Dining Out In Los Gatos

Want to dine out in Silicon Valley? There are lots of great restaurants in Los Gatos, too many to list, really -  most in downtown Los Gatos, but Crimson and Viva over on "The Boulevard". There are a few places on our list of "want to try" but haven't gotten to yet, including Forbes Mill Steakhouse, Manresa and Restaurant James Randall.

We happen to live on the east end of town and some of the local haunts we enjoy include Los Gatos Pizza and the Tea Garden Chinese Kitchen (really for take-out, both are at Harwood and Blossom Hill Roads in east Los Gatos). Tonight, Jim wanted to take me out for supper since I'd worked many many hours today (showing a lot of short sales). By the time I got in from work, it was too late to make reservations for a place in downtown L.G., so we decided to dine at Gallo's at the Walgreen's Shopping Center at Blossom Hill and Harwood (14180 Blossom Hill Rd), which is close to where we live in Belwood. We both love Italian food, and sometimes there's a lot to be said for simiplicity: show up and eat rather than plan it all out ahead of time.

We arrived at around 7:15 or 7:30 and were seated immediately. The booths are comfy and it's a place without airs. Half the patrons seemed to be wearing sweat shirts - so the environment would have to be called casual, though not loud or overly bright. Our waiter was fairly attentive, though he never came back to ask if everything was ok.

But how was the food? A bit salty. Jim ordered the calamari dinner and it was fine. I ordered a dish called Chicken Oscar that was advertised as being chicken with asparagus and crab.

Let me tell you, that crab was no crab.

It was so clearly NOT crab that (to Jim's embarassment) I asked our young waiter if it was "fake crab" (the texture and flavor was not like the real thing). "What is fake crab?" he replied. We explained that it's usually pollack, or another cheap fish, infused with crab flavoring. He'd never heard of it!

A few minutes later, he returned and confessed that the owner and chef admitted that the dish really had "mostly fake crab" and said something about veal. Veal instead of chicken? I don't even want to ask - I do not order veal due to the way the animals area treated! (And apologetically, he said that they would be changing their menu soon - as if the age of the menu had anything to do with the fact that it misrepresented what was served.)

Does this remind you of Bella Mia in downtown San Jose? If not, it should. That's the restaurant that advertised veal dishes but in fact was serving pork - to the horror of many patrons who abstain from pork.  

As for our neighborhood eatery, Gallo's, I'm disappointed. We have been there every so often and usually found it too expenive for what we got, but never  before thought we ordered something that we did not get. But tonight, that's what happened. I ordered a chicken and crab dish and got chicken and imitation crab. And something about veal. AAUGH. What's up with that???

I was not just disappointed, I was angry.

We have been there many times because it's so very close and convenient. But being lied to on the menu was the last straw. I do not intend to go back. Goodness knows, there are lots of great restaurants in Los Gatos, and many of them serve Italian food. But I would not endorse Gallo's as one of them.

Comcast Didn't Deliver in Los Gatos,
So I Went to the Bar...

Going to a bar alone is really out of my comfort level, but even more so when I'm not even meeting someone there.

But that's exactly what I did yesterday, and it's Comcast's fault.

Why? Because Comcast did not broadcast the NFL "Game of the Century" - the Patriots vs. the Colts. Last week I saw a (national) television ad that it would be shown. Being played at Indy, the game was on yesterday afternoon starting at 1:15pm local time.

But when I looked at the television listings for Sunday, I was shocked and appalled that this incredibly significant game wasn't listed as being televised. We're talking about the game between arch rivals. The game where both went into it undefeated this season, 8-0.

I did what any paying customer would do: I phoned Comcast. "Can I upgrade the sports package and watch the game?" I asked, rather than complaining. "No, ma'am, Comcast isn't showing that game west of the Rockies."

Incredible. Obviously, I should have satellite television instead of Comcast if I'm going to live in Los Gatos...or apparently anywhere "west of the Rockies".

Perhaps I should explain why I'm a passionate Pats fan while living in Niners (and Raiders) country. The quarterback, Tom Brady, who hails from nearby San Mateo, is my second cousin. I always liked football - I think I attended every Saratoga High and Bellarmine College Prep game when I was a teenager. (My college, Gonzaga University, didn't do football. Basketball was - and is - king in Spokane.) I didn't grow up watching the Niners or Raiders except occassionally on t.v. But when you have a cousin on the field, it changes everything. Or, as I like to say, "blood is thicker than geography". (We have loads of other family in the area too, including my sibs and their families and other cousins.)

Anyway, all of this to say that we're Patriots fans and I watch any Pats game that Comcast will deign to put on the air. I was certain that the Patriots vs the Colts game would be aired - heck, I saw the ad on TV that asserted it would!

No dice.

The only alternative was to go to a sports bar. Happily, in Los Gatos we have a wonderful one, Double D's. I phoned them one minute after they opened to ask if they'd be showing the game. "All over!" the gal reassured me.

My husband and kids weren't able to go with me. I tried calling one friend to see if she'd go - she would have but was in southern California with her mom, who'd been ill. Most of my other friends really don't watch football games on television. Since I was sure the game would be on tv, I just hadn't planned out going to a bar to catch a little football.

I went alone to Double D's to watch at least part of the game. The place was packed!! Saw the first half - the Pats were trailing as it went into the halftime show and it had been hard-fought to that point. I enjoyed a beer and a burger and watched some great football on a huge, super clear screen. Only problem for me was that I don't know all the refs' hand signals and there was such an enthusiastic crowd at Double D's that it was difficult to hear anything.

For that and a lot of other reasons, I still prefer watching the game at home. But I was thankful to be able to see it at all.

I had been sitting next to a guy named Oscar who was sporting a # 12 shirt (and who told me that for Halloween he "was" Tom Brady) and told him as I left at halftime, "they have often come from behind in the second half, and I bet they do it today".

Back at home, there were things I had to do but I kept my computer logged in to NFL.com, where at least I could follow the score and read the plays, if not see what was going on. The fourth quarter was wild. My teens were attempting to finish the weekend's homework load but I updated them on the game fairly frequently. What an upset! The Patriots charged back in the last quarter, reversing the lead and winning 24-20 there on the Indy homefield.

Congrats, Patriots! I knew you could pull it off!

Thank you, Double D's, for showing this game. Obviously a whole lot of other folks wanted to see it "west of the Rockies" too.

And Comcast? Today I'm going to see what it costs to install satellite television. . . .

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Double D's is located in downtown Los Gatos at the corner of Highway 9 and North Santa Cruz Avenue, just off Highway 17. The parking lot there is small but there's tons of free public parking between University Avenue and North Santa Cruz Avenue.

354 N Santa Cruz Avenue
Los Gatos, CA 95030
Phone: (408) 395-6882
Fax: (408) 395-8402

As with other blog posts highlighting local businesses in Los Gatos, this is not a paid post but again this blogger's positive experience with a locally run place.

Want a Cozy Cup of Coffee on a Cool Los Gatos Morning?

My siblings and cousins in Massachusettes would chide me if I complained about our odd "winter storm" that blew into Silicon Valley yesterday, in the middle of what should be our "Indian summer".

But it's a little cold here.

It was 65 degrees in the Handy house this morning (and in the high forties outside). The heater had to go on or this blogger wasn't getting out of bed. The dust burned off and smelled the place up initially. After flipping the thermostat back onto "sensing mode", I flipped on the coffee. This time it's Peet's. But when that's gone I'll be dripping something from Burundi that my brother got while at a theological conference there a couple of weeks ago.

In college and grad school especially, I spent a lot of time at coffeehouses. Some of my friends today really don't make coffee at home - they always go out for it. Several Realtor colleagues of mine bring along their laptop or tablet computers and socialize with the regulars while catching up on email, or reading news online. For me, visiting a coffeehouse is a treat.

Last night I was invited to join the Bay Area Ghost Hunt folks at Starbucks in Los Gatos at 6:30. Personally, I prefer mom & pop shops, locally owned ones, but I do love getting a latte with sugar free hazlenut syrup - yum! That is also available at Seattle's Best inside of Border's in Old Town, a bookstore we can't seem to stay away from for a week at a time.

Independent, Locally Owned Los Gatos Coffeehouses

But let's talk locally owned coffee stores. In Portland, where coffee is as serious as it is in Seattle but chain stores are shunned, you hear people joke that "friends don't let friends drink Starbucks". And they mean it!  Mom and pop shops all the way.

So here in town, where do you like to go? Here are my three favorite ones:

 * Yogurt Delite at 464 N Santa Cruz Ave (older article about this neat shop) 
 * Great Bear Coffee Roasting 19 N Santa Cruz Ave 
 * Los Gatos Coffee Roasting at 101 W. Main Street near University

Yogurt Delite has a name that does not imply coffee and breakfast munchies, but it does provide those along with free wireless internet. It is a smaller shop than my other two favorites, so if you are looking for a quiet place to enjoy your cuppa joe, this is it. Parking is easy as it's close to Safeway and Petco.

Great Bear has cool art, both mural art and local framed art on display. (No, the art isn't all good, but it is all interesting.) It's a larger shop and centrally located in the "main drag" area. Parking is not hard on N. Santa Cruz in the morning (afternoons are another matter) but there's also a parking lot in back, off Main Street.

The Los Gatos Coffee Roasting Company really does roast its own coffee - you can smell it. It is the largest of my three favorite coffee places in town, with tons of seats. If you live in town and are at all involved, it's impossible to go there and not know or at least recognize someone. But parking can be an issue in this congested part of town. It's easiest to stop in there if you're doing several store visits in the area, or if you can arrive on foot or bike. It's not too far from the Los Gatos Creek Trail so many patrons here seem to be motor-vehicle free.

As for me, my kids have just left for school and my mug has managed to get empty. Time to fill 'er up. And maybe today I will swing by one of my favorite coffee houses for a little decaf. Actually, I had some serious insomnia last night. Maybe it will be regular.

Nostalgia in a Cinnamon Bun

My kids attended Casa Maria Montessori (sadly, now closed) and St. Mary's Elementary School, both in Los Gatos. Many, many times I took them from school to the also-now-closed Good Earth Restaurant on North Santa Cruz Avenue to enjoy hot cocoa and oversized cinnamon buns. It's been years since that cheerful restaurant closed its doors, and my kids have not had a place in which to feast upon huge, locally baked cinnamon rolls since then.

Until now.

Thanks to Google Alerts, I see most articles and blog posts that come out with anything about our fair town (including some stupid stuff I could miss that actually has nothing to do with the town of Los Gatos). Recently the San Jose Mercury News did a piece on The Los Gatos Cafe Uptown and it mentioned the restaurant's yummy cinnamon buns.

The Handy teens, aged 18 and 16, had this to say about the rolls after feasting on them last weekend:

"I'm not sure if I was just hungry or they were incredibly good, but with every bite I just kept wondering if there was a way to get more into my mouth, it was so good...."

and

"It is really, really good when you eat it with the cinnamon butter..."

The Good Earth is gone, but the happy sentiments aroused by their much loved cinnamon buns are definitely back. It's a mouthful of nostalgia.

I'm sure that all of the food at "uptown" is good. I absolutely love the original Los Gatos Cafe in downtown. I rather suspect that the "uptown" branch will bcome my favorite of the two as it has the great food but without the lines and crowds that I avoid at all costs.

But wherever you go, do order (or take home) a cinnamon bun.

(This is not a paid blog post, and in fact the owners of this restaurant do not know that this blog post was going to be written.)

Infiniti Boutique in Downtown Los Gatos

No Prohibition in Los Gatos

Carrie Nation is probably turning over in her grave.

A strong advocate for the Women's Christian Temperance Movement, Carrie Nation was opposed to alcohol in a very big way. History has it that she attacked dozens of bars together with a band of praying & singing women and eventually wielded a a hatchet to make her point. In fact, in later years this seems to have become her "niche market" as her newletter was called "The Hatchet". Though jailed some 30 times, she paid her fines with lecture fees and  (believe it or not) the sales of small souvenier hatchets. 

I suppose it is true that "actions speak louder than words".  But it's also true that irony is one of the funniest forms of humor.

And so it is quite humorous indeed to most folks in Los Gatos that the town's most popular bar (and there's no shortage of them)  is named none other than "Carrie Nation's".  In case you don't know this colorful bit of history, the beveled glass in the main door portrays an ax.  (If nothing else, it's a conversation starter!)   Located at 8 North Santa Cruz Avenue (close to Main Street), Carrie Nation's is a fun place to stop in for a drink if you have a sense of humor and enjoy the old "fern bar" atmosphere.

Of course, I'm not saying that the folks who run the bar have a sense of humor themselves. Once, when my kids were small, we'd seen the Holiday Parade on a cold December morning and one of small our kids desperately needed to use a restroom. My office was too far down the street for practical purposes (that is, when the child says "I need to go" he or she usually means NOW). We went in the back door of Carrie Nation's, and zoomed down the stairs like folks on an urgent mission to the restrooms. There was no walking through the bar area or anything like that. When we emerged, two minutes later, there was a scowling employee waiting for us and quite ready to escort us out.  You'd have thought we had pick pocketed our way down the stairs.

All I could think of was that the dour disposition of the gal for whom the bar was named had somehow been imparted on a unsympathetic employee.  (That was a lot of years ago, and I imagine that person has since had children of his own and perhaps has learned to think about the urgency of a young person's need for a restroom.)

I have never been back since! But even so, I love that front door. It tickles me every time I see it.

There are many fine bars in Los Gatos. I was intent upon writing about them here until I found an excellent article in the San Jose Mercury News which did a beautiful job reviewing them. Depending on your mood and the circumstances, you may prefer Viva (at Los Gatos Blvd and Blossom Hill), Mountain Charlie's, The Black Watch, or Johnny's, or Double D's or any of the great sites in town from Steamer's or The Wine Cellar or who knows what. Read the article.  If you have kids in tow, I do suggest Double D's  (at Highway 9 and North Santa Cruz Avenue) or Johnny's Northside Grill (532 N Santa Cruz Ave)Both are most welcoming!

But whether you frequent bars or not, next time you are in downtown Los Gatos, take a gander at 8 North Santa Cruz and enjoy a chuckle at the image of the hatchet on the door there.  Imagine what Carrie would have to say!

Blog entry by Mary Pope-Handy,
Los Gatos Enthusiast,
Los Gatos & Silicon Valley (San Jose area) Residential Real Estate Specialist and
Realtor, CRS, ABR, SRES, ASP, CNHS, RECS, E-Pro,
Intero Real Estate Services, 518 N. Santa Cruz Ave., Los Gatos, CA 95030
www.PopeHandy.com
Do not use without permission, please.

Holiday Mailing Tip

In the spirit of holiday cheer, I'm going to share with you one of my holiday secrets.

Immediately adjacent to Los Gatos is a very small city named Monte Sereno. ("El Sereno" is the name of the large mountain to the right of the pass to Santa Cruz. "El Sombroso" is the name of the large one to the left.) The Monte Sereno Post Office, located on Hightway 9 (aka Los Gatos-Saratoga Road) and Rose Avenue, is usually the best place around during the holiday season when you need to mail a package. This year they have cut back on their hours and it is only open from 9am - 1pm, Monday through Friday.   The lines are typically far shorter than at other nearby post office locations, but it is a small office and they don't take credit cards or do express mail.  So go armed with your simple mail and checkbook, and be delighted that the line is half as long as at other PO stations.

Cheers!