Hula's Island Grill

I celebrated my birthday here with my partner and it was our first time at Hula’s. We had such a wonderful experience, largely thanks to our server, Sarah H! Sarah was absolutely lovely and incredibly knowledgeable about the menu. She walked us through several options and gave thoughtful recommendations for both drinks and food. Everything she suggested was fantastic…(in fact, the items she recommended ended up being our favorites of the night!). She was also extremely attentive and detail oriented. At one point she noticed that my partner’s salad was missing the pumpkin seeds that were supposed to come with it. It was such a small detail that easily could have been overlooked (we ourselves didn’t notice!), but she caught it right away and fixed it. That level of care really stood out.

Really good happy hour drink and food specials every day! There was a slight wait on a Tuesday (all day happy hour), but the service, vibe, and prices were definitely worth it!

I visited to celebrate my birthday and the food was very good. For some reason, our server forgot several of our requests — we asked for napkins three times and never received them:(. However, they did bring out a delicious birthday cake!

We loved this cute bar. The ambiance and decor are charming and the lighting was good (Why do so many places struggle with this?) We went there a few nights and the woman who helped us was sweet and our drinks were good. The only reason that I didn’t give it another star was because they called last call before we arrived there early on Friday (It was 8:50 and the place still had customers. Umm…what is wrong with Santa Cruz? Does one need to eat at 4pm to go out for a drink?)

Everything was excellent but I would like to caution diners that there are paintings that depict some partial nudity. For a place that caters also to children, I feel that this must be appropriately addressed, as my young son was intently staring at one such piece of art. Otherwise, the food, drinks, and service were excellent! We were well attended, and food both arrived quickly and cooked very well! I am a little confused by the Johnny Cakes, though - they are advertised as Jamaican but look nothing like any I've ever seen.