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February 2024 by SaraB
If you like Gin then Venus is the place for you! Food is healthy and delicious too. Limited menu but everything is tasty. Not inexpensive but worth the price. Waitstaff are attentive but not intrusive. Simple ambience.
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February 2024 by Cannabelle
It's always fun to try a new place. Servers were friendly and knowledgeable. My husbands Shrimp and grits were delicious. My fried chicken plate under seasoned and unevenly battered. The food is there mainly to accompany the drinks!
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February 2024 by
This is a nice, fun place to eat with good food. Since they are attached to a distillery, their drinks are fabulous. The appetizers were great; mole ribs, grilled carrots, and glazed Brussel sprouts. The entrees were also done very well; burger, fried chicken and short ribs. It's a bit noisy and the bench seating detracts a little bit, but still so worth it!! Highly recommended!
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December 2023 by Fit2aT
This was the second time we had to wait far too long for a server to acknowledge us once we were seated. After 20+ minutes, I finally asked the guy who had served us water where our server was and she came several minutes later. The food and cocktails were delicious and why we will come back.
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December 2023 by SFOflyer
We went to Venus for the Monday night$10 “Smash Burger” and beer special. The burger was excellent! We also had a side of fries which were possibly the best I've had in ages. Also, the Caesar salad was delicious with a perfect garlic/acid balance! Bravo to the chef—this food is amazing! We are lucky to have Venus in Santa Cruz.
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December 2023 by SantaCruzBill
The only reason for not giving five stars across the board was that the service this night was very slow. We're pretty laid back so we understand that stuff happens -- one or more service or kitchen staff calls in sick, orders get backed up or even lost, etc. But the wait for our server to show up was long. Then the wait between dropping off our drinks and coming back to take our dinner order was long. Then the order got screwed up. We asked for the salad to come before the main. Instead, the main came first and we were told we'd have to wait awhile for the salad. Our server was friendly and apologetic throughout (we still tipped well). We finally canceled the salad. The food was excellent, we enjoy the ambiance. We'll go back and hopefully the wait won't be as long.
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December 2023 by Vnes
Customer service is awesome. I had a product question so I emailed them. I received a reply in a very punctual manner, and was given excellent advice. Thanks Tory.
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December 2023 by Sergey Syzranov
I ordered "pan seared scallops" for $38 at this place. It turned out to be just 3 scallops with a little rice and a tiny amount of mushrooms on top (see the picture). That's unreasonable.
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December 2023 by Carlos Ascanio
Really nice food and cocktails, each day they have a different promotion going on
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November 2023 by NoraB
Great cocktails and mocktails for a birthday celebration, along with a complimentary slice of delicious chocolate cake with a candle on it. Love the Brussels sprouts for appetizers. Burgers and fries were tasty, and one of us got mussels (two thumbs up).
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November 2023 by JamesS
We enjoyed the many options that were oriented to vegetarians. Lots to come back to try. Service at the bar and table were both friendly and efficient. Of course, the gin drinks were all that you would expect from a distillery. We'll be back.
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November 2023 by JohnH
Food and cocktails were quite good. Lively atmosphere which we found fun, but not the place for a quiet dinner. Service was attentive and pleasant although a tad bit disorganized. Overall, we liked the vibe of the place. We'll definitely be back, likely at happy hour which has some good drink and appetizer specials.
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November 2023 by JenniferB
The whole evening went very well, our waitress was very nice and efficient : ) We ordered the loaded fries, corn bread with bacon jelly and the Mole Ribs. The loaded fries were cooked well and the meat was good, but way to much Rosemary seasoning for me. The corn bread was also cooked well, I did not enjoy the weird bacon jelly. It did not taste like bacon at all. The Mole Ribs were my favorite, cooked perfect and not overly seasoned. They were my favorite thing we ordered. Plus my Margarita was delicious.
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October 2023 by Margaret
we ordered a lot of different items and shared everything. all good. the thing that would have made it better is if the answers to 2 questions we asked were different: 1. is your meat grassfed? No was the answer so we didn't order any meat. 2. what kind of oil do you use to cook? canola was the main answer so we only ordered what could be cooked in olive oil or butter. Thank you!
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October 2023 by Sharon S.
I was a huge fan of Venus Tasting Room when they first opened on Swift Street, and I brought many friends to enjoy the delicious gin cocktails. Since they moved to the new location around the corner, I've been steadily less impressed. I keep trying to persuade myself it's still great and worth the money - but it's NOT. Today was the last straw. I paid $14 + tax + tip for an un-yummy cocktail in a small glass full of ice cubes. I might as well have ripped a $20 bill into pieces. I'm done with it, and I will share that opinion with my friends.
