People-watching in Downtown San Jose

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The Fairmont just underwent an expansion, adding 264 new rooms, bringing the grand total to 805. In order to build this brand new wing of the hotel, the city of San Jose spent 8.5 million dollars to move the historic Montgomery Hotel out of the way.

Even if you’re not staying here, I would at least recommend walking through the place to see if you get followed by security guards. The chic lounge at the ground level is a great place to catch smooth jazz acts. $10 minimum at the bar.

The portions here are gargantuan, so huge that the majority of customers walk out with doggy-bags. The menu can be somewhat pricey if you're on a budget, but nevertheless, it's a great place to people watch. This is true Americana, folks - a great menu of cholesterol-filled, heart-stopper specials in true gastronomical fashion.

The ambience is loud and the decor is straight out of 1962, but nevertheless, it's a great place to dine with the family or to gorge away a hangover on a Sunday morning. Go for the Veal Scallopine ($17.95) or a ridiculously huge steak sandwich ($7.50).

In the back there's an incredible cocktail lounge where amateur drinkers are laughed out of the establishment. Some friends and I were in here one night about ten years ago, and a waiter brought back a margherita from one of the tables because the lady who ordered it complained that it was too strong. The bartender, who was comepletely smashed himself, waved his hands dismissively and replied, "Too strong? Well, then tell her to go to a fucking ice cream parlor next time."

OJ's is the only sit-down restaurant in Downtown SJ that serves past midnight. You absolutely, positively cannot visit San Jose without going to Original Joe's.

Waves Smokehouse and Saloon is an affordable Caribbean-influenced Texas-style barbecue joint and a great place for ribs, burgers, smokehouse platters and the like. Their jerk sandwich makes for a great lunch and the prices are very affordable. They have 24 beers on tap, several single malt scotches and a variety of good cigars.

The décor will bring you right back to the old west. Their antique bottle collection and photographs from the 1906 earthquake are incredible sights. You’ll hear the spurs jingling and jangling and you’ll long for the cowpokes of yesteryear while you get a great historical glimpse at the bawdy side of San Jose’s past. The long sordid history of this building is immense and you can explore it yourself by visiting their website: www.waves-smokehouse.com

Try the Eggplant Clay Pot for $5.75. The soups are also very good, especially the Pumpkin Soup with Tofu and Mushrooms. Not one speck of animal product anywhere in the house. Very cheap and very fulfilling indeed. Trust me, even if you're a meat lover, you will still be happy here. Well worth looking into.

They offer a very healthy selection of cheap Mexican food as well. Only a few of the hot sauces are available for your sampling at any given time, but there are a few mainstays worth recommendation, especially the firey hot Chipotle pepper sauce, which looks like dark brown slop as you pour it on your burrito, but has a scorching taste to die for.

Regular chicken burrito is $4. "El Gigante" is $5. Full dinner plates are also available. During the weekdays, this place is jammed for lunch as suits from the surrounding towers pour in for a quick meal.

And there is always salsa music blasting from the stereo.

Appetizers I would recommend are the grilled Castroville Artichoke with red pepper Aioli for $9 or the crabcakes. For an entrée you have a star-studded list of options—everything from high-finance plates of beef to gourmet salads to much quieter pasta dishes. The specialty is the peppered filet mignon if you deem it necessary. There is also a kid’s menu.

What goes with red meet? Well, choose from a variety of California Cabernets from their extensive wine list. The "bar-in-the-round" is located in the center of the restaurant, where you can get a variety of good cigars and single malt-scotches.

A great place to swill a few Manhattans before the opera.

The grub is what you’d expect from a beer hall: burgers, ribs, pastas and several appetizers suitable for munching while at the bar. Get to know the bartenders and you might get a free round every so often.

The San Jose Arena is right around the corner and this place is jammed before every San Jose Sharks game, the fans in their teal-blue regalia drinking loudly. It can be a great place to people-watch and eavesdrop on conversations, as the entire establishment is elbow-to-elbow people, but at soon as 7:15 pm rolls around, everyone empties out and heads to the game. Fun stuff.

The owners of Shark & Rose are local legends and luminaries and our newspaper even called this place the "Cheers" of San Jose. You won’t find Norm here, but several local politicians and lawyers are known to frequent the joint.

Beware on the weekends, however, as the crowd often sprawls out into the alleyway and you might have to wait up to an hour to get in.

The people here are very rich and very beautiful, making it a perfect place to be an observer in the background. It’s also a good place to sniff-identify various brands of cologne or investigate the uses of tight clothing.

Nowadays, the place is called The Usual and continues in the same fashion. National acts as well as local talent play here on a regular basis. The schedule changes all the time, but generally on the weekends they have dance nights that are pretty highly attended and bands play on any given night.

It is a fairly large venue with a huge dance floor and a semi-decent sound system. However, there are so many pockets in the place where the sound is really bad, as the acoustics are god-awful. A decent sized place, large enough for touring acts, but if you’re looking for an intimate place to see local talent, forget it.

UPDATE May 2002: Word on the street has it that the name of this club will change yet again, as they are courting new owners, and, of course, are targeting a more upscale crowd.

Another draw: this pub wins hands-down for having one of the best jukeboxes anywhere in Downtown San Jose. It's not stocked with horrendous amounts of classic rock or hip-hop, no, instead it has a well-rounded menagerie of everything from Prince to Sinatra, from the Pogues to Disco, from Lennon to Sinead.

The patio outside can be a great refuge during the day. You'll find local corporate types and lawyers playing dice right next to barflies arguing about politics.

There is one other thing worth mentioning at the risk of being a sexist lout. The femme-fatales who work here all have perfectly sculpted bodies and they're hired solely for that reason (I think). Anyway, next time you visit, bring a sign that says: T&A is A-OK.

There's something going on here almost every day, whether it's lectures, poetry readings, events for children, classes, or concerts. Docent tours are available and the collection is constantly changing. Best of all, it's free!!

This review is of the original restaurant at 55 S. Market St., as are the photos, but everything still applies.

As soon as you walk into House of Siam in Downtown San Jose, you're nailed with a yin-yang, paired opposites combination of informality and formality. The exotic decor of the restaurant is hauntingly gorgeous: expensive wooden Thai figurines, Southeast Asian art on the wall, vividly colorful tablecloths, and bamboo dividers that separate the tables. But in the midst of all this, kids are running around screaming, the television is blasting from the kitchen, and the waitresses are constantly chattering to each other across the restaurant, that is, when they're not engaged in coquettish banter with the customers. Nowhere does the fact that Thai people are like the Italians of Southeast Asia hit you more strongly than House of Siam.

Any establishment that offers plates with names like "Angry Beef, " "Prawns Get Dressed" or "Drunken Sea Bass," is an immediate winner.

Somsamai and Nuttawee, the two sisters who own the eatery, opened it about seven years ago and it continues to gain popularity. The place is located in the heart of downtown San Jose's financial district--a prime location. Every day at lunch the restaurant is jam packed with suits and the line is always out the door. However, House of Siam is not just for upscale restaurantees, even though it looks that way. All walks of life are welcome, whether you're a vegan or a carnivore, whether you're in a tuxedo or a trenchcoat.

Most of all, if you are a spicy food aficionado, like myself, you will be at home away from home at this restaurant. Although it may take a few visits to convince them how scorching you really want it, once you do, the heat will envelop your body cavity, and the blood, sweat, and tears will soon follow, as they should. If you're not into the spicy stuff, no problem. They'll make it however hot you desire.

The lunch bargains, which include rice and/or spring rolls, are $8.95 except for a few specials which tip the scales between ten and fifteen bucks. Dinner plates range from $8.95 to $14.95.

Order Chicken Larb, a sweltering ground meat salad with lettuce, red onions, mint leaves, and rice powder--it works well as an opening plate at $7.95. In Thailand they eat it with sticky rice, so ask for this particular combination and you will appear to really know what you're doing.

At House of Siam their seafood selection is the cream of their crop. Gorge yourself on their deep-fried Pompano fish (Pla Rad Prig) which comes soaked in chili oil. You'll dive head first into specialties of the house like Long Song Prawns for $12.95 or Gang Kua Ped Yang, a sliced duck dish with red curry and coconut milk that comes served in a pineapple shell for $10.95.

Add a selection of wines that perfectly compliment the various degrees of spice in the plates, and there you have it. The 1995 Napa Ridge Cabernet is an excellent choice with spicy food.

Although they've raised their prices quite a few times in recent years, which is rather disappointing, House of Siam continues to be one of the most popular restaurants in downtown San Jose.

When Humphrey Bogart said, "The only thing you owe the public is a good performance," he may as well have been talking about the clientele who inhabit the Cactus Club's happy hour from 5pm-8:30 every night. The constituency of dubious characters in attendance never ceases to be amazing. A pal of mine, I'll call him Lucifer, works behind the bar, sometimes wearing a white lab coat while he smashes the cockroaches with a rubber mallet.

One night: A scrumptious tattooed stripper, after popping pills at the bar and washing 'em down with a few Coronas, found herself on the floor of the girls' bathroom, screaming for someone to, um, penetrate her. Meanwhile, Jim Bob, the guy works in the pizza window, was taking pictures.

Another night: Big Freddie, the club’s quintessential 300 pound bald-headed baby-huey-looking bouncer with a quarter-inch thick ring in his nostrils, smoked a little too much rock one afternoon. He decided to head-butt the plate glass window of Earl Schieb's detail shop next door, shattering the entire window in less than a heartbeat. He wound up with shards of glass protruding from his chest and screaming "hail satan" while three paramedics struggled to lift his heavy frame into the ambulance.

Still another night: A crazy girl often sat alone at the bar, giggling to herself for no apparent reason, so she was christened with the nickname, "Giggles." One day, for no apparent reason, she came in and decided to eat all the lemons. To the explosive annoyance of the bartender, Giggles just sat there for one hour, eating every single lemon wedge from the tray behind the bar. She'd briefly salt them up and suck all the juice out of them. She's now in a mental institution.

One more night: One guy, I don't know his name, used to come in all the time, but now he's 86ed from the place. He looks sort of like a cross between Howard Stern and Cornelius from The Planet of the Apes. Usually he'd be outside the club drinking from a 40 ounce bottle in a paper bag. Then he'd come into the bar, totally incoherent, and start trying to kiss every girl at the bar. (The female to male ratio for Cactus Club's happy hour is usually about 1 to 10, but on this day there were a few girls hanging around). Anyway, he proceeded to knock about three glasses of beer down and then he went into to the girls' bathroom and began yelling at the toilet. So the bartender and the security guard physically tossed him out the front door, while bottles crashed in the background and "Mercy Seat" by Nick Cave blasted from the stereo.

I can go on and on, but I'll leave it that. If you're in Downtown San Jose during the dinner hour, stop by the Cactus Club for a $2 warm Budweiser or a really strong Long Island Iced Tea for $3. You just can't beat that.

Inside are millions--not exaggerating--millions of books and magazines. If you want to find the March 1956 issue of Ham Radio Guide, this is the place. Some of the books have been here for decades gathering dust, and there are also hiundreds of boxes of books that people have brought in recently. And of course, there's an entire wall of adult magazines. In fact, I used to come here to steal Playboys when I was a teenager.

Unfortunately, the place is run by the quintessential old crank who thinks that just because a book is old means that he can charge $15 for it. The prices are completely outrageous and you can't bargain with the guy because you're arguing with a crazy person. The LPs, for example, are all $2.75 except The Beatles or Beethoven, which are $4. So if even if you find a torn-up copy of Frampton Comes Alive and the record itself is broken in eight pieces, it'll still be $2.75. His copy of the Windows 3.0 manual was, I believe, $18.

The store is open Monday through Saturday, from 12:20 to 5:00. That's not a typo--he opens the place every day at 12:20.

The old crank's dad ran the place, and before that, the guy's granddad ran the place. He'll be there until he dies. He's got more than a few screws loose, but there is a literal treasure trove of things to find here. Somebody out there is looking for the April 1972 issue of Good Housekeeping. I know it.

In fact, the store itself could use some serious good housekeeping.

This is the best thrift store in all of San Jose: it's a complete dump. There's always a menagerie of interesting characters to gawk at. Just walk around the filth and look at people--it can be fun.

It's all here: Old LPs, dirty children's clothing, vintage china, computer parts, cheap t-shirts, purses, plastic belts, and even a glass case behind which you'll find faux fur jackets from the 1970s. Many of the locals in the club scene frequent this place on a regular basis, as it's one of those joints where you'll find a spectacular bargain when you least expect it. I found a $160 pair of brand new Ecco shoes for $3! I found a great pair of leather cowboy boots for $5! There's also a tie-rack where you can find several silk ties for around two bucks a piece, if you look hard enough.

It is also a great place to get Halloween costumes, or crappy clothes to wear on stage if you're in a rock band. All in all, if you're even slightly interested in off-the-wall junk or you inhabit thrift stores on a regular basis, then this place is for you.

On the weekends, it's usually a circus. Screaming kids are running around the store, toys are thrown all over the place, and the line at the one cash register is a mile long. It takes forever to get in and out, so come during the week.

Prices here are always being marked down on a regular basis. You'll see a price marked on an old typewriter with a grease pencil, for example, $6.98. This will be crossed out the next day and there'll be a new price of $4.98. Next day, this will be crossed off as well, and the new price will be $2.98. Then if it doesn't sell it gets thrown out. If you only want to pay two bucks for a pair of shoes as opposed to four bucks, just come back a few days later.

It's also a great place to pick up a $4 kid's bicycle, on which you can ride around the neighborhood, and then thrash it later on.

As with just about any place in Downtown San Jose, the library is a perfect spot for people watching. One day there will be a shoddily dressed transient sitting alone with a pile of dinosaur books, while the next day there'll be a man lying on the floor, by the book stacks, trying to see up the skirts of the young Vietnamese girls in the next aisle over.

The public library has a very eclectic selection of videos to rent. Aside from the regular movies, which are all free to rent, you can choose from a variety of non-fiction documentaries, instructional videos, travel shows, specials, biographies and all sorts of weird stuff. If you want to know how to repair a table saw, there's a video here that will show you. There's an entire 20 volume set on the history of Western Civilization and an extensive collection of warfare specials. They even have "2000 Maniacs" on DVD!

The library also contains the California Room, a fabulous place to explore or do research. Materials on the history of San Jose and the entire state of California are here. If you want a list of all the people murdered in San Jose during the last decade, you can find that out here.

The library also has an extensive collection of foreign language materials including many books and videos in Vietnamese, Spanish, Arabic, Tagalog, and Chinese.

There’s also an extensive archive of popular sheet music here.

This building will be destroyed soon, as the city of San Jose is building a new facility on the campus of San Jose State University which will house both the public library and the university library.

There's an expansive outdoor dining patio where jazz bands play during the summer months, and inside there is plenty of room for one to enjoy an elegant meal or watch sports on one of their many large televisions.

I stand out in Gordon Biersch like a sore thumb, because ninety percent of the patrons are business owners, venture capitalists, young rich college couples, or nuclear families from the suburbs. However, what makes GB a real bar, in the sense of the term, is that they give a little extra service to their regular customers. Even though I usually waltz in with a wrinkled Hawaiian shirt and a pair of black jeans that I've worn three days in row, I'll get a free round for every two or three that I buy. Not all the time, but many times.

At GB one can witness corporate mergers taking place over a $19.95 plate of Moroccan Lamb Chops and simultaneously see a crowd of drunken rich twenty-somethings, each one of which wearing a watch that costs more than everything I'm wearing combined. It's a great place to observe peoples' behavior for character trait fodder if you're writing fiction, or simply a fun place to gawk at extremely gorgeous and extremely rich women.

For a scrumptious rush, try the garlic fries. They'll wreak havoc on your breath, but GB will provide you with enough after-dinner mints to quell the effects.

Lou's is a Silicon Valley legend since 1955. The walls are decked out in WWII clippings, American flags and aviation paraphernalia. Take their one-hour tour and witness how donuts are made. Everything here is completely handmade with only the freshest ingredients. Now operated by the Chavira family, the shop even delivers in the Downtown San Jose area. Well worth the detour it takes to find the place.

Aside from four gorgeous gardens, twisting gravel paths, waterfalls, a koi pond, a bamboo park and a replica of a 19th century Kyoto tea merchant's home, there are also wedding and banquet facilities here. A great place to immerse yourself in the tranquility of it all and observe the perfect harmony of the arrangements and design. It was also named one of the best places to smooch in Northern California.

If you're sick to death of watching the people in Downtown San Jose, then drive to Saratoga and up the windy road to Hakone Gardens, which can, in some strange Zen fashion, be a great place to un-people-watch. Or un-watch people, however you want to look at it.

New construction includes a larger and wider stagehouse, a three story building along Market Street accommodating performer support facilities, off street truck loading, and an extension of the lobby. The building's First Street façade will be restored to its former 1927 elegance.

The ground level used to be a bar called Marsugi's until it closed on February 28, 1993. For years, (IMHO) Marsugi's was the only good club in San Jose: a small dive bar that one could see local and national touring bands for cheap on any given night. In fact, many bands who later went on to become huge originally played here when they were nobodies. Nirvana comes to mind immediately.

So, while you sit there at the corner table by the window polishing your finernails after a Breast of Duck with Kirsch Bigarade and mixed baby root vegetables, remember that in 1988 Kurt Cobain played guitar while standing on his head right where you're sitting.

"The Rep" as it's referred to by locals, is Silicon Valley's premiere theatre company. Recent productions include By the Bog of Cats starring Academy Award winner Holly Hunter and Lynn Redgrave's Mandrake Root. Seating capacity is 525.

It's also a favorite after-work watering hole for employees of Metro Newspapers, which is right down the street.

I am a third generation SJSU graduate and I spent a decade infiltrating this place, either as a student or an employee. If you’re anywhere in the Downtown San Jose area, take a leisurely walk through this 154-acre campus and see the sights. It’s worth it.

Due to my sordid past in the miserable profession known as tech support, I get free exhibits-only passes to many of the computer trade shows that take place in this building. After a few drinks it can be fun to simply stroll through the trade show and pass out business cards to the unsuspecting crowds. This, my friend, is Silicon Valley at its finest.

The San Jose Convention and Visitor’s Bureau is also housed within this facility, so you can stop by their little shop here to get any late-breaking info about San Jose. Here you will find information on accommodations, dining, sights, attractions and much more.

To make a long story short: The original Pueblo de San Jose moved to this plaza in 1797 and the Mexican government ruled the area for about twenty years before the U.S. takeover in the mid 1840s. For most of the first half of the twentieth century, San Jose’s city hall was located here, in a gargantuan elaborate stone building, which was eventually torn down in 1958.

In 1993, the park was renamed in honor of Cesar E. Chavez (1927-1993), resident of San Jose, community organizer and founder of the United Farm Workers Union. The vision of the UFW was born in San Jose.

Now the plaza is host to the popular "Christmas in the Park," a yearly event that fills the entire plaza with automated holiday displays, fixtures, train rides, fake snow and all sorts of activities for the kids to enjoy. It’s a great attraction for the family and draws visitors from all over the South Bay. The "Music in the Park" free concerts happen here every Thursday evening during the summer months and the park hosts many other ethnic festivals, parades, cook-offs and events throughout the year.

It’s a great place to people-watch, as there are always children playing in the fountains, street musicians, schools on field trips, and, of course, the omnipresent brethren of homeless people.

Right at the same location, and right on the base of the same statue sits a memorial for the last lynching in California, which took place here in November of 1933. Brooke Hart, son of the Harts who owned a popular department store downtown, was kidnapped, murdered and dumped in the bay. The Harts were a very, very popular family in San Jose and this kidnapping, coupled with the fervor over the Lindberg baby kidnapping just a few months beforehand, brought out the worst in everyone. The two men who perpetrated the kidnapping were dragged out of jail on the 26th of November and hung in this park.

Again, take a few minutes to explore the statues and plaques here as well as the many historic buildings that surround the park on all sides. The park is usually filled with homeless people, junkies, drunks and bums who claim the park as their own occupied territory, but as long as you don’t look them in the eye, you’ll be fine.

A complete photo tour of this neighborhood is available at www.sjunderbelly.com.

They filed a lawsuit which was subsequently thrown out of court, the judge deciding that the sculpture was a work of art and a cultural artifact, not a religious token.

But the ire continues, even among secular San Joseans, many of whom consider the coiled snake-like sculpture to resemble a gigantic dog turd.