THE BUZZ ON EL JARDIN
$1.00 off all beers
El Jardin Website
We went to the Crows Nest beach to see our friends perform in Dance of Brazil for national dance week. We popped into El Palomar for a pre- performance, pre-happy hour drink. A tasty margarita, but as Jo said, I can't taste the alcohol in it! After watching the show and jumping in to samba with the performers at the end - dancing to live drums at the beach in the sunshine - what's not to love? We walked down to El Jardin.
El Jardin is located on the corner of Capitola Road and 7th Avenue. We have been to many a happy hour at El Jardin as this is a neighborhood bar close to Jo's place. Happy hour is 7 days a week from 3-6 pm. It used to be 3-7 but they recently cut it short by an hour. Still it's a great place to go on a Sunday afternoon after the beach.
The
bar had several customers, but we were still able to find two seats
together. The interior is cool, dark and soothing with a color scheme
of reds and yellows with colorful paintings on the wall. A live orchid
arrangement on the bar blocked our view, but added color and depth.
When Luis, the bartender was finished with his other customers he came
and took our order.
This
is the kind of happy hour selection I like - well drinks, beer, wine,
bloody Marys all on special, with appetizers half off. I ordered a
margarita and Jo sampled a Bloody Mary. The drinks at El Jardin are good
strong drinks, not your usual happy hour fluff. I watched Luis mix my
margarita and then top it off generously with tequila. Jo's Bloody Mary
came with appropriate garnish and had zip from plenty of lime. There
was no comparison to my earlier margarita at the beach, El Jardin won
hands down!
Most
Mexican restaurants give you free chips and salsa, but at El Jardin you
get two kinds of chips - tortilla and baked flour tortilla chips; and
three kinds of dips: salsa, bean dip and a cabbage, tomato, onion and
jalapeño salad. The combination of the three is delicious. These are
the details that make for a great happy hour.
Jo
ordered a half order of nachos with chicken and I ordered the shrimp
cocktail. The food was nicely arranged when it arrived. Jo loved her
nachos. My shrimp cocktail was tasty, but missing something. I enjoyed
snacking more on Jo's nachos. Next time it is nachos for me!
For our second round, I had a Tequila Sunrise and Jo had a shot of tequila with a beer back.
While
waiting for our drinks we got to know our neighbors. Since we were
taking photos for the blog, they graced us with a happy hour nipple
shot. (Had to be there). We talked about the best happy hours in Santa
Cruz and the pros, cons and name changes of different establishments.
(They raved about the Blood Marys at Phils in Moss landing - so Jo and I
will need to make a road trip to investigate). We discussed the
benefits of nude photography and discovered shared acquaintances. The
beauty of happy hour in a small town. Gotta love Santa Cruz!
I
should have stirred my sunrise as the tequila was all on top and the
bottom was quite sweet when I got to it. Still, by this time Jo and I
were feeling the magic of happy hour. Luis told us about an upcoming
free tequila tasting with Don Julio. We came to one several years ago
and learned quite a bit about agave, and the differences in tequila.
My calendar is marked.
Another
nice detail at El Jardin is that they have mints and tooth picks
available on the bar. The little details - caring bartenders, good
strong drinks, fun people, give you a bang for your happy hour buck.
As Jo and I continue to discuss our shot glass rating system and what
makes a great happy hour, Jo as usual sums it up quite succinctly: you
should feel happy when leaving a great happy hour.
I was quite happy after our trip to El Jardin. I sang and salsa danced all the way home!
Julie's rating : 4.5 shots!
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El Jardin is a lovely little restaurant on the corner of Capitola
Road and 7th Avenue. It also happens to be just a 5-minute walk from my
house, which makes it a favorite of mine but dangerous. They have a
nice size bar area with tile floors, tables, some booth-type seating
and a full bar. They also have a good size dining area with a dog-friendly
heated patio. I've never sat in the dining area, actually I've never
made it past the bar, but that's not a big surprise for me.
The drinks are strong and tasty. My bloody Mary was pint size, spicy and tangy with a good amount of garnish. Julie had the standard Margarita which is always good and strong, the bartender definitely knows how to pour a drink. Our second round of drinks consisted of a Tequila Sunrise for Julie and a shot of Tequila with a beer back for me. Just as tasty as the first round.
One of the best things I like about this happy hour is you get a basket of chips, both corn and fried flour tortilla chips with 3 types of dips, salsa, a tangy cabbage salad, and warmed bean dip with Fresco cheese and a dollop of sour cream on it. These munchies are free, nice to have just on their own with a drink. Of course we had to sample more items so I had the 1/2 order of chicken nachos and Julie opted for the shrimp cocktail. The nachos were very yummy with lots of cheese and a heaping mount of chicken, avocado, jalapenos and tomatoes. Julie's shrimp cocktail had bay shrimp swimming in a tomato cocktail, salsa type sauce. It was good but the nachos were smokin' good.
El Jardin has a relaxed feel to it. The lighting is low and soft, the bar stools have a back to them which is always a good thing, and everyone seems very friendly inside. the bartender is quite a character who always has a smile. A great place to hang out, eat, drink and be merry. I was very happy after that hour or 2.
Jo's rating : 4.5 shots!
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