Bottega del Lago - Santa Cruz, California

Nathalie Defrenne

Such a cool spot for a quick bite. The sandwiches, homemade bread, French baguettes and gelato make this a perfect quick stop shop. Gluten free options potentially coming soon. But please note the flour is imported and truer to European standards if you’re gluten sensitive.

The design is beautiful and authentic treats spread out make this small shop a wonderful treasure trove. Make sure you get the gelato- hazelnut and pistachio are my favs.

Philip Mekis

Fantastic! Homemade focaccia for sandwiches, gelato was excellent! Can’t wait to try basically everything. The Amerina Cherry gelato was so yum, I will definitely be returning, what a great addition to the neighborhood!! Thank you

Alex Bevan

Absolutely love this place! Get the la americana and eat it at sunny cove=perfect afternoon. Also love their gelato (try it with a croissant!) and the lasagna. I bought some pasta sauce from here too that came out great.

Eric Villa

Had one of their paninis for the first time…. It was delicious! Quality ingredients and the bread is outstanding!

Tina Harper

Maybe I hit them on a bad day, but I was not impressed with the store 'mercantile', or the sandwiches. I did not try the gelato, and may or may not if I ever return.
My first experience was their lack of a sense of humor, my second experience was the man or uomo at the register who allowed two 20 somethings to cut in front of my friend and I in line, which always infuriates me (the youth these days are SO RUDE), and the third was when we ordered.

We ordered their Americano and Testina sandwiches and requested them to be heated via panini press. Though the sandwiches were delicious, both were stone cold, though 'heated'.
We sat outside on a beautiful October 2024 Sunday, and got totally sunburned in about 30 minutes! I recommend adding some tables and chairs on the other side of the store in the shade for those of us who do not want to be under the blaze of the sun. Can be done. Same amount of raised sidewalk.

Another recommendation is some of us enjoy folks with a sense of humor and who honor everyone over 20, and remind the 20 somethings that there is an eticut to standing in line and not line crashing in front of two senior citizen women.

Lastly, their mercantile was not very impressive, though I did buy an $8 jar of candied Italian black cherries. As you would expect, a lot of expensive, imported pasta, etc.

As I already said, I may or may not return. I live in Aptos and the drive on One is always a bummer. I spent $26 on a sandwich, an Italian lemonaide soda and the jar of cherries and got sunburned so eh, I may not return very soon.

sherri east

although the atmosphere is a very cool vibe… I got an eggplant Panini that was $13. It had very little eggplant, it was dry, it was freezing cold in the middle. I literally took 2 bites and threw it away.

Martin Levy

Stopped off for a sandwich at lunchtime today. Very nice! Molto bene!

Mike R

The sandwiches are pre-made in the early morning and sit in the display case all day. What kind of Italian deli does that? I'll stick with Zoccoli's downtown, fresher and made to order.