As the hub of Silicon Valley, San Jose has long been a hotbed for tech innovators and achievers. The same holds true for its culinary scene, which is filled with award winners, up-and-comers and artisans creating authentic international cuisine. Whether you visit San Jose to stroll museums, delve into history or ogle at the cool lowrider cars, eating well should be a key part of your itinerary. Here’s where to experience the best of San Jose’s exceptional foodie scene.
Dine Your Way Through San Jose’s International Communities
San Jose is a city of distinctive neighborhoods—and its quilt of global communities provides an excellent road map for culinary adventures.
The city’s Little Portugal, for instance, is one of the few historically Portuguese communities in the U.S., and it’s also home to Bacalhau Grill, which offers classic pork-sandwich bifanas and features an on-site market with a deep inventory of Portuguese wine. For a traditional meal of salted codfish with potatoes, olives and peppers, order the namesake dish! In nearby Downtown San Jose, you’ll find the Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant Petiscos. Savor the signature small plates (“petiscos” are the Portuguese version of tapas) such as roasted octopus, shrimp fritters and duck rice.
San Jose is also home to the largest Vietnamese community outside Vietnam, so you could build a whole getaway out of trying phở at spots such as Bun Bo Hue An Nam in Little Saigon, Pho Kim Long in Alum Rock and Phonomenal Noodle House in Downtown San Jose.
Downtown provides a variety of other options for ethnic cuisine, like the acclaimed LeYou which has earned accolades for its healthful, eco-friendly menu of Ethiopian classics such as key wot stews and chili powder–dusted injera flatbreads. Japantown, meanwhile, is home to a variety of don’t-miss stops, including the sushi of Minato and Kazoo.
While the Mexican-American community thrives in various parts of San Jose, make sure you stop at Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant LUNA Mexican Kitchen in the Alameda neighborhood: Chef Jo Lerma-Lopez has been lauded for her made-from-scratch Mexican cuisine that uses organic ingredients and slow-cooking techniques. Favorites include the barbecue-style parrilladas with Niman Ranch carnitas and house-made nixtamal corn tortillas.
Next, explore West San Jose for more Ethiopian menu offerings at Zeni and acclaimed Thai cuisine at New Krungthai Restaurant—the latter just down the road from a prime San Jose attraction, the fascinating Winchester Mystery House. Plan a visit to the Naglee Park neighborhood for the popular chicken korma at Swaad Indian Cuisine or venture to Willow Glen for Italian perfection at Bertucelli’s La Villa Delicatessen.
For additional diverse comfort food options, follow the locals to Back A Yard Caribbean Grill for their signature jerk chicken, oxtail, pork and tofu. Or pay a visit to Falafel’s Drive-In, a Middle Eastern take on a burger joint that dates back to 1966 and is famous both for its huge falafel pitas and its banana shakes—and, more recently, for being featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.
Food Halls and Fine Dining
If you feel overwhelmed by the options, take a stroll around two distinct areas and see what strikes your fancy: Santana Row is home to high-end shopping as well as foodie magnets such as the Japanese cuisine at Ozumo, the creative tapas at Oveja Negra and the Singaporean fare at Straits. Likewise, the food hall–style San Pedro Square Market in Downtown’s San Pedro Square offers its own global menu with the Indo-Nepali cuisine at Urban Momo, crepes at Crepas Fiu Fiu and Peruvian fare at JORA.
As a great foodie town, San Jose also offers some fine-dining options that are white-tablecloth mainstays and regular inclusions on “best of” lists in newspapers and websites around the San Francisco Bay Area. For classic steakhouse fare, head to LB Steak along Santana Row, helmed by James Beard–nominated chef Roland Passot. Or experience two local legends for French cuisine: Since the late 1970s, La Forêt in Almaden Valley and Le Papillon in West San Jose have been serving dishes like roast duck with morels, escargot, and Soufflé Grand Marnier, and have long been hot spots for Silicon Valley execs.
Wine and Beer in San Jose
Ideally situated amidst three American viticultural areas, San Jose makes a prime launching pad for exploring the nearby wine regions in the Santa Cruz Mountains, Livermore Valley and Santa Clara Valley, but you can find great wine within the city limits too. Located on the mineral-rich soil of a former quicksilver mine in the Almaden Valley neighborhood, Alamitos Vineyards creates bird-themed Sauvignon Blancs, Cabernet Sauvignons and more—like the 2019 Estate “Hawk Eye” Syrah, which earned a Double-Gold win at the 2023 San Francisco Chronicle International Wine Competition and also scored 91 points from Wine Enthusiast. Discover it and other award winners at the outdoor tasting area overlooking an historic reservoir and see why Alamitos was named 2023’s Best New Winery Experience by USA TODAY.
In the nearby Alameda neighborhood, which is lined with historical Victorian and Craftsman-style homes, you have two more excellent wine-tasting options. Coterie Winery creates wine from a variety of California vineyards, while J. Lohr’s San Jose Wine Center offers the chance to try small-lot and single-vineyard wines from the popular winemaker. If you’re in Little Italy, turn your wine-tasting outing into a great lunch by pairing wines from Ancora Vino by Enoteca la Storia with charcuterie boards and bruschetta from neighboring shops in The Littlest Little Italy.
Silicon Valley’s modern beer culture emerged in the 1980s when Gordon Biersch opened one of the nation’s first craft breweries in nearby Palo Alto. These days, Gordon Biersch Brewing Company hosts a myriad of fun events in its Japantown backyard, including a summertime farmers’ market and live music. Other top local breweries include Clandestine Brewing, Camino Brewing Co. and Hapa’s Brewing Company. San Jose is also home to California’s first co-op–style brewery, Umunhum Brewing, named after the nearby Santa Cruz Mountain peak and comprised of 650 members sharing brewery space (see where to try their brews). Baseball fans can combine a Belgian-style beer with fun ambience at the memorabilia–filled Strike Brewing Co. near Excite Ballpark, the 1942 stadium that’s home to Minor League Baseball’s San Jose Giants.
Strong Starts, Sweet Finishes
San Jose is a town known for its high achievers, so it’s no surprise that breakfast and coffee are priorities here. At Downtown’s Academic Coffee, for instance, you can choose from coffees named for San Jose landmarks (like Alum Rock or the Guadalupe River Trail) or try inventive drinks such as the Espresso Elderflower Tonic.
Nearby, try the Dirty Diana (chai, espresso, beet mix and milk) at Nirvana Soul, San Jose’s first Black female-owned coffee shop. Stop in at Voltaire Coffee Roasters for fair trade coffees or try one of the Destination Lattes at Voyager Craft Coffee in San Pedro Square Market—like the Santiago with red rouge cocoa and cayenne, or the Lexington with a house-made bourbon reduction. Any downtown coffee pairs nicely with a sweet from La Lune Sucrée, known for its French and German breakfast pastries.
Prefer tea? Check out N7 (they have shops in Evergreen and West San Jose) which brought the first nitrogen-infused teas to the Bay Area. The nitrogen adds a creaminess and frothiness to drinks such as jasmine milk tea, mango matcha or a watermelon freeze.
In San Jose, dessert can be a meal all its own. Certainly, another prime part of appreciating the local Portuguese community comes from partaking of the custard tarts known as pastéis de nata, which can be found downtown at Pastelaria Adega (part of the Petisco family) as well as at Popular Bakery in Little Portugal.
Stop by Japantown to sample the manju, inaka and chichi dango confections at Shuei-Do Manju Shop—so good that reportedly the Emperor of Japan enjoyed them during a visit to the U.S.! At Santana Row, you have the compelling options of fresh-churned scoops and inventive flavors at Smitten Ice Cream or the French millefeuille cake slices at Cocola. Before you leave town, make sure you experience a longtime local favorite: the custard-filled burnt almond cake at Peters’ Bakery, which has been around since 1936 and is considered the gold standard for this simple-but-addictive dessert.