Ludwig's--one of my favorite Downtown restaurants--is hosting multiple Oktoberfest celebrations this year. The first couple events are this weekend on September 16th and 17th with an encore next weekend on September 23rd and 24th.
There is food, beer (hopefully in a boot), music, dancing, a best-dressed contest, and a Stein-Holding competition. To get in, you have to purchase a table which allows entry for 6-8 adults. You can buy tickets over here.
Dine Downtown is back with an assortment of specials to encourage people to try out Downtown San Jose's many fine establishments. This time around you have everything from a Cold Brew and Stan's Donut pairing for $5 at Academic Coffee to a $40 prix fixe menu at Petiscos. There are also many new names on the list like Serious Dumplings, Secco, Mama Kin, Desi Express, The FAB, and San Pedro Social.
To see all of the great specials, head over here!
Participating Restaurants:
• Academic Coffee | • Nomikai Social Food + Drinkery |
One of the best opportunities to try out new restaurants at a discount launches today. 27 restaurants will be participating in the latest Dine Downtown event with special three and four course fixed-price menus. This time around instead of a restaurant week, the event will take place over the course of over two weeks.
Several new restaurants such as The Good Spot, Petiscos, Scott's Chowder House, and The Shop are on the list. In fact, the only restauranteurs in San Jose to ever get a Michelin Star have three different eateries on the list: Adega, Pastelaria, and Petiscos. Old favorites like Orchestria Palm Court, Habana Cuba, and Mezcal are on the list too.
To see the full press release and the list of restaurants, just scroll on down.
SSAN JOSE – Dine Downtown San Jose Restaurant “Week” returns for 18 days, starting July 1.
Normally the “week” lasts 10 days, but Dine Downtown was delayed and extended successfully to six weeks last October and November amid the COVID pandemic, so it will be extended again this year to assist with economic recovery after 15 months of tough times.
Twenty-seven downtown eateries have confirmed participation, offering food-and-drink pairings, 3- and 4-course price-fixed menus, or chef specials.
For first-timers as well as veteran downtown diners, the restaurant promotion provides a good way to explore new places and return to old favorites. Several new Dine Downtown restaurants that opened during the pandemic are participating: The Good Spot, Petiscos, Scott’s Chowder House and The Shop by Chef Baca.
The newcomers have waited a long time for their chance to show off their mettle during Dine Downtown. For example, Petiscos, new to the SoFA District, has a three-course menu that includes appetizers from flamed chouriço to asparagus rice; 15 choices for the main course from these categories: shells & claws, tentacles & scales, and feathers & bones; and five choices for “sweet endings.”
On the customer side, every price point can participate. Pastelaria by Adega offers a grilled cheese sandwich, drink and pastry for $10. Grace Deli and café has a breakfast combo of egg, bacon, avocado and hash browns with salsa and fruits, plus bottomless coffee for $11.
The Grill on the Alley decided to mix it up, offering a featured cocktail Рa Ruby Red Lemon Drop Рto go with their three-course meal of appetizer, filet mignon pot pie or Norwegian halibut as entr̩e, plus dessert.
Nomikai social food + drinkery offers chef’s specials and cocktail specials. Choose from mango jalepeno wings, pork belly musubi on the food side or P.O.G Pig or a green tea highball.
71 Saint Peter and Mezcal have participated in all 13 years of Dine Downtown.
All the choices are posted at dinedowntown.com.
“It will be smiles all-around this summer,” said Julie Carlson, SJDA marketing director. “Our chefs, hosts and servers are ready to welcome their customers ready for a beautiful evening out in downtown.”
2021 Dine Downtown
restaurant roster
Another flagship restaurant is opening in SoFA across from Petiscos, the SoFA Market, and Haberdasher. The Good Spot is a modern gastro-lounge featuring a variety of tasty small plates and craft cocktails.
I had a chance to preview it during their soft opening, and was really impressed with the quality of their food across the board. I tried the deviled eggs with crispy brussels sprouts, adobo wing lollipops, long life garlic noodles, sweet potato fries with spicy banana ketchup, and an avocado tostada with fried cheese. I'd recommend all of them, seriously. What was most surprising was how inexpensive the food was compared to similar quality restaurants in the Bay Area. I can't wait to go back and try more of the menu.
The team behinds the new restaurant comes from a solid pedigree. Good Spot owner, Thoi Trinh, was an executive at Chris Yeo Group which launched Sino, Straits, and Roots & Rye at Santana Row. Chef Timothy Luym worked at Poleng Lounge, SF Chickenbox, and Brew Coop.
While the interior is quite spacious (and open at 50% capacity), there is also a large outdoor patio in front of the restaurant right on First Street. I really hope they keep the outdoor space post-COVID as it really changes the dynamic of the street. Apparently there is also a 2nd floor that they could open in the future.
The grand opening featuring an assortment of VIPs is tomorrow, May 1st at 1pm. The ribbon-cutting will be followed by a Vietnamese lion dance at 2pm, then cocktail hour at 3pm, and finally dinner specials and a late night happy hour. The full press release is below and you can learn more over here.
SAN JOSE -- Owner Thoi Trinh and managing partners Sammy Sok and Ivy Li of Good Spot, 386 S. First St., promise good food, good drinks and good company at their new SoFA establishment, opening Saturday, May 1 at 1 p.m. in downtown’s SoFA District.
The gastro-lounge offers a unique small-plate menu and large selection of curated wines, beers, spirits and handcrafted and batched cocktails. Cocktails include Dirty Old Man (rendition of a Japanese-style Old Fashion); Hangtime Cooler (refreshing, crisp, perfect for summertime); and Costa Rican Canopy (your sensual jungle experience).
Food-wise, popular favorites will include Adobo Wing Lollipops, Long Life Garlic Noodles and Chimichurri Hanger Steak.
Good Spot owner Thoi Trinh worked his way up from entry level to senior executive level for local and global hospitality brands. Most recently, he was Corporate Director for Chris Yeo Group, a pioneering Asian Fusion restaurant company, with endearing concepts such as Sino, Straits and Roots & Rye.
Chef Timothy Luym, recognized as a San Francisco Chronicle Rising Star chef, made his name at pioneering Asian street food restaurant Poleng Lounge and more recently led culinary operations for SF Chickenbox and Brew Coop.
At Good Spot, the owners focus on the customer experience:
The set-up is divided into sections the owners describe as “a fine-casual dining section, a set of communal tables ready for an impromptu business meeting, a highly Instagrammable corner reminiscent of a busy sidewalk café, and a lounge where big-city feels will sneak up on you when you least expect it.”
Their story on goodspotsj.com continues: “Good Spot imagines a community junction where locals and visitors can gather in the neighborhood’s living room; a place where differences stay at the door, strong bonds become stronger, and new memories flourish.”
The owners intentionally created the Good Spot with an “ambition to both honor and respond to the unique character of the place that birthed it. That is downtown’s South First Area -- or SoFA District -- a place with a history of glitz and entertainment that fell on hard times in the 1970s and ’80s and now the arts and cultural hub of Silicon Valley’s downtown.
Their On the SoFA outdoor lounge is open on weekends for now with an all-day happy hour.
Follow Good Spot on Instagram and Facebook @goodspotsj. Phone (408) 816-8841.
Good Spot’s Grand Opening ribbon-cutting event will be held at 1pm Saturday. San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, Councilman Raul Peralez, San Jose Downtown Association Executive Director Scott Knies will make brief remarks, followed by a traditional Vietnamese Dragon Dance.
This week we officially went from a Covid tier status of purple to red, which means indoor dining is open for business again! Hopefully restaurants will never close like this again (everyone please get your vaccine as soon as you can). As a reminder the scale goes from purple, to red, to orange, and finally to yellow which has the fewest restrictions.
Restaurants will be able to open their indoor dining rooms again effective immediately. However, they will be limited to 25% of their maximum capacity or 100 guests, whichever number is lower.
What else can we look forward to in the red tier? Movie theaters can reopen at 25% as can museums, zoos, and aquariums. Stores can now operate at 50% capacity. Even indoor gyms can finally reopen, albeit at a meager 10% capacity.
California is also planning to ease the requirements to get into less restrictive tiers when we hit two different milestone. The first is when we distribute 2 million vaccines in the most disadvantaged zip codes, and then when we hit 4 million vaccines in those same areas.
The stats have been looking very promising in the Bay Area--let's hope this nightmare ends soon and the post-covid era will be another Roarin' 20s.
