2nd Taco Bell *Cantina* opens in San Jose

If you have ever been to Taco Bell and wished there was something with a little more kick to wash those tacos down, today is your lucky day. A new Taco Bell Cantina opened next to the Century Theaters at Oakridge Mall. Unlike other Taco Bells, the "Cantina" variety serve alcohol including blended margaritas and beers and usually stay open until midnight.

It's a surreal experience getting your alcoholic beverages at a Taco Bell, but they were surprisingly good and affordable. I would take this over your typical movie theater food any day of the week.

There is one other Taco Bell Cantina at 19 Market St. in Downtown San Jose. I'll never forget that location as it's the only place where I personally experienced a crime. As I sat down to eat, a young man in a peacoat asked if he could have one of my Cheesy Gordita Crunch tacos. I said I'm good. Then he tried to trade me his peacoat for the taco. While tempting and likely a trade in my favor, I still said no. When I got up to tell one of the managers I was getting a bit uncomfortable, he grabbed my taco and ran away! He didn't even leave the peacoat. Thankfully customer service was excellent and Taco Bell Cantina staff immediately replaced my pilfered Cheesy Gordita Crunch taco at no additional charge. No police report was filed.

True random story aside, if you enjoy Taco Bell this is the best one to go to. Their fancy frozen margaritas can also be made without alcohol and they have nicer seating they your typical Taco Bell. This new one even has a patio with a fireplace.

Source: Fox KTVU

Google's Downtown San Jose project still has signs of life

While it's not the promised mixed-use megacampus many were excited about, Google is still planning to be active in the Downtown San Jose area. They are hosting Creekside Socials at various locations within the footprint of their proposed project near the Shark Tank and Diridon Station. These events are designed to celebrate the local culinary and creative community. There will be live music, food trucks, interactive art, a bike valet, children's programming, and a small maker's faire. 

The first Creekside Social will be on September 9th from 11am-3pm at 20 Barack Obama Boulevard across from the SAP Center.

Google is also preserving the historic San Jose Water Company building and is working with local artist to enhance the "Downtown West" neighborhood they will hopefully be anchoring in the coming years and/or decades.

Source: The Merc

Santana Row getting first Yeti store in Northern California and 3 new restaurants

Yeti specializes in innovative outdoor gear and apparel. They have a strong following of brand loyalists around the world and this happens to be their first store not just in Silicon Valley, but all of Northern California. The store is open today.

In other Santana Row news, Urban Plates will open on September 4th. The restaurants will focus on health-conscience seasonal dishes made from local ingredients. They have two other locations, Dublin (which I've been to and it's fantastic) and Sunnyvale.

In 2024, Fitoor--meaning passion in Arabic and Hindi--will bring an Indian grill and lounge to Santana Row. The team behind the new restaurant launched the Michelin-rated Indian restaurant ROOH in Palo Alto and San Francisco. They are planning an upscale twist on Indian cuisine with cocktails that have "dramatic flourishes" and ambiance they describe as sultry and luxe.

Last but not least, Suspiro is a new Peruvian and Spanish fusion restaurant by the same owners as El Jardin and Zazil. They are planning to capture the best flavors from both types of cuisine in an atmosphere that is visually captivating.

While many shopping districts are struggling right now, both Santana Row and Valley Fair seem to be more than holding their own. If only we had a solution to bypass the traffic getting into the area.

New permit activity for Orchard Residential in Downtown San Jose

A 30-story apartment tower called Orchard Residential is slowly moving forward. Plans were approved last November, but some revisions were requested such as cutting car parking by half. They are hoping to receive their full building permit by fall to proceed with a pretty stunning 294-foot tall project.

The building will have 502,340 SQFT dedicated to residences, 13,860 SQFT of ground-floor retail, 104 parking spaces for cars, and 176 spaces for bicycles. The renders below are not just concepts--they are actually planning to plant 312 fruit trees and additional plants across the facade which is something more projects should consider doing.

Source: SF YIMBY, Dirk_Birkin from Skyscraper City

Silicon Valley Pride Parade & Festival this weekend

One of the best parts of living in such a diverse community are the cultural activities we can experience. San Jose has an epic Pride Festival this weekend, but the events actually start today and continue throughout the week.

Silicon Valley Pride started in 1975 as a gay rights rally and evolved into the parade and festival it is today in 1977. I actually did not realize it started that long ago. Today it's the largest Pride celebration in the South Bay and is family and ally friendly. 

The Festival featuring live music and entertainment takes place on Saturday, August 26th from 6pm to 11pm and Sunday, August 27th from 12pm to 6pm. The Parade will be on Sunday from 10:30am to 12:00pm. Tickets are only $5 per day at the door. For more info and the full event schedule, head over here.

San Jose is the 2nd best place to raise a family in the US

U.S. News looked at quality of life, job markets, crime, healthcare, quality of high school education, and affordability to find the best places to live in the country. Even though affordability was one of those variables, San Jose made it to 2nd place. In fact, it was the only California city to make the list.

San Jose also ranked #1 in college readiness for high school students out of the 150 most populous metros in the US.

Here are the 25 best places to live for families in the U.S according to U.S. News:

25. Boise, Idaho

24. Cincinnati

23. Davenport-Bettendorf, Iowa, and Moline-Rock Island, Illinois (Quad Cities)

22. Washington, D.C.

21. Rochester, New York

20. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

19. Portland, Maine

18. Raleigh and Durham, North Carolina

17. Buffalo, New York

16. Ann Arbor, Michigan

15. Hickory, North Carolina

14.Omaha, Nebraska

13. Pittsburgh

12. Syracuse, New York

11. Madison, Wisconsin

10. Lincoln, Nebraska

9. Fort Wayne, Indiana

8. Grand Rapids, Michigan

7. Albany, New York

6. Des Moines, Iowa

5. Minneapolis-St. Paul

4. Fayetteville, Arkansas

3. Green Bay, Wisconsin

2. San Jose, California

1. Huntsville, Alabama

Source: U.S. News

Could San Jose get their own utility instead of PG&E?

It's a longshot, but plans are brewing for San Jose to potentially build their own power utility to replace PG&E. A theoretical "San Jose Power" would access a new underground transmission line that will expand the amount of power going to San Jose and is expected to be built by 2028.

While there are risks, the benefits could be significant. Just look at our neighbor Santa Clara that owns and operates their own electrical utility--Silicon Valley Power. Their electrical rates are far below PG&E and among the lowest in the state, uptime is incredible with power outages being extremely rare, AND it is still generating revenue for the city of Santa Clara. Not only that, Silicon Valley Power has had a few unintended benefits such as attracting data centers and businesses with cheap electricity and miles of dark fiber optic connections that were added along the utility's right-of-way.

There are downsides. Running a utility is a very different skill than a government and some skeptics will question whether San Jose is able to pull it off. Of course PG&E will want to shut down this idea as quickly as possible. Perhaps there is another option like partnering with Silicon Valley Power instead of reinventing the wheel for San Jose. If the end goal is to build a better service for San Jose at a lower cost and with higher uptime, they have already achieved that and perhaps there is a way to scale their success to San Jose.

Source: The Merc

Egghead Sando opens new locations in San Jose and Santa Clara

One of my favorite sandwich places has opened two new locations. You can now enjoy Egghead Sando Cafe in South San Jose at 6201 Santa Teresa Blvd. and in Santa Clara at 3957 Rivermark Plaza (North San Jose area).

They are known for their fluffy egg-centric toasted brioche sandwiches, which are often paired with bacon, spam, or chicken. My go-to is the B.E.C. sandwich which has thick-cut bacon, an over medium egg, cheddar, and house sauce. They also have a specialty called the Eggy which is a poached egg on top of a potato puree topped topped with bacon and chives. It's a perfect complement to any sandwich, especially with tater tots. 

They're open from 7am to 3pm on the weekdays and 8am to 4pm on the weekends. Egghead also has two other locations off of Capital Expressway and in Downtown San Jose.

Source: The Merc