Winter on the Wharf

Today was the type of day that screams, "This is why you live in Santa Cruz!" It's the middle of January and today was clear and warm, no tourists and the waves were excellent.
We did a late afternoon walk near Natural Bridges and then went over to Lighthouse Point watched the surfer's at Steamer's Lane. The waves were huge and the rides extremely long, winding around the point into Cowell's beach. From where we were standing on the point we could see across the water to the Santa Cruz wharf, which is situated next to the Boardwalk. Being a wintry Monday, the area was fairly deserted, which gave us an excuse to cruise on over to the wharf and see what kind of deals were available. We parked at the beginning of the wharf and walked the length, checking each of the restaurants for the best happy hour deals. Almost all the restaurants had some kind of specials, but nothing got our attention till we got to the end of the wharf and checked out Stagnaros Bros. restaurant.
This is an old school family restaurant attached to a seafood market. Its also got one of the best views of the Monterey Bay great for watching a sunset. They have some nice looking dinner specials but the real deals are in the upstairs bar. Windows on three sides of this room give a wonderful panoramic view of the bay and coast. The place has recently been remodeled, but thankfully they kept the old time nautical theme that reminds me of my youth, we'd come from San Jose for a day at the beach and then dinner on the wharf.
While the view is great, it was food we came for. The room was full, but luckily there was one table near a window available, which we grabbed. Almost immediately a server brought us some warm sourdough rolls with butter a nice touch for a happy hour setting. Your can order from the regular menu if you choose, but most people seemed to be here for the happy hour menu, and with good reason.
Drinkwise for three dollars you could choose from several craft and import beers, served by the pint, a glass of Salmon Creek wine or a well drink. I choose the Stagnaro Bros. Pale ale, which was light and flavorful.
The appetizer list was the most extensive we had seen on our walk down the wharf. Normall we would have choosen two apps for the two of us, but we were famished and frankly there were too many good things and we couldn't make up our minds, so we chose three. We chose, deep fried Calamari (5.95), Crab Cakes (6.95) and Blackened Ahi Tuna (6.95). When they all arrived we realized we could have stopped at two, the portions were very good sized, particularly the Calamrai, which was a huge portion. In the end though we were glad to have been able to try all three. Two other items of interest were the coconut prawns and half dozen oysters on the half shell. These both seemed popular at the other tables.
As I said the Calamari was a large portion battered in a nice flour based batter. The Calamari was tender and the batter was just right, slightly crisp and not greasy. My only quibble was the batter was a little bland, but the tartar sauce and cocktail sauce helped bring up the flavor. What really kicked it into gear was the Aoli sauce that came with the Crab Cakes. The fresh garlic in the sauce really finished off the Calamari. If you order just the Calamari, I'd ask for a side of Aoli.
Their were two Crab Cakes in a serving and they came on a bed of salad, which had a light vinigrette. The cakes were slightly crunchy on the outside, fro the cracker based coating and moist and flavorful on the inside. Plenty of crab and not a lot of filler. My wife usually leaves these to me, but one bite and she claimed her full share.
The real standout here was the Blackened Ahi Tuna. This was more of a seafood salad. The tuna sat atop a mound of "Asian greens" and was drizzled with a slightly spicy sauce. Even split there was plenty for both of us, though I might be tempted to order this one just for myself. All this food, including drinks set us back around $25.00, throw in the view and you have one great deal.
Since we had been so frugal, we decided to treat ourselves. So on the walk back to the car we stopped at Marini's at the Beach, a local candy store or maybe just candy heaven. We choose two plump candied apricots dipped in dark chocolate, a great way to top off a great meal.

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Stagnaro Bros. Restaurant
Santa Cruz Wharf
Santa Cruz, CA