Quick Take
Mad Yolks, the egg-themed brunch hotspot known for its loaded brioche sandwiches and playful vibe, is opening a second location in Pleasure Point on July 8. The new location on 41st Avenue brings the same indulgent menu with a few new twists — and a cozy, community-focused feel that invites guests to linger.
Egg-themed downtown Santa Cruz brunch spot Mad Yolks is bringing its fluffy brioche breakfast sandwiches and fruity iced matchas to Pleasure Point. A second location will open on Tuesday at 830 41st Ave. in a spot recently occupied by Flashbird, which closed in November, and the former home of Kaito Ramen from 2014 to 2020.
Twin brothers Peter and Henry Wong opened the original location on Pacific Avenue at the end of 2022, and became a hit for its indulgent menu of bulked-up breakfast sandwiches with additions like bacon, avocado, fried chicken, Spam and tempura-fried portobello mushrooms. There are other hearty dishes with Asian culinary influences, including a breakfast burger, tater tots with a sunny-side egg and furikake, and a Japanese twist on a Hawaiian loco moco smothered in curry.
The menu at the 41st Avenue location will be the same, with the addition of a breakfast burrito that will be available only at the new spot. “Along with making it a cozy place to hang out, we wanted to bring in some special menu items that reflect the local community,” said Peter Wong, but he’s hush about the details of what’s inside – besides, obviously, eggs: “They’ll just have to come in and find out.”
Recent additions to the downtown menu will be available as well, including the Forager Salad with roasted tomatoes, sauteed mushrooms and a ramen egg marinated for 24 hours in shoyu and mirin, and a summery coconut matcha made with fresh coconut juice imported from Thailand and matcha made fresh daily.
The brothers’ restaurant group is still growing. A third Mad Yolks location is scheduled to open over the hill in the Willow Glen neighborhood of San Jose later this summer. The Wongs also own the Pacific Avenue location of Hawaiian poke franchise Poke House, which they opened in 2017.
The Mad Yolks in Pleasure Point will be open every day starting at 8 a.m. It will close at 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 4 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Prices for food items range from $6.75 from a three-cheese brioche melt to $15.75 for the curry moco with a half-pound charbroiled beef patty. Beverages range from $4 for hot tea to $6.50 for a dirty matcha latte with espresso.
The brothers acquired the space on 41st Avenue in March and have spent four months updating the stark white interior with warm wood banquette and bar seating with cushions, green and glass tile, and a bright accent wall as yellow as a sunny-side-up egg.
That theme is expressed through playful details throughout the restaurant: an illuminated crack that runs across a main wall and egglike lights hang over the tables. A week before opening day, wires hung out of the wall where a custom neon “Mad Yolks” sign will be hung.
This location will also have free Wi-Fi for guests. Peter and his brother live nearby in Live Oak, and they said they feel that the Pleasure Point neighborhood is more community-oriented than the fast-paced downtown location popular with UC Santa Cruz students. Although the location had already been completely recently renovated by Flashbird owner Santa Cruz Sky when the Wong brothers took over, they put “a lot of time into the seating area” to encourage people to gather and linger after a meal, said Peter.
The vibe is exemplified by the restaurant’s slogan, painted by artist Kyle Johnson of JuiceBox Sign Co. on an outside wall: “We’re all good eggs here.”
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