Star Bene Italian Argentine

This place is amazing! Great food, fantastic service, the restaurant has its unique charm. Many parking spaces. If I could rate it with 6 stars, I would, but now it's a 100% 5 stars. It is a must to visit when you are after an authentic culinary experience.

Bought a 2nd home in Santa Cruz about a year ago and we finally tried this charming restaurant! Great service and delicious food. The pasta carbonara was so amazing! This is definitely a new favorite of ours.

Excellent food in an unpretentious and warm environment. These are people who will welcome you like family and feed you amazing food. Dont be afraid to step away from the perfectly executed Italian classics and try some fantastic Argentinean food...or better yet, mix it up!

The food and service were good. The gnocchi was a few dollars less here than at other Italian restaurants in the area. They were also more generous with portions including the bread basket. It was just a lot smaller than I expected so don't blink or you may miss it.

This was an outstanding last minute choice and was easily the best meal we had all weekend. Lovely Family staff and intimate at-home feeling ambiance. Followup... Upon a recent revisit this last January, perhaps due to Off Season period, I was not as impressed with the quality of service or the food. I inquired as to the nature of ingredients in one of my dishes and I was told they had to change the ingredients to a more vegetarian and gluten free friendly restaurant as that was what they felt was serving a changing food culture in that area. Honestly, I felt the home style traditional ingredients used in years past menu was a far better fit for such a diverse tourist industry that keeps this local running. Also when I was looking for some service soon after being served our food, the owner was busy eating her own dinner at the bar and the cook was the only other available person that I could waive down through the kitchen doorway.