Three restaurant industry veterans bought Santa Cruz brunch spot Harbor Café, and don’t want to change a thing

The squat, colorful restaurant near the corner of 7th Avenue and Eaton Street known as Harbor Café has a reputation for two things, said new co-owner Justin Foust: limited parking and long waits. But that hasn’t deterred fans from regular visits to the old-school brunch spot, many of whom are content to wait 30 minutes or more on the weekends for a classic American breakfast, a cup of hot coffee and a spicy bloody mary. 

On Mother’s Day, there were more than 75 people waiting in line for brunch when the restaurant opened at 9 a.m., said fellow co-owner Hollis Oatey. “Even the people who got in line 35 minutes early waited to be the first to sit down. There’s not one person who ate here that day that didn’t wait, conservatively, 30 to 40 minutes,” she said. 

Great breakfast can be found throughout Santa Cruz County, but Harbor Café’s nostalgia, quality service and contemporary cool factor have created a cult following. There are a few tables inside the dining room, the walls of which are decorated with nautical treasures, but most of the seating is outside at picnic tables and outdoor bars, where four-legged friends are welcome. Ringed with palm trees, bamboo and passionfruit vines, the physical space has the scrappy, hand-hewn charm of a surf shack, an oasis of caffeine, cocktails and Benedicts. 

In April, Harbor Café had a changing of the guard when the new owners – husband and wife Justin and Jessica Foust and business partner Oatey – purchased it from longtime owner Daniel Voskoboynikov. But aside from the presence of the new owners at the café, customers likely won’t notice any changes to their brunch routine. “Dan built this into what it is: an awesome, iconic place in Santa Cruz. Our No. 1 thing is to try not to mess this up,” said Justin Foust. 

The food is consistent and good: think fried eggs, crackling hash browns and French toast, alongside huevos rancheros and fish tacos. One of the most popular items is the Cali Benedict ($19.95), a traditional Benedict on an open-face croissant with avocado and bacon, smothered in sunny hollandaise. It also has a bar with a menu that changes seasonally, curated by longtime bartender Jalen Horne, that includes robust alcohol-free choices. 

The summer offerings include the Capri-Fun, a quencher made from fresh watermelon juice, lime and mint ($7) that can be spiked with Venus Spirits gin and aquavit ($14). Both are served in a giant plastic pouch punched with a colorful curly straw. The decadent Kitchen Coffee ($7) is an icy mix of Cat & Cloud cold brew coffee and demerara syrup topped with horchata whipped cream. 

As the name suggests, Harbor Café is within walking distance of the Santa Cruz Harbor, and has operated in some capacity for at least half a century – probably longer, according to local lore. In the 1970s, ‘80s and ‘90s, it offered a simple breakfast to neighbors and fishers. In the early 2000s, local restaurateur Voskoboynikov purchased it and created the menu and restaurant culture of hearty, California-style takes on the classic American brunch – think avocado, homemade salsas and very fresh fruit – and a relaxed, aloha-style island vibe. 

The Fousts and Oatey are no strangers to the restaurant business, and have been longtime customers of Harbor Café. All three of them are industry veterans, who share more than 60 years of experience among them working in nearly every service position at some of the most famous restaurants in Santa Cruz, including El Palomar, The Crow’s Nest and Hula’s Island Grill. Oatey, who was a server and manager at Hula’s in downtown Santa Cruz for more than a decade, became a part-owner of the Monterey location in 2021. Jessica and Justin Foust met while working at El Palomar in the early 2000s, and in 2016 founded Foustman’s Salami, an artisanal salami company that distributes throughout the Bay Area and is present at many local farmers markets. 

The three of them will share management of Harbor Café, with Oatey regularly on site, and plan to make small adjustments to operations that they hope will be beneficial to both guests and the restaurant’s many longtime employees. 

Many of the staff members have worked at the restaurant for years, some for one or two decades, and making sure that they’re content and continue to grow with Harbor Café is a priority for the new owners, they said. “These people have developed their whole lives here, and that’s huge. They’re just as much part of this restaurant as the walls, the plates, the food. Our intention is to make sure that continues,” said Oatey.

Another priority: keeping guests comfortable during sometimes long waits. On the weekends, a patio bar opens to offer alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages to customers before they sit down. Over the next year, the new owners plan to renovate a large, open, gravel-covered patio adjacent to the restaurant. By next summer, it would serve as a lounge area for diners and host public and private events in the evenings. 

The Fousts and Oatey are looking forward to harnessing their experience, investing it into a space of their own and steering Harbor Café into its next phase of life. 

“I feel like it’s coming full circle,” said Jessica Foust. “Owning a restaurant in the community made me realize that I really love restaurants, hospitality and producing good food. It’s very gratifying.”

535 7th Avenue, Santa Cruz; 831-475-4948; harborcafesantacruz.com.

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