The refreshed lounge and wide dining area, complete with new light fixtures, reupholstered seating, shuffleboard and chess, are nice.
The reimagined upstairs lodging—which invites a stay with “add a night” on the dessert menu (!!)—presents a major upgrade.
The new pirate ship play structure on the big summer-ready patio builds on the family friendliness.
The biggest improvement, though, lies elsewhere.
Chef, new Santa Cruz resident and new mom Jessie Curran, formerly of the Atomic Workshop Group—as in Michelin-starred State Bird Provisions, fellow repeat star winner The Progress and cult hit The Anchovy Bar—is now lead chef at The Davenport Roadhouse (1 Davenport Ave., Davenport).
An energized menu is already in place—think steamed clams with crusty bread, “Bee Sting” flatbread pizzas, pimento grilled cheeses, buttermilk biscuits, green goddess gem lettuce salads, falafel tacos, beer-battered local rock cod and chips, “steak and potatoes,” and a signature “Cash Smash” burger.
“She had all these great ideas off the bat,” says Ginny Miller, whose family took over the Roadhouse last summer with operations partner Gavin Parsons. Like Curran, both have infants of their own—so the parenting/professional balance is real, and integrated into the gig.
“A lot of babies and breast pumps,” Curran says. “But no 100-hour restaurant work weeks.”
“When she was consulting part-time, every hour was the most valuable of my week, so I started tapping her more and more,” Miller says. “Finally, she felt like, ‘Let’s do this.’”
More at davenportroadhouse.com.
ANOTHER ROUND
Let the pineapple wine flow. And the persimmon cinnamon mead, ginger lime blonde ale, maple stout, jalapeño pale ale, craft soft drinks and sake—in short, all sorts of nerdvana elixirs, all devoutly homemade. So it goes with the reborn DIYine: A Celebration of Homebrewing, which happens 6-10pm Saturday, June 13, at Veterans Memorial Hall (846 Front St., Santa Cruz). Hors d’oeuvres, music by The Cayuga Jazz Band and The Squid Row Orchestra and a good cause to boot (Santa Cruz Urban Works, an organization that offers art and recreation opportunities for adults with disabilities) for a tidy $35. Stacey Falls, a local chemistry teacher and one of the event organizers, helps put a handle on it: “I love trying all the strange combinations and unique flavors that I can’t get anywhere other than homebrew,” eventbrite.com/e/2026-diyine-a-homebrew-tasting-party-tickets-1985408439087.
NEWS NIBBLES
El Salchichero (402 Ingalls St., Santa Cruz) is returning to its farmers market beginnings, reigniting its presence at all the Santa Cruz Community Farmers Markets, with an eye on adding Monterey markets soon, elsalchichero.com…Chef Andy Huynh is calling it a good run with Full Steam Dumpling (1001 Center St., Santa Cruz), set to close July 18, so at least there’s time to grab some gyoza, bang some bao and relish in some ramen, fullsteamdumpling.com…Props to Lily Belli at Lookout for her reporting on a Watsonville stunner: S. Martinelli & Company is choosing to let contracts with a number of local farmers to expire, forcing some to remove orchards or lease land to berry growers—while farmers argue the move reflects Martinelli’s expanding use of lower-cost apples and juice from Washington state, the company says it remains committed to sourcing fruit from the Pajaro Valley and maintaining local apple production…Tastier news: The Santa Cruz Warriors were just in Watsonville at Reiter Berry Farms to deliver catered lunches and personal care gift bags to local farmworkers…Ralph Waldo Emerson: “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”
