Eats - California

Cities covered: San Jose, San Mateo, Sunnyvale, Los Altos, Coronado, Emeryville

71 Saint Peter
71 N. San Pedro Street San Jose, CA 95110
Phone: (408) 971-8523
Rating: ***
This tiny but charming bistro is tucked away on a street whose most noticeable feature is a monumental parking structure. It does help block the wind, should you take advantage of the outdoor seating, a rarity in San Jose. The roast meats—duck, pork, rabbit, etc.—are very good as are old standby salads. Desserts are pretty ho hum, but you'll probably skip it in favor of a steamy cafe au lait. A nice place to take a date if you're walking to the San Jose Arena for a concert.

Agenda
399 S 1st St.
San Jose, CA 95113-2804
408/287-3991
Rating: **
It's been about three years since I've eaten here. As with most San Jose restaurants, the appetizers and entrees are good, while the salads aren't. This isn't the best restaurant in San Jose, but the atmosphere is nice, and the waitstaff is friendly. There's a club on both the top floor and in the basement some nights (including some "gay nights"), so I'd try to finish eating before 9.

Boulder Cafe (Boulder, Colorado)
1247 Pearl St
Boulder, CO 80302
303/444-4884
Rating: ****
Colorado tries to do California, and it works. I really liked this place. It's right across from the park that borders city hall. After a couple of cups of coffee, we had the tapas platter (surprisingly good), the mussels with garlic and wine (which completely broke my rule about not ordered seafood unless you can see the ocean), a crabcake appetizer, and rustic fries. Everything was pretty fabulous, and the service was good if a little college student cool. Total before tip was $43.60, which isn't cheap, but fair for the best meal I've ever had in Boulder. May 14, 2008

Broiler Room
at the Casino San Pablo of the Lytton Rancheria13255 San Pablo Ave.
San Pablo, CA 94806
510/215-7888
We stopped here after a visit to Annie's Annuals which was having a fabulous 25% off sale. I say "fabulous" because a) Annie was actually there heading up the festivities, and b) they have a LOT of plants. Anyway...

The San Pablo casino was a complete surprise to me. It's a full-fledged casino with slots/bingo and a card room. I know that a lot of these local casinos actually have pretty good food, so we stopped.

Definitely ask to be seated "inside" in the dining room away from the noise of the casino. The room is nice with a high ceiling, huge mirrors, and a simple decor. Our waitress Cynthia was simply amazing. We never asked for anything; it just arrived.

The bread basket here is excellent: light as a feather, warm from the oven, and lightly crispy on the outside. In fact, I'd given the place an "A" as soon as I took my first mouthful.

I had a duck salad (juicy meat, not too fatty, lots of pinenuts) and my boyfriend had the Maytag salad, which I didn't want to try. Lactose intolerance = bad drive back to SF. He also had a pastrami sandwich, which I didn't try, while I went with the Mexican food, in this case a "Pollo Santa Fe" which was perfectly grilled. Moist, juicy, and a bit too subtlely spiced. The side of refried beans was perhaps the best I've ever had, although the Spanish rice was pretty blah. A Coke and two coffees came to $36.75 before tip, which is a pretty good deal...until I dropped $60 bucks in the slots. Oct 7, 2007

Buffalo Grill
66 Hillsdale Mall
San Mateo, CA 94403
650/358-8777 www.buffalogrill.com
Rating: ***
It's odd that one of the better restaurants in San Mateo is steps away from a generic mall food court, but given that its only competitor is in a grocery store, maybe not. The Buffalo is one my favorite long lunch destinations (read service can be glacial if they're busy). The steaks and chops are wonderfu and the seafood is dependable if not inventive. This is one of the few restaurants where I don't mind the open kitchen, which is tucked in the back. The only unusual item on this menu is buffalo carpaccio, which is indistinguishable from the beef version.

Cheesecake Factory
1771 Arden Way (although there are locations all over No. Cal. now for some reason)
Sacramento, CA 95815
916/567-0606
Rating: ***
The quintessential family restaurant. Huge portions, decent service, and interestingly designed interiors. Sound familiar? We started out with coffee because we were tired from Christmas shopping at Arden Fair, firecracker salmon rolls (surprising good), grilled chicken tostada salad, steak diane, tiramisu and strawberry shortcake. Overall, most Cheesecake Factory locations have decent food, but it's not really cheap if you have three courses. How families of six can afford it I don't know, because this certainly isn't a date restaurant (unless you hate your date). I must have been in a really, really good mood because I gave the waitor a giant tip for some reason. Before tip: $61.85.

E & O Trading Company
96 S. First St.
San Jose, CA
408/938-4100
Rating: Like, whatever
Zit-faced greeter girls were too busy chatting among themselves to notice us and then were just plain rude, so we walked out. Go to Stratta down the street. 06/01

Eulipia
374 South First Street
Downtown San Jose
CA 95113
Dinner **
A nice date restaurant on a weekday, with good appetizers, lousy salads (a San Jose tradition) and tasty entrees. Stay away from any specials that sound farfetched. The room has double-height ceilings, brick walls, and comfy seats.

Updated June, 2003: A friend and I like to go here after hanging out at our local bar's beer bust. The food is good, at times very good, and the waitstaff are friendly and cute. The kitchen here can be a little uneven, so I would order the safest items on the menu.

Update Oct 3, 2007 - I haven't been here in years, so we stopped off for dinner since the new gay bar in San Jose just opened in June across the street. We had a beet salad, a house salad, a New York steak, artichoke ravioli (sage-y). The beet salad is basically cubed roasted beets packed around a big chunk of goat cheese, which means I spread most of it on bread. The New York steak was a nice cut and perfectly grilled, and the artichoke ravioli were delicious. We ended with sorbet and coffee. Service was excellent, although there were only six other diners that evening. The one big ding was that when we walked in, it smelled slightly fishy, as though had left some mackerel out all day. The smell didn't go away, and we decided to stay, mostly because I didn't feel like getting up and slogging over to Original Joe's. The waitor apologized profusely, asked if we wanted to move, etc, but couldn't smell it himself since it had apparently been that way for some time. Still, this is one of the most dependable date restaurants in town. $77.94 before tip.

Update May 1, 2008: Went here with two others. We had artichoke soup, a chicken and brie salad, a New York steak, seafood linguine, an apple crisp, a creme brulee, and bananas foster. Two coffees and a tea rounded things out. The food remains dependable, if not super exciting, which of course makes it a good date restaurant. It's basically my first choice for people from the midwest because it's obvious what you'll be eating from the menu (vs. "shaken beef" or chicken koorma). Total: $147.22 before tip.

FAZ
1108 N. Mathilda Ave.
Sunnyvale, CA 94089
408/752-8000
www.fazrestaurants.com
Rating: ***
I've only been to Faz for lunch, and the food was quite good. The wait, however, was interminable. This is a favorite of local businesspeople so if you go for lunch, make reservations or be prepared to battle Intel managers for a table. Atmosphere is surprisingly modern given its location in a hotel.

Jocco's Restaurant
236 Central Plaza
Los Altos, CA 94022
650/948-6809
Rating: **
My friend Michael (the one that doesn't eat organ meat or anything remotely unusual) found this place via the Mercury News, I think. The sunken dining room is odd, in that you are at eye level with passing cars' tires, but the decor is simple and pleasant. The food was quite good, despite a menu that's reads like a parody of the 90s (read: zero invention). I can't really remember what we had, but there were no weak spots. Service is first-rate, attentive without being hovering. 04/03

Lark Creek
50 E. Third St.
San Mateo, CA 94401
650/344-9444
Rating: **
My first experience here was bad. The food was mediocre: a San Francisco menu as executed by Denny's. My second visit for lunch was much better, still not up to SF standards, but certainly tasty and neatly prepared.

Lulu's
816 Folsom St.
San Francisco, CA 94107
415/495-5775
This place next to the Moscone Center has been here forever in San Francisco terms. We eat here about once every two months when we're downtown. You gotta have the mussels, which come with a bowl of melted butter for dipping. At $13.25, they'll never compete with the Vietnamese restaurants, but I just love them anyway. Everything else for lunch is so-so for the price. The best thing to do I've found is to just order appetizers and screw the entrees, especially the sandwiches which are really not very good. We had the antipasti plate (good selection), lamb sandwich (never again), roast pork sandwich (better, but still not great), and iced teas. Service is always first rate, and room remains light and cheery unless they jam you into one of the tables along the wall. Huge bar, that we're pretty sure could whip up a Ramos fizz if you asked for it. Feb 17, 2007

Updated March 13, 2008 - We were attending the Microsoft 2008 Windows Server launch event at the Moscone Center West (the new building is cavernous), so we walked a block to Lulu's. We had the antipasti plate, the mussels (not as good time with a couple of cracked shells), the lamb (which I HIGHLY recommend, a huge serving perfectly cooked). My team had sandwiches for some reason. With drinks and coffee and cookies, the tab before tax was $99.39. Service was impeccable and friendly as usual.

Oola
50 E. Third St.
San Mateo, CA 94401
650/344-9444
Rating: ***
www.oola-sf.com
Went here on a recommendation from a coworker for a special dinner. It's next to Lulu's and we probably would have gone there for the mussels if we'd known. Anyway...after getting past the massive metal front door, we were seated in a booth near the bar. The restaurant is extraordinarily dark, and there were only two candles to show off the food. A shame, because they put care into the presentation. We had port glazed foie gras torchon, potato wrapped day boat scallops, confit of duck, and something else that I've forgotten. The foie gras is very odd and worth trying; it's a cold dish, and the port glaze is sort of an aspic surrounding a foie gras mousse. There's a small pile of coarse salt for sprinkling, and a drizzle of vanilla oil along the side. This dish was so odd, that I enjoyed just trying to figure out what they were thinking. The confit was very nicely done. I really liked my sampling of the day boat scallops. Perfectly cooked. The crowd is definitely the Generation Ys who have rich parents, because we were by far the oldest people at the place (41 and 46). The "fried potatoes" are in fact french fries, and I recommend the ones with the parmesan and truffle oil, no matter how cliche because they were delicious and addictive. The side of baby spinach was also nicely done. Dinner with a generous tip was $125. Service was excellent and sans the dopey chatter. Our waitress was also gorgeous, which should serve as a warning to anyone considering taking a female date here. The busboy wasn't bad either. 11/14/2006

Prince of Wales
Rating: ****
Hotel Del Coronado
1500 Orange Ave.
Coronado, CA 92118
619/522-8818
I haven't been here in more than five years, so you're on your own. Our dinner was excellent.

Pyramid Ale House
Rating: **
1029 K St. Mall
916/498-9800
We ate here mostly out of desperation, since nothing else was open. We had a pyramid burger, pork schnitzel, and two coffees. Normally, I'd never eat at a micro-brewery or whatever like this, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The interior is nicely done—full of light and sparkling clean—there were two really cute guys sitting next to us, and our waitress wasn't painfully perky. I probably would like it a lot more if I could drink beer. $27.37 before tip. Dec 24, 2007

Seven Restaurant & Lounge
Rating: ****
754 The Alameda (ground floor of the condo complex next to the railroad tracks by the Arena)
San Jose, CA 95126
(888) 607-5926
Lunch: Monday - Friday: 11:30am - 2:30pm
Dinner: Monday - Saturday: 5:00pm - 10:00pm
Lounge/Bar menu: Monday: 11:30am - 10:00pm
Tuesday - Friday: 11:30am - midnight, Saturday: 5:00pm - midnight
My neighbor is actually the manager of this restaurant, so one night after picking up his tab at the local pho place, I jokingly asked that he get us some free goodies when we finally made it here. Well, it took six months, but I finally went with my friend Cevin. The menu is interesting and not entirely descriptive. We decided to have an apptetizer dinner (basically ordering most of the appetizers on the menu) with a steak to wrap up our protein needs. Unfortunately, I can't recall most of the dishes except for a "pot roast" (which my friend openly ridiculed) and these shrimp which were fabulous but poorly described on the menu. The steak was nicely done and delicious. The bill came to about $120 as I remember with several rounds of drinks, which actually seems pretty reasonable considering the amount of food. The decor is slightly cold, which is fine at night since it's pretty dark inside. There's an open kitchen, unfortunately, which is brightly lit. The bar near the entrance is perpetually packed, even on weeknights, with a few gay people hanging out occasionally. We're going back soon to try more of the goodies, since the menu changes from time to time.

Update Sep 19, 2007: We return for dinner. Crabcakes, tomato salad, and mussels to start. I'd skip the mussels. Ahi and a special dish I've since forgotten for the entree, and clafouti for dessert. I really like clafouti and this was just fine. Decaf coffee and regular coffee brought the before tip total to $137.48.

Update May 28, 2009: Returned with my friend Cevin and his friend Mike for a business dinner. I had the spaetzle, which was light and crispy and fun to eat, followed by the duck "cassoulet" which was okay (duck confit, some sliced sausage, and a small pile of cannolini beans). I wouldn't get it again. Dessert was the bittersweet chocolate souffle, which can be made incredibly quickly, but the reason I found out was that it's mostly liquid chocolate...which unfortunately I detest. The others had butter lettuce salads, a new york steak (fatty according to him), some mushrooms, and the chicken pailiard. I'll have say that the dearest but still interesting dessert was the flight of ice cream cones, which even I was curious about despite it having lapsed into cliche a few years ago. Dinner with coffee came to $180.26, but I was celebrating a special occasion. The service was excellent as usual. We were the last ones out (it was a weekday) but there were only 4-5 other parties there not counting the jammed packed bar.

Sheraton Grand Sacramento (Room Service)
1230 J St.
Sacramento, CA
916/447-1700
Rating: ****
Obviously, you can get this unless you go to the restaurant in the hotel, but we've never felt the need to. I wasn't so interested in the entrees, but the appetizers looked good. We had thyme scallops, salmon filet, short ribs over polenta, sweet potato gnocchi. The simple answer is that everything was quite good, despite the trip to our room on the 23rd floor. Even my boyfriend, who was sicker than a dog, found the appetite to try all of the dishes. If I were to choose two, it would be the short ribs (fatty in just the right way) and the gnocchi, which were light as feather. March 1, 2008

Stratta Grill & Bar
Rating: **
71 E. San Fernando
San Jose, CA 95113
408/293-1121
My favorite place for a first date. The setting is cozy brick and velvet. The aspiration is towards San Francisco, but the results are sturdy San Francisco fare. Appetizers are nice. As with most San Jose restaurants, the salads are pretty bad. Entrees are nicely done. Service is excellent, although this is one of those places where tables for two are designed to hold two plates and two wineglasses. For grazers like me, this presents a problem. 07/01

Townhouse
5862 Doyle St.
Emeryville, CA 94608
510/652-6151
Food: ***
Price: Lunch **
When a coworked brought me here, I could only think that she had a thing for dives. The facade of the restaurants looks like a tiny shanty, but the interior is light and spacious. Unfortunately, all of the windows and open space mean that on cooler days it's a little nippy. The menu is typical California fare, with updates of standards like chicken pot pie. Our salads were quite good, but the entrees were just so so for the price. 10/02

Tresetti's
927 11th St.
Modesto, CA 95354
209/572-2990
Food: **
Price: ****
I've been here years ago when I was still visiting a friend of mine in Modesto fairly regularly. There is outdoor seating, which we opted for because we could smoke, and an indoor section of course. There a longish bar when you enter which had a few patrons at it even in the afternoon. Probably a good sign.

Anyway, we ordered the duck confit, which was overly greasy and overcooked, and a house salad which was good. The confit was served with a fig 'cake' which was a fun addition. For entrees, he had the rack of lamb, which was good if not great, and I had an elaborate dish of vanilla infused pork chop with cheese grits and a really yummy side dish. I made the enormous mistake of asking for my pork chop medium rare, and it came with the interior 1/4" raw. I thought about sending it back but decided just not to eat it. Too bad because the cut was quite good.

With two coffees, an early dinner came to $71.62 before tip, which is San Francisco pricing. Service was excellent, accomodating, and swift, even though we were the only ones on the patio. Even so, probably we'll never go back given their weird ways with meat. Note that there is a nice wine shop connected to the restaurant, and a fair number of gay couples. July 28, 2007

 Viognier
Lunch ***** Make reservations? Yes In&Out: 110 mins.
In Draeger's Market
222 E. 4th Ave.
San Mateo, CA
650/685-3700
The name is unpronounceable. Ladies lunch place in a hoity-toity grocery store, but the food is by far the best continental-Califonia food in San Mateo. The duck is crisp skinned and moist. The lamb is flavorful and juicy. The desserts are well presented and tasty. 01/00

Update 05/04/02: I had lunch here last month with a group of coworkers. The lamb and fish were wonderful as always, and the service was impeccable. I wouldn't recommend the current selection of desserts, however, which tend to be puddings, cremes, etc. Go downstairs afterward and order something from Draeger's bakery (the only place I'll buy a croissant).

Update 9/14/03: Took my designers here for an offsite lunch. Menu has changed slightly, but the service is still flawless. They deserve points for actually remembering me by sight, and I actually thought about asking server, Mike, out on a date. I only ate my appetizer, a forgettable pizzette of prawns, chicken, peppers decorated with an aoili or mayonnaise sauce. The others had the soups, which are presented with a theatrical flair. The bowls arrive empty except for the garnishes, then the hot broth is poured in to the bowls. This actually makes sense considering how hard it is to carry shallow bowls of piping hot liquid. Entrees were perfect as always. I had the lamb, which came with a timbale of zucchini and peppers. Lovely meat, cooked as I ordered. Desserts were okay, but that's never been their strong point.

Update 10/5/04: We return for a celebratory lunch after a successful relaunch of Siebel.com. The only bad thing is that while we were away, my favorite little splurgy restaurant has become tight-fisted. AND, my favorite waitor wasn't there, nor his sexy counterpart. Entrees are paltry, more like small appetizers. My porcini-dusted seared ahi with fois gras was heavenly, all 10 bites of it. The others in my group were similarly unsatisfied, and I insisted everyone order dessert to try to quell their hunger. For a $390 lunch for seven, it seems just plain wrong to leave hungry. And service was just okay. I can't recommend it for lunch anymore unless you're lunch date is making like Ghandi.

Update Aug 24, 2007: I take my team from Saba out for a celebratory lunch. We had the duck board appetizer, which is duck done several ways. Highly recommended. The tomato salad and halibut (beautifully cooked) were up to previous visits, and my team was happy with their corn soup, viognier salad, fettucini, and steak frites. Coffees rounded out a happy, leisurely meal. Service (our waitress Kathryn was enthusiastic about the food and very helpful) was first rate, but they seem to have gotten rid of the fabulous older waitors at lunch at least (a huge loss). Total before tip: $170.50.

XYZ
181 Third St. (in the W hotel)
San Francisco, CA 94103
415/777-5300
We stopped for lunch here because a) it was raining, and b) it's pretty much the only decent place near SF MOMA. My boyfriend also likes this place for the snob appeal. We had XYZ soup of the day which was a nice chowder, an ordinary and fairly dry chicken sandwich with some interesting sides, an XYZ omelet which was massive, iced tea and coffee and a sorbet. Service was impeccable as always, although no doubt helped by the fact that there were only four other people in the place. The decor has changed with some tables being replaced by these weird banquette "pods" which looked a little claustrophobic. Total before tip: $55.34, which is actually right in line with most hotel restaurants with not nearly as much atmosphere. I love watching the people on the sidewalk trudging to the museum next door. Feb 10, 2007

Update September 22, 2007 - We return for an early lunch. New to the menu are donut holes, which you should order even before you sit down. Yummmmm. I had a very fine croque madame, and he had a cheeseburger, also fine. We finished with the fig tart, the sorbets (which I love here because of the faint mint syrup) and two coffees. You really can't beat this place for convenience if you're heading to the SF MOMA, and that's exactly what we did. Very good and goofy service from the Australian guy. NOTE: I got really happy when he recognized us from before, but then I remembered that we aren't your typical brunch-goers, especially because of the leather chaps. Before tip: $56.42.

Update August 31, 2008 - We stop in for a simple dinner, and decide on two appetizers (ahi tartare, crab arancini) and a Reuben sandwich, plus a couple of coffees. All were excellent as was the service. We actually sat just off of the lobby/bar at a small table; the menu is the same as the XYZ restaurant, but it's far more casual (which is good since we were in leather again that night). Total before tip $53. 17