About San Jose's Santana Row

Discovering new places by following one’s stomach --- Santana Row in San Jose

My dad always told me, “The problem with you is that you live to eat, whereas we eat to live.”

Well, Dad, how is that a problem? Gary and I have moved so often that one of our favorite things to do to discover every new city is to follow our stomach.

At first we did it by buying the Entertainment Book specific to the city/area, and looking for the best possible deals. We thoroughly enjoyed dining our way in and around Orlando, Dallas, San Francisco, Oakland, Walnut Creek, etc

Now, we are guided by other means such as Zagat, Yelp, Open Table, etc. We are fortunate there are so many places to see, so many things to do in the Bay Area. Definitely some of the best reasons why it's a wonderful life in the Bay area of California.

Yesterday, I took Gary to Santana Row in San Jose. It’s a mixed-use place --- a mostly upscale shopping center where instead of walking into huge mall, one walks the promenade and go in and out of stores, and where there are residences above the stores.

There are all kinds of outdoor entertainment, outdoor seating for coffee shops and wine bars. So European!

While shopping there would create a huge hole in my pocket, our plan was simply to walk around and then dine at Maggiano’s --- one of our favorite restaurants in Dallas is now in the Bay area, specifically, in Santana Row in San Jose.

We loved that their special of the week is a dinner for two with our choices of two of their classic pasta dinners, AND bring home two more pasta dinners compliments of the chef.

Let’s put it this way: our stomachs (and our pocket books) were very happy.

We all know that Santana Row is one of the best destinations for fun, food, clothes, and nightlife in the Bay Area, especially the South Bay. So, when things change there it's usually (and hopefully) something really good. Well, one of the newest additions is a restaurant called The Yard House. It's lively, fun, and a beer drinkers paradise. What really tips the scale is the food. It's not only good, it's got a good shot and getting Michelin recognition - in my opinion.

First, let's start with the beer. There is a huge variety and they do change what they offer. The old classics are on there (Guiness, Newcastle, etc) but they've also got variations of each classic beer - usually a small, craft beer or premium quality beer all served from the tap. To decide what you want, they've organized each beer by style with descriptions of the general taste of each style. For me, that's a huge help so I can figure out what I want with whatever I'm going to eat. If I want a sweet beer, I can find it easily. If I want something tangy, no problem.

The service was impeccable when I visited. The waiter was nice, knowledgable and took our order quickly. When we ordered our beer we also ordered a spicy tuna roll appetizer. Here's where things go "gastro-pub" in a hurry. When the spicy tuna roll arrived it wasn't the usual presentation you see everywhere else. It was a giant spicy tuna roll with a bottom layer of edamame (in place of the usual rice), then spicy tuna, avacado, and shaved seaweed on top presented on a big white plate. Truly gourmet food served in...a pub.

The rest of the meal was ordered off the Happy Hour menu; a pizza, beef sliders, and a salad. The pizza was a BBQ chicken that just blows you away with flavor. The slides reminded me of White Castle, but only by looks. The taste reminded me of a filet mignon burger I had at "The Ivy" in Los Angeles years ago. When it came down the the salad (their house salad) it also went above and beyond with flavor. It had the perfect combination of lettuce, tomato, and dressing. There was a nice shaved corn topping that added some panache.

The prices are reasonable, especially considering the quality, but it's definitely not in the "everyday dining" category. As a hang-out spot, I'd put it at the top of my list and anyone wanting a newer, fresh experience in Santana Row should be going here. Give me a call and I'll go into more detail. Suffice it to say, I'll be going back many more times.

There is a FREE Nia Class on Friday in San Jose.

Friday, December 3, 2010!

Lucy's in Santana Row has invited me to do a FREE Nia class. It is at 12:30 pm! Come join the fun. Move through your lunch hour, take a break from shopping, get your groove on---all for FREE.

Come check it out!

http://www.helpyouwell.com/niaevents.html

I enjoyed reading Tom Bashe with SCA Real Estate's FEATURED blog post when he posed the question of whether RainCamp was worth it or now. Now mind you, we already had planned on going regardless of what the feedback was, but it was a great feeling to see the overwhelming positive response!

Now I pose the next question, who actually is going? I would love to network with everyone going, perhaps even enjoy going out to dinner with a small group in Santana Row, the hip spot in San Jose. I will be with Tom almost the entire time, as he lists our projects, and we work hand in hand, but I would love to speak with agents and brokers both from our area and outside of our area, to share stories, talk about market trends, and just network

I am what you would consider an ActiveRain newbie. Yes, I have been a member for years, but I really didn't get a passion for the Activerain community and for blogging this past month, when I teamed up with Tom with the notion that we were going to leapfrog to the top 5 in our area within 1 year, and the top 1 & 2 within 2-3 years. I see Tom already has 24 blog posts this month, and I am not too far behind, although I have stuck to reblogging more than I have written original blogs, as I have seen so many great topics that I can relate to!

So let me know if you will be attending RainCamp San Jose on September 27th, and if you are like me, you will get in Sunday, and have a night out on the town Sunday night, so I propose a meeting of the minds, if you want to join us in Santana Row Sunday night let us know, and overall, please just let me know that you are attending!

So I make a toast.

Here's to Raincamp being THE BEST EXPERIENCE of my young Blogging Career! Here's to meeting new people. Here's to learning new things! Hope to see you there!

San Jose ~ Paws in the Park

San Jose Dog Lovers - learn about fun activities you can do with your dog. The Humane Society of Silicon Valley is the host of Paws in the Park. This is a free series of San Jose events for pets and pet lovers. You will see inspiring demonstrations and learn about agility, obedience and even dog dancing! You can ask a trainer and dog behaviorist questions and get great pet information.

Molly is the newest adopted member of our family. Molly was abused and abandoned by her former owners.

• Paws in the Park takes place at Santana Row ~ Winchester and Stevens Creek on Saturday ~ October 4, 2008 from 12pm to 4pm at Park Valencia by Maggiano's.
• For more info contact the Santana Row Concierges at 408.551.4611

Kathleen Daniels is a proud supporter of the Humane Society of Silicon Valley and is a volunteer Dog Socializer.

Kathleen Daniels is a San Jose Real Estate Broker Realtor® serving the needs of home buyers and home sellers in San Jose California ~ Silicon Valley California.

Copyright © 2008, All Rights Reserved by Kathleen Daniels *San Jose ~ Paws in the Park*