My girlfriend and I just got back from a short vacation in Santa Cruz. While there, naturally I wanted to play some pool. Last time we were down there, I played at Surf City Billiards in downtown Santa Cruz, some of you may remember the review I wrote of it (http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=238340).
This time I decided to head over to Capitola and give Fast Eddy's a fair shake. As soon as I walked in the place, I knew I was going to like it. It has that old school gritty type of pool room feel, definitely what I would call a "player's room". It kinda reminded me of The Jointed Cue in Sacramento.
My visit was in the mid-afternoon on Thursday, yes the 4th of July. The place was empty when I got there, save for one guy reading the newspaper over a pitcher of beer at the counter. The owner was working, I think his name is Dick, and he seemed a little gruff, but that opinion would change throughout the day.
When I was getting the balls, I asked if he had any tables with tight pockets. He pointed me to a table that was on a raised floor above the main floor. There were two tables up there, both Gold Crowns that had seen their fair share of pool playing, one had brand new cloth and the other had cloth that was played but still in decent enough shape, what you would expect in an action-type room. I was pointed to the latter. The pockets were 2 balls wide, and the table played well.
Looking around the place, it was a good sized room. At least 8 Gold Crowns on the main floor (not counting the 2 on the raised platform), 2-3 barboxes in the middle, a side room with 2 more Gold Crowns (one of them had brand new cloth), and there is an upstairs that I didn't venture up to check out, but could see at least 4 lights from where I was standing. Pool was $6/hour as a single, and beer was modestly priced (no hard stuff). The food menu was your usual fried bar fare, but I didn't try any.
Finally after being there for an hour or so, another gentleman walks in and starts to help Dick with the computer he was having troubles with. They eventually start playing some one pocket. The other guy was watching me play for a while, and finally commented on my game, giving me compliments and also making sure I know how much he likes my Hustlin USA t-shirt. I took a break and sat down to watch them play a rack, and I could tell right away they loved the attention. I don't know if they assumed I didn't know how to play one pocket or what, but they started explaining the move they were trying to make and what they were doing. I just nodded along in agreement. The other guy was a pretty nice guy, personable, and we made some small talk about where I'm from and whatnot. After interacting with them for a little bit, I could tell that Dick came across like a gruff kind of guy, but he seems to have a heart of gold.
I enjoyed my experience and I will definitely be coming back next time I'm in the area. If you like the old school player type of pool room, you should definitely do yourself a favor and stop in if you ever find yourself in the area. It sure seemed like there would be action there, I'm just bummed I caught it in the middle of a holiday.
This time I decided to head over to Capitola and give Fast Eddy's a fair shake. As soon as I walked in the place, I knew I was going to like it. It has that old school gritty type of pool room feel, definitely what I would call a "player's room". It kinda reminded me of The Jointed Cue in Sacramento.
My visit was in the mid-afternoon on Thursday, yes the 4th of July. The place was empty when I got there, save for one guy reading the newspaper over a pitcher of beer at the counter. The owner was working, I think his name is Dick, and he seemed a little gruff, but that opinion would change throughout the day.
When I was getting the balls, I asked if he had any tables with tight pockets. He pointed me to a table that was on a raised floor above the main floor. There were two tables up there, both Gold Crowns that had seen their fair share of pool playing, one had brand new cloth and the other had cloth that was played but still in decent enough shape, what you would expect in an action-type room. I was pointed to the latter. The pockets were 2 balls wide, and the table played well.
Looking around the place, it was a good sized room. At least 8 Gold Crowns on the main floor (not counting the 2 on the raised platform), 2-3 barboxes in the middle, a side room with 2 more Gold Crowns (one of them had brand new cloth), and there is an upstairs that I didn't venture up to check out, but could see at least 4 lights from where I was standing. Pool was $6/hour as a single, and beer was modestly priced (no hard stuff). The food menu was your usual fried bar fare, but I didn't try any.
Finally after being there for an hour or so, another gentleman walks in and starts to help Dick with the computer he was having troubles with. They eventually start playing some one pocket. The other guy was watching me play for a while, and finally commented on my game, giving me compliments and also making sure I know how much he likes my Hustlin USA t-shirt. I took a break and sat down to watch them play a rack, and I could tell right away they loved the attention. I don't know if they assumed I didn't know how to play one pocket or what, but they started explaining the move they were trying to make and what they were doing. I just nodded along in agreement. The other guy was a pretty nice guy, personable, and we made some small talk about where I'm from and whatnot. After interacting with them for a little bit, I could tell that Dick came across like a gruff kind of guy, but he seems to have a heart of gold.
I enjoyed my experience and I will definitely be coming back next time I'm in the area. If you like the old school player type of pool room, you should definitely do yourself a favor and stop in if you ever find yourself in the area. It sure seemed like there would be action there, I'm just bummed I caught it in the middle of a holiday.
