Late Dining in San Jose

[VivreManger]

In March I am returning from Hawaii to home on the East Coast. On the way I have two nights in San Jose, the second will be at Manresa. On the first night I will be arriving at the airport around 9:00 and would like to take my hosts to dinner. They live south of Cambrian Village, near Blossom Hill Road, if I am not mistaken.

Any suggestions on late night eating, not too far from the area we will have to drive through? Original Joe's has been mentioned, but I have no idea where it is located since my knowledge of San Jose geography is nil.

At this point my inclination is not to go East Asian since after a week in Honolulu, I would have spanned sushi, Korean, Chinese, Japanese, and other Pacific variations, though I am open to persuasion if something is truly outstanding. It would be a plus if the restaurant offered something distinctively local. But given the globalized character of San Jose, that might be hard to find. Perhaps an interesting South Asian option might emerge? All those computer specialists from the subcontinent. Whatever the suggestion, late night service is unfortunately the key.

Edited to add:

I saw the very good survey below on San Jose dining:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...237&hl=San+Jose

However I have no idea what from that discussion is likely to be cooking past 9:00 PM and how far from my likely route they are located. I did see that a number of Indian restos appeared and those might be worth exploring if they meet the other criteria.

Edited December 24, 2004 by VivreManger (log)

[samgiovese]

On the first night I will be arriving at the airport around 9:00 and would like to take my hosts to dinner. They live south of Cambrian Village, near Blossom Hill Road, if I am not mistaken.

What day of the week are you landing?

[VivreManger]

On the first night I will be arriving at the airport around 9:00 and would like to take my hosts to dinner. They live south of Cambrian Village, near Blossom Hill Road, if I am not mistaken.

What day of the week are you landing?

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Monday evening.

[tanabutler]

You do know that Manresa is closed on Monday and Tuesday?

I'll be back in a bit with some late night recs, though some kind of street name for Mapquest purposes would be helpful. It's a mighty big area.

[tanabutler]

Not too far off Highway 280, which you presumably will be traveling, is the exit for Stevens Creek Boulevard and (formerly) Valley Fair Mall, and where you will find the very attractive Santana Row shopping/living complex.

Serving until 10 PM are:

Consuelo's Mexican Bistro: I enjoyed both of the meals we had there, very much. They make your guacamole table-side, to your specifications; they've got great mojitos; the food is fresh and good. Our waitress was from Guadalajara, and she was great.

More details from Open Table

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Amber of India: supposed to be very very good indeed, say my foodie friends who've been there. That would probably be my first choice, if I were going to be very generous.

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Left Bank Bistro

More details from Open Table

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Those are three places conveniently located. If you can zone in more on your hosts' location (just give me the name of a store or something nearby so I can Google), there are certainly other options.

The nice thing about Santana Row is that, unlike many places, it really has a late-night vibe. If the weather is nice, people sit on their little balconies in the condos above, watching the shoppers/window shoppers below. There is often live music in the little parks there. Nice atmosphere. For San Jose, it's a real destination.

[samgiovese]

Because of your late arrival time and the day of the week, your choices are going to be very limited. Although it is the "capital of Silicon Valley", the San Jose metro area is still quite suburban, and one would be hard pressed to find a decent meal past 9:30. I like Tana's suggestion of Left Bank, but they're only open until 10:00 PM on Monday. If you're landing at 9:00 and have to do baggage, the chances of you getting there before the kitchen closes are very slim.

Tana will stone me for making this suggestion, but Original Joe's in downtown San Jose is open until 1:30 AM.

A better choice, and right on the same block, is the San Jose Il Fornaio. I've always had decent food there, and they're open until 11:00 PM. You could also check out the Fairmont Hotel downtown. They have several restaurants, that are also decent. I'm just not sure how late they are open.

Hope one of these works for you. And downtown San Jose is right on the way back to the Blossom Hill/Cambrian area from the airport via Hwy 87 (Guadalupe Expressway). Santana Row is a bit out of the way going from the airport to the Cambrian area.

[tanabutler]

Because of your late arrival time and the day of the week, your choices are going to be very limited.  Although it is the "capital of Silicon Valley", the San Jose metro area is still quite suburban, and one would be hard pressed to find a decent meal past 9:30.  I like Tana's suggestion of Left Bank, but they're only open until 10:00 PM on Monday.  If you're landing at 9:00 and have to do baggage, the chances of you getting there before the kitchen closes are very slim.

Tana will stone me for making this suggestion, but Original Joe's in downtown San Jose is open until 1:30 AM.

A better choice, and right on the same block, is the San Jose  Il Fornaio.  I've always had decent food there, and they're open until 11:00 PM.  You could also check out the Fairmont Hotel downtown.  They have several restaurants, that are also decent.  I'm just not sure how late they are open.

Hope one of these works for you.  And downtown San Jose is right on the way back to the Blossom Hill/Cambrian area from the airport via Hwy 87 (Guadalupe Expressway).  Santana Row is a bit out of the way going from the airport to the Cambrian area.

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Maybe we just had a bad meal there, but I think Original Joe's is gross, I'm sorry. I mean that the food was greasy and tired. It tasted like industrial grease.

I'd choose Il Fornaio in a heartbeat over it.

Downtown does have some options, though they're not great. At the Fairmount, the Grill on the Alley only serves until 10 PM, though perhaps they serve the bar menu until 11 PM.

Gordon Biersch serves until 11 PM.

AP Stumps serves until 10 PM. ("If Jules Verne had designed a restaurant, this would be it.")

E & O Trading has a 9:45 table. E & O Trading web site

Maybe there are others?

[VivreManger]

You do know that Manresa is closed on Monday and Tuesday?

I'll be back in a bit with some late night recs, though some kind of street name for Mapquest purposes would be helpful. It's a mighty big area.

←

Manresa is closed on Tuesday, drat. I knew about the Monday closing, but I thought it opened on Tuesday night.

As for the other ideas I will get back to you with more details, anon. Of all the ideas, well-prepared and imaginative Indian would be a first choice, for my preference, but I still have to find out my hosts thoughts on all of this.

[tanabutler]

Amber of India has the great food; the décor and ambience are very nice. It's a beautiful space, and it also has Santana Row to recommend it. There is an enormous Crate and Barrel there, which my daughter refers to as my "mothership."

Barring that, I would want to try the place that Chef Hemant Mathur, formerly of Amma in NYC, and now of Dévi, opened: Tumerik. They have a wine list with over 100 choices, too.

There is also Dasaprakash, in Santa Clara.

Bong has eaten at both and they are two of his favorite places.

My preference of the two would be Turmerik, because I am a tandoor fan. I'm thinking of changing in my log-in name to "tandoorbutler."

Sorry about being the bearer of bad news about Manresa.

[Painting]

if tana won't stone the guy, i will. I agree with tana and say Il Fornaio is decent choice but nothing outstanding.

And how can you say steven's creek is out of the way from SJC? it's right next to each other.

tana: what happened to valley fair? did Westfield sell the mall or changed the name of the property? Or they did that "shopping town" crap with the name.

[tanabutler]

I won't stone Samgiovese: I like him! Like I said we might have had a bad meal.

Valley Fair is just renamed to Westfield (in tiny letters: Valley Fair) Something Something.

I didn't say 280 was out of the way, just that I didn't know which direction "Cambrian Village" (there is not actually such a place, says Bob who grew up in San Jose) lay.

[samgiovese]

if tana won't stone the guy, i will. I agree with tana and say Il Fornaio is decent choice but nothing outstanding.

And how can you say steven's creek is out of the way from SJC? it's right next to each other.

tana: what happened to valley fair? did Westfield sell the mall or changed the name of the property? Or they did that "shopping town" crap with the name.

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I can say it's out-of-the-way when VivreManger's destination is the Blossom Hill/Cambrian area, because the most direct route to that part of town is Hwy 87.

I guess I'll give up on OJ's. It's just that it IS open until 1:30 AM. If you'll re-read my post, I did say that the BETTER choice would be Il Fornaio. I know OJ's ain't gourmet...I just remember going there as a kid, and I guess I still have a soft spot in my heart for the tuxedoed waiters, the open kitchen, the counter seats, and the leather banquettes. Enough said...I withdraw the suggestion!

If VivreMange thinks he (she?) can make a 10:00 res when the plane lands at 9:00, all I can say is, "Good Luck!" That's why I think a later res would be better.

As to Valley Fair, yes, Westfield did convert it to a "Shopping Town." I hate it, just as you do, Isaac. They also recently purchased Oakridge Mall in the Blossom Hill area and, guess what...it's a Westfield Shopping Town, too.

Final note...no apostrophe in "Stevens Creek" it was named for Capt. Elisha P. Stephens (yes, "ph" is the correct spelling) and was corrupted to the "v" somewhere in the 1800's. I know this is accurate, because I was born in San Jose and have lived in the West Valley for 54 years, and am very familiar with Santa Clara Valley history.

Happy Holidays All!

[samgiovese]

didn't say 280 was out of the way, just that I didn't know which direction "Cambrian Village" (there is not actually such a place, says Bob who grew up in San Jose) lay.

Here is something I found on the net:

" CAMBRIAN PARK (Village)- This area is well known in the valley. The name comes from the ancient name for Wales. The area has been known as Cambrian Park and Cambrian Village. Freeway 85 cuts through the center of the neighborhood, but it is still a great place to live."

I always new it as Cambrian Park.

Edited December 26, 2004 by samgiovese (log)

[marie-louise]

At the risk of sounding like a complete airhead, perhaps you can help me find this restaurant again.

We were driving down to Carmel on 101 earlier this year. Somewhere around Blossom Hill Road/ Highway 85 it starts to become obvious you are leaving civilization. We were hungry, so we exited the freeway and went right (more or less west.) We drove through suberbia for what seemed to be a verry long time without passing any shopping centers. We came to another large street and found a wonderful Vietnamese restaurant on the far right side of the intersection. I think it was white. It had booths and a funny entrance-you had to walk around the buildingfrom the parking lot to get in. We had some of the best bun I've ever tasted. I think we might have had Pho, too.

Any chance anyone could help me find this again?

[kellycolorado]

I was just going to post that there is definitely a Cambrian neighborhood, but Sam beat me to it.

That's really too bad that you are going when Manresa is closed, because head west and Blossom Hill dead ends into Los Gatos just north of downtown.

Maybe you should just head downtown from the airport on 280 and try one of the suggestions or Santana Row. Not many places will be lively those nights but hopefully you can get something decent to eat.

If you tell us more what kind of food you're hoping for, I might have some ideas since I live a couple miles from Cambrian but my meals with a toddler lately are pretty down to earth.