Bronze statue of musical saw player Tom Scribner in front of Bookshop Santa Cruz.

Lulu Carpenters Cafe

Red Restaurant in the old Santa Cruz Hotel building serves dinner till 1:00am at Locust and Cedar Streets.

The Downtown Santa Cruz shopping district is essentialy eight blocks long and three blocks wide. It is centered on Pacific Avenue between Water Street to the north and Laurel Street to the south. Downtown is about a half mile north of the beach, Boardwalk, and wharf.

The sidewalks downtown are wide with some cafe seating outside. Downtown has seventeen cinema screens, seven of which show independent and art house films. Most businesses downtown are open at night. The Red Restaurant (in the old Santa Cruz Hotel building on the corner of Cedar and Locust) serves dinners until 1:00am.

Year round Pacific Avenue is alive with musicians, street performers of varying quality. Downtown is home to a resident known simply as the "Umbrella Man" who walks slowly up and down Pacific Avenue in pink clothing with a pink parasol. If you spend an afternoon downtown you surely spot will him on his rounds.

Bookshop Santa Cruz is in many ways the heart of downtown Santa Cruz. It is a fiercely independent business that welcomes readers with overstuffed chairs and quality reference assistance. Bookshop Santa Cruz is at 1520 Pacific Avenue at Locust Street. In recent years the city council has proposed various laws to control street performers and musicians. The owner of Bookshop Santa Cruz, a long-standing supporter of Santa Cruz street life, produced bumper stickers and T-shirts that say: KEEP SANTA CRUZ WEIRD. The slogan caught on and defeated any attempt to reign-in the downtown street life. In addition to winning the battle on regulating weirdness, one of these shirts makes the perfect take-home Santa Cruz souvenir.

Logo's Books at 1117 Pacific Avenue between Cathcart and Lincoln, sells used and new books, CD's and vinyl. A Santa Cruz institution for over 25 years, Logos is where everyone goes to sell their books. A big store on two levels, Logos can be counted on for quality browsing and fair prices.

The Literary Guillotine at 204 Locust Street between Cedar and Center, is a scholarly bookstore catering to local University professors, graduate students and intellectuals. This small store packs in many titles not generally available in mainstream establishments.

Finally, Borders Books is one of a large chain of popular bookstores and can be found at 1200 Pacific Avenue on the corner of Soquel Avenue.

Downtown Art and Craft Shopping

Since the 1960's Santa Cruz has gathered a reputation as a haven for artists. While the community does have a high number of working and budding artists, you wouldn't know it by walking the downtown commercial district. Artists here sell and show their work out of the area for the most part at galleries in San Francisco, Los Angeles or New York. If, on the other hand, you are looking for high-end craft and design , downtown will fill the bill.

Start at Annieglass, a beautiful store created by Anne Morhouser. In the 1980's Anne (an art school graduate) began experimenting with slumping window glass in high temperature ovens. She eventually created a line of tableware with gold edges that became a staple in high-end stores like Neiman-Marcus and ended up on the tables of Arab Sheiks and American Presidents. Her store, at 110 Cooper Street between Pacific Avenue and Front Street shows off her complete line of tableware and jewelry and accessories from some her favorite designers the world over.

For more glass art, head to L.H. Selman at 123 Locust Street between Pacific Avenue and Cedar Street. Internationally-know paperweight guru Larry Selman runs this art gallery. He is an expert at buying and selling vintage and contemporary paperweights and glass art. His gallery is a feast for the eyes and one never knows what impossible and dazzling glass objects will be on display. His Glass Gallery II at 103 Locust, a few doors down, displays more affordable and smaller glass art pieces.

Located at 1339 Pacific Avenue between Church and Walnut Streets, The Vault is a venerable Santa Cruz business and favorite stop for lovers in search of wedding and anniversary gifts. The Vault shows consistently fine contemporary jewelry, craft, and clothing and glass art. They represent artists from all over the United States and recently opened a second floor gallery to show larger works and sculpture.

If you are interested in original beaded jewelry check out Kate Nolan's Many Hands Gallery on Locust Street between Cedar and Pacific. Kate's small studio serves as her retail outlet downtown. She can be found most days stringing beads and creating wonderful necklaces, bracelets and earrings. She also has a full-blown retail store with craft and paintings in Capitola next to Gayles Bakery.

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