Dolphin Restaurant

Bf and I stopped for breakfast on a Sunday morning. Delicious food, excellent service, and beautiful views!

It the worst food I ever ate. Claim chowder was bad. The seafood pasta was sooooo bad. It tasted so old and dirty. We got stomachache from a few bites.

Been going here since I was a kid! NEVER disappoints! The Best Chowder In California! Staff is great. Everything about this place is Top Shelf in my book.

The service has often been uneven, but the last few times it has been worse. We have enjoyed the food, but will not be back and will not recommend the restaurant. Arrived at 11:30 and placed our order (lunch). We waited a long time to get our salad and waited even longer (the restaurant was way less than half full) and then had to flag down our waitress to find out where our entree was. She seemed unconcerned and questioned what the problem was. When she finally did bring our entrees, they were both the wrong order. Too bad. It used to be a nice place to go.

This is for the sit-down restaurant side. I don't like leaving negative reviews - especially after the last 2 years everyone has had - but I felt like I needed to say something to at least give people a heads up. My boyfriend and I ate here today and watching the service team was almost like watching a comedy spoof on "bad service". Had us laughing but also had me feeling like I wanted to warn the people waiting to be seated! There were 4+ workers floating around at any given moment but they would just pass by customers either 1) without acknowledging them at all or 2) just saying

I should've read Yelp early on so I'm smh rn lol

I'm from Vegas where clam chowder is not a thing, but having been to the Bay Area a few times I know clam chowder makes this region especially with their high quality breads and seafood.

So here I am at Santa Cruz wharf as life has thrown me a curve ball and I gotta go with it. At first glance, Dolphin restaurant at the end of the pier didn't look so bad. This morning was a bit chilly and overcast and so it saw me wanting to go inside to enjoy something warm.

"So clam chowder it is!" I thought. I've had clam

Went there at 730am and thank God they already serving the clam chowder, fish n chips and fried calamari! Yummy!!!

It's Christmas day the morning bliss of presents was over and it's time to make our coastal getaway! On a windy and rainy walk on the wooden pier. We ventured into the dolphin. To my surprise the wonderful staff was stirring a PHENOMENAL vat of Manhattan chowda! It's my personal favorite and not to many places make it. Highly recommend! Nothing less than perfect!

The food was good, the location was great. Also got some free entertainment from a lost and confused pigeon who shocked us as it flew into the window, and then repeatedly hit it 4 more times before finally escaping.

After the pigeon excitement though we enjoyed a fresh dungeoness crab cocktail and bread bowl of clam chowder. Both were tasty, and paired with fresh-squeezed orange juice mimosa.

Average meal. Good salmon and great fries. Old diner atmosphere. The young adult male waiter was a one man show in main room. Slow Monday night on a rainy night but the waiter did it all. Very professional, well dressed and had polished manners. Refreshing to see such eager and hardworking young staff. The man has a future.

Food was super yummy clam chowder delicious and fish and chips. Staff was super great and friendly. A for sure must try on the warf

My wife had a back-and-forth with one of the staff about an issue. She told me what happened and then I went back to Dolphin to talk to the staff member.

Michael, one of the waiters, sensed something was wrong and asked if he could help.

He took it upon himself to reassure us, update us on progress, and take the time to personally resolve our issue - he showed a level of professionalism beyond his years and operated in manager mode. He turned a bad experience into a great one.

When my wife first told me about the issue, we both said we would stop going to Dolphin. But after Michael's

This review of the to go side... if this was bad I'm sure the patio dining is even worst! We ordered the clam chowder bread bowl and shrimp and fries .... The clam chowder was cold and so was the bread and no flavors what so ever in the clam chowder. The shrimp and fries was at least hot . But still no flavor what so ever ! I'm guessing there is a salt and black pepper shorting...

This review is based on the walk up take-out window only.

We were driving through the area on our way to Monterey and decided to stop at the wharf for lunch. We walked the wharf and settled on the walk up window here based on the convenience of take-out.

We ordered the snapper fish and chips. The guy said it would take 5 minutes, and it did. The fish was good...never had snapper fish and chips before. Fries were good too. Requested an extra tartar sauce since we were sharing, no problem or extra charge.

Overall a nice experience. Would recommend.

Typical wharf restaurant. Food is good. Service is above average. We did enjoy the fish plates, sole and sand dabs.
Saw burgers go by, looked pretty good.
Didn't see any deep fried.
I believe that the Dolphin rates with the other restaurants on the Santa Cruz wharf, maybe better than a few.

We went for a late Saturday Lunch. There was no wait at that time and we got a table outside. Our server was very friendly and polite.
The only downside of this place is that there are no chicken options at all. I do understand it's a seafood place but having limited chicken options when there are steak options wouldn't hurt.
We tried Pinot Grigio white wine and we enjoyed it.!
The food that we tried:
1. Smoked Oysters: This was the first time I tried oysters. This was full of sauce and it tasted good, although I think raw ones would have tasted better.
2. Fish and chips were good, crispy

Wife and I ate here yesterday. We wanted to sit down at Stagnero's but it was covid closed. Gets a star for the view. Issues we had.

* Service: If you're going to bring us a bowl of fried calamari with no utensils, at least bring us a napkin to wipe our greasy fingers

* Quality. The Fried calamari was overcooked, and did not taste fresh. The crab melt was dripping juice. The burger looked like it was a pre-formed frozen patty.

* Price. Pretty high for the pedestrian menu of food we ordered. For Crab melt, Bacon Burger, Calamari + 2 sodas it was $61 before tip.

* Cleanliness

Tried the fish and chips and it was really dry. I liked the dip though. The location of the restaurant is at the end of the wharf so it's a good location but despite them having the umbrellas for each table, the area is too congested and the sun still hits your face whole time that I was eating there. The oysters were really small and the clam chowder was okay for taste, they should provide bacon-free clam chowder for people who don't eat bacon but they don't. Overall, the prices were outrageous for the quality of food and service we received. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. I feel like I throw

Established in 1963, Dolphin is a local favorite located at the end of the Santa Cruz Wharf. Our waiter was terrible but the rest of the staff made up for it. My cousins are obsessed with their clam chowder and say the oysters are really fresh.

Creamy, thick, contrasting flavors of saltiness and fading sweetness of fresh ocean clams. We all had it in the sourdough bread bowl. I added salt because I like extra flavor. I also add butter to my bread then dip it in the chowder and jesus.

It was tasty as hell! Some of the better clam chowder I've had in a long time. It was even good when it got

Came with my mom for lunch on a Sunday- no wait and we sat outside. We sat outside with a nice view of the ocean.

We both had shrimp dishes- the scampi and the shrimp and scallops, which came with French fries and soup/salad.

The food itself was pretty good (especially the clam chowder). The service was prompt and attentive and friendly. My mom really enjoyed her food.

The only bigger issue was the space itself. There were SO MANY pigeons flying all over and over our food. Not the best ambience and even a bit questionable in terms of hygiene. Obviously you can't control nature but the

Staff was so pleasant and excited to help us also took our cash💵💵 Being that rest of Santa Cruz was cashless payments. Had alot to choose from on the menu and reasonable prices. I had Calamari 🐙 and fries🍟 And it was delicious 😋 my daughter had Cheese burger 🍔 and fries 🍟 it was the bomb 💣💥 Definitely recommend you trying it and we will re-visit on our next trip to Santa Cruz⛱⛱⛱

Well there is one waitress that has a massive personality problem here. She actually reached into my book and snooped to read my journal!!!! B.

When she is working, she smiles really cutesy and you wouldn't guess she's a people hater - but she's trying to complain and is negative and hates people really.
She's wiping drugs off of her nose and gone in the back for a whole hour and people are just trying to sit anywhere- and there's just nothing good to say about the food so truthfully- why come here ?

This place was pretty good. The only downside was that they ran out of oysters right before we got there. We ended up ordering the clams instead which was delicious.

This place is located at the end of the Santa Cruz pier. Nice views and at least we were able to eat outside and enjoy the view.

Can't believe how kind the entire serving staff is. High energy, kind energy. Really good clam chowder bread bowls and prices on all food and drinks. Lovely seating area. Even though we were outside we were quite cozy. There are glass walls that help block the wind, big umbrellas overhead and outdoor heating. You are also in close proximity to the packs of wild sea lions. You can spend time gazing at them before and after eating.

Great views with great food! The staff was polite and helpful during the busy evening. I just wish we could have gotten our free soda refills. Life is never perfect, so maybe next time.