Great food. Good wine list. Awful service for the whole meal. It took 15 minutes for me to get a glass of high end wine. The food was great, but we will sit at the bar next time, so we won’t be ignored.

Great seasonal menu with innovative presentation. The salmon, beef and pork are all cooked to order depending on how each patron wants. Excellent mushroom soup. Yummy desserts. We definitely will dine here again.
Very good for conversations since there is no loud music.

Beautiful restaurant and outstanding food, drink, and service.

Good menu, tasty food, great presentation - nice! My only complaint is that for dinner - the lights are blinding bright. Turn down the lights! Make it feel way more cozy. Similarly, it was freezing in the restaurant. Everyone was sitting in their coats. Turn up the heat. Also make it feel more cozy. Those 2 little things would make a huge difference - by dimming lights and ensuring the restaurant is toasty - you change the ambience and make it something far more compelling for everyone.

The steak is good. Nice looking place.

Xmas dinner

The food was delicious . Lovely ambience. Good value! All in all this was a lovely evening.

Thanksgiving day, great food but expensive. Mistake on the order. Nice dinner though.

This is a lovely restaurant/lounge. As I expected, after reading other reviews, the service was not great. I had a wonderful cocktail called the Garden of Eden with cucumber vodka and mint among other things. I was very refreshing and not particularly strong, which I liked. The kale salad was good and we go the poke which I did not care for and was way over priced. But we sat by the fireplace and it was warm and cozy. It is definitely a spot for a romantic date.

We ate dinner during restaurant week. Decor is very arty. Bar and restaurant area beautifully integrated. Appetizers were excellent. Main course sauces way too sweet. Chocolate bombe dessert very good. Carrot cake advertised with cardamom and cream cheese frosting, neither of which was apparent in the dessert so not impressed. Great decor, food needs some tweaking.

We couldn't believe how bad the food was here. For instance what was advertised as macadamia covered mahi-mahi came deep fried with sloppy mashed potatoes. The desserts were a disgrace to a coffee shop. The cakes were extremely dry and covered with fluffy sweet stuff. The appetizers were not so bad.

I do dine often at the Solaris Restaurant and it's never a disappointment.

Worst service ,,1.5 hrs from when we were sat we still didnt have a meal.One waiter working whole room. Never again

This second visit did not live up to our memory of our first visit a few months ago. Largely due to the less enthusiastic service, I felt as though we were an interruption to a conversation our server was having with another table. Beyond that, there was a mixup in the appetizer and the additional dipping sauce never arrived. The presentation of my husband's bunless burger could have been nicer. Two piles of lettuces on the plate. A request for malt vinegar to dip the fish and chips was met with a remark that it was already on the fries... What? The extra vinegar she wanted was already on there? And then we come to mine... The Caesar Salad was dry and the lettuce seemed old somehow. Even the two crossed anchovies on top we stiff and dried out. Inedible. Then for the clams... Absolutely delicious flavor except for the fact that the salt was complex overwhelming. I shared for other opinions and even my salt freak granddaughter agreed it was way too salty. I was actually heartbroken because the first time we ate here everything was perfect and the service was friendly, and the food was perfect. Not sure I'd give it a 3rd try.

This was in the Marriott Autograph hotel collection - Paradox. The food was excellent as well as the speciality drinks. The staff were all very friendly and accommodating. The decor was modern and comfortable. We ate both dinner and breakfast and everything was exceptional.

Nice room. It was the night before graduation at U.C. Santa Cruz. They were understaffed and slow and the food was awful. The wair staff idid their best but it was not enough to overcome the awful food

Restaurant was empty yet took forever to be acknowledged and seated. Even though we were literally the only table eating food somehow food and beverage service was remarkably slow

Second time... Food was very good as expected from the first visit. The hotel and restaurant are a great destination where you can stay all day over night and relax and enjoy a tranquil time away from it all. Sunday mornings on the pool/patio was great as well.

Was excited to try a new spot for breakfast in Santa Cruz but very, very disappointed by lack of organization and general interest shown by staff. We had to ask for everything and some things twice -- water, salt, pepper, silverware, milk/sugar for coffee, to place our order, to ask where our food was 30+ mins later, etc. It was honestly a very stressful dining experience to try to find anyone to help you-- there seemed to be at least 8 people working but everyone just floated in and out of the dining room and everyone seemed to literally disappear when we needed something. The menu sounded great, which is one reason I picked this spot. When the food did eventually come, (honestly the price and wait time, we should have been comped something) the eggs were wayyy undercooked, the steak was a good size but no salt/flavor and over cooked (asked for medium), pancakes & potatoes were fine, never was offered butter or syrup for pancakes but I tend to eat my pancakes plain so I didn't even ask. Oh and the tea was weak, water lukewarm, and not the same brand as advertised on the menu. I'm cool with asking for one thing or being disappointed by one food item but this was just a constant struggle to enjoy a pricey meal.

Excellent food and service. Would recommend to anyone looking for an enjoyable meal.

The occasion was a family get together for my son's birthday. We made reservation. Table was not prepared when we arrived on time. The service was slow. Our waitress accidently spelled a drink she carried on a tray. Thank goodness , it spelled on a child who came after playing a baseball game. ( If it was a person wearing a special attire it would have been a disaster. ) My grandson who sat next to me, had cut off a pile of fat from the special of the day New York Steak. (gross)
I was surprise they did not bring out a complementary birthday dessert for the birthday person. Other than that, it was quite an experience. Very pricey. Try this place. You might like it.

I was really hoping to find a restaurant in Santa Cruz that could offer more the coconut breaded prawns. They are trying hard but just couldn't do it.

Ahi Poke Salad
Needs help on presentation. Chunks of Salmon spilling on to the plate covered in a brown bile.
Not very appetizing. A composed bite was however better then I thought it would be.

They just seem to be trying too hard for the price that lacks that wow factor.

Miso disappointed

Great food, good wine, great service. Went for my anniversary, gonna go next year too.

We loved the modern decor and the bar was well stocked and elegant but fun. The food was a solid 3.5 stars. It would be good to have a little more acid on the Scallop dish, Brussels sprouts aren't really a fine dining ingredient. Food was tasteful, but needs a little refinement.

Horrible. Expensive & something weird going on.

Didn't appear to be a waitstaff problem but the food came out extremely slow and at different times.

Waitstaff was trying to not make eye contact.

Had my 3 oz water refilled once in an hour.

Overpriced. Small filet and 3 small halved crab legs $45. No drawn butter served with crab. Venison was vinegary tasting. Sourdough bread tasted odd.

Beautiful restaurant but absolutely CLUELESS servers. Kitchen was very slow considering we were almost alone; what would have happened if there were more than 3 occupied tables? The venison was so marinated as to have been mush but the burger was great (I grabbed the Bar Bites menu and glad I did). I would return for lunch but, despite the great layout, Solaire is just not worth the spotty dinner service or offerings.

The General Manager was kind enough to bring certificates to Dream Inn Santa Cruz so the front desk hosts could experience the re-launch of the restaurant. I decided to use my cert for a special treat when daughter and grandson came to visit for Christmas. I am sorry to say that had I actually paid for the meal, it would have made the experience even worse. We did not complain at the restaurant because we had a gift cert. We had the calamari for starters. Instead of tender and tasty it was chewy. My Daughter and Grandson both had the sirloin, again tough to chew, although they did enjoy the mash potatoes and shrimp that accompanied the meal. I got the scallops. They were almost totally raw, with a quick searing on the outside, cold in the middle. The brussels sprouts and broccoli bits that it was served with looked like they were scraped off of someone else's plate. It pains me to say that we brought the meat home for the dog. 😑 We decided to try some desert, after hearing our selections we decided on S'more and the butterscotch desert. Waitress came back about ten minutes later and told us they were out of the S'mores. We then decided to skip desert all together and call it a night. So disappointed, I was really looking forward to a nice dinner with My Daughter and Grandson. The server was very nice and friendly. Unfortunately she was not trained or prepared to describe the menu items or specials.

Went for a friends birthday with 7 people, the restaurant was nearly empty maybe three other tables occupied. Service was slow, waiter had to go ask the kitchen about every question we had about the menu.
Food was decent, small portions on entrees.
The decor is great, modern and nicely done.
I'd go back for a business party or lunch, but not personally, or with family and friends.

Food was delicious and elegantly presented, but supper portions were so ridiculously tiny (and pricey at that) we went home after dining and made ourselves a meal. The entree could have easily passed for an appetizer. We waited a long time for our food to be served, in spite of the tables being less than half occupied. Sorry, I would not go back.

Whats not to like??? It is a great place to go if you want to be able to talk to the people you are dining with..The food is always very good.

The food was not very good. The French fries, wings, wonton shrimp off the bar bites menu was average at best. If you are used to great Bay Area restaurants don't bother. The chef is over ambitious with underwhelming food.

This is the worst review I have ever given. Our server was very nice.. Ashley. She did forget to order my Ahi Poke. When it was ordered the kitchen took way to long.. Its Poke so it doesn't have to be cooked?!?!

I served tables for 10 years so I am usually more flexible but cannot for this place. The restaurant wasn't busy (for a veterans day weekend that should've been my 1st clue). The smores cake was awful. Graham cracker, burnt caramel, spiced sponge cake, chocolate, sticky whipped marshmellow. And served ice cold possibily from the freezer? No imagination. I'd expected warm and hopefully deconstructed. Sadly it was uber sweet and over done. I give the restaurant 2.5 out of 5 stars. Won't ever go back.

Food was served at room temperature. The pork was tough.

An upscale restaurant attached to the Hotel Paradox, they have both a bar menu and a dinner menu, though you can interchange. Pricey but not unreasonable.

Nice atmosphere, but the food was bland and service was extremely slow considering there were only 5 occupied tables on a Sunday morning at 10:30. No attention to detail. Coffee arrived instantly, but OJ took 15 minutes. Our server came by to clear 2 of our 4 our plates, and never cleared the other 2 even while we waited an additional 15 min to get our credit card back. Cannot recommend & won't return.

excellent discovery. we are from santa cruz and don't usually go to hotel restaurants. the bar is especially good as serve good until 11 pm which is rare so great post cinema spot. food/service were good. definitely will repeat

All the filet minon orders at the table were undercooked per our requests. My medium rare came out rare. For the price, the cocktails need a higher amount of alcohol.

Three of us went for opening night of Restaurant Week. We learned when we arrived early for a drink that there was no happy hour that night, which was a disappointment. Our meals were a good value with the set $35 menu. The food was uneven, with the steak and fish good, the sides not very interesting. Service was uneven also, with our server not replacing silverware that was removed and even removing a napkin when one guest left the table for a few minutes. We did appreciate that the noise level allowed us to have conversations easily. Our salad starter was very nice and we found a reasonable bottle of wine to go with our meals.

Food and service was excellent. Good destination even if you aren't staying at the hotel. The outside bar is a nice feature if the weather is fair

My husband and I celebrated our wedding anniversary with dinner at Solaire. The ambience is lively and the food and service were excellent. It was a great anniversary dinner experience.