Dining in Santa Clara

[Barbara Moss]

I will be visiting my son in Santa Clara next month and would love some local places we could go. I am sure we will drive up to SF at least once but it would be nice to have somethng local if we just want to visit. French bistro, steak, Italian would all be nice. I would also love some suggestions for Napa as we are going to spend a few days there as well. I guess I am too late for the French Laundry.... should we try for Bouchon?

[samgiovese]

Santa Clara itself doesn't have alot of choices, but the good news is that you'll be very close to San Jose and some of the other suburbs. For starters, check out Santana Row. It has many restaurants that are quite good. For your French bistro, the Left Bank branch there is quite decent. For simple Italian, there's Mio Vicino near Santa Clara University. For something a bit more up-scale, try Cafe Torre in Cupertino, or Il Fornaio in downtown San Jose. Grill on the Alley in the Fairmont Hotel in Downtown San Jose is good for steaks, as is Forbes Mill Steakhouse in Los Gatos.

As far as Napa goes, Bouchon shouldn't be a problem with reservations...you can go online to Open Table and make one there. If you're in the mood for a true country French bistro, don't miss Bistro Jeanty in Yountville. It's sister restaurant, Pere Jeanty, also in Yountville, has recently changed its menu and become more of a steakhouse. For Italian, there's Bistro Don Giovanni just north of Napa, and Cook St. Helena in St. Helena. If you're in the mood for a simple pizza while visiting the Valley, try Pizzaria Tra Vigne in St. Helena. It's family style, but the pizzas are VERY good! Other good bets are Market and Martini House in St. Helena and Hurley's in Yountville. If you're looking for upscale, the restaurant at Domaine Chandon in Yountville has a chef who was just voted a "rising star" in the SF Chronicle. His food is very good. Another upscale, excellent choice is Hiro Sone's Terra in St. Helena.

Hope these help, and I'd be happy to expound on anything I've mentioned or provide any other info you need.

[ludja]

I agree that Santa Clara doesn't have too much in the way of restaurants--although there are some good Indian restaurants if you are interested and really want something in Santa Clara...

Santana Row would be fun to check out; it's an interesting 'urban planning' experiment (mix of high end retail, restaurants with apts, condos, above and flower-lined pedestrian streets) and as mentioned, Left Bank (I've only been to the Menlo Park location) should be pretty good. There's also an interesting looking Mexican restaurant there (a little more upscale than typical mex restaurants) that looks promising.

If you're willing just north of Santa Clara, here are some other ideas for places to have good food and conversation:

Afghani House (in Sunnyvale but close to Santa Clara border), excellent food, elegant atmosphere.

Amber India in Mountain View is an elegant Indian restaurant with excellent (primarily Northern; ie. not spicy hot) Indian cuisine.

(I called both of these 'elegant'; the prices are very reasonable but the atmosphere is white tablecloth, quite, etc).

Hardy's Bavarian in Sunnyvale is a very nice German restaurant--which is a difficult thing to find. Very home made and authentic food.

As you see, not many recs from me for Italian or French down near Santa Clara...

For decent to excellent Italian or French and a bunch of other special restaurants including Cuban or Pan-Mediterranean there are a lot more choices up in Palo Alto, which is ~ a 20 min drive north from Santa Clara on the highway (101); not that much farther than to Santana Row. Let me know if you're interested for these recs if they are not too far for you and I'll gladly post them.

[MsMelkor]

I'd recommend Dasaprakash for South Indian food - it's right in Santa Clara.

For Napa food, Samgiovese's got some great recommendations. I really enjoy Bistro Jeanty, especially when they have smelts on the menu. It's pretty simple food, so don't expect anything too elaborate, but it's very well prepared. I prefer the atmosphere at Bistro Jeanty, which is more of a country bistro, to the more urban feel of Bouchon. I think you'll have a good meal at either place, but don't go to Bouchon expecting "French Laundry lite".

Bistro Don Giovanni has good Italian/Mediterranean. I'm not a fan of Tra Vigne, although I haven't been in a couple of years (after a few bad meals there I've sworn it off, and no one I know has had a good meal there recently). Haven't been to Domaine Chandon since Ron Boyd took over - it's pretty expensive, and I haven't gotten motivated to check it out. Terra is not cheap either, but everything I've had there has been excellent. I haven't been to Pere Jeanty since they became a steakhouse, so I can't compare it to Cole's Chop House, but I've had some very satisfying steaks at Cole's.

[samgiovese]

I'm not a fan of Tra Vigne

Just to clarify, I wasn't recommending Tra Vigne the restaurant, I was recommending the Tra Vigne Pizzaria (formerly Tomatina's), just 1/2 block north. Tra Vigne has been closed for a few weeks, and has re-opened with a new chef, Dan Trudeau, who is late of Campanile Restaurant in LA. I had known of his talent when he worked at Hayes St. Grill in SF, but never tried him in LA. Perhaps someone from the Southland could comment. In any event, Mer Lot & I are putting it on our list of "try again" to see what the new chef can do.

[MaxH]

Afghani House (in Sunnyvale but close to Santa Clara border), excellent food, elegant atmosphere.

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Hardy's Bavarian in Sunnyvale is a very nice German restaurant--which is a difficult thing to find.  Very home made and authentic food.

Strongly endorse Afghani House. (It's one of those many classy "ethnic" restaurants in Santa Clara County that I cite as a group from time to time.) Ali Tehari opened it in a former Mexican-restaurant location in (?) December 1994 and was immediately superb; I just returned recently and it was maintaining its standards. (Tehari was there, working hard as usual. He's the wise-looking gent with the beard.) Charcoal-grilled skewered marinated meats served with pilaf and green sauce of hot pepper and mint. Stir-fries with garlic and tomatoes. Exquisite little dumpling and turnover appetizers with yoghurt -- Bulanee, Mantu.

Chelokebabi (sp?) is its Persian cousin a few blocks further into Sunnyvale, same street, a bit lower-key, again lots of savory courses with skewers and spiced meatballs &c.

(Ludja did you know about the radical changes at Hardy's since he retired a year or so ago? It used to be one of my regular favorites also but it has changed.)

Concerning bistros (brasseries would be more apt, technically, for what I will mention), yes Left Bank (a small chain) lately expanded with three new locations including San José (the Santana Row site mentioned here) and they have their strengths.

Important! Not mentioned yet, that I could see, were the two creditable, independent true French brasseries (with the casual foods you don't see in many US "French" concepts) -- both run by youngish immigrants from France -- Brigitte's, right in Santa Clara next to a golf course, link here, and Le Petit Bistro in Mountain View, link here, both very worthwhile, very real, in my few visits each, and moderately priced.

[ludja]

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(Ludja did you know about the radical changes at Hardy's since he retired a year or so ago?  It used to be one of my regular favorites also but it has changed.)

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Thanks for the heads up; that is really sad. For some reason I haven't eaten there in a year or so--but used to eat there every few months. It's been so steady the last 10 years or so that I felt safe in the rec! Hopefully, the slip is temporary and the new folks will get things under control.

Thanks for the info on Brigittes and Le Petite Bistro. I didn't know about the former and had forgotton about the latter. Ate at Le Petite Bistro once a while back but it fell off my radar. (It's so inobstrusive! ---drove by it for years without knowing it was there).

Edited February 15, 2005 by ludja (log)

[Barbara Moss]

Thank you for all the choices. I am am sure we will try a couple and I will pass along all the suggestions to him. At the moment he is living in temporary housing in Redwood City but works in Santa Clasa. I think I will skip Bouchon since I have not heard a ringing endorsemnt and make reservations at Bisto Jeanty for a start. Barbara

[Octaveman]

For excellent Italian food in my opinion is Original Joe's downtown San Jose. Nice atmosphere on the casual side but with ellegant appointments (black leather booths, waiters in tuxes, 6 ft. tall vases, etc.). It can get busy but open late nightly. Extensive menu...their garlic bread is loaded with garlic, their steaks are char-broiled, their ravioli's are awesome, their Veal Scallopine is great as is the Veal parmagiane. I go there every time I'm in town visiting family. Has anyone else ate (eatin?) here?

Edited February 22, 2005 by Octaveman (log)