Amir Mediterranean Restaurant

Had to share the Yelp review below I just completed. Really, this has to be the best year ever for Downtown San Jose restaurants. Amir has a well deserved 4.5 star rating on Yelp right now. A worthy successor to Morocco's, highly recommended!

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Downtown San Jose's lucky streak of GREAT new restaurants continues. This one is really a gem and easily one of the best values for Mediterranean in San Jose. The owner is Greek and grew up in Egypt, and the menu reflects a nice variety of foods from all over the Mediterranean countries.

We had the hummus, tzatziki, and baba ghanoush for appetizers. All were good but the baba ghanoush was among the best I have ever had. Nicely pureed with a rich smokey flavor.

For the main course we tried falafels (outstanding), chicken kababs, and geef shawarma... for the price you're going to have a really hard time finding quality and authenticity than this.

For dessert we got almost all of the options available. The kunafa was the best I've tried so far. There was also an Egyptian dish topped with sweetened milk that was super unique and tasty. I can't remember the names of the other desserts we had but there wasn't a single bad or mediocre item among them, I would order all of them again.

Oh, almost forgot. They have a freshly squeezed mint lemonade that will blow you away if you are a lemonade fan. On a hot summer day I think I would be willing to make the trek just for that.

The customer service also rocked. I was very sad to see Morocco's go (moved to Mountain View), but am glad they were replaced with a worthy successor.

Two New Cinderella Shows

Playful People Productions is showing two different versions of Cinderella at the Historic Hoover Theater across the street from the Egyptian Museum. For more information, just keep reading or check out their website over here.



Playful People Productions Presents:
Rogers and Hammerstein's Cinderella

In the classic story of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, she is the strong heroine of a tale of true love with a twist! The Prince does not like being a Prince, and Cinderella is not sure she wants to go to a stuffy old ball, but wants to show her mean and cruel stepmother and stepsisters that she deserves to go.With the help of an unusual Godmother who happens to be a Faerie, she manages to go to the palace and see a familiar face. There is still a glass slipper and a pumpkin or two, and true love does conquer all!

All Shows at the Historic Hoover Theater, 1635 Park Ave  San Jose, CA 95126

Teen Cast Show times:
Friday, April 12th  7:00pm
Saturday, April 13th 2:00pm
Sunday, April 14th 1:00pm

Adult Cast Show Times
Saturday, April 13th 7:00pm

Tickets available at www.playfulpeople.net
$10 adults, $6 children 16 and under


Disney's Cinderella Kids

The timeless fairy tale of Cinderella meets the magic of Disney in this adaptation of the treasured animated film.  Poor Cinderella is endlessly mistreated by her wicked Stepmother and Stepsisters, and denied the chance to go to the Royal Ball.  With a little help from her mice friends, and a lot of help from her Fairy Godmother, Cinderella goes to the ball, and discovers that dreams really can come true!

All Shows at the Historic Hoover Theater, 1635 Park Ave  San Jose, CA 95126

Show Times:
Friday, April 19th  7:00pm
Saturday, April 20th 10:00am,  2:00pm and 6:00pm
Sunday, April 21st 10:00am and 2:00pm

Tickets available at www.playfulpeople.net
$10 adults, $6 children 16 and under

For questions: (408) 497-9983


Playful People Productions provides a quality, caring environment in which children, youth & their families have positive theatre experiences, while being involved in many aspects of on-stage/ back-stage theatre. Our company fills a need of providing beginning through advanced theatre for the whole family to the community. The founders have expanded the program to include classes & summer camps

Playful People Productions is run by mother-daughter team, Barbara Galiotto & Katie D' Arcey, who between them have approx 50 years experience in the musical theatre world. Both are Positive Discipline trained & worked as early Childhood Educators as well as in theatre. Both have worked as professional directors with children's theatre for many years.

For each production we employ professional designers, artists, choreographers and directors to guide our students. We also hire experienced college & high school students to do jobs in the production such as directors, stage managers, lighting, make-up, & set designers, choreographers and assistants. This allows students to gain work experiences in all aspects of theatre. The goals of Playful People Productions are to provide the community with a variety of performing opportunities for children, youth & families to experience. Playful People Productions will challenge young people in the community, provide a safe, caring environment, & involve parents in a wholesome, well-rounded activity. We believe that a good theatre experience will greatly improve the lives of the children, youth and families in our community.

Cancer Starts With C

Leticia Croft-Holguin has lived in San Jose nearly her whole life, and has decided to publish a book that addresses an incredibly challenging topic for parents. It is a children's book designed to help parents discuss cancer with their kids. The book was written when Leticia was undergoing cancer diagnosis in 2012 and has just been released a few weeks ago. It introduces cancer to kids in a way that is palatable and accessible, so they can grasp the concepts and prepare for changes that will happen as their parents undergo treatment. I can relate to some degree since both of my parents had cancer when I was growing up; albeit when I was older than the target audience for this book.

To learn more about Leticia's story, you can check out her blog over here. You can find the book available for purchase at Amazon.com (can click this link).

South FIRST FRIDAYS Art Walk Tonight!

22 venues are participating tonight in Sourth FIRST FRIDAYS, which happens in the SoFA district of Downtown San Jose. Last month was probably the best First Friday I have ever been to that was not tied into another event like SubZERO, and I'm expecting this event to get even better over time. Unfortunately the map below is not entirely accurate since SLG Art Boutiki has moved to make way for a new apartment project (more on that in a future post), and Cafe Stritch is joining the roster. To see a preview of what's going down tonight, just click here.

The Tech After Hours Tonight!

If you were ever curious to see what happens in a museum after the sun goes down, check out After Hours at the Tech tonight!

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After Hours

Join Us for the Next After Hours

Earth Night

Thursday, April 4

7:00 p.m. — Midnight 

The Tech Museum of Innovation

$10.00 / $8.00 for members

Buy Tickets

After Hours is the monthly evening event where adults 21 and older enjoy science, technology, entertainment, and cocktails together with their friends. Explore the entire museum with other adults under moody lighting and music. Each month provides an exclusive and fun setting of music, giant games, hands-on exhibits, and more! 

Every month you can discover more about science and technology, or just relax and have fun with friends!

• Giant games like 4-foot-tall Jenga-style blocks, over-sized chess, and giant Four in a Row.
• Live music and dancing.
• Glow-in-the-dark Techtinis from our no-host bar.
• Limited cafe menu available for purchase.

Join us on April 4 for our pre-Earth Day celebration: Earth Night! Compete with your friends to see who can be the first to answer all of our Energy Quest Scavenger Hunt questions. Learn about how to use light instead of heat to save energy and lower pollution at our Gelatin Fiber Optics activity. Also, find out how you can participate in Earth Hour and help make a real difference in your own community and the world.

When your energy runs low, you can stop by our no-host bar for a refreshing Terra-Tini , or sample some of the goodies from our food tables. After that, it’s time to dance, play games, or just relax in our Atrium Lounge, with tunes by DjKomodo.

Visit our After Hours Photo Booth and share smiles with your friends. 

Enjoy our bar menu, now with tasty appetizers for only $5 per item!

Celebrate your birthday with The Tech! If your birthday falls within the month of the After Hours event, you can get in for free (with a valid ID).

Like our After Hours Facebook page!  

Buy Tickets

Tickets are $10.00 / $8.00 for members. 

Call for group rate for 10 or more!

For more information or to buy tickets please call (408) 294-8324. 

Service charges may apply. Members’ service charges waived. 

Get directions and parking tips.

11 / 12

The first Thursday of the Month, 7p.m. to Midnight.

Save These Dates

May 2 - Star Tech

June 6 - Maker Shaker

Hampton Inn Opening Hotel in Downtown San Jose

First the good news. Hampton Inn (part of the Hilton family) has announced plans to build a 162-room hotel at the southeast corner of Santa Clara Street and Highway 87. The building will be about 100,000 SQFT, including 6,000 SQFT of new ground-floor retail.

Now the bad news... it is only six stories tall and looks like a convalescent home. You can see for yourself below. When I first saw the renders I immediately thought of a similar hotel in McCarthy Ranch surrounded by parking lots and big box stores. Fortunately, this design has sparked instant outrage from the City and those that live in and care about Downtown. I would be really surprised if they don't make some serious revisions before this breaks ground (much like the One South Market further down Santa Clara Street). I think that if this design was proposed five years ago, nobody would have thought twice about it. Now that we have built up some pride for our Downtown, people are no longer accepting half-assed generic designs. It's time to take things to the next level!

Source: SVBJ

The Farmers Union Updates

The latest flagship restaurant to hit Downtown San Jose is tentatively scheduled to launch in May at the corner of Santa Clara Street and San Pedro. It seems like they are going all out for the 8,000+ SQFT eatery and sports bar. Some of the highlights are:

• 60 Beers on Tap
• 200" HD TV (They claim this is the largest in Silicon Valley)
• 28 additional TVs
• Woodfire Pizza
• Mesquite Rotisserie Meats

Below are some photos from their instagram page. You can also sign up for more information right over here. Can't wait, looks like yet another big win for the Downtown restaurant scene!

San Jose's Newest Sister City: Pyongyang, North Korea!

San Jose is about to welcome a new city into a sister city program that includes the likes of Dublin, Ireland; Okayama, Japan; and San Jose, Costa Rica. This city is none other than Pyongyang in sunny North Korea! With a population of 2.5 million, this is the largest city yet to participate in this program. Each city has a lot to gain as the new partnership between each community is designed to foster collaboration in topics ranging from government to education and of course culture. Since Pyongyang is know as the "Silicon Valley of Asia" and is rich with technological innovation, it will be interesting to see where this new sister city will take us.

Below you can find world renowned leader Kim Jong Un riding Pyongyang's new metro system, showing off its newest amusement park, and perhaps most relevant to Silicon Valley... demonstrating their latest technological capabilities.

For more information on Pyongyang, click here!