Focaccia – Santa Cruz mixed dining, loved it!

I know the reviews were mixed and the restaurant had recently reinvented itself as a new eatery, but the New Years dining experience was RIDICULOUS in the Cruz that night; we tried more than several restaurants on the west side and downtown – all with hour-long waits, exorbitant custom pricing menus for that one night, or just bad food. In retrospect, we were lucky and took the last bar/window seating at Focaccia on Water Street (we had not eaten there before but the frustration level was high and hunger factor even higher).

The staff is amazing, and the owner was very attentive himself and helped take care of us above and beyond. The menu is a mix of amazing looking Mexican dishes and delectable Italian plates. The salads were fresh and the dressing just right.

They have a decent wine list for a small eatery (seats 20 I would say), but the best treat came after dinner. The pasta plates we ordered were adequate and cooked well. Mine was a perfect mix of sauce and meat, while Charmian’s was slightly overcooked on the chicken – but I ate the leftovers the next day anyway.

I swear Charmian and I get more enthused about the desserts than the actual meal when we go places – and once again the Tiramasu was GREAT – but then we were treated to homemade frozen limoncello out of the glass – wow…felt like Italy again…thank you so much to a wonderful staff and a nice little restaurant.