About

We are open for indoor and outdoor patio dining.

Our hours are:
Wednesday- Saturday for dinner
5-8:30 pm with our last seating at 8:00 pm

We will hold an Afternoon Tea on Sunday, June 29th with reservations available on our Tock reservation page at 12 noon on Sunday, June 15th

We will continue to hold Afternoon Tea on the last Sunday of each month with reservations opening at 12 noon two Sundays prior to the date of the upcoming tea.

Closed for regular service Sunday, Monday and Tuesday

We appreciate your understanding that

due to limited seating, all tables are reserved for a maximum of 2hrs

Indoor or outdoor preferences must be requested at time of booking

We do not accept parties larger than 6 people

About Vim

Vim is named for the energy and vitality that it brings to the Santa Cruz culinary scene. In an atmosphere of warmth and casual elegance, patrons are invited to linger over approachable New American cuisine, decadent desserts, and modern cocktails. The West Side location includes an outdoor patio and bar to welcome you for a multi-course dinner, drinks, or just desserts. Cheers!

Click to read more about the chef >

Gallery

Some of Chef Jesikah's recent creations.

We are having our kickoff Summer Afternoon Tea on Sunday 6/29 from 11-2!
This menu will be packed with seasonal bites to enjoy:

Banana cake and coffee cocoa nib scones
Tomato burrata tart
Watermelon Chaat
Chinese chicken salad
Mint and muhamarra cucumber sandwich
Pretzel bowl chipotle corn chowder
Cherry chocolate tart
Apricot caramel cupcake
Blueberry cheesecake
S'mores brownie
Praline cream puff

You won't want to miss this one, so book a table now at vimsantacruz.com!

Also keep an eye out for next month's Tea which will be Candyland themed!

For a limited time (possibly only tonight...) we have brought back our famous Vim Carrot Cake! She got a little fancy with walnut creme anglaise and candied carrot ribbons, but still has that same classic cream cheese frosting and chunks of pineapple, coconut, walnuts and rum raisins. Get your fix while you can and join us for dinner and dessert!

Our Spring Girella pasta is leaving the menu this week! Fresh pasta spiral filled with leek fonduta, then tossed in a smoked onion, green garlic and pea butter, topped with fresh radish, pea tendrils and mint chimmichurri. Enjoy this bright and creamy pasta while you can!

Tonight is the last night for this flavor of Vim chocolate cake! It's hard to let go because it's been such a favorite! It is layered with caramel ganache, brown buttercream, toffee cocoa nib crunch, and finished with a drizzle of hazelnut praline. Savor this rich cake while you can!

Come and enjoy our seasonal salad! Tomato jam on the bottom, organic little gem lettuce, olives, cucumber, pickled onion and whipped feta inside an everything seasoned puff pastry shell. Bread bowls are not just for soup anymore! A great way to start your summer meal at Vim!

We are open for dinner Wednesday through Saturday night.

Our peanut butter tart is a favorite vegan dessert! It's hard not to love with a peanut butter cookie crust, rich chocolate pudding, peanut butter mousse, coconut whipped cream and bruleed banana! Come enjoy this, and all our current desserts this weekend, because they are all changing soon.
We are open for dinner Wednesday through Saturday nights.

Happy 6 year anniversary to Vim! Hard to believe it's been that long. We are so grateful to all our staff, customers, and everyone who has supported us all these years! Thank you all, we are so happy to be part of the community!

Thanks @macks.well for the great picture!

Come in this week and try our vegan sope! Our crispy masa dough is filled with sautéed oyster mushrooms in a dried fig mole sauce and topped with crunchy cocoa nibs, pepitas and currants. It's served alongside creamy cabbage slaw in a roasted garlic cashew dressing, huitiloche butter beans, and tangy cilantro vinaigrette. This delicious combination of textures and flavors is not to be missed! Join us for dinner Wednesday through Saturday nights!

Happy birthday to my grandma Jeanette! She was a huge part in helping me open this restaurant, and I know she is always watching over it. One of our only staple items on the menu is our butter board, and in addition to our house cultured butter and fresh baked sourdough, we always serve it with grandma's pickled mushrooms! These were a favorite snack at all our family holidays and I always have them on hand to honor her.

WOW! Thank you so much to everyone for voting! We are incredibly honored to have won the @goodtimessc Gold medals for:
Best Restaurant
Best Chef: Jesikah Stolaroff
Best Server: Isa Abbotts
Silver medals for
Best Bartetender: Jasmine Siemer-Dunbar
Best Steaks
Best Desserts
Best Appitizers
And bronze for Best Restaurant wine list.
We are so happy to be an appreciated part of the community and keep providing you with all the Best Stuff!

Come in to try our new Spring menu! This is our tempura maitake mushrooms tossed in honey aleppo butter, with cucumber ranch and shaved vegetable crudite. I wouldn't say this is the greatest dish I've ever made, but a lot of customers have 😂. You'll have to come in and decide for yourself!

Thanks for another amazing Afternoon Tea! The menu is seasonal and different every month, but some of today's favorites were the orange tahini soba noodles and blood orange cheesecake. Join us next month for a special Tea on Easter Sunday! Reservations will open two weeks beforehand at noon.

Come in this weekend to see @jazzfacedceramics for her final weekend bartending at Vim!
We are so grateful to Jasmine! She has been with us for years, creating amazing cocktails and making our greatest bar program! We have been so lucky to benefit from her incredible ability to balance flavors, pair seasonal drinks with entrees, and all around awesomeness! She has been a valued asset to our Vim family and will be dearly missed!

It's the last weekend for our sunchoke steak! This has been a favorite! Creamy sunchoke puree, maitake mushrooms and Swiss chard sauteed with brown butter and brandy, and a rich tamarind jus. Pickled onions and crispy tempura maitakes on top make this the perfect winter steak. Order it while you still can!

If you're looking to indulge, come in for our triple chocolate cheesecake! Dark chocolate cheesecake topped with milk chocolate mousse and roasted white chocolate whipped cream. Also garnished with cassis caramel and crunchy cocoa nibs (wait, 4 chocolates!). We look forward to having you in for dinner and dessert Wednesday through Saturday nights!
Also we still have some spaces available for Afternoon Tea this Sunday! Book your table on our website.

Thank you to everyone who came to celebrate this special Valentine's weekend with us! Also, a big thanks to our incredible staff! We had a great time and are grateful to get to share our love with the community through memorable dining experiences.

1) amuse bouche: sourdough heart cracker, whipped honey feta, papperdew tapenade
2) mushroom cappucino, truffle crema, fried maitake
3) miso spinach salad, pomegranate, pear, chili tempura avocado
4) sourdough foccacia, green garlic butter, pickled kumquat, rosemary balsmic dipping oil
5) sundried fonduta pasta, gremolata, fried ricotta stuffed olives
6) lobster arancini, tomato cream, pink peppercorn crema
7) filet mignon, aji puree, chili crunch butter, potato gouda croquettes, chimmichurri
8) passionfruit cheesecake, raspberry caramel, rose whipped cream
9) chocolate bordeaux cake, brown sugar truffle filling, red wine strawberry jam
10) takeaway carton of chocolate peppermint patties

Our new chicken dish is inspired by flavors of Trinidad! The rich coconut curry is topped with a FoglineFarm chicken leg braised in onions, fresh herbs and white wine. On the side is green papaya slaw, peanut kumquat chutney, and, if you like to add some heat, pickled chilies! Our made-to-order flat bread will help you scrape the bowl. Come in and cozy up with a taste of the Caribbean during the winter cold!

New pork tenderloin on tonight! It is sauced with an orange mustard jus and served with augula salad tossed in pistachio pesto, fresh orange and candied bacon. To keep it cozy on these cold nights, it has a spinach artichoke heart gratin baked with aged cheddar, parmesan and lemon bread crumbs. The whole dish pairs great with a glass of @storrswine Chardonnay.

Come in and try all our new entrees Wednesday through Saturday night!

We are enjoying the last of the seasons persimmons on our current chicken dish! Gnudi (ricotta dumplings) seared in a brown butter chicken jus, on top of celery root puree, with chili roasted romanesco. These pair perfectly with our tender chicken meatballs coated in persimmon puree and fresh persimmon salsa. This has been a real crowd favorite and will only be on the menu another day or so. So join us for dinner Wednesday through Saturday night to try this and some other new and exciting dishes!

We have a new dessert on the menu! Passionfruit pot de creme with a layer of caramel, toasted Italian meringue, and pink peppercorn coconut macaroons to dunk inside. It is tart, rice, creamy and gluten free! Join us for dinner and dessert Wednesday through Saturdays!

What a delicious 2024 we've had! We are so grateful to be sharing food, drink and memories with our amazing staff and customers all year long! Thank you to everyone who helps Vim keep going and trusting us for your special meals. We are thankful every day to be living this dream with all of you!
Cheers to an amazing 2025!

We are back open for dinner this weekend! Come in and try our striped bass! It has a butter basted crispy skin served over caramelized fennel, poblano cream couscous, with a pepita calabrian salsa, fresh orange fennel salad and blood orange gastrique. This is a reinvented favorite from our first menu, let us know what other dishes you'd like to see brought back or in a Vim cookbook!

Come in and try our special holiday cocktails and mocktails by the amazing @jazzfacedceramics!

The Early Retirement: a new staff favorite featuring house made passionfruit puree, @insolitotequila, lime, silver rum, @amaroaverna, warm spiced bitter cordial, black cherry and a toasted coriander sugar rim.

The Ginger Snap, a sweet and spiced (but not spiked!) take on a holiday classic.

And back by popular demand, the Cranberry Sauced!

We are open tonight and tomorrow for dinner, so gather your loved ones and grab a drink and meal at the bar.
Next week we will be closed on the 25th and 26th, and reopen for dinner Friday 12/27. We will also be closed 1/1 then back to regular hours Wednesday through Saturday nights. Happy holidays everyone!

Ti's the season for Vim Holiday Cocoa! Come in and warm up with our rich sipping chocolate, topped with homemade marshmallow. And you can't have cocoa this time of year without cookies! So you also get ginger molasses cookies, vanilla whipped cream and a white chocolate candy cane stir stick. Now that's a happy holiday! See you for dinner Wednesday through Saturday night.

Holiday Tea reservations are officially open! We are doing a special menu of holidays around the world! Each item represents a different country's traditional food eaten this season. There are 2 teas in December, the 8th and 29th. Both menus are on our website, they are similar with a couple alternate New Years traditional foods for the 29th. We will be closed this week for Thanksgiving (and to give the elves some time to decorate) but look forward to celebrating with you in December!

Join us this week for a comforting dinner away from the storm! This is our new French onion mac and cheese: herby gruyere pasta with a crispy fried coating to mimic the cheesy bread slice. The mac is placed on top of balsmic roasted mushrooms and carmelized onions, then topped with a fresh baby kale salad. At your table, we pour our delicious onion broth! Come enjoy this experience at Vim Wednesday through Saturday 5pm-8:30pm

Last night of our zuchinni fettuccine! House made pasta tossed in garlic confit tomatoes and rich parmesan zuchinni Alfredo. It's topped with cheesy zuchinni fritters in a calabrian sundried tomato butter. Enjoy this final bite of summer!
Join us for dinner Wednesday through Saturday nights!

Happy Halloween! We will be closed on Thursday 10/31 but return to haunt you again on Friday for normal business hours. Stay spooky out there...

Vim is so grateful to have been a part of the @secondharvestsantacruz charity dinner last night! We had a blast working with chefs from around Santa Cruz County to execute a seven course dining experience for over 200 guests. It’s always fun to work together with your community for a great cause!!

We prepared the dessert course: Vim’s signature chocolate cake with brown butter frosting, caramel ganaché and cranberry orange jam ✨✨✨

Haunted Halloween Tea reservations open tomorrow at noon! Join us for ghoulish delights, tricks and treats! Also, dress to impress the spooks of the manor, because they will be judging you in a costume contest...

Come in this week to enjoy the last of some of our summer dishes like this Steelhead Trout! It is baked with guajillo aioli, over black bean puree, charred pineapple and corn salsa, and chipotle pineapple buerre blanc. For some crunch we top it with pepitas and tortilla strips coated in 5 spice oil, and delicious shishito peppers from @groundswell_farm_sc .

Join us for dinner Wednesday-Saturday nights!

Our chicken dish right now is not to be missed! White wine braised Fogline Farms chicken leg with a crispy skin over cheesy feta polenta. It has roasted figs with fig vincotto jus and feta olive tapenade. Also, on the side, some refreshing zuchinni ribbons over housemade tahini ranch sauce.
Come enjoy this for dinner Wednesday through Saturday nights!

The great thing about a family restaurant is that the whole family gets to spend time working together. So, while it is a hard labor of love, and we can't afford to hire professionals, we are rich in family support (and the free labor that comes with that)! Come check out our new wallpaper, put up lovingly, and sometimes angrily, by our amazing Vim family! I have so much gratitude for everyone who keeps this dream growing and improving with me!

@camilleeeoo
@theskaug

Come enjoy the last peaches of the summer with our pork tenderloin! Caramelized onion peach puree, herby farro cooked with spanish chorizo, mustard jus swiss chard, fresh peach and ginger salsa and topped with a savory chili sage whipped cream.
Join us for dinner Wednesday through Saturday night!

Come into Vim to try our new Earl Grey Chocolate Tart!

Still enjoying the last of the summer cherries with our burratta dish! Cherry pepper jelly at the bottom, fresh cherries and bacon fat balsamic frisee salad with pork belly lardons. And the best part is the cheddar curry butter biscuits to scrape the plate with! Enjoy it for dinner Wednesday through Saturday night!
Also join us for Afternoon Tea this Sunday for more treats!

It's Afternoon Tea time Sunday 8/25! Come to tea this month if for no other reason than to eat this cookie s'more! One of 5 unique summertime mini desserts included on your tower. Book your table (and see the whole sweet and savory menu) on our website vimsantacruz.com. Don't forget to spill the tea to your friends about this fun event!

@thinklocalfirst_santacruz
@eventsantacruz
@ediblemontereybay
@visitsantacruz
@tarafatemiwalker

Check out this interview in The Medium with Jesikah Stolaroff, Head Chef of Vim Dining & Desserts!!

“5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Became a Restaurateur”

https://medium.com/authority-magazine/jesikah-stolaroff-of-vim-dining-desserts-5-things-i-wish-someone-told-me-before-i-became-a-1182807c9e94Do

Our new steak is full of yummy summer Caribbean flavors! Filet Mignon over a roasted pepper romesco sauce with rose harissa butter melting over top. It's served with sweet chimmichurri plantains on a ras a hanout yogurt sauce and jerk seasoned broccoli. Come in for dinner to enjoy this buttery, peppery, melt in your mouth steak!

Vim Dining & Desserts
2238 Mission St, Santa Cruz
Dinner Wednesday - Saturday 5-8:30
Afternoon Tea: the last Sunday of the month

Our new salad definitely tastes like summer! Fresh tomato vinaigrette with pickled peppers, grated egg, fried capers, torn basil and mint, and cheesy aleppo croutons! A perfect start to your meal, come in and try it for dinner Wednesday through Saturday night.
Also don't forget about our County Fair Tea next Sunday! Reservations are open on our website.

The theme of our tea this month at Vim is "County Fair"! Reservations open this Sunday at noon, so mark your calander to attend this fun summertime tea! We will have Vim versions of all your favorite fair foods, including this fried oreo! These were both so delicious, we need your help voting for the buttercream to complete this dessert bite! Comment below if you want raspberry or cookies and cream frosting with your fudge brownie fried oreo. Can't wait to see you at County Fair Tea 7/28

Our current vegan dessert is this miso cookie pie! It has layers of brown "butter" cookie made with @tourlami, with a layer maple cookie butter in the middle. The warm slice is topped with miso whipped coconut cream and roasted apricots. It all gets topped with apricot caramel and oat crumble for crunch. Come grab this fun summer dessert Wednesday through Saturday night!

Thank you @thinklocalfirst_santacruz
For this great video and shout out!

✨ Think Local First is thrilled to welcome our newest member, Vim Dining and Desserts, to the family! Located on the Westside of Santa Cruz, Vim embodies the essence of fine dining, passion, and creativity. From freshly sourced local ingredients and bold flavors, to decadent desserts and innovative cocktails, every bite and every sip celebrates the lively spirit of our community. It’s no wonder Vim captured the Good Times Best of Santa Cruz 2024 awards for Santa Cruz Restaurant, Desserts, Bartender and Fancy Cocktails 🥇🥇🥇🥉.

Join in the fun this Sunday from 11 am-2 pm for a unique experience—Vim’s once-a-month Afternoon Tea. Delight in a variety of savory bites, biscuits, desserts and teas that perfectly capture the fresh taste of summer. 🍰🍹

💖 Show a little love for our local restaurants, and tag someone you’d like to share this unique experience with 😘

Join us for a delightful Afternoon Tea at Vim! We have a tea party one Sunday a month, with a new seasonal or themed menu each time! Reservations are now available for our first Summer Tea on June 30th from our website vimsantacruz.com. We are excited to have you join us for this whimsical dining experience!

Have you tried our pork tenderloin? It has minty pink peppercorn spaetzel over a caramelized onion puree. On the side are smoky creamed peas cooked with @bakersbacon. The pork is drizzled with mustard jus, then topped with a fresh pea tendril and mint salad to brighten it all up. This dish is so comforting and satisfying! Join us for dinner in the dining room, bar or patio Wednesday- Saturday from 5- 8:30.

Also first summer tea reservations open this Sunday at noon, so Mark your calander to reserve a table!

Indulge in our spring pasta before it's too late! It has sundried tomato pesto on the bottom, a ring of springtime vegetables: maitake mushrooms, asparagus, charred onions, topped with green garlic gremolata, a nest of hand made fettuccine noodles tossed in leek butter and a generous pour of gruyere fonduta. 🤤

Join us for dinner Wednesday - Saturday night! This is our citrus steelhead trout, topped with preserved lemon aioli, fresh rhubarb salsa and pepitas. It's complimented by a creamy herb and feta cous cous and aleppo butter artichokes hearts. Perfect for a springtime evening paired with a glass of Le Cigare Orange from @bonnydoonvineyard .

It's tea time again! We will back open this upcoming week, including an Afternoon Tea Party on Sunday 5/26. You can book dinner and tea reservations on our website vimsantacruz.com. We look forward to seeing you again!

Vim will be closed Wednesday 5/8 until 5/21 for a family wedding in Italy! Josh, my brother and one of Vim's owners, is marrying the amazing @camilleeeoo . She's already part of the family and has paid her dues with countless free restaurant hours, designing our website, coming to work holidays and blessing us with her many talents. We are so grateful to welcome her into the family and for all of us to have this amazing vacation together! See you back for dinner in a couple weeks! Ciao!

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@vim_santacruz

Contact Us

To make reservations please go to our Tock reservation link at the top of the page or call the restaurant as email requests may not be seen immediately.
We do not accept parties larger than 6 people

Call us

About Vim

Gallery

Follow Us

Follow us on Instagram

Contact Us

To make reservations please go to our Tock reservation link at the top of the page or call the restaurant as email requests may not be seen immediately.
We do not accept parties larger than 6 people

for restaurant buyout inquiries email us at
info@vimsantacruz.com

About Vim

Gallery

Follow Us

​

Follow us on Instagram

Contact Us To make reservations please go to our Tock reservation link at the top of the page or call the restaurant as email requests may not be seen immediately. We do not accept parties larger than 6 people

for restaurant buyout inquiries email us at info@vimsantacruz.com

Contact Us

To make reservations please go to our Tock reservation link at the top of the page or call the restaurant as email requests may not be seen immediately.
We do not accept parties larger than 6 people

for restaurant buyout inquiries email us at
info@vimsantacruz.com