Hanging Ten at the SurfRider Café

Stephen Wyman, owner of , has been an avid surfer for years, traveling all over the world to catch the perfect wave. But throughout his 25 years in Santa Cruz County, he had trouble finding the perfect restaurant that had reasonably priced, healthy yet delicious food served in a comfortable atmosphere.

“After surfing,” Wyman explained, “my friends and I wanted food with a lot of protein that also had a health-conscious approach.”

Good prices, healthy comfort food and a fun hangout spot “all tied into what I wanted to do with a restaurant,” Wyman said.

The scene at SurfRider is comfortable with the large booths and relaxed, friendly staff. The thatched roof over the bar and surfing décor adds to the surfside feeling of the restaurant. Adding to the comfort is the clean surroundings. When I dropped by recently, an employee was polishing the bar stools until the painted wood gleamed and then moved onto the plastic-covered menus.

The menu has a large variety of choices: natural Black Angus beef burgers served up 11 different ways, Spaghetti Bolognese with a slow-cooked Black Angus ground beef red sauce, dinner-size salads including one with tri-tip and gorgonzola, fish & chips (or seafood combo & chips that includes coconut prawns), and a variety of entrées such as organic veggie stir fry and Niman Farms applewood smoked ham, mashed potatoes and organic vegetables (the ham produced with no antibiotics or hormones and the animals 100% veggie fed).

Fresh-baked sourdough bread—baguettes and hamburger buns—come out of the oven every half hour.

“When customers walk in the door,” Wyman said, “the server lets the kitchen know there are six new people, for instance, and bread goes in the oven. The ovens are always going, going, going.”

All this and more at very reasonable prices.

Not wanting to “greenwash” as Wyman called it—pretending the restaurant is something it’s not when talking “local” and “organic”—he said he buys the restaurant’s produce from the Santa Cruz Farmers Market, though it isn’t always possible or practical. For instance, lettuces that aren’t in season locally, or tomatoes, which customers expect on their burgers.

Wyman also owns the Boulder Creek Brewery and Café, Boulder Creek Brewing Company, Santa Cruz Brewery and Pacific Brewing Co. He, Nancy Long and Judd Anthony share chef duties at the two cafés.

Anthony was a founder and chef at the now-closed La Bruschetta in Felton (the space now occupied by Oak Tree Ristorante).

“Judd brings a lot of La Bruschetta’s items to both restaurants,” Wyman said. “The slow-cooked sauces [for instance, the Bolognese mentioned earlier], the bruschetta, his crème brulee.”

This is great news to me since La Bruschetta was one of my favorite restaurants.

Of course, hand-crafted beers are a big draw at the SurfRider Café.

Out of the 20-plus beers the Boulder Creek Brewing Company makes at one time or another, 4 to 8 are typically available at SurfRider. Wyman said he always makes sure to have an IPA (India Pale Ale), which he described as a “hoppy, strong beer.”

The Café also has on tap their flagship beer, Redwood Ale, “medium bodied with a somewhat sweet caramel flavor and a subdued hop bitterness making for an easy drinking ale.” I’m not a big beer drinker, so I tried the Redwood Ale, and it was just as described having a hint of the bitterness but still a lot of flavor without being too heavy.

The decision of which beers to brew is sometimes determined by the season. In the winter, you might find heavier, darker beers. Right now, a honey wheat beer—a lighter beer for spring and summer—is busily brewing with honey from Camp Joy Gardens organic farm in Boulder Creek.

The Boulder Creek Brewery website states: In 1516, the Bavarian code of Beer purity, the Rheinheistgebot, forbade the addition of any ingredient other than hops, barley, yeast and water in the production of beer. This code is still adhered to in Switzerland, Norway, Germany & Boulder Creek.

I asked Wyman what ingredients might other breweries use, and how do they detract from the quality of the beer? He replied that rice is commonly used in beers such as Budweiser.

“Rice is a cheap way to get convertible sugars into the brew,” he explained.

Not wanting to “disparage” other beer manufacturers, Wyman did say that using other grains such as wheat and barley produces a deeper, richer beer.

With the relaxed atmosphere, great menu, quality ingredients and super staff, Wyman hit the mark with SurfRider Café. It’s definitely worth a visit!