Shop Small Saturday

Instead of supporting giant chain stores this "Black Friday weekend," why not support local Downtown San Jose businesses?

9 Downtown shops are participating in Shop Small Saturday tomorrow, Nov. 26. All are colorful, offering an eclectic assortment of merchandise perfect for holiday gift-giving.

They’re a collection of museum shops and true moms-and-pops. These unique shops are one-of-a kind.

San Jose has more than 56,000 small businesses that have fewer than 35 employees.

The day is dedicated to supporting small businesses, getting shoppers to do their holiday shopping at local retailers, and boosting the local economy. These small businesses constitute a significant proportion of the San Jose economy and are a vital factor in creating local jobs.

These are the participating shops:

• KALEID Gallery, 88 S., Fourth St. (1)
• Tabard Theatre Co, 28 N. San Pedro St. (2)
• Children's Discovery Museum Gift Shop (CDM): 180 Woz Way (3)
• Museum of Art Gift Shop: 110 S Market Street (4)
• Tech Museum Gift Shop: 201 S Market St (5)
• San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles: 520 S 1st Street (6)
• Joan Philips, Executive Director or Lousie Horkey, Volunteer, Events and Retail Coordinator
• Cathedral Gift Shop: 80 S Market St (7)
• Hammer and Lewis: 19 S First Street (8)
• Diaz Menswear: 70 E Santa Clara Street (9)

This event has been put together by the San Jose Downtown Association and you can find more information as well as an interactive map over here.

Happy Thanksgiving 2016!

Hope you all have a wonderful time and lots of good eats today. Warm wishes to you and your family from your friends at The San Jose Blog!

Silicon Valley Turkey Trot

The Turkey Trot is a San Jose Thanksgiving Day tradition! Events include a 5k run/walk, a 10k run, a Celebrity/CEO 5k, and a wheelchair 10k.

The event starts at 8:30am in Downtown San Jose and goes until noon. Registration typically runs around $45. Even if you are not walking, running, or rolling, there is a festival area and kid zone with plenty of fun things to do.

For more info and to register, head over here.

Uncle Buck's Fish Bowl & Grill @ San Jose Bass Pro Shops

Bass Pro Shops has to be one of the most insane retail stores I have ever seen. The giant diorama-filled 145,000 SQFT space has everything from an aquarium to a 12-lane bowling alley. The building is larger than most Costco's and it attracts shoppers that live as far as two hours away. I have to recommend that everyone check out the store at least once, even if you are not the outdoorsy type.

Over the weekend, I was invited to try out the new menu at Uncle Bucks, a full-service restaurant within the store. The restaurant is nestled to the side of the bowling alley and has several rooms of various sizes for private parties and events. There can easily be over a one hour wait for the restaurant, so it would be a good idea to put your name on the list first before you head out to explore the store.

For lunch, we had the following:

• Alligator with jalapeno cream sauce - This is one of their signature items and is a must try. The spiced fried alligator does not taste as exotic as it sounds and goes really well with the sweet sauce.
• Smoked Wahoo dip - This was my wife's favorite. It's a smoked Wahoo pate with crackers and cucumber slices.
• Islamorada Portofino - Another signature item. Blackened Tilapia topped with grilled shimp and lobster cream sauce. The fish was both flavorful and filling.
• Firepit Burger - My personal favorite. This is a double cheeseburger with jalapenos and pepperjack. It came with crispy battered fries.

We were so stuffed from those items, we couldn't handle a dessert. The Key Lime pie was tempting though. For the full menu, click here.

The restaurant is extremely kid-friendly and features Disneyland-grade nautical decorations. For adults, there is a bar sitting underneath the bow of a ship in the middle of the bowling alley. Scroll down for all the photos. For more information, head over to the Uncle Buck's Fish Bowl & Grill Facebook page.

Bass Pro Shops and Uncle Bucks is located at 5160 Cherry Avenue. The store is open from 9am-9pm Monday through Saturday and 9am-8pm on Sunday. Hours are extended during the holidays.

Alligator with jalapeno cream sauce

Smoked Wahoo dip

Islamorada Portofino

Firepit Burger

Rendering of the Valley Title Towers

KT Properties has been one of the most prolific builders in Downtown San Jose. Axis, One South, and Silvery Towers (under construction) exist thanks to KT. Their newest project is going to be a pair of towers towards the entrance of SoFA at San Carlos and First Street. Currently an ugly two-story building and giant parking lot sit on this lot.

Below is the latest render of the towers. As a point of reference, the five-story building on the lower right is Original Joe's and you would find Anno Domini and Cafe Stritch immediately to the right of the rightmost tower. SJSU is two blocks to the left.

If built, this would be an amazing infill development that would fill a key retail gap in SoFA and add another thousand residents to Downtown's most artsy street.

Source: Bobby_Guz_Man from the San Jose Development Forum

Nirvana Uplugged tonight at Forager

Forager is tasting room, eatery, and event space that has taken over the South First Billiards space in SoFA. Tonight they are hosting Nirvana Unplugged, a live music event with 16 different musicians that will perform Nirvana's "Unplugged" album.

The event starts at 7:30pm tonight and tickets are $12 at the door. You can get more details and tickets over here.

DESCRIPTION
San Jose Presents: Nirvana Unplugged! We're bringing together 16 musicians from different bands, genres, backgrounds and styles to perform Nirvana's iconic Unplugged album in its entirity. This is not an event to miss! This is our community in action and we'd love to see you all there!

Be sure to get your tickets early!
$10 presale / $12 door
All Ages

San Jose Presents
http://www.SanJosePresents.com/

Musicians:
Justin Imamura
Alex Nguyen
Socorra
chris pounders
Chris Reed
Israel Sanchez
Natasha Littlewood
Sailing South
Brian Hart
Felix Archuleta
Jonathan Shaheen
Jared Kauk
Quigs
Steely Nash
Troy Joseph Curtis
Mathew Gabriel Gonzales/ Philthy Dronez

Special Guest Host:
Peter Allen@

http://www.Facebook.com/sanjosepresents

"For Pete's Sake" Brewfest at Spartan Stadium

In case you haven't yet heard, there's an epic tailgate party/local beerfest at Spartan Stadium tomorrow - Saturday, Nov. 19 - from 2:30pm to 6:30pm. Tickets - $40 if purchased in advance and $50 for any remaining on the day of the event - include a 5-oz. taster to sample brewery offerings, unlimited tastings and a ticket to the final home game for Spartans football. You’ll need code “FORPETESSAKE16” to purchase tickets.

The beerfest - "For Pete's Sake" Brewfest - is brought to you by Hermitage Brewing Company in partnership with the SJSU Athletics Department and will benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and event namesake Peter Cogan.

Below is the current list of participating breweries:

• Hermitage Brewing Company
• Tied House Microbrewery
• Firestone Walker Brewing Co.
• Santa Clara Valley Brewing
• Strike Brewing Co.
• Red Branch Cider Company
• Rabbit’s Foot Meadery
• High Water Brewing
• Uncommon Brewers
• Almanac Beer Co.
• Santa Cruz Ale Works
• Discretion Brewing
• El Toro Brewpub
• Bison Organic Beer
• Faultline Brewing Company
• Gordon Biersch Brewing Company
• Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery
• Seabright Brewery
• Sactown Union Brewery

Check out my post on my local beer site for a Q & A with Peter Cogan, a longtime employee of Tied House/Hermitage and overall good guy.

SJC now has robot helpers

San Jose International now has three robots to help "Silicon Valley's Airport" feel more like, well, Silicon Valley's Airport. The set of robots cost $120,000 and are named Norma, Amelia, and Piper. They conveniently speak six different languages and can help travelers find their way, locate places to dine, and provide helpful information. They'll even take photos and email them to you. This is a neat little way to make the airport more interesting to visitors.

The robots were programmed by a Milpitas-based company called 22 Miles and manufactured by Korea-based Future Robot.

You can find SJC's newest robotic attractions near Gates 11, 21, and 25. For more info, you can follow the trio on Twitter at #SJCRobots.

Source: SVBJ