Bay Area Visitor's Guide & Nightlife, Santa Cruz, Captiloa, Monterey,
Carmel, Los Gatos Bars
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BAY AREA EXTRAS: S.F. CITY GUIDE: NO LAST CALL! ° PubClub Home Page ° Free Newsletter ° Be a PubClubber! ° Party Events Calendar Photos and text on bars, nightlife and events in Santa Cruz, Los Gatos, Capitola Beach, Monterey and Carmel.
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Welcome to The Bay Area – Santa Cruz, Monterey!
Not all the action is in the City. Just outside of San Francisco are some fun towns that have a thriving bar scene all their own. The Peninsula
CAPITOLA BEACH/SANTA CRUZ – Beauty and the beach come together. Great days in this part of the world start at Zelda's in Capitola. Its huge wooden deck sits poised over the beach and excellent breakfasts, which served are well past noon. This is best followed by margaritas (which USED to include double shots for an extra buck). The great days continue a couple doors down at Margaritaville. This is the kind of place where you go intending to have only one or two drinks to continue the fine buzz from at Zelda's but wind up staying for hours. That's because pretty soon, people from all over the area have wandered in and next thing you know, it's dark. The option is either to waste the night away here or head 10 minutes down the road to Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz is home to the UCSC Banana Slugs (actual school nickname), where '60s surfers collide with the waves but little else. The Catalyst is a world-famous bar, attracting top bands from all over the globe. It's a big, live music bar with pool tables. A very, very local spot is the Red Room. Palomar is a pretty nice joint to enjoy a few drinks.
LOS GATOS – Walk the streets of downtown Los Gatos and it's hard not to be impressed that the people who live here can actually afford all this stuff. Party with them anyway. Start at The Black Watch, which makes one of the best "house" drinks you can find anywhere Afterward, walk to the nice and classy Los Gatos Bar & Grill. This is the time and place to pick your mate. The place closes at 11 and afterward, people walk across to another room in the same building, Mount Charley's, a large dive dance club. A good drunk test is to ask yourself if the band sounds good. If the answer is "yes," then you are drunk. MONTEREY/CARMEL – This is one of the most beautiful places in California. It's right along the coast, with crashing waves, deep-blue water and enough scenic spots to keep the senses buzzing for hours. Pebble Beach, with its famous golf courses, is located here as is legendary Laguna Seca Raceway with its annual CART and motorcycle events and historic races featuring really expensive classics. The scenery is unstoppable. Just pause anywhere along the Highway 1 coast and admire the view – water lapping up against the rocks, fishing boats in Monterey Harbor, sea otters within few yards of shore, rolling hills just minutes from the sea.Learn all about the aquatic region at the spectacular Monterey Bay Aquarium. Then take the 17-mile drive, about the most scenic 17 miles one can drive anywhere in the world. Continue past the guard gate to the golf club at Pebble Beach, where Tom Watson chipped in on 17 to win the '82 U.S. Open, Tiger Woods dominated in '00 and Bill Murray creates havoc and laughs at the annual PGA Pro-Am. Adjacent Carmel is so exclusive it has art galleries on every block that the residents actually shop in and houses that don't require a mailing address. Any restaurant here is likely to be excellent.The Green Grocery has a classy patio outside and a rustic bar with a fireplace downstairs that keeps diners cozy. Roy's in Spanish Bay is upscale food in an upscale atmosphere; there's a couple of equally elegant bars on the property for those after-dinner drinks. Local resident Clint Eastwood used to own the Hog's Breath, which also has a fireplace in a brick-floor restaurant/bar. For fun, check out Jack London's Bar, a dive in the middle of elegance (we just love the contrast). Away from downtown in Carmel Valley is another casual spot with killer margaritas, Baja Cantina. It's obvious the owner is a huge race car fan. In Monterey the best bar action is downtown and not on touristy Cannery Row. There's a half-dozen places within a two-block area. Lallapalooza is an after-work/early evening martini bar and restaurant, a perfect prelude to the Mucky Duck. The latter is an English pub in the front (with excellent food for such an establishment, by the way) and a rockin' outdoor patio in the back. The crowd is largely locals in their early '20s. Weekends have a line to get to the patio, so get back there before 10. Down on "the Row" – that's Cannery Row – check out Bullwhacker's, a spacious pub with its large outdoor patio and live bands. Sly McFly's is always worth a look and Planet Gemini packs in the young locals looking to dance. It also features comedy nights. For food, Jose's Mexican Bar and Grill is small but lively and has good, authentic fare. Viva has been a downtown watering hole for nearly 50 years; today it's New York-dive in the front and punk rock in the back.The bar at Cibo Ristorante Italiano features live jazz for it's largely upscale patrons. Britannia Arms is a cozy British pub with a live band. Around the corner is Doc's, a busy dance club that stays open until 3. On "the Row," .Down by the bay, between Fisherman's Wharf and the pier, The London Bridge is where to find skippers and "crew" from all those sailboats. There's live entertainment, other than the 'ol salty sailors, of course. When it's time to eat, there's a mind-numbing number of outstanding choices. Tarpy's Roadhouse is a bit inland on Highway 68 (halfway to Laguna Seca) and is perfect for lunch. Afterward, take the tour of the small winery next door. The area's best restaurant has long been the Sardine Factory. It's really enjoyable on an expense account. The Row is lined with seafood restaurants and Fisherman's Wharf is all about fresh seafood. It does gets chilly in Monterey and Carmel at night, so always take a jacket or sweatshirt. Can you tell we like this place!? .
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