Santa Cruz, CA - Last days for the old Crossroads Drive-in?

In the 1950s, the Cross Roads Drive-In restaurant served as a popular rendezvous for teenagers in Santa Cruz, Calif., a seaside community at the northern tip of Monterey Bay about 75 miles south of San Francisco.

Crossroads Bar-B-Q
Santa Cruz, CA
Photo courtesy Len Klumpnauer

Located a couple of blocks from the Santa Cruz Beach, Boardwalk and Wharf at the foot of West Cliff Drive and adjacent to the Southern Pacific Railroad Depot, the Cross Roads also served as a summer hangout for teens visiting the Beach and Boardwalk from the San Francisco Bay Area, the Santa Clara Valley, the San Joaquin Valley and other Central California coastal communities. In March 2001, the City of Santa Cruz announced plans to demolish the building, which has housed a liquor store for almost 40 years, and replace it with a natural history museum as part of a new park development. (The SP Depot burned down some years ago.) Above text taken directly from the Help Save the Crossroads Drive-in website by Len Klempnauer. Many thanks to Len for info and photo.

Cruising toward the beach in Santa Cruz, it would have been difficult to miss Crossroads Bar-B-Q at the foot of West Cliff Drive. The roadside sign announced Bar-B-Q in big letters, while the low-slung drive-in waited nearby with something hot for anyone coming off the road or wandering over from the beach.

Usually remembered as the Cross Roads Drive-In, the restaurant sat near the old Southern Pacific railroad depot and only a few blocks from the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and Municipal Wharf. That location placed it right in the middle of the action, especially once the summer crowds started arriving from the Santa Clara Valley, Bay Area, and Central Valley.

During the 1950s and 1960s, Cross Roads became much more than a place to grab something to eat. It was a regular gathering spot for Santa Cruz teenagers, car clubs, and anyone making the evening cruise around the beach. Drivers could pull into the lot, check out the cars, see who else was around, and perhaps order some barbecue before making another lap. The restaurant’s parking stalls were nearly as important as its dining room.

The old drive-in also caught plenty of traffic from the nearby train depot. Add the Boardwalk crowds, beach visitors, railroad passengers, and local hot rodders together, and Cross Roads had one of those locations that seemed designed for people watching. There was always a chance that the next car pulling in contained someone familiar, or at least something interesting under the hood.

Cross Roads lasted into the 1970s, but the valuable property near the beach eventually proved too tempting for redevelopment. The restaurant was demolished in 1976, taking away both the building and its familiar Bar-B-Q sign. Long after it disappeared, former customers continued sharing memories of meeting friends there, cruising through the lot, and watching summer traffic roll past.

UPDATE: It appears that the Crossroads building is still there. 07-10

UPDATE: Crossroads Bar-B-Q and its roadside sign are both gone. The former drive-in site near West Cliff Drive and the old railroad depot has been redeveloped, although the restaurant remains a favorite memory of Santa Cruz’s beach cruising years. 09-26

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