Sweet Elena’s
465 Olympia Ave., Sand City (831) 393-2063, sweetelenas.com
People vote with their dollars and the residents of Sand City are no different. But with fast-casual chains coming and going, Sand City could have easily picked Panera Bread or Chipotle as their best restaurant. They didn’t. They picked a candidate with no corpoporate backing. They picked Sweet Elena’s because of the rotating variety of quiches, sandwiches, salads and pastries. They picked Sweet Elena’s because their pies are on a whole different level of seasonality, creativity, flakiness and quality. And where else in Sand City can you get a locally roasted espresso, laze around staring at local art, do homework and feel uniquely in Sand City? Not at Panera Bread.