Soif Wine Bar Restaurant

My first experience dining there and I was very impressed with the food, the ambiance was in essence outside on the street, but such are the times of COVID. I cannot wait to return once they are serving within the confines of the actual restaurant.

As usual, fantastic all around. But damn, can't wait to sit at the bar when the zombie apocalypse subsides.

We had a birthday celebration and everything was perfect (except for UCLA losing to Gonzaga in the Final Four). We absolutely loved the food and wine - stop in if you are in Santa Cruz!

We visited for a belated birthday dinner. Sadly, the service is lacking (even by Santa Cruz standards), food was good but overpriced, and wine by the glass list is nothing spectacular. We bought a nice bottle from the shop. Frankly, was sad we spent so much money here for an overpriced bday dinner - wish we’d gone elsewhere for better service.

Great! Delicious food.

Wonderful evening here! The sommelier is such a sweetheart! Food was very good but portions are extremely small. More like appetizer size so we ordered a cheese plate after. Great wines and phenomenal champagne. We will definitely be back.

Great food, creative menu, polite wait staff and amazing wine.

Sad to say this place has not quite kept up its pre-pandemic level of food and service quality. We got cold outside under a malfunctioning heat lamp, had to flag down our waitress to place our order, drinks arrived after appetizers, and worst of all, the quality of food was barely worth half the price we paid.

The food are great these days. Service and wine are out standing. I love it when the chefs come out and talk to you. Cannot wait until next time

Had never dined at Soif's before. Thanks to Restaurant Week, we checked it out and we'll be back!

Wonderful meal. Had three courses. Outstanding flourless chocolate cake and scallops seared perfectly

Great food and friendly staff! Highly recommended.

Santa Cruz restaurant week 3 course tasting menu . Fantastic. Everything was super delicious. Caesar salad dressing was unreal- actual anchovies , I had scallops over risotto , perfectly cooked , my husband had short ribs . We cried over both it was so good! desserts fantastic. Pumpkin creek brûlée and a flourless chocolate torte. I wish this was an option always in restaurants to do smaller plates. Ate outside, excellent service, wonderful burgundy Chardonnay, Many heaters , we will be back!!!!

The portion sizes are very small. Would not recommend to go again.

Paper plates, plastic cups and utensils detracted from the experience a bit, but overall an enjoyable meal.

Restaurant week. We were outside of course so there was street noise. Also the wooden base on the street is noisy. But food was excellent and we enjoyed the experience.

We went for Restaurant Week and were surprised there were no tables indoors on a chilly evening even though restrictions had been changed to allow for 25% capacity. We had a 6:45 pm reservation. Despite that, one of the 3 entree options was already “sold out” on only the second night of the special menu. That’s pretty ridiculous! I would understand if we had come on the last day or late in the evening, but that was absolutely not the case here. It seemed very unprofessional to disappoint diners in this way. We felt it might have been a case of “bait and switch”, though no third entree option was even given as a substitute. This was unacceptable to us so we left to eat at a different restaurant!

Covid has been a challenge for restaurants but Soif has risen to meet it with excellent service and an enjoyable outside dining experience.

Very disappointed. So much so that we will probably never go back. They had told us, in advance, about them using disposable dinnerware and they made it sound like it was nice disposable dinnerware - of which there is. Their reason for disposables was due to the pandemic. Now, I'm willing to accept some differences during this difficult time, which is why I decided to go ahead with the reservation. However, they used the cheapest picnic disposables - and I wish I was joking. Their lack of consistency in usage suggested that it was more of an excuse to be cheap than a decision to be safe. Their cocktails came in glasses, that they kept. Their wine, which we did not get, came in glasses that you could keep. The water in plastic cups. Everything else, on cheap picnic disposables The food itself was good and the service was acceptable. But serving an entree of 3 ravioli with a pesto cream sauce on a cheap paper plate? Just imagine that as you're making a reservation.

The two stars are for food quality and acceptable service.

They are on an outdoor patio on a street. There was a street musician playing guitar a block away. Beyond that, there was very little noise. The food was great, the service was great. The patio has heaters, which worked great. Only my fourth meal out since Covid. It was lovely.

First timers here. The food was decent but unfortunately paper plates and plastic utensils did not add to the presentation and seemed an odd process in light of the fact that all other restaurants are using standard place settings. The outdoor seating could use some piped in music and containerized plants to create a more welcoming upscale sidewalk ambience to match its food prices. Too bad as the food has a good rep but the presentation and ambience ruined our high expectations. Feeling sorry for the wait staff who have to make excuses for it.

Amazing restaurant. The food and wine were delicious. We loved the wine so much we bought a case of it! They gave use champagne for our anniversary. The pear, almond tart. Dessert was the best I have had.

I really love the expierence! Excellent cheese board selection! Everything we asked for was explained very well, the waitress suggest what wine would be better with the food. The wine was nice, the rib eye was amazing ! Very nice place to visit, more if you are a fooodie and wine lover like me !
Nice wine glasses! Nice place!

Gathering with friends! Such a fun place to have dinner.

The bartender was overwhelmed, so it took a *LONG* time (45 minutes) to get our cocktails (we were all finished with our appetizers by the time they showed up). The cocktails were great (as was the food), just slow to arrive...

I had their Burger Week vegan burger and loved it.

Food was good but very limited menu options

Short menu short on value.

Nothing special
2 burgers
Fries
Glass of wine
Beer

$59

Very enjoyable dining experience. Would definitely recommend this restaurant.
I would like to see a bit more appetizers and entrees on the menu.

Attentive service, intelligent wine list, wonderful food and fabulous jazz quartet. Amazingly for a small space with hard surfaces, it was easy to carry on a conversation. The professional quality jazz set up next to our table was performed at background volumes. Will return.

Lovely food and attentive service! Loved the interior and the nice ambiance as well

Such a great quality place, nice and quite to be able to relax dab truly enjoy the food, wine, and company! Great service to suggest wine pairing with your food too!

Fabulous Valentines Day dinner with a prix fix menu of short ribs or grilled scallops, grossly overpriced at $225 per couple with wine and tip.

Delicious food, great wine and service.

Not my first visit to Soif and although it never disappoints our group of four had the best experience yet. Two of us had the coq-au-vin, one person had sea scallops and the other ordered the mushroom ravioli's. The server collected our plates when we finished and all four looked like they'd been through the dishwasher already! Not a drop or crumb to be found.
Welcome Tom McNary to Soif! Aptos has been lucky for a long time to have your business "Carried Away". What a thrill when we learned you're now chef at Soif.

First time. Great food, great cocktails, great service. Will go again

Service was friendly, professional, and attentive. Seafood saffron soup was a hit. We recommended it to the next table when they asked. Gin and tonic was exceptionally delicious. We had gnocchi bolognese and mushroom ravioli. The bolognese had a very meaty sauce, a little too much. The ravioli were very good. Went into the wine shop next door after to buy some white wine and got a very nice chemin blanc for an upcoming get together with a friend. Great evening.

Soif is one of my favorite local bars and restaurants. The food is really special and I really like the drinks. The service is close to perfect. The location and decor are nice and it is comfortable to go there alone or with friends. The only reason I wouldn't give it a top score is that the prices are very high.

Really nice environment, food is usually very good however there were a few misses. Meal was over $400 for two with wine pairing and my wife’s scallops tasted frozen which was disappointing, they were honestly bad. I enjoyed my waygu very much, but man for the amount we paid those scallops really missed. It’s not that I wouldn’t want to go back, it’s more that I don’t want to fork over that much money for something potentially disappointing, the risk/reward is too high.