Merc Article on the State of Downtown Dining

There was a great article in the Merc last week about how dining in Downtown San Jose is moving away from traditional restaurants and moving towards casual, inexpensive, and trendy eateries. The map below showcases some promising signs. While 4 places have shuttered their doors, 13 are replacing them. For the full article, just head over here!

RAGING WATERS CONTEST WINNERS!!!

Thank you to everyone that participated in today's contest!  Our winners are Melanie Cregger and Joie Pascual, both of which live in San Jose and will each receive a pair of day passes for Raging Waters!! A huge thanks to Raging Waters for sponsoring the prize for this contest. If you're curious about the answers, here they are:

Posting Time Hints (Posting time was 3:22pm)

HINT #1: San Jose is divided into 10 districts, which one is Downtown San Jose in? 3

HINT #2: The year that San Jose became the State Capital. 1849 >> 1+8+4+9 = 22

Questions:
1.) What was San Jose's original name? El Pueble de San Jose de Guadalupe
2.) Which 2 colors are used in San Jose's flag? Gold and Blue (also SJSU colors btw)
3.) What is the tallest building in San Jose today? The 88
4.) Who was San Jose's first official major after becoming an incorporated city? Josiah Belden
5.) What is the oldest building in San Jose? The Peralta Adobe
6.) What is the name of the lake next to Raging Waters? Lake Cunningham
7.) How many water slide attractions are there in Raging Waters? Would have accepted either 6 or 7 (two of them are usually grouped as one).

THE CONTEST FOR RAGING WATERS TICKETS IS LIVE!!!

Alright folks, here's the drill. The first TWO (2) individuals to answer the following trivia questions correctly will each win a pair of Raging Waters tickets (winners must not be related to each other or to writers for The San Jose Blog). ANSWERS MUST BE EMAILED TO: josh@thesanjoseblog.com

Here are your Questions:
1.) What was San Jose's original name?
2.) Which 2 colors are used in San Jose's flag?
3.) What is the tallest building in San Jose today?
4.) Who was San Jose's first official major after becoming an incorporated city?
5.) What is the oldest building in San Jose?
6.) What is the name of the lake next to Raging Waters?
7.) How many water slide attractions are there in Raging Waters?

Now for a twist. There is a bonus 8th questions that will give you a 5 minute advantage if you are able to guess a correct answer (5 minutes will be subtracted from the time I receive your email with answers to the questions above). The question is: name a single restaurant in Downtown San Jose that Josh Santos has NOT been to. Here is a list of restaurants to help you out. I have to warn you that there are less than a dozen restaurants on that list that will qualify you for the bonus.

Good luck everyone!

 
 

Hints for the Raging Waters Contest!!!

As announced last week, The San Jose Blog is giving away 2 pairs of tickets to Raging Waters! On Wednesday, July 14th at an undisclosed time, we're posting a series of San Jose-centric trivia questions. The first TWO individuals to answer all of the questions correctly win a pair of tickets! 

Today, I'm going to give readers some help with 2 hints that will narrow down the potential posting times. The first hint will give away the hour during which we will be posting the contest questions and the second hint will give away the minutes. I imagine the first one will be fairly easy to crack, but the second hint is far from straightforward and I'll tell you right now the answer is not the most obvious one... Good Luck =)

HINT #1: San Jose is divided into 10 districts, which one is Downtown San Jose in?

HINT #2: The year that San Jose became the State Capital.

World Cup Finale in Downtown San Jose

Matt Bruensteiner from San Jose Metblogs has some great photos of the World Cup Championship Match in SoFA! I wish I could have made it, looks like a great event... I'll mark my calendar for 2014.

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From the better late than never file, here’s a few photos from the World Cup championship game showing downtown on Sunday. A pretty impressive crowd filled South First Street, just south of San Carlos, where the Jumbotron was set up:

The Dutch fans were the champions, at least in the Funny Hats competition:

 

But it was Spain’s fans who got to cheer in the 116th minute:

Final score, Netherlands 0, Spain 1, and Spain will be world champions for the next four years.

Click here for the original post!

July 2010 Downtown Dimension Highlights

Here are my notes from the latest edition of Downtown Dimension:

• High Speed Rail officials have decided that an aerial structure should be used to bring HSR into downtown San Jose (as opposed to an underground option).
• The City Council approved a 4 story parking facility near the HP Pavilion if a Downtown San Jose A's Stadium is approved.
• The State is planning to build a 20-courtroom, 234,000sqft facility across from St. James Park.
• The second Dine Downtown week resulted in at least 4,500 three+ course dinners sold!
• 12 new pieces of art have been installed on utility doors throughout Downtown.  This brings the total to 37 pieces of art from 15 participating high schools.
• Ruffled Feathers Eatery is now open!  They are in the same spot as the former Asqew Grill, right next to Camera 12.
• The Agenda Restaurant is now Bayonne and their basement is a speakeasy-style lounge called Single Barrel.
• A sports bar called Savu is replacing Hawg's Seafood next to The Rep. They signed a 10 year least with 2 additional 5 year options, and are paying market rent.
• San Jose is getting 2 major sporting events in 2012, th US Figure Skating Championships and the US Olympic trials for men's and women's gymnastics.
• Groundwerx is about to initiate their next beautification project at on San Carlos St. between 2nd and 4th St. 

To read the full newsletter, click here!

We're Giving Away 4 Raging Waters Tickets!!!

The San Jose Blog is happy to announce that we're going to have a little contest to cool you off this summer! We're giving away 2 pairs of tickets to Raging Waters exactly one week from today, Wed, Jun 14th!!

This contest will be part skill and part luck.  The skill component will test your knowledge of San Jose with a series of trivia questions. The first 2 people to answer all of the trivia questions correctly win (the winners can't be related to each other or to any of the posters on The San Jose Blog). Sounds simple right? Of course, there's a catch. I won't be giving out the exact time when the trivia questions will be posted on Wednesday, but you'll get a hint or two. AND... there's a second catch, which is a side-contest that may give you an advantage in winning the tickets (the specifics of the side contest will not be revealed until the 14th).

Stay tuned for additional details!

Santana Row Punches Recession in the Face, Adds 3 New Stores

Earlier today, Santana Row announced a handful of new merchants. First off, we have the first Yard House in Northern California, which will occupy the entire retail space in the 300 block of the Row (at the entrance, adjacent to Crate & Barrel). This will be a flagship 10,000sqft restaurant with 130 beers on tap and a scheduled February 2011 opening.

Joining the Yard House we have the first South Bay locations of 100% Pure Cosmetics (Oakland-based) and Jest Jewels (SF-based).  We can also round out the news with a 1,000sqft bar and lounge expansion at Straits, which should be open for business very soon.