Community First
Saturn’s been around for over 40 years now. From that time to this, we’ve focused on three things: community, social justice, and the environment. We’re committed to a menu that supports all of these. Saturn Cafe has grown and changed over those passing decades, but we’ve never lost our focus on these three important goals.
Beginnings
In 1979, our founders built a space in Santa Cruz, just down from the university on Mission Street. The UC community and locals alike frequented the new cafe, bringing together a sometimes contentious group for great vegetarian food like the now legendary cream of tomato soup. These folks didn’t bring peace to the world, but they did inspire evolved versions of comfort food favorites–vegetarian burgers, nachos and don’t forget desserts like our unparalleled mud pie.

“As we focus on growth and the future, we remain rooted in our values as a local progressive business.”
Values Forward
In 2005, Saturn committed to becoming a sustainable restaurant dedicated to the triple bottom line of people, planet and profit. Every day we are putting our values into action, whether it’s sourcing locally grown organic ingredients, using paper straws, helping move our used oil into bio-diesel or using a percentage of our budget to reinvest in our community. Each step of our process reflects our identity as a progressive, local business.
The health and happiness of our customers, staff and the business itself are inextricably linked. In the quest to make the best comfort food on the planet, we are deeply committed to socially responsible and green business practices.