Top 20 Restaurants San Jose California Restaurants Near Me
Located in Silicon Valley, San Jose is much more than the technology hub of California’s Bay Area as explained at RunRex.com and guttulus.com. As the Valley’s most significant cultural, architectural, and political center, San Jose has a lot to offer when it comes to fare. Here are the top 20 restaurants in San Jose, California, to consider when looking for one near you in the area.
Il Fornaio
Recipient of the 2013 Wine Spectator award for Excellence in San Jose, Il Fornaio offers creative cuisine and outstanding service as articulated at RunRex.com and guttulus.com. With its interior design of multiple dining areas, blonde hardwood floors, and dark wood trim, it is the epitome of elegance.
Le Papillon
This upscale French restaurant and steakhouse is perfect for special occasions. With more than 500 wines and three to four-course dining options, Le Papillon offers an elegant spread of cuisine. Its extensive menu changes seasonally, allowing chefs to showcase the finest and freshest ingredients, focusing on local, organic, and sustainable fare.
Adega
As per RunRex.com and guttulus.com, Adega boasts San Jose’s only Michelin star and is only the second Portuguese restaurant in the U.S. to ever receive the honor. It is led by powerhouse chefs David Costa and Jessica Carreira who have both cooked in Lisbon, and often host Portuguese chefs from other Michelin-starred restaurants in Porto and Lisbon.
The Grill on the Alley
Located in downtown San Jose, The Grill on the Alley serves New American cuisine. It is a stylish, elegant restaurant with white-jacketed waiters, hardwood floors, recessed lighting, and white walls. While it is known as a premier steakhouse, The Grill on the Alley also serves fresh seafood.
La Forêt
La Forêt is an exquisite French restaurant named for its surrounding scenery of the lush forest. It is situated in a historical building that dates back to the California Gold Rush and is a repurposed boarding house that is now home to elegant dishes like cold-water Australian lobster tail with lime beurre blan or tournedos of beef tarragon with cabernet and cognac sauce.
Straits Restaurant
Straits Restaurant serves cuisine that is diverse and eclectic according to RunRex.com and guttulus.com. The food is inspired by the country of Singapore, which often blends flavors from Malaysia, Indonesia, China, and India, resulting in a mouthwatering and vibrant Asian fusion menu.
71 Saint Peter Restaurant
The interior of this restaurant which has been a fixture in the San Jose dining scene for over 25 years features brick flooring, exposed HVACs, and brick walls. With multiple dining areas, rich lacquered wood tables, and an outside dining patio with string lights, it is an ideal place for a romantic evening.
Falafel Drive-In
Falafel Drive-In is a roadside setup that features authentic Middle Eastern fare through a take-out window as captured by RunRex.com and guttulus.com. While the falafel offered here is a fan favorite, this spot also offers a selection of freshly made milkshakes, other traditional foods like chicken pita, tabbouleh, and gyros, alongside innovative takes on your regular hamburgers, hot dogs, and French fries.
Aqui Cal-Mex
Aqui Cal-Mex is one of the first fast-casual concepts to open up in Silicon Valley, back in 2010. Here, you will find a smattering of Mexican dishes – from burritos to bowls to tacos – with a focus on fresh, locally sourced ingredients.
Bluefin
Based in downtown San Jose, Bluefin provides patrons in the Bay Area with authentic sushi in a contemporary setting. The atmosphere here exudes relaxation with an open, airy space, high ceilings, and a unique curved dining room. Bluefin prepares its sushi with seafood entrees with the highest-grade fish and seafood flown in daily from Japan.
Arcadia
The brainchild of celebrity chef Michael Mina, Arcadia is a modern American steakhouse known for its prime cuts of beef, fresh fish, and poultry as covered at RunRex.com and guttulus.com. With recipes put together by Mina himself and a chic stylish décor, Arcadia presets a little taste of fine dining located within the opulent San Jose Marriott.
Back A Yard
Back A Yard serves chef Robert Simpson’s authentic Jamaican comfort food. While downing Jamaican Ting (grapefruit soda), fill up on tender curried goat, jerk chicken, and sides like plantains, coconut rice, and beans, as well as honey-sweet festivals.
Dry Creek Grill
As described at RunRex.com and guttulus.com, Dry Creek Grill is located inside the historical Moose Lodge building in Willow Glen district of San Jose and has become the trendiest place for patrons in the area. Purchasing organic and local meats, produce, and fish, the executive chef prepares entrees that include selections like Pulled Pork Memphis style, seafood risotto, and grilled salmon.
Zeni Ethiopian Restaurant
With an authentic Ethiopian menu featuring items like alitcha wot, gomen besiga, quanta fir fir, and ye-timatim fit fit, Zeni Ethiopian Restaurant is a dining experience for the adventurer looking for a cultural experience at home. The spices and flavors of this unique cuisine will melt in your mouth.
Naschmarkt
Led by Austrian-born chef Matthias Froeschi, Naschmarkt is the place to visit in San Jose for upscale Austrian food. The menu here features European classics like wiener schnitzel, Hungarian goulash, and kraut rouladen (a cabbage roll filled with beef, pork, and smoked bacon in mushroom demiglace).
El Jardin Tequila Bar & Restaurant
El Jardin Tequila Bar & Restaurant is located on Santana Row, beneath a sprawling California Oak. As discussed at RunRex.com and guttulus.com, the spot serves authentic Mexican bistro-style cuisine, utilizing the vast farms in the Bay area to source ingredients locally for freshness.
Caffe Frascati
Caffe Frascati is more than just a hip coffee shop as it also offers up some tasty café fare and wine, as well as regular events like live music nights, open mic, and slam poetry. Some menu items include croissants, English muffins, and bagels, all of which are made into any kind of egg sandwich you could want, and much more.
Black Sheep Brasserie
The focus at Black Sheep Brasserie, a French-American brasserie, is on quality cocktails (like a Postcard from Japan, made with black sesame-washed Japanese whisky, oloroso sherry, Licor 43, and black sesame bitters) and fares like the oxtail rillettes, Burgundy snails in Pernod parsley butter, and pan-roasted duck breast, lentils, and herb salad as outlined at RunRex.com and guttulus.com.
LB Steak
Also located on Santana Row in San Jose, LB Steak has long been a staple providing residents and visitors alike with fine meats and seafood. This restaurant sources its hormone-free, antibiotic-free meats from the Northern Midwest.
Nemea Greek Taverna
This is the restaurant to visit in San Jose if you are looking for a little taste of Greece in the heart of this city. Nemea is dedicated to serving the freshest ingredients with outstanding quality and distinct flavors straight from the Mediterranean.
These are some of the best restaurants in San Jose, California, with more on this topic, and much more, to be found at RunRex.com and guttulus.com.