any hour is happy hour. Crab cakes sandwich is top of the line, onion rings are crunchy but chewy, and the seared tuna is nicely seared. A stroll around the wharf helps to digest and keep pleasant memories of this restaurant etched into the recess of your mind filed under, "Must come back again for the Long Island Tea!"

Frank Novak

The best Fish Tacos. We sat on the back deck in January, in the sun, next to the beach and had wonderful service. The "Painted Ladies Building " was right in front of us.

Iben Rodriguez

The nachos are so awesome. We had two of them. Great selection of beer on tap. great view of the ocean and the birds and the wildlife.

Scott Piggott

Great calamari sandwich. A little too much cold slaw but I ate some with a fork then it was great. Refill in drinks a little slow. We are outside enjoying the ocean view. waitress was very nice and helpful. We’ll be back.

Shellie Wylie

Excellent breakfast! There was nothing I would change! Really! Pancakes, sausage, eggs, bacon, toast all perfectly done. Cute place. Highly recommend.

REEDmy RIGHTS

Monday night had a live band. Vibe is good. $5 cover charge. Sat outside on deck. Good calamari with fries. Basic bloody Mary. It wasn't strong. Had two, walked out feeling as if I didn't have any drinks. But it was still ok. Blackened fish on a tostada.

Laura Duran

Excellent customer service, had dinner and drinks, then stayed to enjoy the live music, The Mighty Sons played and they were fantastic! I had steak tacos and my husband had the shirt steak with grilled mushrooms and onions, we both loved our dishes, delicious. We also had the crab cakes as an appetizer and A Couples Paradise is what the drink is called.

Levi Westervelt

Seafood was on point. Went many times, and was great all around. Visitation from Hawaii

KG Freebird

Yes! A must! Great staff, food, drinks and live music most nights. Happy Hour specials weekdays. Beautiful views. Back patio sits on the water. One of the Happy Hour Specials: $10 Burger, fries & drink (beer, wine, well, soda) ... Mention Happy Hour Burger special when ordering. And absolute pleasure. Have enjoyed multiple visits... breakfast, lunch & dinner.

Taufiq Habib

What an amazing location it’s not really a dive bar. It’s very high-end if that. Beautiful view for lagoon and colorful houses, you can see the pier from here although it’s not that much after the storm you can also see the beach and people relaxing. Have a beer here a decent price sitting out on the deck.

Loved it. Super sweet server, DELICIOUS mahi and prawn tacos 🌮, and a nice hibiscus lemonade mocktail. Kitchen was very quick to send out our order. Seating is a little tight out back but it’s perfect for on the beach.

Dorothy Vaccaro

Loved it. Super sweet server, DELICIOUS mahi and prawn tacos 🌮, and a nice hibiscus lemonade mocktail. Kitchen was very quick to send out our order. Seating is a little tight out back but it’s perfect for on the beach.

Great little bar with outside seating with views of Capitola ‘pastel’ apartments. Crab quesadilla is delicious. Great to see it rebuilt and going again.

Great place for breakfast. Bacon, shrimp Bloody's are a treat. Food has a home cooked feel. Barton, the bar tender is very attentive and friendly - makes the trip over the hill worth it.

I didn’t have food but there was no spot to rate the drinks. I ordered Kettle One and soda and got a drink that tasted like dish detergent. Blech! The worst part of a nice evening.

Love the view at the back of the Bar. Waitress was very nice and check on us even the place was very busy. Food needs improvement, fish and chips had no taste (fish) the clam chowder soup was really good. Great atmosphere!

The food was really good! Had the Santa Cruz coconut prawn tacos and my husband had the ceviche! Both excellent and large portions. Katy our waitperson was upbeat and attentive. Also had the house margarita, very yummy. Sat outside as the evening sunshine was lovely! Definitely worth a stop just for good food & beverage & great setting.

Food was absolutely delicious and the service was great. It was a bit of a wait to get a seat but it was well worth it. The western bacon and garlic fries were super yummy. If you eat on the balcony you get a great view of the ocean. We got lucky and it wasn’t super crowded but it can be pretty crazy at times, really depends on the day. Delicious place to eat if you’re tired of the usual.

I went down to help support the recently storm damaged businesses in town. I was met with a cheerful hello and a nice warm place to have lunch. I had the toasted BLT and fries. Good proportions at a decent price. The sandwich was a bit on the greasy side for my tastes, but it was very good otherwise. I'll try it another day with a request to use a little less oil next time. I recommend the place for sure!

Nice ambiance, good food with good service. We have ordered clam chowder which was not that great. Coconut shrimp was favorite and crab cakes were awesome too. Liked the fish and chips ,fish was fresh but little bit salt was less. Mahi mahi sandwich was ok . Over all good experience

Don Chivazo

Love the view at the back of the Bar. Waitress was very nice and check on us even the place was very busy. Food needs improvement, fish and chips had no taste (fish) the clam chowder soup was really good. Great atmosphere!

Teresa Loftus Allen

The food was really good! Had the Santa Cruz coconut prawn tacos and my husband had the ceviche! Both excellent and large portions. Katy our waitperson was upbeat and attentive. Also had the house margarita, very yummy. Sat outside as the evening sunshine was lovely! Definitely worth a stop just for good food & beverage & great setting.

Brandon Thompson

Food was absolutely delicious and the service was great. It was a bit of a wait to get a seat but it was well worth it. The western bacon and garlic fries were super yummy. If you eat on the balcony you get a great view of the ocean. We got lucky and it wasn’t super crowded but it can be pretty crazy at times, really depends on the day. Delicious place to eat if you’re tired of the usual.

Jeff Larson

I went down to help support the recently storm damaged businesses in town. I was met with a cheerful hello and a nice warm place to have lunch. I had the toasted BLT and fries. Good proportions at a decent price. The sandwich was a bit on the greasy side for my tastes, but it was very good otherwise. I'll try it another day with a request to use a little less oil next time. I recommend the place for sure!

Sharmili Roy

Nice ambiance, good food with good service. We have ordered clam chowder which was not that great. Coconut shrimp was favorite and crab cakes were awesome too. Liked the fish and chips ,fish was fresh but little bit salt was less. Mahi mahi sandwich was ok . Over all good experience

I have been coming for the last 5 years. What got me to return was the fish n chips. This last time, the fish was half the size as before. Which was quite disappointing. I would pay more for regular size. I won't be comingback

My family visited Capitola yesterday and of course, being at the beach, they wanted clam chowder bread bowls. I decided on The Sand Bar since it was right in front of us. I placed an order for 2 clam chowder bread bowls and 1 regular bowl of chowder to go. My total came out to $51.24. What surprised me was the automatic 18% gratuity they added for a to-go order. Crazy times… but wow! If I had known, I wouldn’t have been as shocked.

Only ordered their garlic fries that came with a small cup of Ranch dressing. A spoonful of minced garlic was tossed it under the fries. I had to add my own salt and pepper. They did not taste like they were seasoned in any way. The view from their outside deck was pleasant and the service was great.

Typical beachfront bar/restaurant. Food was meh, service was meh, location is great on a sunny afternoon. Pro/cons for outside patio.. seating is bar stools along the deck edge with seating inward.. so if ur sitting at a table ur view can instantly be blocked by somebody sitting on a barstool. Like most places in Capitola, much more enjoyable when less people around.... good luck with that...

I had the garlic lemon dill salmon with mashed potatoes. Maybe it was because I came in 15 minutes before the kitchen closed, or I got some bad salmon or something, but the veggies and the salmon were very oily and had a blue cheese-esque funk to them. The mashed potatoes were fine. I still finished the meal, but a while after I got home, my stomach started hurting and I ended up having to throw up because the food was not sitting well. I recommend caution when ordering the salmon dinner option. My girlfriend loved the mahi mahi tacos, which is why this review has two stars instead of zero. Also, the lemonade kind of tasted like foot. Overall an odd experience.

UPDATE: I went again on 6/21/22 and changing my review because the ceviche that I had last time was amazing but this time, it totally changed in flavor and had mostly shrimp with barely any of the fish ceviche (which is my favorite). I was disappointed it was not like the last time. The ceviche was a huge reason why I came back, however I won't be coming back. Not sure why they changed it... Also the Paloma was not good. Previous review:I am happy to say I was content with what I ate!!! I am a ceviche connoisseur and I was pleasantly surprised with how delicious the ceviche was! It has both fish and shrimp ceviche. My preference is usually fish, but this was so good that it didn't matter!- one of the best!!! I also felt the size of it was filling. The clam chowder was good; I would say above average but I have also tasted some that are 5/5 in the past, so this is more like a 4/5. Also, I was not a big fan of the environment inside the restaurant- it seemed too touristy. But luckily, we ate outside in the patio and we were watching the beach and the colorful homes from there. Outside, it is a less clean though because of the birds. But because of the view outside, it has a nice feeling and the waitress was really kind!

Meyerlyn S

UPDATE: I went again on 6/21/22 and changing my review because the ceviche that I had last time was amazing but this time, it totally changed in flavor and had mostly shrimp with barely any of the fish ceviche (which is my favorite). I was disappointed it was not like the last time. The ceviche was a huge reason why I came back, however I won't be coming back. Not sure why they changed it... Also the Paloma was not good. Previous review:I am happy to say I was content with what I ate!!! I am a ceviche connoisseur and I was pleasantly surprised with how delicious the ceviche was! It has both fish and shrimp ceviche. My preference is usually fish, but this was so good that it didn't matter!- one of the best!!! I also felt the size of it was filling. The clam chowder was good; I would say above average but I have also tasted some that are 5/5 in the past, so this is more like a 4/5. Also, I was not a big fan of the environment inside the restaurant- it seemed too touristy. But luckily, we ate outside in the patio and we were watching the beach and the colorful homes from there. Outside, it is a less clean though because of the birds. But because of the view outside, it has a nice feeling and the waitress was really kind!

Albert Hejmadi

I had the garlic lemon dill salmon with mashed potatoes. Maybe it was because I came in 15 minutes before the kitchen closed, or I got some bad salmon or something, but the veggies and the salmon were very oily and had a blue cheese-esque funk to them. The mashed potatoes were fine. I still finished the meal, but a while after I got home, my stomach started hurting and I ended up having to throw up because the food was not sitting well. I recommend caution when ordering the salmon dinner option. My girlfriend loved the mahi mahi tacos, which is why this review has two stars instead of zero. Also, the lemonade kind of tasted like foot. Overall an odd experience.

Appalled by the behavior at this establishment. My family ordered food and drinks at the restaurant this morning and I went next door to grab a couple of slices of pizza for our two kiddos. When I came back, the waitress hollered at us for bringing outside food in, which I completely understand their rule, however her and the bartender's yelling was completely embarrassing. This could have been handled differently, but instead, we left and we'll never be back. So much for the magic of Capitola. Hope my kids don't remember that interaction.

Worst experience ever. The waitress was nice but she got our order wrong and was bringing us random food. She also charged us for three kids quesadillas when we ordered 2 and when I told her she says she charged us 3 because we had three kids (one is a 4month old). That’s no excuse. My brother asked for the receipt and the waitress handed him a blank piece of paper. The lady behind the counter was extremely rude and told us that we sat down when there was a 20 min wait so therefore we threw them off. She had actually told us to sit where we wanted to and told the same thing to the family behind us. The restaurant was not busy at all and it had open tables. With a sign that said please sit yourself. She was also talking behind our backs when we were leaving. Very unprofessional and rude. She definitely needs better customer service skills and not blame the costumers for her mistakes.

DO NOT USE YOUR ATM/CREDIT Card here. !!!!! We ate here 10/19/25 & were over charged with a tip taken that i did NOT authorize on my card with my signature!! Since then, I have emailed the Owner “Jeff” , gave messages to Manager “Tania” & left messages for accountant “Bonnie “ -NO ONE HAS called be back!!. These people STEAL/TAKE your money - I did NOT leave a tip & the server “Tania” TOOK a tip anyway !!! Furthermore the food is overpriced for the Gordons Fish quality of food!!! Next step is reporting to BBB. Look at other customers reviews- this has happened before!!!!

I paid over 100$ worth of food and received my food with barely anything inside. I went back inside to ask where the rest of my food is and they must've hunted all of the squid in the sea because the man at the register said that he "couldn't control the weight of the box or how much was inside". Meanwhile, the cook in the back said that they ran out of calamari so they had to distribute what they had left at 3pm. Very disappointing by something rated 4.2 stars and wasn't busy, not returning because of this bad service and communication. They could've at least mentioned this issue and asked if we wanted to switch what we had ordered to something they had more of. The food also wasn't fresh and had no flavor whatsoever, its taste is comparable to the back of Ghandis slipper. I ordered lemonade and that was also very off-putting as well.

We came here just for brunch and only ordered two sandwiches—nothing else. We left an 18% tip, but they charged 25% to our credit card on the second day. I cannot accept this kind of behavior. We will never return to this location again.

Michael Randall

DO NOT USE YOUR ATM/CREDIT Card here. !!!!! We ate here 10/19/25 & were over charged with a tip taken that i did NOT authorize on my card with my signature!! Since then, I have emailed the Owner “Jeff” , gave messages to Manager “Tania” & left messages for accountant “Bonnie “ -NO ONE HAS called be back!!. These people STEAL/TAKE your money - I did NOT leave a tip & the server “Tania” TOOK a tip anyway !!! Furthermore the food is overpriced for the Gordons Fish quality of food!!! Next step is reporting to BBB. Look at other customers reviews- this has happened before!!!!