THE CATS is back open and featuring live music from Beggar's Opera

The tavern you see on the way to Santa Cruz off Highway 17 is actually a pretty nice restaurant with traditional slow-cooked BBQ and some modern twists like smoked Wagyu with Chimichurri. It's one of the oldest restaurants in the Bay Area and has recently been renovated. It also happens to be a live music and stand up venue. They are kicking off live music again with Beggars Opera this Friday, July 21st from 6:30pm to 9:30pm. No cover charge.

The CATS is located at 17533 Santa Cruz Highway just a few minutes south of Downtown Los Gatos. For more info on the restaurant, bar, or upcoming events, head over here.

Affordable housing in Berryessa, San Jose

The VTA is planning to use an empty lot next to the Berryessa Transit Center (BART & bus terminal) to build 195 affordable apartments. Housing will only be available to those making 60% or less than the county's median income. For a family of four that would mean they would need to earn less than $100k a year. 46 of the apartments will be used to provide support for residents who have experienced homelessness.

The render looks pretty nice for affordable housing. Each resident will have access to bikes and scooters as well as get a free BART and VTA pass to encourage more use of public transit. Part of the first floor will be a child care facility, another surprising amenity for a project like this.

Measure A funds will be used to pay for the project as well three other projects specifically designated as affordable housing. VTA plans to build a total of 2,600 affordable homes over the next 20 years.

This specific project is expected to break ground in 2026 with completion slated for 2028.

Source: San Jose Spotlight

Petiscos in San Jose gets a rare Michelin Guide distinction

There are three main levels of recognition in the Michelin Guide, which is the most popular guide for finding the highest rated restaurants in the would. Level 1, the restaurant simply makes it into the guide. Just being listed is a huge honor and I have never seen more than 10 San Jose restaurants listed in the guide in its entire history.

Level 2 is Bib Gourmand, which means not only did the restaurant make it into the guide but you can have a multi-course meal at an affordable price at that restaurant. I can't remember a single San Jose restaurant getting a Bib Gourmand distinction until this year. The requirements is you need to be able to order two courses and wine or dessert for $40 or less.

Level 3 is when the Michelin Stars come into play. Each restaurant at this level can receive one to three stars. In the US these are typically very fancy restaurants where you can expect to drop $100-300 per person.

Petiscos is a casual restaurant owned by the proprietors of ADEGA, San Jose's first and only Michelin Star restaurant. A couple months ago, Petiscos was added to the Michelin Guide for the first time. Now, they are one of the very first restaurants in San Jose to get the Bib Gourmand designation! The only other one I am aware of is Luna Mexican Kitchen on the Alameda.

Considering San Jose only has four restaurants total in the Michelin Guide right now, it is pretty big news that two of them now have the Bib Gourmand distinction. Hopefully many more San Jose restaurants will be recognized in the future.

Source: EATER

Restaurant Week July 13-23

The largest restaurant week in Downtown San Jose history kicked off yesterday and continues all the way until July 23rd. This is a great opportunity to try out special fixed price multi-course menus at discount prices. 

There are several newer restaurant this year such as AJI (in the Signia by Hilton hotel, formerly the Fairmont), Angkor Chef, Bum Me Up, Tiki Pete, Casa Guzmania (which is excellent), Fox Tales Fermentation Project (also excellent), La Carne Asada, Mommy's Banh Mi, Master Shin, and Dr. Funk with a cocktail as part of the 3-course menu. Your old favorites are on the list as well.

Check out all 45+ restaurants over here and support your unique, local San Jose Restaurants!

30+ awesome brunch places to try in San Jose 🍳🥩

I'm going through posts from one of my new favorite sites, SJ Today, and came across a killer list of brunch places in San Jose. The are some obvious ones in there like Scramblz, Mimosas, and Bill's Cafe. There are also several unique surprises like Yeganeh Bakery & Cafe (Persian), K Cafe Patisserie & Tea House (Asian-French fusion), and Tostadas (Mexi-Cali).

Below are photos from my absolute favorite San Jose brunch--The Table in Willow Glen. It's normally a 45-60min wait, but absolutely worth it. They have the best Espresso Martini I've had as well and some creative non-alcoholic drinks. It's on the SJ Today list as well--check out all 30+ brunch places over here.

237 new apartments proposed for San Jose's Buena Vista neighborhood

Buena Vista is a midtown neighborhood that has not gotten much development love over the years. However, that might change with a proposed midrise on 1.3-acres encompassing an abandoned car rental business with three vacant commercial buildings and eight older homes.

The project backed by Urban Villas LLC would have 237 apartments (8 affordable), 17,000 SQFT of retail space on the ground floor, and 199 parking spaces. It would be designated as an urban village and include a 30-foot-wide paseo connecting it to another project with up to 256 apartments to the east.

It still has to go through all the proper city approvals and there is no ETA at this time.

Source: San Jose Spotlight

Top coffee shops in San Jose

SJ Today has a great guide to San Jose coffee shops--everything from from traditional American cafes, Vietnamese, Mexican, and even a famous Hawaiian coffee shop in Japantown where you can also get Spam musubi. I think I've been to most of the list with my favorites being Nirvana Soul, Academic Coffee, and Voltaire (all Downtown).

There was one great place that I didn't find on the list and that is Pastaleria by Adega (photo below). It's a Portuguese bakery featuring the famous Pastel de Nata egg custard dessert and many others, but they also have some strong espressos with enough caffeine to make you feel like you're bending time and space. Paired with a pastry, it's a great café worth adding to the list!

To see the full list of San Jose's top coffee shops, head over here.

New housing tower to replace local San Jose market and taqueria

A new housing tower is proposed on the periphery of Downtown San Jose at 101 Delmas Avenue. At 11-stories it just barely qualifies as a high-rise, but given the narrow size of the building it will likely look taller than it actually is.

The ground floor will primarily be retail, which is great considering it will replace the Delmas Market and Imperio Tacqueria. At 1,300 SQFT, the new retail space it should be able to accommodate a small restaurant.

Above the retail will be 80 units, 16 of which will be affordable housing. All of the units will be studios, which is an interesting choice. Likely this will appeal to younger people without kids that want easy access to urban amenities and public transit. If the Google project ever gets built, it will also be right next door.

Source: The Merc