Happy Hour: 3-6 p.m. 7 days a week
Drinks:
Wine, red and white $5, beer (Coors
Light) $4,
Well cocktails - $7 (Skyy, Jim Beam,
El Jimador, Bacardi, Famous Grouse, Gordons)
Specialty cocktails: $10
Appetizers:
Jack’s Lounge Bites from 4-10 p.m.
____________________________________________________
Julie’s Review
To celebrate Martin Luther King Day,
Josephine, Michelle and I decided to go see the movie Selma and follow it up
with a happy hour review. The movie was
powerful and moving– a must see film.
Afterwards, we were certainly ready for a drink. Since
the only alcohol I will have during Sober January is for the J&J
Buzz, I was especially looking forward to our outing.
We decided to check out Aquarius,
which I had not been to before. It is located at the foot of the wharf in the
Santa Cruz landmark, the Dream Inn. (Glad it’s back to being the Dream Inn). When we walked up I was surprised to see it
is now the Jack O’Neill Lounge. I asked
the hostess whether this was still Aquarius and she said the lounge is now
separate, but the food is from Aquarius and so they work very closely
together. There is Jack O’Neill photos
and memorabilia all over the lounge.
The first thing to know about the
lounge is the view is breath taking. The
entire lounge is floor to window ceilings overlooking the beach, west cliff and
the wharf. In the lounge, there are
window seats with cushions which are quite comfy. We started out at the bar, of course.
This was Michelle’s first Happy Hour
Buzz so we had to acquaint her with the very stringent rules and standards
Josephine and I apply when working on a review.
This is very serious business and no fun will be had – NOT! Just don’t eat or drink anything until we get
a photo of it! That’s the rules, honey.
We opened the menu to discover that
Jack’s Lounge has Happy Hour – seven days a week from 3-6 p.m. Now what’s not to love about that!! A happy hour on Saturday and Sunday is a rare
thing indeed and much appreciated.
Our bartender, Haskell arrived and
explained the rather complicated happy hour menu. $5 wine and $4 beer, Good,
good. $7 well drinks and $10 specialty
cocktails. What????!!! Is this happy hour or not? I had a bit of sticker shock on that
one. Now they actually list their wells
which were a bit higher end – Skyy and Jim Beam, etc. but still seven bucks for
a well?? Hmmmmm.
They had a nice list of specialty
cocktails that are usually $13 and were $10 for happy hour. I broke down (it
was sober January and I was going to make the most of this drink) and ordered a
Cucumber Collins with Hendrick’s gin, shishito pepper, cucumber and mint. Michelle ordered a Blood Orange Mule with
Grey Goose vodka, blood orange, mint and ginger beer. Jo went with the happy hour red – Bogle, I
believe.
Jo and I ordered the Kale Salad and
Pastrami sliders and Michelle tried the Fish Tacos, grilled with fries for $2
extra. The appetizers on the menu ranged
from Truffle popcorn ($8) Hummus ($9), Tuna Tartare $10), Marcona almonds and
olives ($12),Brie ($12) pan seared scallops ($13), during happy hour the appetizers are 25%
off. It was really nice to see such a
healthy and varied menu on a happy hour, but the price is high.
Josephine pointed out that this is a
high end hotel and most expensive hotels like this don’t usually offer happy
hours at all, which is very true. Plus,
there is that spectacular view. I
wandered over to admire the light and view of the beach. It really is special. When the drinks
arrived, they were quite tasty and you could definitely taste the alcohol in
them. I savored my cucumber Collins and
really enjoyed the sip of Michelle’s Blood Orange Mule.
It was great to have Michelle with
us and we discussed the film, which has been unfairly shut out of the
Oscars. It is my favorite movie so far
in my Oscar research and the Director should have been up for Best Director in
my opinion.
The food arrived shortly and was all
very tasty. It was unusual combinations
of food with things I’ve never heard of – but the combinations were good. I liked the duck on top of the kale salad. The dressing was very subtle. It is heaven to have such an item on a happy
hour menu. At first, I thought the
pastrami sliders were a bit overcooked, but they grew on me. The thing I don’t like about sliders is they
usually don’t have lettuce, but these had kraut on them and that was
delicious. I liked the slaw - standard
cole slaw – nothing special (like Hula’s ginger cole slaw, for example).
Jo and I shared one of Michelle’s
fish tacos and it was quite delicious.
Michelle liked that you had your choice of grilled or crispy. I liked that it had cabbage and avocado. I tried a few of Michelle’s fries. I’m not a fries person, but these were
unusually tasty, I thought.
Time for the next drink – so I tried
my standard rum and diet. There well is Bacardi. You could taste the rum, but it came in an
awfully small glass for a $7 well. We
were waiting for Joanie and Gary to arrive, but Michelle needed to get to her
classroom, so she headed out. Not more
than a minute later Joanie and Gary arrived.
I couldn’t believe they hadn’t run into Michelle, but they came in from
a different direction.
We moved over to a window seat and
made ourselves at home. The cushions are
actually quite comfortable to lie down on, so I indulged. Gary and Joanie ordered beers, the kale salad
and the hummus. I had my last rum and
coke for January and we discussed movies and the Science of Happiness
course, that Jo and I are taking. The light was getting spectacular out the
window. The company was wonderful and it
felt like we had escaped away on
vacation.
When the bill came Joanie very
generously picked up the tab. Wow - funding for the Santa Cruz Happy Hour
Buzz! Thank you, thank you Joanie, so
generous!!! What a wonderful way to
celebrate Martin Luther King Jr., with good friends, good food and drinks and an
iconic view of Santa Cruz.
So in sum, Jack O’Neills Lounge has
great hours – 7 days a week from 3-6, a spectacular view and wonderful
ambience, the food and drinks are tasty and the service is good. The only down side is the price, which is not
really happy hour prices. That said
however, it is still a happy hour I am
sure to return to again and again to sit by the window and savor the best of
Santa Cruz. Happy indeed!
Julie’s Rating: 4.5 shots!
Jo's Review
Aquarius is located in the luxurious beach front Dream
Inn hotel. The hotel has been a fixture in Santa Cruz for as long as I can
remember. It went through some name changes (Coastal Santa Cruz Hotel, Uggh)
and style changes and received its current facelift from the new owners in
2008. Luckily they went back to the original name Santa Cruz Dream Inn. The
hotel has a bird’s eye view of the Santa Cruz Wharf, the Beach Boardwalk and
the famous Cowell’s beach and Steamers Lane, known for its great surfing. One
thing about this place is you can’t beat the view.
The restaurant is called
Aquarius but the bar/lounge area is named after the famous local surfer dude of
all time the Jack O’Neill Lounge. This
local legend had resided here since 1959 and his name brand can be found on wet
suits, surf gear and clothing. There are pictures and memorabilia all over the
lounge of Jack with a surf board ceiling historic pictures of the area surfers.
This happy hour, the first of the New Year, is looking
good already because we have some fun friends joining us. Michelle, Joanie and
Gary. Michelle started off with us at the movies (we saw Selma, great movie)
and we were ready for a drink and some happy to happen. You walk into the bar
area which is all windows on the ocean side so you have a panoramic view of the
ocean, wharf, Boardwalk and Steamers Lane. It has a nice sized bar with plenty
of seating around cozy little tables and a cushioned bench area along the
windows. I start snapping pictures all
over while Julie does the introductions and we settle into the bar and start
checking out the goods.
Happy Hour here is every day from 3-6pm with $4 bottled
beers only (no draft beers for happy hour), $5 house wine, $7 well drinks (good
well), and $10 specialty drinks. Food is
from the lounge bites menu and everything on that is 25% off. I decide on wine
while Julie and Michelle had the specialty drinks. For food we go with The
Black Kale Salad with Duck confit, Pastrami sliders and Fish tacos. I was
surprised to see on the menu that the sliders and tacos come with cole slaw and
if you want fries you pay extra. Usually you get fries and have to pay extra
for the cole slaw or salad so that was a nice change. Since we’re all trying to
be more health conscious it’s nice to see them offering these options.
So the drinks have arrived. My wine is a nice Bogle red
blend. Julie’s goes for a specialty cocktail the Cucumber Collins which looks very tasty, light and refreshing. Michelle’s gets the blood orange mule which comes in a pint glass and from the look on her face I would say it’s very tasty as
well.
The food looks yummy and I haven’t eaten for a while so I dig right
in. The Kale salad is nice and light,
not as much quinoa in it as I thought but the duck confit on top was a real
treat, crispy and tasty. The sliders were so good I just wish there was more than
2 of them. The pastrami was cooked crispy which didn’t appeal much to Julie but
I liked it. The sauerkraut on it was nice and tangy. The cole slaw was o.k
nothing special. The fish tacos were great. We went with grilled instead of
fried and we got french fries instead of cols slaw so we could try
everything.
The taco had this yummy lime
sauce on it that really set off the fish and lots of fish in it as well. The french
fries were nice and crisp and came in a cute basket. That seems to be the trend for fries right
now, showcasing them in a little wire basket. Anyways we were munching away and
talking about how good the food was. Julie and I both went for another drink
but Julie changed over to a rum and coke. Michelle’s drink was pretty big so
she was still sipping on it. The camera is snapping away and we are laughing it
up. The happy is settling in just right.
After we have gobbled up all the eats we decide to move
to the window seating and take in the view.
Joanie and Gary should be arriving soon and Michelle is taking off on
us. It was fun chatting it up with Michelle. I must admit it is a nice view from
this lounge. It’s very calming and relaxing.
Joanie and Gary arrive and it’s time for
another round. The two of them are so full of life and energy it’s always fun
around them. We greet and order some drinks and they decide on getting a little
something to snack on as well so they go for the Spinach Hummus. It looks
rather good and I’ve never had spinach Hummus before, it was quite yummy served
with veggies and pita bread.
I have been very impressed with the food, tasty
and somewhat healthy, which is a surprise in happy hour food, but a welcome one.
While we were settling up the bill Joanie surprised us by taking care of it.
Wow that was a wonderful surprise, how generous of her to do that. I love that
kind of kindness and warmth from friends it really put the icing on the cake so
to speak.
Well the sun is setting and my glass is empty so it’s
about time to go. Happy hour at the Jack O’Neill Lounge, Aquarius at the Dream
Inn has been fun. The food was very good;
the ambience was relaxing, and the bartender and hostess friendly. As far as
happy hour goes the food and drink prices are a little high, but you are eating
at a high end hotel right on the beach with a million dollar view. I guess one
expects to pay a bit more for that. All in all though it was a good time.
Jo’s review: 4 shots!
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