How Cookie Cruz Got Started: The Original Late-Night Cookie Delivery in Santa Cruz

Looking for the story behind Santa Cruz’s favorite late-night cookie delivery service? Welcome to Cookie Cruz where every cookie has a backstory and every delivery is baked with purpose.
Since 2015, Cookie Cruz has delivered fresh-baked cookies, cold milk, and local ice cream to homes across Santa Cruz, Capitola, Aptos, and Scotts Valley. But before it became a local favorite, Cookie Cruz was just a dream fueled by surfing, a desire to stay local, and a whole lot of chocolate chips.

🌊 From Surf Dreams to Startup Hustle
​I moved to Santa Cruz from Modesto in 2006 at 18 years old to chase waves and study at UC Santa Cruz. Surfing was my life. But while working nights at Shadowbrook Restaurant in Capitola, I started to feel the financial squeeze of living in paradise.
By 2015, I knew I needed to create something bigger. I wanted a business that would allow me to surf during the day and work at night, so I started one. Thus, Cookie Cruz was born with one mission: deliver warm cookies when people want them most—late at night.

🍪 Why Cookies?
As a student, I worked with the owner of a local late-night delivery service called Nite Owl Cookies. When he shut down and moved to San Francisco, I saw the opportunity. I believed Santa Cruz still needed a cookie delivery service and I believed I could do it better.

🚐 The First Cookies: One Man, One Van
I launched Cookie Cruz from my apartment in Spring 2015. In the early days, it was just me:

• Baking chocolate chip cookies in my home kitchen
• Printing flyers and posting them around UCSC
• Delivering cookies after work out of my Honda Odyssey
• Packing boxes and bottles of 2% milk in an ice chest from Safeway
• Taking phone orders and boxing cookies in the van before driving to each customer

It was chaotic but it worked. By that fall, I had enough saved to go legit.

🍦 Growing the Brand: More Flavors, More Help
I expanded the menu to include Snickerdoodle and Chocolate Mint Chip, and eventually hired Blanca, who still makes our dough to this day.
We started baking cookies to order so every delivery arrived fresh and warm. I partnered with Marianne’s Ice Cream to sweeten the deal and grew our delivery zone to Aptos, Capitola, and Scotts Valley. In 2017, we rebranded from “All Nighter Cookies” to the name that stuck: Cookie Cruz.

🧠 The Mental Challenge of Business Ownership
The biggest challenges weren’t ovens or deliveries, it was mental health. Running a business is isolating. I went from team shifts at the restaurant to working alone late into the night. I’ll never forget what my uncle told me:
“You’re starting a business because you think you’re escaping slavery, but you’re actually going to be a slave for your business.”
He was right. I worked 6 nights a week until 2 AM. Eventually, after multiple ear surgeries, I had to give up surfing, the passion that fueled everything. I burned out. And in January 2024, I sold Cookie Cruz to Nicolas of Adorable French Bakery.
We operated our separate businesses out of the same commercial kitchen and how now merged. I still work with Cookie Cruz, it hasn’t gotten the attention it deserves. That’s something I want to change.

💪 A New Chapter: Bodybuilding & Rediscovering Purpose
While I can’t surf anymore, I found a new outlet in bodybuilding and strength training at Santa Cruz Athletic Club(formerly Santa Cruz Power Fitness). I’ve built a new community and rediscovered a sense of balance and motivation.
And even though the original dream has shifted, Santa Cruz is still home and Cookie Cruz is still worth fighting for.

🍪 Why Cookie Cruz Still Matters
My favorite cookie will always be classic chocolate chip. To me, it’s warmth, nostalgia, and comfort just like a cookie your mom made when you were a kid.
That’s the experience I want to deliver:
Fresh-baked cookies that bring joy, create memories, and taste like home.
Cookie Cruz isn’t just a delivery service. It’s a love letter to Santa Cruz.
It’s about building something from nothing and delivering a little sweetness in every box.

✅ Support Local. Order Cookie Cruz Tonight.
We’re proud to deliver fresh-baked cookies, milk, and Marianne’s Ice Cream to your door—hot, fast, and always made with love.
📍 Serving: Santa Cruz, Capitola, Scotts Valley, and Aptos
🕒 Hours:

• Tuesday – Friday: 11 AM – 12 AM
• Saturday & Sunday: 4 PM – 12 AM
• Closed Monday