Bantam

Loved it! That sums up my experience. Great cozy ambiance. The type of place where you feel comfortable right away. Great selection of wine, beer and cocktails. And their wood fired pizza is simply incredible. Their menu changes based on seasonal availability. So you know you will get nice and fresh options every time. Really yummy appetizers, salads and pizzas. Haven’t tried the entrees yet because the pizza is too good to skip it. But I’m sure they are good too. The pizza crust and sauce are flawless. I’m totally hooked. This is the kind of place good for all sorts of gatherings. Date night, pizza with friends, moms night out, etc. And it’s kid friendly too. Don’t worry, everyone seems to mingle without a fuss. It is a no reservation spot. And it gets pretty busy, so plan your visit to avoid a long wait.

Marisa Gomez

My favorite restaurant in Santa Cruz. The fried chicken is always good and I’ve loved every pizza I’ve tried here. Their seasonal nettle pizza was the best pizza I’ve ever had. The Caesar salad is unbelievably good. They have great drinks, though they are so expensive. I find the food to be fairly priced, but the drinks (like everywhere it seems) are way too expensive. Still, I just love this place so much. I love the ambiance and the energy. I actually like that you can’t make a reservation — it opens it up as more of a spontaneous option for me, whereas some places that take reservations I don’t even bother going if it’s on a whim. That might be more of a psychological quirk on my part than anything else though.

miguel chang

Dude, this place is legit 👌🏼. Bantam is my go-to for killer pizza 🍕 super authentic and packed with flavor. Threw some anchovies 🐟 on there and man… total game changer. Pizza 🍕 was fire 🔥. Tried the fried chicken 🍗 too crazy juicy, crispy, just straight-up delicious. And the bread 🍞 with olive oil 🍾? Bro… next level. Like, simple but perfect. If you’re in Santa Cruz 🏄🏻‍♂️ and not hitting up Bantam, you’re seriously missing out.

Luba Kharchenko

Our recent dinner at Bantam restaurant in Santa Cruz was a delightful and memorable experience. From the moment we walked in, we were impressed by the trendy and cool vibe of the place. Even on a Tuesday night, the restaurant was packed with diners, which added to its lively atmosphere. To start, we ordered a salad that was loaded with fresh vegetables, including crisp pickled cauliflower and tender asparagus. The flavors were fantastic and left us eager to try more. We opted for two pizzas - one with peppery arugula and Brigita cheese and another with creamy ricotta cheese and roasted eggplant. Both were expertly baked, with thin crusts that had just the right amount of chewiness. For dessert, we indulged in Bantam's famous booty pudding - a rich and decadent bread pudding that left us feeling fully satisfied. One highlight of our meal was how small but thoughtfully curated their menu is. We felt like every item on it was there for a reason, carefully chosen to showcase Bantam's focus on fresh ingredients and bold flavors. Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed our dinner at Bantam and highly recommend it to anyone looking for an exceptional dining experience in Santa Cruz. We look forward to returning soon!

Aishwarya Rajguru

Really unique pizza toppings and always delicious! They have a rotating menu so there’s always something new to try. Great desserts as well! Pizza + fine dining + Santa Cruz beaches. ❤️We’ve been here 3 times and will visit again.

Jeff Hansen

Great meal all the way around. They don’t do reservations so dropped in at 5pm when they opened for an early dinner. Filled up quickly - was rainy no outdoor seating - good vibe inside. Our waiter Spencer was fun and great service. Everything we got pretty darn tasty. Their bourbon specialty cocktail “The Professor” highly recommend. Chicken with sweet potatoes, pepperoni pizza, bread and butter and caesar salad all highly tasty. Going back for sure.

Alyssa Kearney

Great ambiance, friendly staff, and good drinks. The highlight was the Stinging Nettles pizza. Our server recommended it with such enthusiasm and I thank them for doing so because it is officially my favorite pizza I've ever had. I'm from Los Angeles and from now on, if I'm ever in the vicinity of Bantam, I'll be an excited returning diner!

Jared Ullrich

Great pizza! Super fancy and tasty! My kids loved it and I did too!!

gregory leach

Fun atmosphere. Went for a good pizza and got it. Felt weird ordering the fried chicken here but it was the best I ever had. Highly recommend this place. Our waiter was attentive and friendly.

MFG _

Bantam, was an absolutely incredible dining experience! To start, they offered an incredible selection of, wines, beers, and non alcoholic beverages. Food wise, I chose, their bacon, stone fruit, and buratta pizza, as well as a marinara pizza with sausage and mozzarella. I also had the seared scallops, and I kid you not, I have never eaten faster. The stone fruit added a great contrast to the bacon and buratta. The classic marinara, sausage, and mozzarella pizza was delicious, with a bit of a kick to it. The scallops where perfectly seasoned, and well seared. Everything complimented each other, in every dish. Absolutely delicious, I will definitely be sure to be back here!

Brendan Hallmark

My go to pizza place in Santa Cruz. Cant find many great tomato pies (marinara) around, let alone places that have vegan pizza that isn’t over produced with fake cheese. Great, friendly, and efficient service with great outdoor seating.

I love Bantam. You'll be tempted to order pizza, and you should, but your priority should be the fried chicken. Always available with variations (which keep it fun and interesting because I really do order it every time!). I just wish they took reservations!

One of my favorite dinner spots in Santa Cruz. The sopprasata pizza, Caesar salad and chocolate nemesis are sooo good! It can be quite load inside so if it’s not too cold I prefer outdoors.

One of two Michelin Bib Gourmand worthy places in Santa Cruz. Go for it. Excellent pizza, bread, and greens. Also best fried chicken this side of the Mississippi. Kids & dogs friendly (outside for the latter).

Imogen Clifton Shaw

One of my favorite dinner spots in Santa Cruz. The sopprasata pizza, Caesar salad and chocolate nemesis are sooo good! It can be quite load inside so if it’s not too cold I prefer outdoors.

Olivier Joly

One of two Michelin Bib Gourmand worthy places in Santa Cruz. Go for it. Excellent pizza, bread, and greens. Also best fried chicken this side of the Mississippi. Kids & dogs friendly (outside for the latter).

Madeline Newel

I love Bantam. You'll be tempted to order pizza, and you should, but your priority should be the fried chicken. Always available with variations (which keep it fun and interesting because I really do order it every time!). I just wish they took reservations!

Dad Zor

Amazing pizza using local, organic ingredients. Super attentive service too. We arrived shortly after opening and we were lucky to get the last available table. We had two margarita pizzas, one with rocket and a side order of cucumbers. Plenty for three adults and a hungry kid. I highly recommend!

Tried their thin crust Margherita pizza that is delicately topped with few blobs of marinara sauce and cheese with few basil leaves. It’s very light and good. However I’d delighted with a bit more of taste and flavourful sauce. Reading about wait times, decided to order online to go. That was a good call, however had to wait for more than 15min to get attention of staff the staff for pickup 🙁 Place is crowded and noisy. Pretty large seating area including outdoor seating. Still, People lineup and have to wait. Fyi - It is only open in the evening hours. Menu is simple.

Friendly servers, good vibes. Fresh ingredients for salad and pizza. I didn’t enjoy the salad but margarita and anchovy pizzas were both delicious.

Info Source

Tried their thin crust Margherita pizza that is delicately topped with few blobs of marinara sauce and cheese with few basil leaves. It’s very light and good. However I’d delighted with a bit more of taste and flavourful sauce. Reading about wait times, decided to order online to go. That was a good call, however had to wait for more than 15min to get attention of staff the staff for pickup 🙁 Place is crowded and noisy. Pretty large seating area including outdoor seating. Still, People lineup and have to wait. Fyi - It is only open in the evening hours. Menu is simple.

Amanda Shack

Although I haven't tried it yet, I'm sure the food here is great. I can tell they take themselves pretty seriously. However, please, for the love of everyone's sanity, pre-grate some Parmesan. I ordered to go, and it smells lovely. I tried to get some Parmesan to go and they told me they have to charge because it is FRESH grated Parm. Ok, fine. I pay. They were not kidding. It took 10 minutes for me to get a cup of parm and now the pizza is cold. I can't be the only one who has experienced this.

Their pizza is like, if someone who never had pizza explained to someone else how to make the pizza. Flavor was ok. But the construction of the pizza was poor. Burnt to a crisp hardly any cheese definitely not worth the price. Also kids pasta was watered down and had no real flavor. Staff was pleasant.

TLDR: overpriced, better places to spend your evening in Santa Cruz. Hostess was very nice, seated us quickly. The bartender refused to make a negroni with lillet: I was told it was “not possible” even though lillet WAS on the menu and there were 2 Negroni variations on the menu. The Caesar salad was DROWNED in dressing to the point where you could taste nothing except for the dressing. It was made with radicchio (not listed on description) impractically sized breadcrumbs. We took our pizza to go, only to discover it was slightly burnt.

Chris

Their pizza is like, if someone who never had pizza explained to someone else how to make the pizza. Flavor was ok. But the construction of the pizza was poor. Burnt to a crisp hardly any cheese definitely not worth the price. Also kids pasta was watered down and had no real flavor. Staff was pleasant.

Shayna B

TLDR: overpriced, better places to spend your evening in Santa Cruz. Hostess was very nice, seated us quickly. The bartender refused to make a negroni with lillet: I was told it was “not possible” even though lillet WAS on the menu and there were 2 Negroni variations on the menu. The Caesar salad was DROWNED in dressing to the point where you could taste nothing except for the dressing. It was made with radicchio (not listed on description) impractically sized breadcrumbs. We took our pizza to go, only to discover it was slightly burnt.

My partner and I have always enjoyed Bantam, but unfortunately the service during our visit tonight was disappointing. It was one of the quieter nights we’ve experienced here, and there were plenty of staff working, so the delays were hard to understand. Our server forgot to bring our drinks for over 30 minutes — we had already finished our appetizer before she realized. After we were done with our meal, it took another 30 minutes before she asked if we wanted dessert. By that point we’d lost interest and asked for the check, which never came. We waited yet another 30 minutes before she realized she hadn’t brought it at all. During this time, she continued serving tables around us while ignoring us entirely. To make matters worse, when I chose to tip 18% instead of the default 20% on the payment screen (which felt a bit unjustified given our experience), her tone noticeably changed and she gave us a dirty look. We’ve had really good experiences here in the past both in terms of food and service, which makes this even more disappointing. The food is still solid, but the service ruined our date.

We were really excited to try Bantam - it came highly recommended by staff at another restaurant we loved, and the space itself had a great, lively vibe. But unfortunately, our experience left us disappointed. It started with a wine order. I asked our server for a taste of a red, and several minutes after my partner’s drink arrived, a small, ambiguous pour was dropped off by someone else with no explanation. It looked too much for a taste but nowhere near a full glass. When our server came back, I asked about it. She insisted it was a full pour. I felt awkward pushing, but after noticing every other wine glass around us looked noticeably fuller (even after people had been drinking from them), I mentioned it again. She stood by her answer, until a few minutes later, when she came back to say it actually was a short pour (end of the bottle) and offered to fix it. I appreciated the correction, but by then the vibe had shifted and the service started to feel cold, like asking about the wine had been a faux pas. For food, we ordered a salad, a pizza, and a pasta. The salad (“Mixed Lettuces”) was sparse - basically a few leaves with vinegar (not vinaigrette, just vinegar), a couple radishes, and some sunflower seeds. At $16, it felt underwhelming, especially compared to other restaurants in the area. Still, we were mostly there for the pizza and pasta. Unfortunately, the mains took a very long time, with tables seated after us getting their food first. Our server eventually acknowledged the delay, which we appreciated, but when the dishes finally arrived, only the pizza was hot. The pasta wasn’t even lukewarm - it was fully cold, like it had been sitting out the whole time we waited. In a different setting, we might’ve spoken up, but given the chilly service we didn’t feel comfortable bringing it up. On our way out, my partner mentioned it to the manager, who agreed the pasta shouldn’t have been cold. Still, we left feeling more like a problem than guests. We’re both easygoing and rarely complain, and I’ve worked in restaurants myself, so I know off nights happen. But the mix of missteps and how they were handled didn’t reflect the warmth or hospitality we’ve experienced elsewhere in Santa Cruz.

Dave

My partner and I have always enjoyed Bantam, but unfortunately the service during our visit tonight was disappointing. It was one of the quieter nights we’ve experienced here, and there were plenty of staff working, so the delays were hard to understand. Our server forgot to bring our drinks for over 30 minutes — we had already finished our appetizer before she realized. After we were done with our meal, it took another 30 minutes before she asked if we wanted dessert. By that point we’d lost interest and asked for the check, which never came. We waited yet another 30 minutes before she realized she hadn’t brought it at all. During this time, she continued serving tables around us while ignoring us entirely. To make matters worse, when I chose to tip 18% instead of the default 20% on the payment screen (which felt a bit unjustified given our experience), her tone noticeably changed and she gave us a dirty look. We’ve had really good experiences here in the past both in terms of food and service, which makes this even more disappointing. The food is still solid, but the service ruined our date.

Rosie Lourentzatos

We were really excited to try Bantam - it came highly recommended by staff at another restaurant we loved, and the space itself had a great, lively vibe. But unfortunately, our experience left us disappointed. It started with a wine order. I asked our server for a taste of a red, and several minutes after my partner’s drink arrived, a small, ambiguous pour was dropped off by someone else with no explanation. It looked too much for a taste but nowhere near a full glass. When our server came back, I asked about it. She insisted it was a full pour. I felt awkward pushing, but after noticing every other wine glass around us looked noticeably fuller (even after people had been drinking from them), I mentioned it again. She stood by her answer, until a few minutes later, when she came back to say it actually was a short pour (end of the bottle) and offered to fix it. I appreciated the correction, but by then the vibe had shifted and the service started to feel cold, like asking about the wine had been a faux pas. For food, we ordered a salad, a pizza, and a pasta. The salad (“Mixed Lettuces”) was sparse - basically a few leaves with vinegar (not vinaigrette, just vinegar), a couple radishes, and some sunflower seeds. At $16, it felt underwhelming, especially compared to other restaurants in the area. Still, we were mostly there for the pizza and pasta. Unfortunately, the mains took a very long time, with tables seated after us getting their food first. Our server eventually acknowledged the delay, which we appreciated, but when the dishes finally arrived, only the pizza was hot. The pasta wasn’t even lukewarm - it was fully cold, like it had been sitting out the whole time we waited. In a different setting, we might’ve spoken up, but given the chilly service we didn’t feel comfortable bringing it up. On our way out, my partner mentioned it to the manager, who agreed the pasta shouldn’t have been cold. Still, we left feeling more like a problem than guests. We’re both easygoing and rarely complain, and I’ve worked in restaurants myself, so I know off nights happen. But the mix of missteps and how they were handled didn’t reflect the warmth or hospitality we’ve experienced elsewhere in Santa Cruz.