Venus Spirits
Venus Spirits
5
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Venus Spirits is a distillery, tasting room, and restaurant located in Santa Cruz, CA. Join us for cocktails, tastings, small bites or a full meal. We look forward to seeing you!
Suggested duration
1-2 hours
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Detailed Reviews: Reviews order informed by descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as cleanliness, atmosphere, general tips and location information.

5.0
9 reviews
Excellent
7
Very good
2
Average
0
Poor
0
Terrible
0

Mary Beth R
11 contributions
Nov 2020
This is now called Venus Spirits Cocktails & Kitchen! They serve fabulous cocktails and delicious food! While they follow COVID precautions to a T, scrubbing everything down between patrons, they are one of the few spots that don't opt for all disposable dishes - hurray for cocktails in actual glassware, ceramic plates, and silverware! They ID gluten-free, vegetarian, and vegan options clearly on their menu. It felt very safe & festive with friendly and competent staff. HIGHLY recommend.
Written November 16, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Chuck
Santa Cruz, CA474 contributions
Oct 2020
Venus is located in sort of a mixed-use neighborhood on the Westside of Santa Cruz. It differs from most hip dining/drinking places in that they distill their own gin and tequila, although apparently they can't call it tequila but it's really, really similar. Our table of four sat inside (socially distanced) and drank both their gin and dirty gin in G&Ts, while others had margaritas with their very-similar-to-tequila liquor. All drinks were delicious. We also consumed about six plates of appetizers which were delicious, but due to the aforementioned drinks, I can't remember what they were. French fries may have been involved, as well as burrata, nuts, a salad, some tacos, etc. All very good.

The main dining area is outside in the parking lot-turned-dining room, and there were perhaps 15 tables, again distanced from one another.

The hours and the menu change frequently, so check before you go. Due to COVID, they are not a late-night place to get that "last shot of tequila before heading home to the kids".

Cool enough for your adult children, nice enough for you. Incidentally, the music was pretty loud, and those of you who don't want to be bombarded by music should probably eat outside, or at least check it out before you decide to dine.

INcidentally, the questions that TripAdvisor is asking about this restaurant and bar lead me to believe that TA believes that it is an Activity rather than an eating establishment.
Written November 25, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

1IslandMom
Oakland, CA76 contributions
Jul 2019 • Couples
We try to stop by Venus whenever we are in the Santa Cruz / Monterey area.
Our last experience has changed "try to stop by" into "must go!!"
We were tasting the various spirits and my husband mentioned how hard it is to find a good sazerac. The server, John, perked up and said he makes a pretty mean one, and would my husband like one?
Hands down the best sazerac he has had on the west coast. It was incredibly delicious! We will stop by every time, just to have one of John's sazeracs!
Written July 12, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Kiwifruitandcompany
Ypsilanti, MI67 contributions
Nov 2018 • Friends
Tried the tasting and was surprised that *everything* was incredible - the gin, whiskey, agave, and aquavit. Took home a bottle of gin but would have bought more if my luggage allowed. The staff were super friendly and knew lots about each bottle. Go!
Written November 10, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

jayares2015
Denton, TX847 contributions
Sep 2015 • Friends
We were visiting Santa Cruz and local friends brought us to Venus Spirits for tasting and a tour. The space is very small so there's really not much to tour, but the tasting was quite fun. We were given 2 agaves, 2 gins, and 1 whiskey and we got to keep the Venus glass. I'm not much of a drinker, but my companions enjoyed the offerings. Our tour guide's narrative about the botanicals and the process used to make these spirits was well rehearsed and very informative. An enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours.
Written January 9, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

TooMuchToSea
Santa Cruz, CA14 contributions
Mar 2021 • Couples
Awesome gin! Loved their homemade tonic. Good service and people watching. Tried their restaurant too- Brussels sprouts were on-point.
Written March 20, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

LiveInTheMoment75
California155 contributions
Sep 2018 • Friends
Drove to Santa Cruz (from Oakland), picked up a friend and was searching for something to do. She had been wanting to try this spot and they had a great Groupon for four people, so off we went.

Disclaimer: I am not a gin drinker. I've tried many different kinds, and I don't like it. After tasting the one here, I still don't like it (but you might, so ignore my prejudices about gin).

What I really enjoyed was their Wayward single malt whiskey (nice smooth and would order this at a bar), and the El Ladron blue agave spirit (tequila). This was really, really, really tasty!

I give it 4 stars because of the gin, and also because we weren't immediately acknowledged when we first arrived. I get they were busy (and appeared to be short staffed), but at least just see us and say something like, "We'll be with you ladies in a minute." But, once we started tasting, the service was excellent.

One thing the pointed out was the artwork within the label, which we thought was cool.

I would go back and just skip the gin part! LOL.
Written October 1, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

ColinandJane
Worcester, UK825 contributions
Oct 2017 • Couples
We were talking to the bar tender at Riva about gin when he mentioned the gin tasting here. Quick Google later and we had decided it was a must.

Six samples - two gin, two agarve (tequila) and two whiskey for $12. Bargain.

Very knowledgeable lady doing the tasting and without knowing got to speak to Mr Venus himself.

No need to book and several wine places are up the road ....
Written October 31, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

1IslandMom
Oakland, CA76 contributions
Oct 2017 • Friends
We are big fans of small batch distilleries. Even though we knew Venus did not have tastings on Thursdays, we stopped by recently to buy a few bottles of unique spirits while we were in Santa Cruz. The tasting area and retail store are very well decorated and have a 'cool' vibe.
We were fortunate to have Sean available, who let us taste for free a few of the spirits before we made our choices. He was very friendly and helpful in describing the differences between his spirits and those of other boutique distilleries. He clearly was at work, but spent a lot of time with us - we did not feel rushed to buy. We will definitely add Venus to our list of 'must stop by' sites when we visit Santa Cruz, and will plan to be there when tastings are available!
Written October 16, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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