The Picnic Basket

Beautiful Day, beautiful location
Delicious Breakfast burrito with avocado & bacon served with large drip Verve coffee & cream.

Great service, grab some goodies or a Picnic basket to bring to the beach.

Inside seating & outdoor picnic tables tight across from the beach, wharf, volleyball nets & Santa Cruz Boardwalk

Very excellent location can get to West Cliff to O’Neill’s or walk on the beach. Easily get to downtown shops on foot or by car.

Gorgeous days this spot is very popular

A beautiful spot to grab a healthy bite right at the beach. We got the chicken salad sandwich, smoked turkey sandwich, and the harvest salad. Loved the home made pickled onions and side of pickled carrot too. Salad was fresh and tasty, perfectly dressed — and the the sandwiches were simple and tasty. Just the thing to energize you after (or before) a day in the sun and sand!

This is a great spot for lunch. The chicken pesto baguette was one of the best I've had. All the other sandwiches couldn't be far behind. They've got ice cream as well. If you come to Santa Cruz, make sure this is part of your itinerary. Oh yeah, there's a beach around here somewhere. It provides enough overflow for places to eat your Picnic Basket sandwich.

Highly recommend stopping here if you are ever in Santa Cruz. Across the street from the beach, the Picnic Basket offers high quality food for fair prices. I searched the whole area for an egg salad sandwich, decided on this spot, and was not disappointed. The macaroni and cheese was just amazing too, creamy and crunchy (bread crumbs). Plenty of seating (try to get a seat outside!), and the staff is very helpful, especially for first time visitors. 5 stars!

We were in Santa Cruz for just one night and staying at a motel right by. We already read good reviews so the choice was simple.
We all had different salads, all of them were fresh, tasty and the portions generous. Price was fair, service courteous and fast. We would have definitely gone back if we would've stayed longer.

was it incredibly expensive? yes.
was it the best breakfast burrito i’ve ever had? yes.
was it also the best soup and croissant and salsa? yes.

My third time eating here for lunch. The mac n cheese is home style. I probably would have enjoyed the bread crumb topping to be a little crispier and a little more seasoned, and I would have liked a bolder cheesy flavor, but points for serving temp piping hot, super creamy consistency, and good call on the oversized elbow mac noodle. The side salad was a $5 addition and a great compliment with toasted seeds, quality mixed greens and a super tasty dressing. I'll be back again. If you are deciding between a toast/sandwich item and the mac n cheese, go for the toast/sandwich. The bread is from Companion Bakery and its the BEST thing ever.

Who knew vegan could be this tasty. Really enjoyed the roasted beet sandwich and with a great view who wouldn’t consider going vegan

Yes they have avacado to it. So good we came back the next day and had it again. You must go check out their menu you will be happy and so will your taste buds. So fresh and mouth pleasing. Even my picky eater enjoyed her Turkey sandwich with all the dressings. Their ice cream is amazing as well. Plus the view. You can sit outside and watch the ocean as you enjoy brunch. A perfect spot for a bite to eat.

Great cafe food just a few minutes walk from both the Santa Cruz boardwalk and wharf. I had their Harvest Salad, chocolate croissant (from Companion Bakeshop), and chai latte. They have breakfast, salads, soups, sandwiches, pastries, coffee drinks, and ice cream (from The Ice Creamery). Good for breakfast, lunch, or an afternoon treat. There's a mix of outdoor and indoor seating; if they're out of room, you can just get the food to-go and eat on the beach!

We come to Santa Cruz once a year to visit family and we always make at least one stop here. Food and location is awesome! Best breakfast burrito I’ve ever had. All food is local and fresh. Verve coffee too!

incredible lovely stuff. had to do a pic of this amazing maple raisin scone after our little got one served for free. reasonable price and good food. liked the music a lot

Still stunned you can get such good food this close to the boardwalk. One of the best places we went to for lunch during our stay. Breakfast burrito was good as was the BLA (Bacon, Lettuce, Avocado) sandwich. Note that they sell out of pastries really early, even on a weekday, at least in the summer. Friendly service. If you are Covid conscious, you can eat outside but they also keep all the windows and door open, so eating inside is almost as good as eating outside. Great place!

Very good butter croissant and good choices of food and beverages, I recommend 👍

Tourist spots don't usually try this hard. Meatloaf sandwich had slices of juicy meatloaf, some greens, and great sauce (chipotle mayo?), was bursting with flavor. Ruben was pretty standard but good. Pretty quick counter order. Local canned beer. Tables and bathrooms kept clean.

Food so good, you’ll be back again and again. Great location and super friendly staff!

Good breakfast sandwiches in a nice spot, nice staff too , the sandwich in the picture is the ham, blue brie , fruit jam ,mustard sandwich .

Loving The Picnic Basket. Open from 7 to 4, great selection of fresh made sandwiches and breakfast items in addition to having great coffees!

Had a meatloaf sandwich to go and it was great. Also came at breakfast and tried a seasonal scone. Finally we also came to try the ice cream and our group really enjoyed the pumpkin doodle.

We got lunch here before heading off to see the monarch butterflies. We got the Reuben and the chicken salad sandwich. Both were good and we were satisfied.

Possibly a tad expensive for what they were but not too wild. Definitely a strong consideration for our next visit to Santa Cruz