Paradise Beach Grille - Capitola, CA

My Mom and I had to run over to Santa Cruz for a few errands and maybe a little bit of bonding time. We both declared ourselves famished so we decided to try somewhere new for dinner - Why not the Paradise Beach Grille in Capitola Village?

If you find a metered parking spot right on the beach be prepared to shell out almost $2 in quarters to have the meter green for about an hour! Capitola must making a killing in the summer with those meters! Cha-ching!

Inside the restaurant we were seated very quickly. When asked where we would like to sit we said inside, it was so chilly in Capitola - maybe next time if we were dressed warmer. Did you notice what is floating in my water glass? Cucumber - how spa like! The little things, it's the little things.

Clam Chowder? Yes, please! My mom and I both had a cup. My consensus: I liked the consistency, the right amount of potato to seafood - however, it was not served hot enough for my liking. I like my soup, chowder, bisque - whatever - served with a little steam! My mom thought it was too thick, maybe a little too paste like. Opinions, opinions we all have them! Did you notice my crayon artwork - always marketing!

This my friends is what they call "The Cake Walk" - And by that name they serve: Petite servings of Rock Crab Cake, Smoked Salmon Cake and Rock Shrimp Crab Cake. When I saw this on the menu you know I could not pass it up! Holy yum. The sauces were each a little different. One smoky, one sweet and the other a little tangy. I noticed one thing, it was a little salty but I didn't mind it too much because I have a taste for that kind of thing.

Kathy Good Taste ordered a salad, the Pacific Rim Salad to be exact. Grilled teriyaki chicken breast, marinated rice noodles, mandarin oranges, water chestnuts, tomatoes, cucumbers, shredded carrots and toasted almonds tossed with fresh greens served with a miso vinaigrette. That was a mouthful and a huge mound of salad! I swear they used two cans of mandarian oranges on this baby. My mom ate her way around it and tried to finish it. She couldn't even finish half! Big salad.

This was my first experience at the Paradise Beach Grille and I would be happy to return. Maybe sit outside on a nice day and enjoy a cocktail and a few appetizers. When we went last night we were seated next a large group who seemed to be having a business meeting so it did get quite loud. Not the restaurants fault but it did distract from our meal. The server was pretty prompt but at the end of meal when we were ready to go we had to flag someone down to find him. No worries though, he must have been busy. Like I said before, it is just the little things...