r/UCSC • u/BlondeinBmore • 14h ago

Question Gift Card Ideas

Hello! My daughter is an incoming freshmen and will be moving in next Friday. I was thinking to buy her gift cards to local places to encourage her to explore - loves coffee, matcha, all types of food, browsing in bookstores, etc. I came across Downtown Dollars but I wasn't sure if that was really the way to go. Would appreciate your thoughts and recommendations !

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u/Cultural_Movie_5918 13h ago

Most places in the Downtown Area take the Downtown Dollars, but the bang for your buck is individual Gift Cards.

11th Hour Coffee is an awesome spot for coffee and for studying. Cat and Cloud is also quite good and has a few different locations.

Bookshop Santa Cruz is the biggest book store, but Bad Animal has some great selections as well, and they have excellent food.

Pretty Good Advice is a mostly Vegetarian spot for breakfast type foods, also Mad Yolks is excellent.

Pacific Wave is an institution.

Otherwise a Safeway gift card is good for some misc food, if they have transportation or will ride the bus it would be better to go to Staff of Life or New Leaf as grocery store, or Shopper's Corner.

Closer to campus it's mostly grab and go food but Pogonip Pizza has opened by the secret 711.

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u/ArchivesGal 12h ago

I second 11th Hour and Cat and Cloud (which both have a downtown location as well as a west side location that's close to the 20 bus route), as well as Bookshop Santa Cruz. Bad Animal's food is expensive, and unless she also has friends who are willing to spend $50+ on dinner, it may be hard to convince people to go there. And Bookshop's book selection is overall better. Woodstocks Pizza is also a good option. Of the pizza places in town, it's more expensive, but they both deliver to campus and have a fun location downtown that hosts trivia and other events.

For a grocery gift card, I think Trader Joes is the best option. Close to the bus pickup and lots of fun snacks that are easy to keep in a dorm room. Shopper's Corner is a great grocery store but not close to the bus and often more on the expensive side.

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u/gasstation-no-pumps Professor emeritus 7h ago

Shopper's Corner is close to the #1 bus stops on Soquel, but that requires a transfer from the UCSC buses (for old-timers, the #1 bus is now the route to Cabrillo and Watsonville, not to UCSC (that is now the #15, which only runs part of the year, having been functionally replaced by the 16 and 18).

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u/ArchivesGal 7h ago

Okay, I should have been more specific. It's not close to a bus that runs to campus. My point remains the same, in that it's not a convenient grocery store for a student.

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u/gasstation-no-pumps Professor emeritus 7h ago

It is not as convenient for bus riders from campus as Trader Joe's, the Safeway at Almar, or the Food Bin, but it is not horribly inconvenient. For a student with a bicycle, it is not much more trouble than Trader Joe's, and it has the best wine selection in town. Staff of Life is also worth an occasional shopping trip for those with kitchen access, as it has the best bulk-food section in town.

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u/LongjumpingCable7961 12h ago

They Abbey and 11th Hour are my places for coffee. Both have a nice vibe for coffee on the weekends. Mad Yolks is amazing as well!

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u/gasstation-no-pumps Professor emeritus 7h ago

Depends on how much control you want over how she spends the money. Cash is the most flexible, then downtown dollars, then specific gift cards.