The Picnic Basket (Santa Cruz, CA)

THE PICNIC BASKET (Santa Cruz, CA) – It’s kinda sad that I live in California and probably go beach about once a year. I always enjoy going to Santa Cruz since I make the trek down there so rarely – the beach is always gorgeous, I have awesome company, and occasionally, find some good eats along the way.

The Picnic Basket is the perfect place to stop because it’s literally across the street from the beach. There a bunch of small bites, salads, and sandwiches to dig into while still looking out onto the beach and ocean. The ingredients are locally sourced and occasionally made from scratch, like the House Fruit Soda, mad with seasonal homemade fruit syrups from local farms. I ordered the Chicken Salad, which is made from locally raised chicken, avocado, greens, and pickled onions. It was a great sandwich that had the right amount of crunch and acidity. I also had the Little Green Salad, which has salad greens with Picnic vinaigrette and toasted seeds.

Their menu seems to have expanded much more since I’ve been there (which was probably way too long ago for me to be posting this at this point tbh), but it’s still most definitely worth posting about. I would be really down to check this place out again since their menu has a lot of new and interesting options! It’s nice to have a good, casual place to grab a bite so close to the beach!