4 Best Restaurants in San Jose, The Bay Area

San Jose’s only Michelin-starred restaurant and the most ambitious destination for Portuguese-influenced cuisine in the Bay Area is this fantastic tasting menu-only spot. Seven-course dinners weave together meat and seafood plates, where the Portuguese fish staple of bacalhau (codfish) might be incorporated into a cannelloni, before leading to a delicately seared A5 Wagyu dish. Each plate is meticulously composed and presented. The sharp design carries over to the pleasantly quiet bistro-like space with fine glassware, tablecloth-free tables, a glass-enclosed wine cellar, and a striking blue-and-white tile mosaic covering one wall.

Diners enjoy sampling the unique specialties presented by this friendly eatery, one of the few Somali restaurants in the Bay Area. The go-to dish is “kay kay,” a sweet-and-savory stir-fry of chopped chapatti bread, spice-rubbed beef or chicken, African tea, onions, and bananas—and yes, you read that last one right.

For those who think that French-influenced fine dining is passé, San Jose’s gastronomic stalwart will change a few opinions. It’s the best of both culinary worlds, where timeless luxury meets a contemporary approach. Here, Burgundy snails are paired with stinging nettle agnolotti (similar to small raviolis) and grilled Hawaiian swordfish is presented with a pinot noir–miso sauce. Diners enjoy a three-course or four-course menu with several options available in each course, or a preset six-course tasting menu. The posh dining room (located at the edge of a a nondescript mini-mall by a liquor store) isn’t overly grand but has a refined aura with closed shutters, floral arrangements, and crisp white tablecloths.

San Jose’s most well-known dining destination might be this Detroit-style square pizza specialist that only found a full-time home in 2022 after being a pop-up in a nightclub. Now it’s part of a multipurpose entertainment space called San Pedro Social, just a block away. New York–style and cast-iron baked Sicilian square pizzas are also offered. Everything is fantastic and uses the highest level of ingredients, from the olive oil, to the flour, to the four kinds of cheeses used in the house blend.