[friday-follies] Some past venues

Mon Sep 27 22:03:11 PDT 2010

Partly to prime the pump, so there'll be something in the archive,
and also to remind about past suggestions:

DISHDASH
--------

DishDash, Middle-Eastern cuisine
190 S. Murphy St.
Sunnyvale, Ca 94086.
(408) 774-1889
1 block s. of Sunnyvale CalTrain

http://www.menuism.com/restaurants/dishdash-sunnyvale-46113

Dishdash is a Mediterranean and Middle Eastern restaurant where most
Menuism users came for fun with friends, paid between $10 and $25, and
tipped between 15% to 18%.

People describe this restaurant as Mediterranean, Middle Eastern,
Crowded, Dish Dash, Beriyani, and Sunnyvale.

CASA LUPE
---------
Casa Lupe:  
185 Main Street 
Los Altos

There is also Casa Lupe location #2, at 671 S. Bernardo Ave. @ El Camino
Real (in the strip mall with the Safeway market on the south
side of El Camino), Sunnyvale.

Good, fresh Mexican food.

OAXACAN KITCHEN
---------------

The Oaxacan Kitchen,
"Autentica Comida Mexicana"
2323 Birch St. @ California St.
Palo Alto
650-321-8003
Hours: Tu-Fr 11:30am to 2pm,
       Tu-Sa 5 to 9pm
http://theoaxacankitchen.com/
Major credit cards.
Medium noise level.
Wine, beer.
Average dinner price, under $20.
Reservations accepted.

http://www.metroactive.com/metro/09.17.08/dining-0838.html

Unfortunately, not great for large groups.

HABANA CUBA
-----------
Habana Cuba Restaurant
238 Race Street @ W. San Carlos / Park Ave.
San Jose
408-998-CUBA
http://www.998cuba.com/
(Location is eight blocks towards downtown San Jose along San Carlos
Street, starting from the Savitzky residence.   A parking lot, plus
lotsa street parking.)

Full dinners run $15-30.  Open for dinner Fridays to 10pm.  Heated
outdoor patio:  Parties of seven or more generally are seated outside.
VISA/MC/AmEx/Diners/Discover.  Informal; friendly staff.

Reviews:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/habana-cuba-san-jose
http://siliconvalley.citysearch.com/profile/1115690/san_jose_ca/habana_cuba.html
http://events.mercurynews.com/san-jose-ca/venues/show/14648-habana-cuba
http://www.zvents.com/san-jose-ca/venues/show/14648-habana-cuba
http://www.boorah.com/restaurants/CA/san-jose/habana-cuba/9D1B40B734.html

Location is eight blocks towards downtown San Jose along San Carlos
Street, starting from the Savitzky residence.   A parking lot, plus             
lotsa street parking.

TAMARINE RESTAURANT
-------------------
Tamarine Restaurant
546 University Avenue @ Webster / Cowper
Palo Alto
http://www.tamarinerestaurant.com/
Tel. 650-325-8500

It's a nouveau Vietnamese restaurant, part of a group that includes the
Vung Tau Restaurant chain (San Jose, Milpitas, Newark) and Tam's
Restaurant in Milpitas.  Decor is stylish and understated (with a
changing display of contemporary Vietnamese art), service is excellent,
and the cooking is light and imaginative.  House specialty dishes: Red
Lantern Duck:  duck breast with Five Spice, seared and served with
edamame and spinach with a pomegranate glaze.  Saigon cinnamon shrimp
with tamarind sauce.  Shaking beef: cubed filet mignon seared with
garlic and onions, served with watercress salad.  Warm chocolate ganache
wontons.  Lemongrass bass.

Winner of The Wave magazine's 2004 Readers' Choice Award for best
Vietnamese restaurant.  Winner of the Palo Alto Weekly's "best of 2003"
award.  One of many reviews:
http://www.tamarinerestaurant.com/review121302PaloAltoWeekly.html

Small-plate entrees are said to run around $15-22.  Starters such as
summer rolls and shrimp cupcakes start at $6.  Aromatic rice with herbs
(several types) is $2/serving.  It seems like East Asian tapas.

VASO ASSURA
-----------
Vaso Assura -- Italian
108 Castro St nr. W. Evelyn St., 1 block from Mountain View Transit Centre
Mountain View
(650) 940-1717

A long-time favourite of our crowd.

CASCAL
-----
Cascal -- Spanish Tapas
(popular and probably hard to get into on Friday night.)
("spirited pan-Latin cuisine")
400 Castro Street nr. California Street
Mountain View
650-940-9500
Visa/MC/AmEx/Diner's

ATHENA GRILL
------------
Athena Grill
1505 Space Park Drive @ Kenneth Street                                          
Santa Clara
http://www.athenagrill.com/
408-567-9144

VISA/MC accepted                                                                
Wine & beer served.
Menu:  http://www.athenagrill.com/Menu.asp (but be smart and have the
daily special)
A full meal is probably around $12-15.

Map:  http://www.athenagrill.com/Contact-Us.asp
Hours:  Monday through Friday 10:30 AM - 9:00 PM
        Closed Saturdays, Sundays, and Holidays

By car:

US-101 to Montague Expressway / San Tomas Expressway exit, southbound on 
San Tomas Expressway, immediately getting in the left lane to turn left
(east) at the first light onto Scott Blvd.  Go two blocks until just
after Scott curves to the right, and turn left (east) at the light onto
Space Park Drive.  Go two short blocks to Kenneth St.:  Athena Grill is
on the far left corner.  Plentiful adjacent parking.

By CalTrain:  Exit at Lawrence station.  You are 2.5 miles west of the
restaurant.  Call my cellular for pickup (650-283-7902) or switch to
VTA, or have a very long walk down Kifer to Central Expressway to Scott
Blvd. to the restaurant.

By VTA bus:  Routes 58 West Valley College - Alviso, 60 Winchester LRT -
Great America, 122 South San Jose - Lockheed Martin, 304 San Jose -
Mountain View, and 330 Almaden & Camden - North San Jose all stop
nearby.

Food is fresh, hearty, and genuinely Greek.  The place seats 80, plus
the outdoor patio.  Decor is pleasant, airy, and authentic, even though
it's a tilt-up in a light-industrial area.

Review:
http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/03.01.06/dining-0609.html

Extras:  Owner Vasiliki "Vaso" Kidder presses Kalamata olives at
her family property in the southwest Peloppenese.  You can buy her
house-brand olive oil in 375 ml jars at the counter, if you wish ($9).

SULTANA
-------
Sultana Restaurant                                                              
Fine Turkish and Mediterranean Cuisine                                          
1149 El Camino Real near corner of Santa Cruz Avenue                            
Menlo Park
650-322-4343

Fridays, 11am-10pm

VISA, MC, maybe AmEx accepted.  Open for lunch and dinner.  They have a
good selection of wines and beers.  Restaurant is run by a local Turkish
family.                                                      

Dinner tends to run about $15-20, and that's with _huge_ portions.
The one time we were there (for dinner), it was lively but not at all
crowded, and they do have a number of tables large enough for groups
such as ours.

Review here:                                                                    
http://www.almanacnews.com/story_print.php?story_id=1638

If you know how to get to Kepler's bookstore, you can get to Sultana,
kittycorner.  Kepler's (1010 El Camino Real) adjoins the southeast
corner of El Camino Real and Santa Cruz Avenue; Sultana is just a few
storefronts further along El Camino Real from the opposite (northwest)
corner.

This the map at http://www.keplers.com/?sec=maps-and-directions is
equally useful for Sultana.

COLONEL LEE'S
-------------
Colonel Lee's Mongolian Barbecue
304 Castro St. @ Dana St. (2 blocks from CalTrain)
Mountain View
650-968-0381
Lunch 11am-2pm daily (except Thu), dinner 5-9.30pm daily
Beer/wine
VISA/MC

http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/06.20.02/cheapeats-0225.html

Cheap Eats
By Jeff Kearns

Tucked in -- almost hidden -- among all the Asian restaurants on
Mountain View's Castro Street is one that's a perfect place to grab a
quick, healthy lunch for cheap: Colonel Lee's Mongolian Barbecue. For
the uninitiated, Mongolian barbecue works like this: fill your bowl with
cold meat and vegetables, then give it to the guy at the big round
grill. Less than a minute later, you're holding a steaming bowl of
lunch.[...]

MIMI'S CAFE
-----------
Mimi's Cafe 28 San Jose
1200 El Paseo de Saratoga
San Jose
(408) 378-0778
7am - 11pm

Mimi's Cafes generically are said to take sundry credit cards, and have
beer/wine licences.  The San Jose location is at a shopping mall near
the border with Saratoga and Campbell -- at the intersection of Saratoga
Ave., Prospect Road, Hamilton Ave., and W. Campbell Ave.  Closest
freeway exit is the Saratoga Ave. exit from CA-85 in Saratoga.  Upon
exiting, head _away_ from Saratoga, and go about 1 mile to the second
major intersection (Lawrence Expressway/Quito Road), and turn right onto
Campbell Ave.  The vicinity will be immediately on your right,   (El
Paseo de Saratoga is a tiny passageway between Campbell Ave. and the
Quito Road / Saratoga Avenue intersection, and is only about 1-2 blocks
long.)

KOREAN BBQ RESTAURANT
---------------------
Korean BBQ Restaurant
3258 El Camino Real @ Pomeroy Ave.
Santa Clara
Tel.:  408-244-8531
Hours:  11am - 11pm (every day)
Visa/MC

Building is single story, says "Korean BBQ" on it; other half of
building is Tong Soon Garden Restaurant (Mandarin-Szechwan).

Dinner dishes run around $8 to $12, generally.  (I have a takeout menu
with me.)  Portions are huge.

The #22 Eastridge VTA bus stops right in front.  Ample parking both
onstreet and in adjoining lots.

TI COUZ CREPERIE
----------------
3108 16th St. (at Valencia)
415-251-7373
Dinner to 10pm; 11pm Saturdays
VISA/MC
no reservations -- there's a sign-up board inside
Parking?  It's the Mission District.  Good luck.
Beer, wine, and wonderful cider.

Ti Couz ("old house" in Breton) serves Brittany-style crepes, both
dinner crepes and dessert.  Noisy, often long waits (very popular),
small tables, crowded, very reasonable prices, absolutely superb food.
Probably a poor choice for medium/large parties.

http://www.inetours.com/Pages/Dining_Archive/Ti-Couz.html
http://www.sallys-place.com/food/dining_directory/north_america/sf/sf57.htm

TODAI RESTAURANT
----------------
Todai Restaurant
All-You-Can-Eat Japanese Sushi and Seafood Buffet
"The Mother of All Seafood Buffets"

http://www.todai.com/
10123 North Wolfe Rd., #2001
(Valco Fashion Park, next to Sears, at N. Wolfe Road exit, I-280)
Cupertino
408-996-3444
Reservations accepted.

Friday dinner:   5:30pm - 9:30pm
It's pretty inexpensive (dinner $21.95).  Quality's good, though
obviously mass-produced rather than gourmet.  Visa, Amex, MC accepted.

Quoting an online profile:  "The first Todai Restaurant debuted in 1985
in Santa Monica, Calif., and has since opened in locations across the
U.S. and in Hong Kong. The restaurant, with seating for up to 500
people, features a 160-foot seafood buffet offering more than 40 kinds
of sushi, all made fresh. The salad selection ranges from Caesar to
seaweed to red potato salad. Hot entrees include sukiyaki, teriyaki
chicken, sweet-and-sour pork and udon noodles."

Alcohol:  Todai serves domestic and Japanese beer as well as a selection
of red, white and plum wines.

Review:
http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/02.21.02/dining-0208.html

UNCLE FRANK'S BBQ
-----------------
Uncle Frank's BBQ Restaurant
2135 Old Middlefield Way, at N. Rengstorff Ave.
Mountain View
650-964-4476
Cash-only.
No reservations.

Dinner hours:  5-9 p.m. on weekdays
Price range for a full dinner:  $8-20.
Kitchen service is often slow.
Not very public-transit friendly (1.2 miles from CalTrain).
Look for "Francesca's" (a bar).  Walk through it to reach Uncle Frank's BBQ.
Until the patio opens, age 21 and up only.

Review:
http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/09.28.05/uncle-0539.html

It's a carnivore's delight -- Frank Bell's traditional Southern food.
The beef brisket is unmatched.  Deirdre had sausages, which were good.
Big portions.

Service was slow and a little cranky.  The decor is straight out of
someone's downstairs den, circa 1972.  Some of the booths + a table will
each hold maybe eight to ten people.

It ain't health food, and it's not convenient to public transit (being
close to US-101).

SPICE ISLANDS CAFE
------------------
210 Hope Street 
Mountain View
650-961-0628

1 block from the CalTrain / VTA / Castro Ave. nexus in Mountain View.  For
those not familiar with the place, it's Singapore aka southern Asian
fusion cuisine.  Good food, maybe $15 per dinner, very nice decor,
excellent service.

Review:  http://www.jatbar.com/detail.asp?num=171         

(But a table attacked Michael there.)

ARMADILLO WILLY'S
-----------------
http://www.armadillowillys.com/locations/) shows this
location as "Armadillo Willy's Ranch Grill":

1031 N. San Antonio Rd.
Los Altos

That's just across El Camino Real from San Antonio Shopping Center, and
this practically across San Antonio Road from Chef Chu's.  But service 
really sucks.

FIESTA DEL MAR & FIESTA DEL MAR TOO
--------------   ------------------
Feista Del Mar, 1005 N. Shoreline Blvd. s. of US-101, 650-965-9354
Feista Del Mar Too, 735 Villa St. near Castro, 650-967-3525
both in Mountain View

Takes cash, VISA, MC.  The restaurant's own pages
are here:  http://fiestadelmar.com/  Food specialty is camarones
(shrimp) and other Mexican-style seafood.

Friday dinner hours:  5pm - 10pm

Note for the alcoholically inclined:  "Both locations carry 200 tequilas
and are known for their unsurpassed margaritas."  They suggest you
inquire about their "tequila pairing dinners".

CHEF CHU'S
----------
Chef Chu's
1067 N San Antonio Road near El Camino Real
Los Altos.  
It has the virtue of serving pretty good, mostly northern style Chinese
food, being comfortable and pleasant, being quiet enough to hold
conversations, being open to 10pm on Fridays, and being a place most of
us could get to in our sleep.

They accept reservations (and VISA/MC).  There's more than enough
parking.  (Hey, this is the South Bay, right?)  Decent service, menu is
not at all imaginative but has all the reliable classics, decor leans
towards the 1970s stereotypical.

FRANKIE, JOHNNIE, & LUIGI TOO
-----------------------------
Frankie, Johnnie & Luigi Too -- Italian & Pizza
939 W. El Camino Real between Shoreline and Casto
Mountain View

Fri: 11:00am - 1:00 am
Accepts AmEx, Discover, MasterCard, Visa