A Little Shanghai for Lunch

Hopefully everyone had a good weekend, I went to the Shadowbrook on Saturday (haven't been in a long time!) for my mom's birthday. It was a great time, we had our own room with a fireplace, and the food was de-licious. Then today we went out to lunch for her actual birthday (happy birthday Mom!), and we chose... yes, Little Shanghai.

You HAVE to try this place if you haven't. I've loved it for a long time, and been meaning to get it up on the site. I knew they had a great lunch special, but I couldn't remember the specifics. I just HAD to head over and check it out, and bring back the info to share with you all. Aside from being a great restaurant, they have a special lunch deal everyday from 11:30-2:30, starting as low as $4.95. Normally you sit down at a table and order, but during lunch it's a fast-paced, low priced feeding frenzy. Get in line, pick your food, pay (and tip!), have a seat and enjoy. I highly recomend the sweet and sour vegetable balls - a delicious vegetarian option that isn't just for vegetarians. I can't explain them really, they look like meatballs but they are covered in sweet and sour glaze and they are very soft. Just try 'em, I promise they're good! I've never seen them anywhere else.

Check out the Little Shanghai's post here: Little Shanghai

If you haven't done so already, subscribe to the website and receive email updates everytime a new post shows up (on the right of the page), or by clicking here: Subscribe to Santa Cruz Specials by Email. I promise the e-mail addresses won't be used for anything else, because I don't like that either! Thanks again for all your input and submissions, and tell a friend about the site so we can keep this thing growing.

I can't believe it's Thanksgiving already, let the festivities begin. I hope everyone has a fun and delicious Thanksgiving!

The Refresher Course

Alright! It's come to my attention that it's terribly easy for stuff to get totally buried on this site, even I forget things that I have posted! So I thought, it might be cool to do a little refresher course once in a while, where I will choose a deal from each day as a little "don't forget"... because I know I've forgotten plenty.

But before that, let me mention today's new post, and my first post for Watsonville, China Garden! This is a great little place located in the shopping center off Main St. in Watsonville. It has daily specials from 11-4, ranging from $5.45 to $6.85. 28 items on the lunch menu, you're sure to find something you like. I mean, it's chinese food. Need I say more? Here's the post: China Garden

I'm including Watsonville, thanks to advice from a reader (thanks Christine!) as it's part of Santa Cruz County. Keep in mind that on each page, areas can be sorted by going to the Categories column on the right, and clicking a part of town. Downtown, Watsonville, Capitola, you get the idea. Same goes for food if you have a particular food in mind.

OK back to the refresher! Here's a day by day random pull of a deal listed already, with links:

• Monday: Johnny's Harborside $20 - 3 course meal with Wine!(thanks again Christine!)
  
• Tuesday: Crow's Nest, Deal with a View upstairs $6.95
• Wednesday: Shadowbrook, Winemaker Wednesday, 50% select wine
• Thursday: Miyako Japanese Restaurant, $9.95 Sushi Buffet
• Friday: Harbor Cafe, Bottomless Mimosas $9.95
• Saturday: Dynasty Dim Sum Lunch Under $5 an item
• Sunday: Hindquarter Apple Smoked Porkchops $13.99
• Everyday: Surf City Billiards, the incredible Under $5 drinks and appetizers happy hour. This one is a new business to, needs our love!

Well there you have it! I think I'll start doing that more often, we have a lot of good deals here. This is it for my post today, hope everyone has a great rest of week - and if you have free time and are looking for something to do, a hike in Nisene Marks is amazing. The leaves are turning yellow, does a body good. We just went up today for a few hours, it was great! Enjoy some time there, I had no idea how close it was.

Street Food

This week I am bringing the Charlie Hong Kong "Asian Street food" restaurant to the list. While they don't seem to have a rotating daily special, their noodle bowls and food overall are a pretty good deal, not to mention extremely filling (and delicious!).

I had always wanted to go here, but you know how it goes, there are a million places you say "Oh yea, I gotta go in there". Well it took a friend taking another friend who would later take me (that make sense?) to this restaurant. When they brought it up I was excited since it's been one I've wanted to try.

Oh. Man. This place is delicious and affordable, things that sit extremely well with me. Huge amazing noodle bowls. I'll definitely be going more often. If you know more about this place, or just love it, leave a comment here for the rest of us. They have an online menu, too, if you're one of those people who likes to study up on a menu before heading in (I do this, I think it's menu anxiety or something... haha).

Anyway here's the post: Charlie Hong Kong. It's everday, and posted on everyday.

On a totally different and random note, I was looking at the total posts so far over all the days and the leader with the most specials is:

• Tuesday, with 39 posts.

That's 39 restaurant specials available on Tuesdays. Well, specials I know about so far, if you have more, keep 'em comin. I appreciate all the input everyone gives, there are a lot of places to try! It's great. Wednesday comes in second place, with 37 specials and Thursday in third with 36. Pretty good!

Thanks again for your help, please tell your friends and family about the site!

Italian Food & Billiard Halls

Hey everyone & Happy Fall! Sorry for the absence in posts, we took a trip out to Chicago for Halloween. But I'm back and I have some fresh posts! I've got two new ones here, and quite a few more lined up. Thanks to those of you who have been sending in this great info, I can't wait to try these places out!

Let's start with Lillian's Italian Kitchen on Soquel Ave. This place has EXCELLENT reviews on Yelp, and I've heard about it from a few different sources. Turns out they have a great lunch deal, Tuesday through Friday from 12 - 2. $8.95 gets you a half pasta with soup or salad. I've heard the portions are huge and the place is delicious. Here's the post: Lillian's Italian Kitchen.

The second post is Surf City Billiards & Cafe. Located in the heart of downtown, this place delivers great food and fun at a really great price. Happy Hour from 4-7 daily, with Beer, Wine & Appetizers all under $5. These aren't your average run of the mill Apps either, we're talking Cheeseburgers, lettuce wraps, potstickers and so much more. Check out the posts: Surf City Billiards & Cafe.

So it's really looking like Fall out there, hope everyone had a great Halloween and Election Day. I know I did. If you haven't done so already, you can subscribe to the site to receive e-mail updates about new posts by clicking here, or on the enter your info right of the screen. Well, I look forward to hearing from you and reading your comments, thanks again! Keep checking back, there's lots on the way.
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May's Sushi Bar & Grill

Update! I posted once originally about this restaurant here:
May & Mayflower, September 2008
I finally got a chance to go into May's Sushi Bar & Grill, for the Bento Box Lunch Special. It was delicious! The Bento box was WAY more food than I had expected. My friend and I ordered a few rolls to go along with the food, thinking it would be smaller, but it was definitely enough for lunch. It was great! Only $8.95, The bento box lunch comes with Miso Soup, Salad, Rice, and then you choose one item from each group (out of two groups). I had the Chicken Katsu, Tempura, with Miso Soup, Salad, Rice, and of course those orange slices. Everything was delicious and the server was very friendly. All the tables are divided into semi private and quaint booths. Overall a great experience. Oh, and it' an EVERYDAY speical. You've just got to hand it to those restaurants with an "everyday" special, so reliable. You always know you can get it!

Anyway, I made a slight correction to all the May's Sushi posts on the site, originally I didn't know what "group A" and "group B" meant, but after going in I know you get a choice from each! Give this place a try, here's another link to the post:
May's Sushi Bar & Grill

Thanks again for all your great submissions, and if you haven't done so already.. subscribe to the e-mail feeds right HERE:
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Have a great weekend!

2,000 visits!

2,000 hits! Today the site had it's 2,000th visitor. Pretty good for a young baby site, eh? I'm pretty happy with that. Keep the great restaurant submissions coming in! I took a look at, I think it was Tuesday or Thursday's page the other day and realized there were a LOT of specials on that day! Couldn't believe how quickly that added up.

Anywho, here's another!

August Moon Sushi Cafe
I can't believe I didnt' check here earlier, this restaurant is a favorite of mine. It's very comfortable, and while small, always makes you feel welcome as it's a total mom 'n pop operation. It's nice to see some affordable small business sushi restaurants in the area! Give this place a try and I'm sure you'll become a regular-just like many others!

They have 4 house specials, that seem to be everyday (as they are printed on the table signs) and I've posted them accordingly. They have Roll specials as well as Udon noodles ( I love Udon!) along with totally affordable Nigiri. Feel free to get comfortable with this group, as it feels like you are right at home. Here's a link to one of the restaurant posts:
Click Here :)
Well, hope everyone has a great week, and remember, if you havent' subscribed to e-mail updates or forwarded this site to a friend, you can do it right now on the right of your screen! Come on, it only takes a few seconds!