The Art Bar and Cafe

Super creative, healthy and delicious! I’ve been inspired by my experience here. The breakfast bowl was really, really good and the pour-​over coffee was perfectly perfect in a real large coffee cup & saucer! Clean, hip atmosphere with outdoor seating. Thanks guys for the friendly, professional service. I highly recommend this place if you like clean, creative food choices. Kudos!

Gem! Love their happy hour. Tasty cocktails and apps at good prices.
I love the Woolfs moon and the D’Vinci gimlet. The seaweed popcorn and the caprese are great apps. And they have Sante Adiaurius on tap! Highly recommend this place

The Art Bar graciously hosted us, a bunch of dirty mountain bikers, after a day of trail work on the U Conn trail. The Art Bar is in the perfect location right at the base of the Pogonip trails, I will definitely be back for a beer and a meal after mountain bike rides. Bonus: You can bring your bikes into the courtyard and keep an eye on them while you relax.

This place was horrible. Not sure where the 5 stars came from. We ordered 2 paninis and were told they were pre-​made — should have been our first red flag. The coffee tasted like folgers which was surprising for such a hipster-​esque place in Santa Cruz. Overall a total dud.

The Art Bar and Café is currently closed for renovations and upgrades. I hear it will be reopening sometime in December or by the new year. This will be great as the nearby Art Theater is also now open. Should be a great place to go before and after any Theater and Art events being held at the Tannery.

Located past downtown on river street this place has some awesomess. It’s a non profit. The parking is practically unlimited, and it’s also accessible via the San Lorenzo riverwalk, should you chose to bike on down.
It can be tricky to find the first time as it’s in the center of the tannery art complex. Unless it’s monday which is the extremely popular open mic poetry night in which. Then you just look for the crowd. It goes without saying that if you want food or drink on Monday timing is everything. On Monday’s the early bird is most definitely rewarded.
The food standards are high, even though some items are cheaply sourced. All the food items are superb.
The coffee is excellent, and the Art Bar has perhaps the best tap selection for strong ale in all of santa cruz. Getting a coffee and a sweet won’t hurt ye olde wallet too much but regarding the other and drink options-​you certainly will pay more for quality.
This currently is one of the best places to get a real feel for Santa Cruz.

The food is amazing. Perfect portions… Myself and my friends thoroughly enjoyed everything. They even let me taste a sample before ordering. Just ask!
The air conditioning was broken so it was hot in there… But they had fans… They tried…
The décor is interesting and all in a all, a nice experience and at a fair price.

Delicious Peanut Noodle Bowl with Ginger Chicken. Also had a cinnamon roll with cream cheese frosting. Staff is very friendly and accommodating of special dietary needs.

Never as a last resort but always as a desire to have something different and not filled with corn ingredients or subsidies. I always look forward to eating at The Artbar. My favorite being the Kingsolver’s Sweet Potato. Yum!

I am so happy I found this place through Unilocal!I was visiting Santa Cruz for the first time, and wanted to experience more of the artistic culture present. Every performer was very talented, and even the ones who had some challenges, the audience was very supportive and the environment felt like a family. There is true talent in Santa Cruz! It was such an eclectic night of performances, and enjoyed the bar ladies (very kind!), and the beer/​food was pretty good. It’s within the Tanner Arts Center, which was also a fantastic find and I will definitely take classes and spend more time at this center next time. Go support locals!

Coffee and wine makes this my favorite place ever. The chinese chicken salad is really good, I love that they have delicious stuff that’s also healthy. I come here with my friends and it’s now a staple.

Great little spot for delicious coffee options, food choices, and ART! There is always something inspiring happening at the Art Bar in the evenings.

Wanted to grab a quick drink with my boyfriend before dinner. Found this place at the top of our Unilocal list and gave it a shot. Super quiet and cute area, hip and friendly staff! Definitely recommend to anyone passing by!

Ideally located at the Tannery
Adorable owner Kevin
Beautifully crafted and decorated, artsy-​chic, you can chill, work or meet with friends at every hour of the day or of the evening.
A lot of creative events, music, poems, a wonderful community around
Good food, good beer, good wine, and an excellent vibe…
I must also addTHE BEST CROISSANT in town! Better that all the fanciest «french» bakery everywhere, I’ve never tasted croissant that reminds me my native country like at the Art Bar!

I’ve only ever been here for the weekly open mic, and every time you get the best service, most delicious food and excellent drink prices — what more do you need! The customers here are a nice touch, and tell you that the place is worth checking out — very open, down to earth and supportive! Again, speaking from my experience at the open mic. Definitely check it out!

I stumbled into the ArtBar happenstance, and it’s now my favorite local hangout. Free WiFi, friendly staff, and healthy, locally produced and hand-​prepared foods… plus a great rotating selection of wines and local beers! Daytime hours are quiet, with soft background music — great for enjoying an espresso while working, or for lunch with friends. They host community events on most evenings, generally focused on live music and the arts. And they donate 30% of their profits to arts education! Definitely worth a visit. :)

Probably the best food served in a café in town. There are also lots of awesome free events and workshops. Super inspiring place; highly recommended.

Went here on a whim because we were in the area. I was mostly hoping for a decent cup of coffee & assuming a café wouldn’t have food that I could eat on my low-​carb (diabetic friendly) diet. I was wrong!!! They have a modest but impressive selection of foodstuffs, coffee drinks, beer and wine.
Very artsy-​hipster-​chic atmosphere and decorations, which I can dig.

This place is really the best new café/​bar in town! The décor is super modern with vaulted ceilings, an old piano, an antique type writer and a metal chandelier above the bar.
This is a new venue and they do tend to run outta food, but they’ll dial it in.
Everyone is super friendly and awesome. They have poetry readings on Monday nights, live music and various activities. The owners are awesome and the place has an awesome vibe. I’ll be back!

I’m a Santa Cruz local and I’ve been a regular at the art bar since the day it opened. This is such an incredible contribution to the local community. There is no place that I know of that has this combination of wholesome food on a budget, good beer on tap, excellent live music and poetry, and the best community vibe in Santa Cruz. You can hang out and do your coffee work thing, your late night music beer thing, or your midday lunch thing. This place seems to fill every role imaginable. But more than anything, there is some real love at the heart of this place.
Come to the art bar if you want to feel like you’re coming home.