Free WiFi for Downtown San Jose Small Businesses

As many of you know, Downtown San Jose was recently blanketed with the fastest outdoor public WiFi system in North America. The one problem is that it does not work very well indoors. Fortunately, there is a new program that will help Downtown businesses connect to this network.

The tagline for this program is "Create a Job, Get Free WiFi."  Any Downtown employer that hires just one new person in the next few months or opens shop Downtown will receive new indoor boosters to connect to the "Wickedly Fast" WiFi network.

Personally, I think this is a great direction and is the type of thinking needed to help Downtown small businesses succeed. Hopefully we will see more creative ideas like this in the future to promote job creation in San Jose's core.

Source: Sam Liccardo Newsletter

Saturday Stats: San Jose is the #10 Market Nationwide for Job Growth

Employment in San Jose is up 1.3% since the recession (versus 0.4% for SF), the unemployment rate has fallen 1.1% over the last year, and it has ranked among the top cities in job creation with a Gallup Job Creation Index score of 23. These stats have led to San Jose being ranked as the #10 market for job growth in the US. Why not #1 you ask? The total unemployment is still somehow 8.2%. It is falling fast, but is still higher than most of the other cities on the list. Here is the top 10:

1.) Orlando
2.) Houston
3.) Denver
4.) San Antonio
5.) Louisville
6.) San Francisco
7.) Austin
8.) Columbus
9.) Seattle
10.) San Jose

Source: SVBJ, CreditDonkey

Patxi's Pizza San Jose Location Now Open!

A new restaurant featuring both Chicago-style deep dish and thin-crust pizzas is now open at Crescent Village in North San Jose. This is far from your typical cookie-cutter chain pizza place. It has an innovative Pic-a-Pie system that lets you order a Chicago-style pizza without having to wait the typical 35min for it to bake, and since it is Silicon Valley of course you do this on a tablet. They have 3-wheel delivery bikes that will transport residents of Crescent Village to and front the restaurant and also be used to deliver pizzas. Various "green" elements have been used in construction including salvaged wood from Cal Memorial Stadium and antique furnishings. There is also a full bar and out door seating. Sounds like a great addition to the area! For more info, check out the press release below:

Update: Pic-a-Pie and 3-wheel bikes are coming soon.

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Today partners Francisco “Patxi” Azpiroz and William Freeman announce the much-anticipated opening of their ninth Bay Area location, their first in San Jose.

Patxi’s Pizza (pronounced PAH-cheese. ‘t’ before ‘x’), one of the most loved pizza restaurants in San Francisco, opens their first San Jose location tomorrow, Tuesday, May 21 at 11 AM in the new resort-style mixed-use apartment complex at Crescent Village at 3350 Zanker Road, Suite 30, San Jose, CA, 95134.

Says Freeman of the opening, “We’re thrilled to bring Patxi’s to San Jose—we feel like the area is really underserved in terms of dining. Plus, what goes better with the tech industry than pizza? We think our customers coming from the tech space in particular will enjoy the launch of our Predictive Pizza Ordering System, Pic-a-Pie, not to mention ordering our pies for delivery to their offices or getting out and enjoying happy hour with coworkers. We think Patxi’s will be a great addition to the neighborhood.”

COMING SOON: Patxi’s San Jose is excited to introduce special 3-wheel style delivery bikes that will be used to transport residents of Crescent Village to and from the restaurant. Patxi’s will also use these alternative, green modes of transportation to deliver hot, fresh pizzas to the Crescent Village residents.

The Restaurant

Upon entering the space, in the  newly constructed resort-style mixed-use complex, guests are welcomed to an inviting space with a rustic, yet contemporary atmosphere.

• Industrial-style chrome lighting fixtures, exposed brick walls and reclaimed wood coupled with the warm color scheme and inviting floor plan bring a rustic yet modern feel to the 80-seat dining room.
• Salvaged wood from Cal Memorial Stadium at UC Berkeley (c. 1923) was used to create the custom bar- and table-tops created for Patxi’s by local Berkeley furniture purveyor, The Wooden Duck.
• Antique mirrors hang above the full bar with seating for 11, making it the perfect locale for a casual lunch with friends, intimate after-work drinks or a company happy hour, and includes handicapped seating.
• An open kitchen window invites guests to watch as their pizzas and small plates are handcrafted to complete the dining experience. Guests who enjoy dining al fresco will delight in the open patio dining space for 20.
• For guests’ convenience Patxi’s and the new Crescent Village offer complimentary underground parking.

The Menu

Patxi’s menu features a standout family of pizzas and an array of salads and small plates. Says Executive Chef / Partner Patxi Azpiroz, “Here at Patxi’s we happily renounce stovetops, deep fryers and freezers. Instead we prepare all of our dishes using fresh ingredients, sourced locally when possible.”

• Patxi’s is perhaps most famous for their flagship Chicago-style Stuffed Pizza: a deep dish pizza with a layer of crust on the bottom, followed by toppings and cheese, all covered by another thin layer of dough, and topped with homemade sauce.  The stuffed style is also available with a whole-wheat crust.
• New to the family, and introduced after much testing in 2012, the Thin Crust Pizza, made with extra fine, imported ‘00’ flour and hand-pulled to perfection is a new take on a traditional Italian style pizza crust.  Whole-Wheat and Gluten Free options are available for the thin crust pie.
• The menu features chef-tested pizza topping combinations and a Create Your Own Pizzaoption, where guests can create their own pizza with myriad fresh toppings, four styles of mozzarella and over 30 different meat and veggie toppings. With vegan cheese and crust, and gluten free crust options, there is sure to be something for every diner.
• Pic-a-Pie – COMING SOON!

Patxi’s San Jose location will soon be offering the Pic-a-Pie™ Predictive Pizza Ordering System—a proprietary, patent-pending algorithm that allows guests to enjoy Patxi’s signature Chicago-style Stuffed Pizza without the 35-minute window of time it typically takes to bake. The Pic-a-Pie™ system allows guests to Pic their Pie from a queue of near-ready pizzas shown on a sleek tablet. Pic-a-Pie™ offers guests a fast, fun and easy alternative to waiting for their pizza. Guests can “claim” their pizzas when dining in or when calling in carryout-out or delivery orders. More information available upon request.

In addition to pizza, Patxi’s features an array of small plates great for sharing including the Burrata Bruschetta, featuring creamy burrata cheese, basil pesto, and tomato confit, served with warm focaccia; and the Meatball, which is inspired by a long-time Boston-Italian family recipe and features sustainably raised beef and a Chicago-style Italian sausage braised in a house made tomato sauce and topped with basil and Grana Padano cheese.

In lieu of dessert, Patxi’s offers honey for the “bones” or crust of the pizza—the perfect way to enjoy those last remnants of crust after the meal.

Guests can also enjoy fresh salads and beverages including a full bar. Complete menu is here. Photos available upon request.

PATXI’S PIZZA LOCATIONS

San Francisco

Fillmore: 3318 Fillmore Street San Francisco, 94123, 415.345.3995

Hayes Valley: 511 Hayes Street San Francisco, 9410, 415.558.9991

Irving: 822 Irving Street San Francisco, 94122, 415.759.9000

Noe Valley: 4042 24th Street San Francisco, 94114, 415.285.2000

Campbell: 1875 South Bascom Ave, Suite 405 The Pruneyard Shopping Center, 408.559.0700

Palo Alto: 441 Emerson Street Palo Alto, 94301, 650.473.9999

Lafayette: 3577 Mt. Diablo Blvd. Lafayette, 94549, 925.299.0700

San Jose: 3350 Zanker Road, San Jose, CA, 95134

Livermore: 2470 1st St, Livermore, CA, 94550

Denver

Cherry Hills: 3455 South University Boulevard, Unit B, Englewood CO, 80113, 303.783.2000

Cherry Creek: 185 Steele Street, Denver, CO, 80206, 303.331.1000

ABOUT PATXI’S PIZZA

www.patxispizza.com

Founded in 2004 by two friends, entrepreneur Bill Freeman and pizza expert Francisco “Patxi” Azpiroz, Patxi’s Pizza offers authentic Chicago- and Italian-style pizza, featuring two distinct, handcrafted styles of dough, four types of mozzarella and over 30 different fresh meat and veggie toppings (ingredients sourced locally whenever possible).  Patxi’s Pizza (pronounced pah-cheese) is privately owned and operated with a total of 11 locations between the San Francisco Bay Area and Denver, CO. Patxi’s Pizza was ranked #84 by Inc. Magazine’s Top 100 Hire Power Companies of 2012 and named among the Top 10 “Most Life-Changing Pizzas” of 2012 by Esquire Magazine.

Through its 52 Weeks of Giving program, Patxi’s donates a portion of its profits to local nonprofit organizations dedicated to education and children’s health and welfare – totaling over $141,000 in donations to date.

Empire Seven Studios Announces New Mural on 8th and Empire Streets

Japantown has received yet another cool mural! Bay Area artists Poesia & Sam Rodriguez have partnered with Empire Seven Studios to paint a mural on 8th and Empire Streets. The mural took a week from conception to completion and shows human figures in motion within a complex intersection of geometric shapes and bold colors. Both artists are known for their work as graffiti artists and various methods of layering and manipulating textures. The goal of this mural is to beautify the neighborhood and to build a connection through public art to bring communities together.

Source: Empire Seven Studios

San Jose Greek Festival this Weekend!

One of the largest ethnic festivals in the South Bay is going down this weekend, and we have a free pass for you! The San Jose Greek Festival is a celebration of Greek food, music, and culture and takes place outside St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church at 1260 Davis Street. The event actually runs three whole days starting this Friday.

There are a couple of new food items this year, including a vegetarian gyro. Greek is not always the most vegetarian-friendly cuisine around, but rest assured you will have some great options this year if you don't eat meat. For those that do, you can never go wrong with the lamb! Another new item this year is an olive medley that will be served at the Greek wine and cheese booth.

To get in for free, either print out the blue flier below or load it up on your phone at the festival entrance. To learn more about the festival, just click one of the links below:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SJGREEKFESTIVAL 
Instagram: http://instagram.com/sjgreekfestival
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sjgreekfestival

Hampton Inn Facelifts Planned Downtown San Jose Hotel

When Hampton Inn revealed the initial design for their new 162-room Downtown San Jose hotel at Santa Clara Street and Highway 87, you could hear the groans a mile away. It looked completely generic and more appropriate for a strip mall in Anywhere, USA. Personally, I think this original design looks like a convalescent home.

The good news is the second draft looks better, I'll let you be the judge of how much. I like the the improved use of glass in the corners, that is my favorite part of the new design. The textured brown walls are also a step up from the white and gray of the original. I still can't help but to think that they could have Silicon Valleyed this up much more and went with radical colors that would stand out and Aloft-style LED lighting. For something that can easily be seen from Highway 87, people walking from the HP Pavilion, and the San Pedro area... they could still do a lot more.

What do you guys think?

Source: San Jose Development Forum

Before

After

Game Seven - It's Go Time!

 

(Hat tip to Sharks Sports and Entertainment's social sites for the image.)

Sunday night, we did it - the Sharks beat the Kings to force a Game Seven in Los Angeles.

As noted in an earlier post, Sharks fans should really care about this one.  If the Sharks manage to down the Kings in tonight's game, this will be the best shot at the Stanley Cup the team has ever had.  Other than the Sharks, there are no teams in the playoffs right now with as much defense, coupled with equally impressive offense, as the Kings.  The Boston Bruins is about as tough as an Eastern Conference team can get, and the two Western Conference teams remaining, the Detroit Red Wings and the Chicago Blackhawks, are tough, but may not be able to weather the storm either the Sharks or the Kings may put out this post-season.

During the post-season, both Sharks coach Todd McLellan and Kings coach Darryl Sutter have heavily modified their lines for the greatest output, whether it is properly matching up against opposing players or putting together unbelievable special teams to take advantage of any power play they can get.  While some fans beg to differ, from an objective standpoint (by simply counting penalties from past game scoresheets), the referees have been pretty consistent in penalizing both sides.  In Game Six, for example, after giving the Sharks a couple power plays, the referees made some questionable calls against the Sharks, although I seemed to be okay with their decisions to give both teams chances to score on power play advantages.

Tonight's game, statistically, will be a bit of an uphill battle for the Sharks.  The most obvious conclusion is the home ice advantage for both teams (i.e. all wins have taken place on home ice).  While it is arguable the Kings outplayed the Sharks so far this series in Game Five only (based on my interpretation of puck control and scoring opportunities), the Sharks have made far more devastating errors during the Series to provide the Kings with the edge.  Many may remember Brad Stuart's giveaway in Game One or the game changing 5 on 3 penalty kill in the closing minutes of Game Two.

Predicting a Kings victory tonight would only be predicated on the obvious: the Sharks have yet to win in Los Angeles this post season.  Many seem to forget the dominating performance during Game Two due to the devastating outcome in the final two minutes.  The Sharks really need to focus on playing their game with raw, positive emotion, and allowing the team's defense to stand strong and keep the puck in the Kings' zone.  Kings' goaltender Jonathan Quick needs to be heavily screened, and the Sharks need to pepper him with shots.  (Quick is very human - remember T.J. Galiardi's snipe in Game Six?)

We've seen this before.  Beating the Kings at home is a very possible situation.  (Remember when the Sharks closed out the Kings in Round One of the 2011 Playoffs?)  Look at the overall statistics and not simply the home versus away games.

Both teams are going to play tonight like it is Game Seven of the Finals, because in a way, it very might well be.

The NHL's two toughest teams are going to battle tonight.  Let us hope we emerge victorious, and turn this "homer series" into a "homer and away series."  Go Sharks!

Casual One South Market Groundbreaking Party for The San Jose Blog Readers!

I promised that when the next Downtown High-Rise broke ground, I would have a little celebration for our readers and buy a round of beers. That is exactly what is happening this Saturday, June 1st at the Market Beer Co. (in the San Pedro Square Market) at 3 PM. 

Originally, I was going to get a keg, but I think I have a much better idea... craft beer tasting! I'm going to buy at least 10 bomber bottles of a wide variety of phenomenal craft beers (IPAs, Porters, Lambics, etc). All you need to do is grab a glass and sample as many as you'd like. Just look for the bench or table covered in bottles. Hope to see you guys there!