October 30, 2025 – Cue the witches and goblins, the newest restaurant in downtown Santa Cruz—Mane Kitchen & Cocktails—will debut Halloween night.
It’s very rare for a restaurant to open exactly as predicted, but chef Desmond Schneider and mixologist Julianna Mireles said they would launch their new project by Halloween and they are ready to open the doors today at 4pm.
Earlier this week at a friends and family soft opening, I got a sneak peek of the restaurant which is located at 1222 Pacific Avenue, where Betty’s Eat Inn used to be.
The 60-seat dining room has been opened up and transformed, with glam touches like sparkly sconces and pendant lighting. A sophisticated new color scheme features deep “beta fish” teal on the walls, along with colors named “dirty martini” and “caviar.” The teal combines well with leather bar stools, which were saved from Betty’s.
The food, as Schnieder described it to EMB when we broke the news in September, is “classic French bistro fare with a California twist.”
The limited soft opening menu included freshly shucked East Coast Virginica oysters, chicken liver pâté and French onion soup, topped with a hearty grilled cheese “crouton” with onion jam.
With a nod to California, Mane Kitchen was also turning out plates of Monterey Bay rockfish crudo with grilled avocado and trout roe.
Caesar salad, truffle frites and the Mane burger, made with a wagyu beef blend, bordelaise sauce and Fiscalini white cheddar, rounded out the soft opening menu.
This is clearly the work of a chef who knows his way around local ingredients and sourcing. Previously Schneider was chef de cuisine at Alderwood and most recently opening chef at Pete’s Capitola. He has opened many restaurants over the course of his career, but this marks the first time Schneider has opened his own restaurant.
For the regular menu, he plans to add a rotating seafood dish, featuring daily fresh catch from Ocean2Table. A housemade pasta dish will also be on the menu, along with steak and a couple of dessert options.
Partner Mireles was formerly bar manager at The Red Room and also helped create the cocktail magic at the now-closed Alderwood. Her opening menu includes the Mane Margarita—made with mezcal, montenegro, passionfruit, pineapple, lime, pomegranate and tajin—and several more creative, hand-crafted cocktails.
“We’re all about having good cocktails, good food and superb service,” says Schneider. “The idea is to put Santa Cruz on the map as a place to have a good culinary experience.”
Outdoor sidewalk seating is available for warm evenings and in the future they hope to open a lounge area at the back of the restaurant, with leather couches perfect for refined cocktail sipping.
The name Mane Kitchen & Cocktails or MKC and its gold lion’s head logo stem from the fact that both Schneider and Mireles were born under the sign of Leo, symbolized by the lion.
It will be open Tuesday to Saturday from 4-10pm to start.
Mane Kitchen & Cocktails 1222 Pacific Ave. Santa Cruz | manekc.com
About the author
Deborah Luhrman is publisher and editor of Edible Monterey Bay. A lifelong journalist, she has reported from around the globe, but now prefers covering our flourishing local food scene and growing her own vegetables in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
