Rover Reviews

Yip! Yap! We’re going to Aldo’s Harbor Restaurant in Santa Cruz! Aldo’s has always been a doggie destination, and in the 1980s a German Shepherd named Buffalo ran this place with his owner, Walter Olivieri. To this day, during low tide, the small beach next to Aldo’s is called Buffalo Beach.

While my two-legged friends relax in the sun with cocktails from Aldo’s full bar, we enjoy the view from the deck overlooking Santa Cruz Harbor: boats, paddle boarders, birds, seals, otters, and so many other canine customers. I wonder which one of the doggie diners owns the sailboat, “Alpha Puppy,” at the dock next to Aldo’s.

All this almost distracts me from the enticing aroma of edibles. Aldo’s is known for its fresh seafood and eggs Benedict. The portions are very generous, and I am one happy pup when I get a taste. For breakfast, my mom likes the spinach wrap (eggs, spinach, avocado, bacon, salsa, and cheese wrapped in a spinach tortilla). Today at lunch, she orders the fish tacos (grilled Mahi, salsa, cabbage, and chipotle sauce), and her friends order a calamari steak sandwich (on fresh fugasa bread) and cioppino. Aldo’s bakes all their own breads at their bakery in Soquel.

We spend the afternoon relaxing in the sun to the live jazz music that plays on Sundays, and I just know that Buffalo showed the two-leggers how to give a dog a good time.

Woof, woof.
Rover