Bantam - Santa Cruz

My go to pizza place in Santa Cruz. Cant find many great tomato pies (marinara) around, let alone places that have vegan pizza that isn’t over produced with fake cheese. Great, friendly, and efficient service with great outdoor seating.Vegetarian options: Meatless options available.Wheelchair accessibility: Seems to be accessible.Dietary restrictions: Vegan options

We have gone to Bantam since it opened once or twice a month. Food is usually quite good, but we have sworn off. It's insanely expensive to the point of being silly. $15 Caesar has about seven little gem leaves in it. it used to be enough to share. They cost a dollar, retail, lettuce gems do. $29 fried chicken, which used to be half a chicken is now one piece. The vegetarian option always a favorite, interesting mix of items, is now a quarter of a sweet potato with yogurt and a bit of garnish. The photo on this page? Taken years ago...you'd now be lucky to get a third of that. I'm not a big eater, I don't mind paying for a nice dinner...but after three comically small dinner servings with a tab over $150 for two husband literally looking for a snack at home afterward we're going to opt out.

Good food but too noisy to enjoy it. Four of us shared three starters and two pizzas, and found the food to be quite good, interesting and well-prepared. But the loud music causes all the other diners to shout, and with all the hard surfaces, it's almost deafening. We couldn't enjoy the dinner with all that chaos, sadly.Food: 4/5

Sitting outside on a nice day or inside any day, this place is amazing. The open kitchen aspect so you can watch from afar your food being prepared and cooked is always a fun time throw in the best homemade pizza in Santa Cruz whattttt more could you want! We also had the fried chicken but it was so good I forgot to take a picture : The staffs beyond friendly from the cooks to the waitstaff and you never go with an empty glass as they are hawks making sure you're taken care of.

This is it! Good food, creative flavors that surprise the pallet in the best way. Staff is friendly and professional. Atmosphere is modern yet warm and comfortable. One of the few places in Santa Cruz worth ordering a cocktail too!