SP2 is owned by two serial restaurateurs from SF that are branching out to the South Bay. One of them has even purchased a house in San Jose plans to really be a part of the San Jose community. They are basically taking the best of the SF restaurant scene and bringing it to the heart of Downtown San Jose.
The atmosphere is chic, modern, and unpretentious. There is a massive communal table and mcuh of the furniture was custom-made specifically for the restaurant. Total square-footage is epic, about a third the size of the entire San Pedro Square Market. The indoor portion is 6,000 SQFT while the patio clocks in at 3,500 SQFT (and it partially connects to the Market courtyard).
The bistro-style menu offers 100% organic and locally sourced food. As for the bar, they make everything for the cocktails, including all of the juices and even the bitters. The quality and attention to detail should be up there with Singelbarrel. Based on the Yelp reviews so far, they are killing it across the board with the menu, drinks, and the ambiance.
SP2 is exactly the type of place Downtown needs. It's will help accelerate what is already happening, turning Downtown into a true destination that attracts people from across Silicon Valley, much like what Santana Row has already accomplished. If the standing-room only crowd at the Market this past weekend was any indication, this is likely going to happen by the end of the year.
Also, the owners have already stated that if SP2 is a success, they will open more restaurants in Downtown San Jose. Looking at the response so far, I think this is a very likely scenario.
Source: HMG, SVBJ
Yes, this exactly what downtown needs. And I'm glad they really want to be part of the community to really help downtown shine!
ReplyDeleteThis place is CLASSY.
ReplyDeleteDowntown has been there before: think San Jose Live and Dimension back in 1994/95. Then it lost it. Downtown goes up and down cycle.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately this was several years before I started visiting Downtown regularly so I have no memory of this. If you have any links to photos of what this was like in 1994/95 it would be really neat to see.
DeleteI'm sorry that I never took pictures of the scene back then. No, I don't. It was remarkable! San Jose Live had a basketball court in the cage that anyone can shoot. You could play horse with pros from Golden State Warriors and guys from San Jose State Basketball team. They even had a boxing ring set, too. People would dance on it or even do boxing sparring on the mat. The place even had several restaurants and a comedy club. It took over half of Retail Pavilion upper floor. The Dimension had three level dance floors with three different theme like a country western dance floor in the basement with modern rock/house/techno in the upper floor and top 40's in the street level. Well, you see what happened to it. The gangster crowds started coming after 1997. The place was closed down and now, it's 360 Residences. Now, go back to the late 80's when, for sure, there was no gangster crowd, you had DB Cooper with the office crowds and yuppy crowds and Paradise Beach Club packed with beautiful beach girls from the Westside and Santa Cruz. DB Cooper had a spectacular happy hour brunch buffet with fresh crab legs(this was a lot of great crab seasons during that time), calamari, fried chicken, ribs and a ton of other free food all you can eat. The bartenders were so cool that I rarely paid for drinks. It was on the house and the overabundance of food was free. Don't forget that Oasis was off the hook and even more popular than the one in SF's Soma. The crowds were prettier at this Oasis on First and James. You see, we've been there before. Downtown goes up and down cycle since the 80's. From 1963 to 1986, downtown was a "no man" land with only a few sleazy bars like Studio 49 on Notre Dame and one and only cool place at the Loundry Works in San Pedro Sq.
DeleteWhile I haven't been to SP2 yet, having been to SJLive and Dimensions, I can honestly say the vibe downtown is way different from the early/mid-90's. It's no longer about gangsters and thugs but hipsters and hugs...
ReplyDelete"Hipsters & hugs..." Nice :)
DeleteThe thugs didn't come downtown until the late 90's, and that's why the city wanted San Jose Live shut down. In the early 90's, the place was hopping with the crowds that even more than you see in Los Gatos and Campbell now. It was before those crowds started to bypass downtown and head to LG and Campbell. It was awesome! The same with Dimension. That's when SoFa was in its prime. No gangster there yet at that time!
DeleteSomeone got shot in the SoFA district just a week or two ago, so it's not all hugs quite yet...
DeleteOn the periphery of SoFA in a neighborhood I wouldn't really hang out in. This didn't happen on the main street.
DeleteSouth Second and San Salvador isn't the periphery, dude. Come on. Know your city.
DeleteGet rid of the huge parking lot that stretches from 2nd/San Carlos to 2nd/San Salvador and you wouldn't have a place for fights and "unsavory elements" to congregate on late nights during the weekend.
DeleteAlso, San Salvador (from Market to 10th) needs a complete overhaul (aka gentrification).
You're right, I thought it was on 2nd and Reed for some reason.
DeleteYou're right, I thought it was on 2nd and Reed for some reason.
DeleteOveruse of the word, eatery. It's a restaurant, right? Epic? I've been there twice, because I LIVE downtown. It's very good and I'm glad they are in the neighborhood. But epic, really?
ReplyDelete9,000 SQFT isn't an epic-sized restaurant? Where are you from, Texas? =)
DeleteOne of the coolest club was Club Ecco where San Pedro Sq. Market now stand. They had over 3 dance floors with different music. One room had great trance music. Another one had cool house music, and the third one had disco and top 40/soul. It opened in 1996 was so popular. By 1999, the club had lost its luster and the thug crowds started to pack the place and cause trouble. It was closed by late 1999. You see, the downtown club scene was so hoppi'n during the mid 90's, and there was no thug/ganster crowd yet. There never was a ganster crowd downtown until after 1998 because downtown was so so popular and the thugs from the eastside, east bay and elsewhere took notice and started to flock to downtown. You know what happened after that. They ruined the downtown scene and made it more ghetto like and intimidated the crowds. The cool crowds went to Los Gatos, Campbell and Santana Row. Now, you know that we've been there before. The scene you see taking place could be gone in about 3 or 4 years from now as it wears out it novelty and the thug crowds re enter downtown scene and flexes its muscle, thereby, forcing them back to LG and Santana Row.
ReplyDeleteThe scene wont die out (although some turn over is to be expected) if enough people are living DTSJ, since increased population density leads to more demand for dining, retail, and entertainment. That's why its crucial that a good part of the projects in the current pipeline get built.
DeleteYeah, that's a big variable that is different from the 90's. We'll have at total of 8-10 high-rise condos within 5 years, and residents paying $3-4k/mo for housing are not going to put up with that kind of crowd.
DeleteWhat 8-10 condos by 5 years from now. That could be way too optimistic. We got 4 residential towers done and 5th one underway with Centerra possibly going up as well in the next several weeks. Any more after that is just too rosy for downtown. I would like to see that happen.
Delete6 residential high-rises by 2015 (4 existing towers + One South Market + Centerra)
DeletePlus these which are in various stages of development:
High-rise: 2 North San Pedro Towers (BSB), 2 Rumored KT Properties towers (parking lot next Fallon House), Symphony Development(Santa Clara St.), Park View Towers(Hopefully this happens soon).
Mid-rise: The Pierce (Market/Reed), Symphony Development (6th St.), Donner Lofts (4th/St. John), North San Pedro, Balbach St. Condos, Chandler Apartments (The Alameda, next Whole Foods), Marshall Squares (St. Jame Park area)