I can’t find a restaurant website, so the Yahoo! Local entry will have to do: Kiantis Pizza & Pasta Bar turned out to be an inspired (if totally fortunate) choice for dinner on Saturday night. Our walkable choices were not so inspiring, so we risked children’s fatigue levels and drove to downtown Santa Cruz — and it was great. Kiantis wasn’t a destination for us, but it fit the bill.
First, the wait wasn’t terrible, even on a Saturday night at 6:30pm in a town filled with a few hundred extra folks looking for a pasta fuel-up. (ahem)
Second, I found street parking less than a block away, even though the restaurant is on the main drag downtown, at 1100 Pacific Avenue.
Third, the 7pm wacky celebration was a total surprise. All the employees start dancing to a very loud rendition of “Hot, Hot, Hot,” and then the two of the top three finalists in the acrobatic division of the World Pizza Games showed off some of their moves. Pretty snazzy.
Fourth, the food was good. Not inspiring, but good — and we were in a hurry, with two children under the age of six, so inspiring was not the goal.
Fifth, and most important, we got great service. The waiter followed our lead when we jumped right into ordering, offered useful advice about spiciness on a kids’ meal, suggested separate bowls for the children’s meals, and generally was a step ahead all the way through, with a smile. Remarkable service, and made the whole evening a lot more fun. I’ve eaten at much more expensive places with less rewarding interaction and service.