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Welcome to Downtown San Jose!
These
girls heat it up at the club/lounge Farenheit.
Miss
San Jose Grand Prix first runner-up Marivel Salgado is out on the town.
It may not be magestic Monterey, luxurious
Los Gatos and it's certainly not as sexy as San Francisco.
But San Jose – in particular it's thriving downtown district
– is a meeting place mecca, a desired destination for people looking
for a good night out in a good town.
The layout is ideal, as places are concentrated within a five- or six-block
area. This makes it easy to stroll the area, move from bar to bar and
even to select that perfect place to dine. In fact, weekdays at lunchtime
bring out thousands of walking workers who fill the cafes and restaurants.
Still,, some might find it surprisng that there is any kind of life
whatsoever in San Jose, especailly any nightlife. After all, sexy San
Francisco is an hour away and even lovely Los
Gatos is 15-20 minutes in the distance. But it's there; in
fact, downtown has dozens of places, ranging from pubs to rock bars
to lounges and clubs.
To find the way ot San Jose's bars, head to Santa Clara Street,
between 2nd and 3rd. Dress depends on where one is headed but it's
pretty darn casual; even the clubs allow shorts (though shirts with
a collar are recommended). Drink 'em if you got 'em is 1:15 and it's
pretty much lights out by 1:30. The crowd mix is heavily male –
perhaps as much as 65% – so girls get out there and balance out
that sexual scale.
Bars close at 2 a.m., with "drink 'em if you got 'em" occurring
at about 1:45.
For those staying overnight, there are a few high-end and mid-range
hotels within walking distance of all the pubs, clubs and restaurants.
[MAP
OF DOWNTOWN SAN JOSE]
SAN JOSE'S BARS & PUBS
The best pub is the Mission Ale House, a rustic brick building
on the corner of 3rd and Santa Clara. It has dozes of beers on tap,
big burgers (kitchen closes at 10) and has bartenders that like to throw
'em back. It has one long bar in the front room, an adjacent room and
two areas sharing one bar in the back. The best place to be, at least
in the summer, is the patio. This is generally a first-stop/last-stop
kind of place but can also be a destination. By midnight on weekends,
it will be packed and there will be a lineup for the patio. It serves
a drink called an Infusion as the house specialty. This is a casual
crowd, though it does play club music after dark.
Our racer buddy
John is at home in Johnny V's.
For a little later at night,, say 11ish, Johnny V's is a narrow
bar that rocks. There's just no other way to put it. There are nightly
2-for-1 kamikaze shots, something San Jose State students find quite
enticing. The Voo Doo Lounge is always hot, too (and you have
to love the retro lava lamps). It's next door to Toon's, a place
best described by one of PubClub's local moles: "I've never not
had a good time in Toon's. You have to filter through about 75% of the
crowd to enjoy it, but it's fun."
These locals also like The Flying Pig, a fun hangout bar.
Best early – before 10 (see below) – are a pair of Baja
beach-looking places, the San Jose Bar & Grille and Tres
Gringo's. They are casual cantinas. As the night goes from young
to mature, the crowd does just the opposite.
SAN JOSE'S CLUBS
Impressive in its old bank building, The Vault Ultra Lounge
stands tall as San Jose's premier club party. We say tall because it
has a staircase leading to an area with dancing high above the rest
of the bar. Looking down reveals a packed bar, people lounging on comfortable
chairs and couches in the two main rooms. Behind them is another bar
area and two VIP rooms (3 bottle minimum @ $175 per). The crowd is primarily
fine-dressed mid- to late-20s.
Another cool club lounge is Fahrenheit Ultra Lounge. It's rich
in look and feel but hardly pretentious. The main bar area is flanked
by couches and chairs on one side and a dance floor on the other witih
seating theat kind of makes it like a VIP room without being a VIP room
(though there IS a VIP room). The DJ plays cool tunes, kind of light
hip-hop, giving those in Fahrenheit' a very "smooth" sensation.
For dining and drinking, Gordon Biersch and PF Changs
are among the popular options on San Fernando Street. To stir up –
or create – a dinner "party" so to speak, choose the
bar of GB. For late-night munchies, there's Mucho's, a cheap
Mexican restaurant.
But don't hang out too late in San Jose after closing. In fact, after
about 11:30, the quality of the crowd seems to have blown a gasket.
In places, it gets rougher than the Champ Cars going over the light
rail tracks. As a result, there is an enormous police presence and as
closing time approaches, they line up squad cars like race cars on the
starting grid. They go out of their way to prevent any incidents, but
it is advised to quickly hustle back to the night's resting place.
– Bay Area Party Guide –
• Los Gatos, Capitola Beach, Monterey, Santa Cruz.
The Bay Area.
• San Francisco City
Guide.
• San Francisco Pubs
and Clubs.
• San Francisco Sightseeing
and Activities
• Francisco Dining
and Restaurants.
• San Francisco is so cool, we have these Bonus Pages:
-- Learn what its like to be living and Single
in The City
-- PubClub covers the crazy Bay
to Breakers mobile party
 PubClub.com
– Home Page Has More Bars in More Cities
.
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