More mocktails, vegetables and takeout: Six local chefs share their restaurant predictions for 2025

If your New Year’s resolutions include eating more vegetables and drinking less alcohol, you’re in luck; Santa Cruz County chefs are predicting that those will be two of the top restaurant trends in the area for 2025. 

Lookout spoke with six local chefs and restaurateurs who opened new restaurants in 2024, and they think Santa Cruz County will see a trend toward more health-conscious dining, with low- and no-alcohol beverages and vegetarian dishes increasing in popularity and visibility. Some would like to see a greater commitment from area restaurants to using local ingredients, and at least one is also aiming to decrease food waste. They also believe customers should expect restaurant prices to continue to rise in order to reflect increases in the cost of labor and materials. 

One dining trend that exploded during the pandemic doesn’t show any signs of disappearing: Takeout and delivery accounts for a huge portion of restaurant sales, some owners say. They expect it to keep growing as many customers seem to prefer the convenience of using apps to order food. And compared to the high costs of groceries, some people might consider ordering a meal from a restaurant a better investment than purchasing food at the store and preparing it at home.

Tim Silva, the chef and owner of Ozzy’s Pizzeria in Watsonville, which opened in May, said takeout via Toast, his online order service, and delivery services like Uber and DoorDash account for at least 30% of his sales. 

At downtown Santa Cruz breakfast and lunch spot Ibiza, co-owner Elan Emerson said takeout easily accounts for 25-30% of sales, and it’s growing. It was a surprise to her and her husband, chef Brett Emerson, because they hardly did any takeout when they ran Barceloneta, a dinner-only establishment in the same spot. That’s partly because they didn’t offer delivery at the time – fine dining doesn’t fit the delivery model, said Elan Emerson. Now, Ibiza’s lower price point and a daytime concept fuels takeout lunch orders, especially among people who work from home. 

While takeout has become a critical part of their bottom line, customers end up sacrificing quality for convenience, Silva and Emerson say. 

“On one hand, you don’t need to have anyone on the phone; that’s all gone away. But it’s a disservice to the quality of what we’re trying to achieve here,” said Silva. “If you come in, the sourdough crust is crunchy on the outside, but after it steams in the box for 20 minutes, it’s a different beast. It loses some of that really good texture.”

Quinn Cormier and her business partner, chef Geoff Hargrave, partnered with DoorDash when they transformed the former West End Tap & Kitchen into Izakaya West End in June. They plan to add the delivery service to their Capitola restaurant, East End Gastropub, this year. 

They’re embracing the change, but say the restaurant experience can’t be replicated online. “We hope to see more people gathering to enjoy dining out with friends and family,” said Cormier. 

Takeout customers also care that their food looks good in the box, and that some items like salad dressing or sauces are packaged separately. Those extra bags and containers add up, said Emerson. “We’re trying to do our best but also keep costs down. A container with a bottom and a top adds at least 70 cents to the cost of the order,” she said. “We could charge for bags and disposable cups, but we don’t. We absorb it, but I’m adding it up.”

That being said, some of their most loyal customers order takeout four or five times a week. Elan Emerson calls them “super regulars” and said that even though they rarely come into Ibiza, she tries to show them ways that they’re appreciated by handwriting a note on the receipt or giving them a free dessert. “It’s huge for us. They’re saving the business,” she said. 

She also thinks the trend of abstaining from or drinking less alcohol will continue to grow. At Ibiza, more people are interested in nonalcoholic beverages and feel comfortable ordering one even when their guests order a cocktail or wine, said Emerson. Ibiza plans to expand its list of low-alcohol punches and spritzes and alcohol-free drinks, which already includes fresh fruit-based beverages like homemade lemonade, a pineapple cooler and mango lassi.  

Chef Santos Majano at seafood restaurant Hook & Line in downtown Santa Cruz also believes the low-to-no-alcohol trend will continue into 2025. “More and more diners are seeking sophisticated, flavorful drinks that allow them to enjoy the experience without the need for alcohol,” said Majano. “This is where creativity shines, as there are so many interesting ways to build complex, layered beverages that pair beautifully with a meal, without the booze.” 

The cocktail menu at Hook & Line already includes three mocktails made with zero-proof versions of tequila or Amaro, and a selection of alcohol-free apertivos, craft beer and sodas. 

In addition to drinking less, some diners are pivoting to a more health-conscious lifestyle, including eating less meat. Vegetarian meals will take up more space on restaurant menus in 2025, several chefs predicted. 

Chef Desmond Schneider at Pete’s Fish House in Capitola, which opened in August, sees the plant-forward dishes on his menu gaining more traction with customers. Two vegetarian dishes have become some of its most popular: a whole roasted honey nut squash appetizer with sesame salsa macha and créme fraiche, and a porcini agnolotti, a type of stuffed pasta. 

Schneider plans on putting more meat-free, housemade pastas at the forefront of his menu in 2025. “I’m planning on creating more plant-based dishes, with plants and vegetables in the center of the plate and the meat more secondary,” he said. 

Elan Emerson at Ibiza agrees. The No. 1-selling item on its menu is the “Hippie Salad,” a kale and sweet potato salad with added homemade falafel. “It’s vegan, but it appeals to all kinds of people,” she said. 

Silva at Ozzy’s Pizzeria would like to see more chefs commit to using local ingredients, in part because fresh fruits, vegetables and locally raised meat have more intense flavor than produce that travel from other areas. “Customers know. You don’t have to tell them. They’ll say, ‘The toppings are so fresh,'” said Silva, although he admits preparing raw ingredients is more time-consuming. 

“We are incredibly fortunate to have such an abundance of amazing local resources at our fingertips, and I feel it’s important to stay grounded in this,” said Majano. His menu at Hook & Line prioritizes sourcing from local farms and producers. He thinks Santa Cruz area diners are moving toward a deeper appreciation of sustainability, including using locally grown food, and are curious about the origin of the ingredients. 

“People want to understand where their food comes from, how it’s prepared, and why it matters. There’s a real shift towards transparency and education,” he said. “The more we can show guests how the food on their plates connects to the land, the more they value and respect the entire dining experience.”

But diners should expect to pay more for their locally sourced meal in 2025. “Both the cost of ingredients and wages are way up, and customers are going to need to start coming to terms with menu prices that reflect that,” said chef Katherine Stern, who sources the majority of her ingredients from the Central Coast. 

In the year since she opened The Midway near the Rio Theatre in Santa Cruz, Stern said she’s been cautious about raising menu prices for fear of not getting people in the door. But the increase to the minimum wage – which rose to $16.50 an hour in California on Jan. 1 – the high costs of living in the area and the rising price of ingredients due to persistent issues in the supply chain dating back to the pandemic, as well as high fuel costs, weather events and animal diseases, are getting harder to ignore. 

Some restaurants might choose to use less-expensive ingredients, but others will have to offset costs by raising the price of the meal, said Stern. “Of course restaurant owners want all people to be able to dine out, so choosing to increase prices is difficult,” she said. “Some restaurants will use cheaper, lesser quality products, but the most likely place those costs will be offset will be the price you’ll pay for your meal.”

Chefs could alleviate rising food costs by making sure they use every part of every ingredient, said Schneider. At Pete’s in Capitola, he plans to expand his use of food-preservation techniques like dehydration and fermentation to transform and extend the life of everything from the ends of vegetables to delicate summer fruit. 

He’d like to see more restaurants lower food waste and upcycle ingredients they would typically throw out. “With the rising costs of ingredients, it’s going to make chefs rethink food that they would normally discard, and challenge them to be resourceful,” said Schneider. 

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