San Jose area favorites?

[julie...@gmail.com]

Hey,

I have been selected to go to EBay to do some marketing research and testing. Sounds like fun to me and I am excited about it.

I will be done close to dinnertime and need some suggestions for a place to eat.

I am familiar with Downtown San Jose, Castro St in Mtn. View and the Palo Alto/Menlo Park are. What I am looking for are some, or even just one, favorite that you have.

So can you share a favorite with me?

Thanks,
Julie

[sf]

Do you want fancy dining or something to eat that's really good? I
don't live down there, so I can't give you all sort of leads, but
there is a gyro place near Willow Glen (close, very close to the EBay
campus) that is authentic Greek food... If you're interested, I'll ask
my DD for the name. It's a very plain place, not fancy dining by any
means - just good food.

Willow Glen's main street, Lincoln, is lined with lots of very good
restaurants. One that I'd like to try someday is called "The Table" -
it's one of those Farm to Table concept restaurants and it's supposed
to be excellent (albeit pricey). There are also two excellent Mexican
restaurants on the edges of Willow Glenn. One is called "Puerto Azul"
on Lincoln, near Willow - the other is called "Taqueria Tlaquepaque"
on Willow, near Bird. FYI: try the "Super Chavela" at either one.
They're amazing... even if you're not a beer drinker.

Further away is Falafel Drive In (on Steven's Creek Blvd, near Bascom)
- a favorite of mine for lunch. For a more upscale and relaxed (white
tablecloth) dining experience, try Village California Bistro and Wine
Bar in Santana Row.

DD has also told me about a tiny, family owned and operated, pasta
restaurant that she absolutely LOVES which isn't in Willow Glen per
se, but is in one of the neighboring communities. Not sure what the
reservation situation is, but (again) - if you're interested, I'll ask
her what the name of it is.


--

Good Food.
Good Friends.
Good Memories.

[Mike D.]

If I want to be taken care of, I go to Aldo's in Los Gatos. Best for couples
or quartets.

Friends who go out a lot like Fratello on Meridian near the old main post,
or the Naschmarkt on Campbell Avenue in downtown Campbell

[julie...@gmail.com]

Thanks, sf, I forgot about Willow Glen, we were there at Christmas and ate there, too, but don't remember so it mustn't have made an impression.

I would rather eat in a neighborhood place with good food than a "fine dining establishment" with lousy food. Occasionally fine dining is nice, but we are selective and go where we know the food is good, ie Scotts Seafood.

Thanks for your suggestions and if you can find out more from your dd, then all the better.

Thanks,
Julie

[julie...@gmail.com]

Thanks for those suggestions, I will take a look at Fratello or the Naschmarkt. I love Los Gatos, too, so maybe Aldo's would be a good call.

Thanks so much!
Julie

[axlq]

In article <be561ba5-8858-4a70...@googlegroups.com>,

<julie...@gmail.com> wrote:
>I have been selected to go to EBay to do some marketing research
>and testing. Sounds like fun to me and I am excited about it.
>I will be done close to dinnertime and need some suggestions for a
>place to eat.

A personal favorite of our family is Bo Town, near the corner of
San Salvador and 2nd in downtown San Jose. Chinese-Vietnamese
fusion. The sizzling rice soup is really good. Order "family style"
so that everyone gets to try everything.

-A

[sms]

OMG, Bo Town, formerly Sambos, has got to be one of the worst Chinese
restaurants in the Bay Area, Right up there with Blue Sky in Campbell.
Totally Americanized.

[sms]

North campus or south campus?

[julie...@gmail.com]

Thanks, Axl, I know the next poster doesn't share your opinion, but that's okay.

We love Vietnamese food and may well check this out, if not that day, then another.

Thanks!

Julie

[julie...@gmail.com]

Not sure, I've never been there although have driven past many times.

Julie

[julie...@gmail.com]

Well, that's a shame that you thought so.

We may check it out anyway.

I wonder if anyone remembers Blue Sky on Judah in the City.

Julie

[sms]

On 2/3/2014 3:19 PM, julie...@gmail.com wrote:

> Well, that's a shame that you thought so.

It's immaterial since it's not close to the south campus on Hamilton or
the north campus on North 1st. No one would go out of their way to go to
Botown, it's a restaurant mainly for San Jose State students and those
that work within walking distance that don't want to drive to a good
Chinese restaurant. We went there once because it's very close to our
office, only one block away. Never again. The Thai place across the
street from it is fine.

For the southern eBay campus there are several good places in Campbell,
Pacific Catch <http://pacificcatch.com/location/campbell/>, Chez Sovan
<http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CCYQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fchezsovan.webs.com%2F&ei=ejvwUt6nDofzoASKtYC4BQ&usg=AFQjCNHSNddZ4AVfxsE6HFqfO5woONt-cQ&bvm=bv.60444564,d.cGU>
(Cambodian), and Best Taste <http://www.besttastechinese.com/> (Chinese)
come to mind. All have four stars on Yelp.

For the northern eBay campus it's tougher. Japantown isn't too far and
there are some good places there. Not too far from the north campus is a
good Greek restaurant, Athena Grill <http://www.athenagrill.com/>. But
North 1st St. north of 101 is a wasteland when it comes to restaurants.

[sf]

On Mon, 3 Feb 2014 15:19:30 -0800 (PST), julie...@gmail.com wrote:

> I wonder if anyone remembers Blue Sky on Judah in the City.

I wish I could say I did, but there are enough restaurants currently
in business on Judah I haven't heard of that I'm not embarrassed to
say I don't remember one that isn't in business there anymore.

[sf]

On Mon, 03 Feb 2014 17:04:03 -0800, sms <scharf...@geemail.com>
wrote:

> For the northern eBay campus it's tougher. Japantown isn't too far and
> there are some good places there. Not too far from the north campus is a
> good Greek restaurant, Athena Grill <http://www.athenagrill.com/>. But
> North 1st St. north of 101 is a wasteland when it comes to restaurants.

Julie... don't be embarrassed. I assumed you were going to the campus
I pass by that's located near the Pruneyard in Campbell, but my DD
works for Google and her campus isn't the location you'd think of
first either. So what? It's a minor detail that isn't relevant
considering the locations you mentioned as being OK to eat in your OP.

[julie...@gmail.com]

They sent me directions, but since it's a month away, I haven't really looked at them with an eye to which campus.

Your dd works for Google? Cool!

Julie P

[julie...@gmail.com]

Yes, I love the 47th. & Judah area. We will be doing Bay to Breakers and normally we take the N back to the BART station, and eat somewhere either 7th. & Irving or in the Haight. But this year, I will push for 47th. & Judah area.

Just a small interesting (to me) item. My initials are in the cement near the bus stop at 19th. & Judah, put there when I was 10 or so. Every once in awhile, I get out of the car to make sure they are still there, lol. I will be so sad when they re-do that sidewalk.

Julie

[julie...@gmail.com]

Hey, thanks for all this detail. I need to look at the directions they sent me and then re-visit your post.

Julie

[Peter Lawrence]

On 2/3/14, 5:04 PM, sms wrote:
>
> For the northern eBay campus it's tougher. Japantown isn't too far and there
> are some good places there. Not too far from the north campus is a good
> Greek restaurant, Athena Grill <http://www.athenagrill.com/>. But North 1st
> St. north of 101 is a wasteland when it comes to restaurants.

Not too far eBay's north campus on 4th Street (just south of I-880) is
Smoking Pig BBQ, the best BBQ restaurant in the South Bay. (Even the most
recent SF Michelin Guide recommends it.)


- Peter

[Helpful person]

On Monday, February 3, 2014 8:04:03 PM UTC-5, sms wrote:
>
> there are some good places there. Not too far from the north campus is a
> good Greek restaurant, Athena Grill <http://www.athenagrill.com/>.

The Athena Grill is one of the best
restaurants you will ever visit. It's Greek
rustic, but everything is wonderful.

http://www.richardfisher.com

[sms]

I agree. Very reasonably priced too. They are open on Saturdays now, but
not Sundays. It's in an industrial area where there aren't a lot of
people on weekends but we went there for lunch two Saturdays ago and it
was pretty busy.

[Helpful person]

On Tuesday, February 4, 2014 1:14:12 PM UTC-5, sms wrote:
>
> > The Athena Grill is one of the best
> > restaurants you will ever visit. It's Greek
> > rustic, but everything is wonderful.
>
> I agree. Very reasonably priced too. They are open on Saturdays now, but
> not Sundays. It's in an industrial area where there aren't a lot of
> people on weekends but we went there for lunch two Saturdays ago and it
> was pretty busy.

Two other good places are:

Ephesus on Castro in Mountain View. This is a small Turkish owned
restaurant that serves middle eastern food. If you go you must have
their profiterole desert.

Big basin cafe in Saratoga http://www.bigbasincafe.com/ This is more
than just a coffee bar serving excellent food, gelato and pastries.

http://www.richardfisher.com

[sf]

On Mon, 3 Feb 2014 23:12:25 -0800 (PST), julie...@gmail.com wrote:

> Yes, I love the 47th. & Judah area. We will be doing Bay to Breakers and normally we take the N back to the BART station, and eat somewhere either 7th. & Irving or in the Haight. But this year, I will push for 47th. & Judah area.

There are a cluster of restaurants around the Balboa Theater - two
friends keep telling me about one of them, but I keep forgetting the
name. Google maps doesn't seem to have a street view of that block,
so that's no help.

[Mike D.]

Google image date April 2011
---------------------------
Kam's Cafe and Restaurant
Pho Kim
Jade Garden
Little Henry's Italian Food
Victoria's New York Pizza
Hockey Haven Bar and Grill (Since 1949)
Azusa Sukiyaki
Shanghai House
Zephyr Espresso Cafe and Art Gallery

[sf]

On Tue, 4 Feb 2014 20:35:18 -0800 (PST), "Mike D."
<spamtr...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Google image date April 2011

Don't know how you did that, but thank you!

[julie...@gmail.com]

On Tuesday, February 4, 2014 3:23:03 PM UTC-8, sf wrote:

Hmm, not sure, what is the cross avenue? There used to be a Pacific Cafe or Pacific Fresh that used to have a line out the door and they would come out and pour wine for everyone waiting. Not sure of the cross or if they are even still there.
Clement

We do like Cinderella, but I believe that is 8th. Maybe? And Burma Superstar which is on Geary and 3rd, 4th, maybe.

I can find them when I need to. :)


Julie P

[julie...@gmail.com]

Wow, so many great answers. I'm gonna need lots of time down there to check 'em all out. Thanks!

Julie

[sf]

On Wed, 5 Feb 2014 19:26:38 -0800 (PST), julie...@gmail.com wrote:

> Hmm, not sure, what is the cross avenue?

Somewhere around 26th. Google the Balboa theater - it's on the
"restaurant" block.

> There used to be a Pacific Cafe or Pacific Fresh that used to have a line out the door and they would come out and pour wine for everyone waiting. Not sure of the cross or if they are even still there.

Still there, but not as busy as it used to be (high prices for the
neighborhood). I prefer Pacific Catch at 9th and Lincoln or Park Chow
on 9th half - a block away.

[evergene]

julie nils wrote:

>We do like Cinderella, but I believe that is 8th. Maybe? And Burma Superstar which is on Geary and 3rd, 4th, maybe.
>
>I can find them when I need to. :)

Burma Super Star is on Clement, near 4th Ave. We had a very good lunch
there a couple of weeks ago. Pea shoots, that wonderful tea-leaf
salad, and an excellent samusa soup.

You probably know about Taiwan restaurant, on Clement just below 6th
Ave., but if not, check it out some time. Mustard greens to write home
about!

[Peter Lawrence]

On 2/5/14, 9:37 PM, evergene wrote:
>
> You probably know about Taiwan restaurant, on Clement just below 6th
> Ave., but if not, check it out some time. Mustard greens to write home
> about!

But not good enough to write a review on ba.food?

;)

[Al Eisner]

This is of course about SF (distinct from "sf") rather than SJ. Yes,
I know, thread drift occurs all the time, and I ordinarily am not
bothered about it. But SF restaurants and SJ restaurants are two
topics of genuine interest and relevance, so it would be really
helpful (for opurposes of later retrieval) if the subject lines
could better reflect the distinction.

Just a gentle suggestion, thanks.
--

Al Eisner
San Mateo Co., CA

[Ciccio]

evergene <ge...@geeaitcheekaygee.com> wrote in
news:sg76f91o729tofqnh...@4ax.com:

> You probably know about Taiwan restaurant, on Clement just below 6th
> Ave., but if not, check it out some time. Mustard greens to write home
> about!

Thanks! I _really_ like greens and have them about 3x per week. Often
they're mustard greens. I wonder if the restaurant serves natve mustard
greens or Chinese mustard greens ( gai/kai choy)? I like them both, but I
give the native mustard greens the edge as I find they have bit more oomph.

Ciccio

--
"I was asked to do a monologue called 'cunt'."
- Said unabashedly on national TV by Jane Fonda
self-described feminist liberal.

[Peter Lawrence]

When the Balboa Theater was first mentioned, my first thoughts were that
they were talking about somewhere in San Diego...


- Peter

[evergene]

It's been a while, but I posted a very brief review, on February 10,
2001. I wrote:
>Taiwan has good food, as pointed out by some other people.
> Mustard Green Shredded Pork Noodle Soup is a fine dish.
> Taiwan is often crowded.
https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en#!original/ba.food/GQnoZK1q3B8/WjLESAF6IaQJ

The topic of that 2001 thread was Best restaurants on Clement Street,
and the entire thread is kind of interesting. Someone whom Google
Groups identifies as g_ba...@ether.com wrote:
>My "must" restaurant on Clement Street is the Taiwan Restaurant. Food
>there is excellent. You can get Taiwanese breakfast as well, which
>is not common in SF. Prices are ridiculously low. This restaurant has
>been there for over ten years and still draws huge crowds.

And someone named Julian Macassey wrote
>I agree. This is a great spot. They have wonderful dumplings.

13 years ago as of next Monday.

[Peter Lawrence]

On 2/6/14, 12:56 PM, evergene wrote:
>
> The topic of that 2001 thread was Best restaurants on Clement Street,
> and the entire thread is kind of interesting. Someone whom Google
> Groups identifies as g_ba...@ether.com wrote:
>>
>> My "must" restaurant on Clement Street is the Taiwan Restaurant. Food
>> there is excellent. You can get Taiwanese breakfast as well, which
>> is not common in SF. Prices are ridiculously low. This restaurant has
>> been there for over ten years and still draws huge crowds.
>
> And someone named Julian Macassey wrote:
>>
>> I agree. This is a great spot. They have wonderful dumplings.
>
> 13 years ago as of next Monday.

'Tis the season for Taiwanese food, I guess.

:)

[Al Eisner]

I used to eat in that area occasionally (not in the past few years,
however) -- my favorites used to be Fountain Court (which I guess is
no more) and Taiwan.

[Mike D.]

On Wednesday, February 5, 2014 9:37:50 PM UTC-8, evergene wrote:

>
> Burma Super Star is on Clement, near 4th Ave. We had a very good lunch
> there a couple of weeks ago. Pea shoots, that wonderful tea-leaf
> salad, and an excellent samusa soup.
>

Out on the Avenues, we like Mandalay, on California.

Burma Superstar had an E coli outbreak, last summer. Just sayin'

[sf]

On Thu, 06 Feb 2014 11:43:23 -0800, Peter Lawrence <humm...@aol.com>
wrote:

The same confusion happens to me all the time when people start
talking about places on the peninsula and SJ, but I thought it was
obvious that SF was the city in question.
Message-ID: <e9t2f9t6ce1m1ltkf...@4ax.com>

[Al Eisner]

I can't speak for Peter, but it was obvious to me that the thread
had drifted to SF. As I noted above, my interest in this particular
case is to make it easier to find relevant information after the
fact. (I would ordinarily not check a SJ thread to locate past
information about restaurants in SF.)

[sf]

One of my FB from NYC is attending Beach Blanket Babylon tonight and
wanted suggestions of where to eat Chinese food in that general area.
We haven't deliberately eaten in a Chinese restaurant here since all
of my husband's relatives moved out of town (a round table can fit 10
people and he's one of 5), so I didn't have anything current to
suggest.

Do you have any suggestions I could pass on?

[sms]

If someone speaks (and reads) Chinese, go to Kam Lok.
<http://www.yelp.com/biz/kam-lok-restaurant-san-francisco>. If no one
can order from the Chinese menu then forget it.

[sf]

On Fri, 07 Feb 2014 13:42:42 -0800, sms <scharf...@geemail.com>
wrote:

> > Do you have any suggestions I could pass on?
>
> If someone speaks (and reads) Chinese, go to Kam Lok.
> <http://www.yelp.com/biz/kam-lok-restaurant-san-francisco>. If no one
> can order from the Chinese menu then forget it.

I'll pass it on, thanks. :)

[julie...@gmail.com]

Yes! House of Nanking on Kearney and I think BroadwAy

Hth
Julie

[julie...@gmail.com]

Oh, probably my House of Nanking suggestion came too late.

For future reference: It is great food, very crowded with lines out the door, and all the loudness that goes with that. I think it's worth all that.

Not sure who asked about Mandalay. We have been there several times, it is really so much like Burma Superstar, but I like BS better, others I dine with (snark) like Mandalay as well or better.

Julie