Photograph by Tsutomu Fujita
A large plate of beans, rice, vegetables and chicken--topped with fresh cilantro--is one of many authentic Mexican meals served at Andale Taqueria, which won no less than five different categories, including best Mexican food.
Best of Los Gatos 2001: Dining and Entertainment
'Eat, drink and be merry!" It may sound like the credo followed by Shakespeare's sanguine prankster, Sir John Falstaff, but it could just as well be the motto of Los Gatos--at least according to the scores of voters who came out with strong recommendations for their favorite ethnic and specialty restaurants, fast food joints, bars and coffeehouses. In fact, the Dining and Entertainment category has been, and still is, among those that receive the most action on the ballot sheet.
Where's the best place to see and be seen? How about the best place to drop $200 on dinner, sip a martini or celebrate a special event? They're all here, along with the best place for java junkies to get a caffeine rush or health food fans to sip their smoothies. And that's just the beginning! According to voters, Los Gatos is very definitely the best place to be for dining and entertainment.
Best Place to Pick Up Dinner After Work, Cheap Eats. Place for Solo Dining, Fast Food, Mexican Food
Andale Taqueria
Since the word "andale" means "hurry up," "do it quick" or "do it fast," according to manager Arturio Hernandez, it's no wonder Andale's won for best fast food and best place to pick up dinner. But it's not just speed that brings diners back here again and again, but also flavor, freshness and friendliness.
That friendliness means it's the best place for solo dining, too. Plus a good buy for the money. The most popular dish is--surprise--chicken salad, with the specials of the day running a close second. What distinguishes the chicken is its mesquite grilling and selected seasonings.
Most popular among Mexican dishes are the burritos and tacos. Andale's tries to cook food just like they'd have at home--like mom makes. Only the mother in this case is chef and co-owner Ignacio Flores.
Interesting culinary changes have come with Mexican food's move north. Burrito, meaning small donkey, was a fresh, salted tortilla, shaped with ears, when Andale's four co-owners were growing up in Mexico. Now it's a sturdy envelope for chicken, pork or beef, beans, rice, tomatillos, cilantro ... your call.
Soups here change with the seasons and feature plenty of vegetables. As for spiciness, it's spelled out on the specials board. Besides, "we like to suffer when we eat, the flavor is so good," Hernandez says.
The wallet doesn't suffer at Andale's, though: the restaurant's two sites, across the street from each other, were also voted as best cheap eats. The one next to Carry Nation's is smaller, though, and does a higher proportion of take-out business.
Andale Taqueria, 21 N. Santa Cruz, 408.395.8997; 6 N. Santa Cruz Ave., 408.395.4244
Best Place to Take the Sports Team
Double D's Sports Grille
With different TV sets displaying a variety of sporting spectacles every which way you turn, it's no wonder Double D's was voted best spot to take the team. There are 22 TVs in all. Count 'em--22! The nibbling is crunchy and salty, no implements needed. Double D's champions an unabashed American menu, including burgers and fries.
These are bedecked in patriotic finery: red of ketchup and tomatoes; white of buns and grilled onions; blue of, well, bleu cheese. To satisfy the cholesterol conscious, there's an inviting variety of salads--and hefty portions to boot. Various pizzas and sandwiches are also available. Monday nights during 49ers season finds Double D's in its sporting glory--the joint's jumpin.'
Incidentally, for the few people out there who still don't know the origin of the eatery's moniker--it named for co-owners and brothers Dean and Darin Devincenzi.
Double D's Sports Grille, 354 N. Santa Cruz Ave., 408.395.6882
Best Wine Selection
French Wine Cellar
Upscale? You bet. Owners Sallie Robbins-Druian and husband Jay Druian teamed up to create a place where wine lovers can enjoy one of the most discriminating selections of French vins in the Bay Area. Jay went to high school at Chateau Roux, southwest of Orleans, and he's been a Francophile ever since.
Now he's imported some light from the City of Lights onto E. Main Street. His wry comments are appended on the boxes of wines. On a Domaine du Caillou Cotes-du-Rhone: "This wine is going to make many a chateauneuf crawl under the table and cry." About a Rose de Saignee wine: "You'll thank us later. I'm not sweet."
Before starting their wine business, Jay worked for an international insurance brokerage house; Sallie worked in advertising. Together, they're as fine a meld as the wines for sale.
The French Wine Cellar holds wine appreciation classes on Wednesday nights, March to October.
French Wine Cellar, 32 E. Main St., 408.354.0993
Best Pizza (Tie)
Willow Street Wood-Fired Pizza
T-Birds Pizza
Willow Street produces melt-in-your-mouth pizzas with untraditional crownings; T-Bird's pies are more traditional and so chock-full of good tidings that a slice has to be carefully lifted. How to choose between them? Los Gatans did the wise thing and declared a tie.
T-Birds' offerings are listed in order of popularity and numbered. Thus, No.1 is the T-Bird with pepperoni, green peppers, mushrooms, Italian sausage and fresh tomatoes. The classic is No. 2 and contains all of No.1 plus salami, smoked ham, linguica and black olives.
Willow Street's unusual choices include Thai Chicken, tucked with carrots, red onions, cilantro and spicy peanut sauce. Also, Chicken with Pesto and Spinach trots out the aforementioned, plus mozzarella, garlic and tomatoes. Other temptations: Garlic Chicken with bacon, spinach, caramelized onions and mozzarella; and Barbecue Chicken, with red onions, barbecue sauce, gouda cheese and cilantro.
Willow Street is so named because its first branch was on that street in the Willow Glen area of San Jose. It doesn't hold with half and half pizzas, but does offer soy mozzarella and thin, thick or regular crusts. At T-Birds, patrons can concoct their own pizzas from 28 ingredients.
T-Birds was started by a young man, Dana Smith, who was such a wow of a pizza twirler that he appeared on Johnny Carson's show, demo-ing his adroitness, which translated to his culinary skills, as well.
T-Birds, 444-A N. Santa Cruz Ave., 408.395.2525
Willow Street Pizza, 20 S. Santa Cruz Ave., 408.354.5566
Best Hamburger
Happy Hound
It's sloppy; it's tasty; it's loaded with flavor. In short, it's what makes a hamburger the classic American fast food. Although named for its hot dog cousin, the Hound consistently grills up the lunch favorite of nearly everyone--replete with pickles, tomatoes, lettuce, red onion and a special glop for that final fillip.
Probably the oldest fast food purveyor in town, its reputation precedes it: people throughout Santa Clara Valley make it a point to stop here when a hamburger is what they crave. The Hound is generally crowded with folks of all ages no matter what the hour. Served jauntily in plastic baskets, it's a choice the generations can agree on as they follow their nose to the area of town known as the North Forty.
Happy Hound, 15899 Los Gatos Blvd., 408.358.2444
Best Place to Sing Along
Music in the Plaza
Calling all would-be warblers! It's time to get out of the shower and into the plaza--the Los Gatos Town Plaza, that is. This is the venue for Music in the Plaza, Los Gatos' longest running free concert series. It's too late to sing this year, as the series runs on Sunday afternoons only from late June through late August. However, there's always next year!
MIP is funded by donations from individuals, small merchants and larger businesses. Each performance usually also has one or two major sponsors, whose names are printed in the concert programs. The lineups are quite eclectic and include rock, pop, swing, classical, country, Celtic, Mexican folk, jazz, rhythm & blues and opera. Almost all singers and bands hail from the Bay Area or elsewhere in California. With all the songs and musical styles MIP offers, there's always something worth singing--and plenty of folks do! (Even more folks jump up and dance, but that's another story!)
Information about Music in the Plaza is available from Arts Commissioners Werner Baracker, 408.472.8523, or Elke Groves, 408.356.9256.
Photograph by Paul Myers
Townsfolk apparently really love Steamer's seafood restaurant, as they voted it number one in several categories. One of them was in honor of the establishment's martinis.
Best Restaurant for Making Deals, Place to See and Be Seen, Martini, Seafood, Soup (Tie), Place for Singles to Mingle
Steamer's
Seafood bake, beer-battered snapper, grilled halibut or salmon, Steamer's linguine. The very listing tolls out the favorites at this popular restaurant. Pepper-crusted ahi tuna and brick oven roasted salmon are crowd pleasers at dinnertime. Lunch entrée faves include lemon-herb marinated rotisserie chicken and beer-battered snapper.
The chicken is partnered with a majestic array of baby artichoke hearts, roasted red and yellow peppers, balsamic red onion and grilled portobello mushrooms--crowning garlic mashed potatoes. In the sandwich lineup, the seafood bake holds an honored place--it's open-faced crab and shrimp. Fries or organic greens are on the side.
Crispy calamari or crab-artichoke dip titillate the taste buds to start things off. Soups offered are two: grillhouse chowder and soup of the day. The onion soup has been know to evoke the ultimate in accolades--best ever--whether sipped, spooned or slurped.
Steamer's issues this caveat about its fresh fish availability: "Subject to Wind, Weather, Fishermen Whims & Acts of God." That ought to cover all the finny bases. Since Steamer's martinis are as crisp as its calamari, and, indeed, were voted the best in town, it's no wonder Steamers wins the best deal-making and best singles' sighting site designations.
Steamer's, 31 University Ave., 408.395.2722
Best Smoothies
Jamba Juice
Upon walking into a Jamba Juice shop, there's a certain smell that pervades the air. It's very distinctive, yet hard to explain--at least to those who are not yet hooked on one of America's healthiest addictions: fresh smoothies!
That aroma, and the delicious flavors that follow, come from Jamba's ever-roaring blenders. They work magic at the press of a button, turning a mishmash of fruits, juices, yogurt, sherbet and ice into cold and filling concoctions. The smoothies are divided into five main groupings: Power Smoothies, Moo'd Smoothies (made with coffee or chocolate milk), Berry Patch, Citrus Grove and Tropical Isle.
Just a sample of the taste-tempting titles to be found here include Jamba Powerboost, Kiwi Berry Burner, Banana Berry, Strawberries Wild, Citrus Squeeze, Peach Pleasure, Caribbean Passion, Mango-A-Go-Go, Mocha Moo'd and Peanut Butter Moo'd. Each smoothie-drinker is also entitled to add one "juice boost" for free. These are special blends of vitamins, minerals, proteins and herbs designed for certain purposes, like boosting the immune system or increasing energy.
Jamba Juice, 628 Blossom Hill Road, 408.358.6040
Best Sandwich
Le Boulanger
With some 14 sandwiches from which to choose, a Boulanger customer could visit the classy bakery for two weeks straight without having the same thing twice. The sandwich menu is complemented by hot soups, freshly tossed salads, cheesy pizzas and sweet cookies, too, but for now, the sandwich takes center stage!
Although each meal-in-hand is, by default, served on a particular type of bread, customers are welcome to make substitutions. Is that Dutch crunch roll a little too hard? Try a flaky croissant instead. Or how about a chewy ciabatta, a healthy nine-grain bread or a fancy swirled rye? It's not a problem at "Le Bou."
Among its signature sandwiches are the Giardino--eggplant, roasted peppers, Monterey Jack cheese, onion, tomato, baby greens and vinaigrette and Le Grand Roast Beef with horseradish, Dijon mustard, cheddar cheese, onions, lettuce and tomatoes. The more self-explanatory sandwiches include The Vegetarian, Turkey Cranberry, Albacore Tuna Salad, Smoked Ham & Swiss, Hot Breast of Chicken and Turkey & Chicken Pesto Sausage.
Le Boulanger, 145 W. Main St., 408.395.1344
Photograph by Tsutomu Fujita
David Terres, an employee of the Los Gatos Coffee Roasting Company, keeps an eye on the beans the store roasts fresh every morning. No doubt that's one of the reasons voters named it the best coffeehouse in town.
Best Coffeehouse
Los Gatos Coffee Roasting Company
Athletes, near-athletes and wannabes hang out with dog-walkers, newspaper-readers and crowd-watchers at Los Gatos Coffee Roasting Company. They're there for every kind of espresso, latte and flavored coffee to accompany conversation and just plain sittin' on the front stoop--or the equivalents, which are benches and boarded-over flower beds at the front of each store. The popular place has grown to encompass three storefronts over the years.
For the morning folks, there are muffins. For the lunch bunch, there's panini sandwiches--big sliced rolls with three cheeses, artichokes and cheese or ham and cheese. A sweet tooth can be assuaged by the biscotti, cakes and pastries made locally and displayed properly behind glass.
Coming soon will be live entertainment on Sunday afternoons, just in time for the holidays.
Los Gatos Coffee Roasting Company, 101 W. Main St., 408.354.3263
Best Milkshake
The Diner of Los Gatos
For a taste of times past, when life may have been sweeter and simpler, a trip to The Diner is the ticket. Here the luscious taste of milkshakes of all flavors can soothe a worrisome day and evoke memories--or initiate new ones for the younger set.
Going to The Diner is a step back in time with its 1950s decor of soda fountain and twirling stools. Besides the standard vanilla, chocolate and strawberry shakes, The Diner also tempts with butterscotch, banana, pineapple, coffee and coffee mocha flavors.
The waitress even murmurs "mmm" and licks her lips as she intones the words "coffee mocha." Milkshakes are hard to find on menus these days, so stepping into The Diner is akin to the finale of a treasure hunt. Happy Days may be gone, but fans of that earlier era can still enjoy the favored drink.
The Diner of Los Gatos, 235 Los Gatos-Saratoga Road, 408.354.4886
Best Croissants
La Maison du Croissant
Fruits and nuts, cinnamon and raisin, chocolate, ham and cheese. Such variety comes from the baking kitchen of Michelle Tran, who works pastry dough into crescent shapes and then fills them with the things that make mouths water. The little shop serves fresh-baked croissants at 6:30 a.m., still hot from the ovens that owner Tran fires up at the crack of dawn each day.
Tran's customers don't stop at croissants. They also partake of the Vietnamese menu that includes hearty pho--a soup of rice noodles, green onions and slices of beef or chicken; spring rolls baked a half-hour before serving in order to maintain their delicate freshness and rotisseried chicken sandwiches honey-glazed with soy, ginger sauce and lemon grass.
Fruit smoothies, espresso coffee and standard beef on sourdough are also available seven days a week.
La Maison du Croissant, 303 N. Santa Cruz Ave., 408.395.4441
Best Asian Food
Jasmine Chinese Cuisine
Jasmine has been in Los Gatos for almost 20 years. It offers a simple menu with beef, pork, poultry and seafood, along with vegetarian dishes, soups, noodles and rice--even egg foo yung. The traditional dishes have been bringing in generations of locals who enjoy casual dining in the small restaurant located in the quieter section at the back of Lyndon Plaza.
Newcomers don't have trouble finding the place. They just follow the scent of hot tangerine chicken or honey walnut shrimp as it wafts out over W. Main Street. Claiming they are experts on hot and spicy foods, the Jasmine chefs offer a variety of Mandarin and Szechwan dishes which they are happy to package for their extensive take-out trade.
Jasmine Chinese Cuisine, 20 S. Santa Cruz Ave., 408.395.2373
Best Place to Drop $200 on Dinner, Restaurant Ambiance
Tapestry
Tapestry is one of the newest kids on the block, and one of the poshest. Artifacts tucked into wall niches from the Los Gatos Company are provocative conversation starters, if such is needed. But judging from the usual mealtime decibel at Tapestry, most diners don't need any artful prodding.
Presentation sets a precedent. A miniature shopping cart brings a grocery bag of spring rolls to the table, which constitutes a full lunch for lighter eaters or a crispy prelude to the main fare. Grilled fillet mignon is always tops in quality, tops in popularity.
Rounding out the choices are rare ahi tuna, loin of lamb, pork tenderloin, roasted bass, seafood linguine and moules--and that's just this month. The menu changes every three weeks. It's a confident restaurant that calls the only constant on the menu Yesterday's Soup and know it's a winner.
Incidentally, that $200 could cover two diners with plenty of libations throughout the evening.
Tapestry, 11 College Ave., 408.395.2808
Photograph by Mark Kocina
Chef Nobo Eguchi slices and dices fresh sushi for the customers who fill Sushi on the Run each day, hungry for the Japanese delicacy of rice, seaweed, raw fish and vegetables.
Best Sushi
Sushi on the Run
At Sushi on the Run the specials are the usual favorites, listed on the wall, behind the sushi sword wielder. That's owner Nobo Eguchi, whose fingers are hard to keep track of, so swiftly and so surely does he assemble each distinctive delicacy.
For diners who want to try a taste of many different things, the large lunch special may be their final answer. It's made up of 13 pieces--six California rolls, abetted with one each of ebi, hamachi, maguro, unagi, kani, sake and customer's choice.
To celebrate the season, make way for Pat's Homerun, which is eel, macadamia nuts and special sauce; Mt. Maki is grilled salmon, scallions and avocado. Hot Sake Maki is salmon, avocado, cream cheese, scallions and green Tabasco sauce, while Ted's Roll is tuna, yellowtail, salmon and avocado.
Other specials: Big Wave Dave greets the lips with tuna, cucumber, unagi, avocado and sesame; Big Island brings on the promise of a hula with tuna, avocado, macadamia nuts and cucumber; Heaven Roll is plump with shrimp, scallions, macadamia nuts and cucumber; and Paul's Passion tucks away hamachi, scallions, avocado, chili and tobiko inside the seaweed casing.
Sushi on the Run, 114 N. Santa Cruz Ave., 408.354.1125
Best Bagels
Noah's New York Bagels
"Oy vey, it's early," and Noah is serving "egg mit" cheese, tomato, spinach, mushrooms, artichoke, turkey sausage, lox and chives. The local store--one of 87 in California, Oregon and Washington--is a good bet for breakfast mit (with) eggs or just for a bagel in 18 flavors. Noah's also serves espresso described as a "good kick in the toosh" and sandwiches "thicker than a Brooklyn accent," including ones made with 6th Avenue corned beef, Mary's meat loaf or great balls of meatloaf.
Besides bagels every which way, there is a deli case with quiche and knish, soup, salads and chili. Sweets are made fresh each day and schmears are a specialty.
You have to speak the language!
Noah's New York Bagels, 15996 Los Gatos Blvd., 408.358.5895
Best Italian Food
Valeriano's
Housed in a historic building that served for decades as a bank until the late 1980s, Valeriano's has been remodeled to comfortably serve 100 guests in a modern Italian decor. One of the most popular entrées created by Chef Eric Tosh is a one-inch thick grilled veal chop served in a green peppercorn sauce with a mountain Gorgonzola glaze. Fish lovers favor the pine nut encrusted Atlantic salmon over garlic mashed potatoes with seasonal vegetables. A salad of locally grown organic heirloom tomatoes is topped with buffalo milk mozzarella cheese.
Manager Rob Rubia recommends topping off dinner with chocolate volcano cake, which is made to order. The cake is half-baked, allowing it to rise, but maintaining a molten center that flows out when cut open, blending with a fresh raspberry purée.
Owners Kathleen and Steve Borkenhagen also own Eulipia Restaurant and Bar and Blake's Steak House, both in San Jose. Valeriano's, which they purchased in January of this year, also has a full service bar.
Valeriano's, 160 W. Main St., 408.354.8108
Best Bar (Tie)
Black Watch
C.B. Hannegan's
Two of the more atmospheric places in town have tied for best bar: Black Watch, a no-nonsense bar with ties to other eras and no food service; and C.B. Hannegan's, an Irish pub with down-home American fare and corned beef and cabbage on special.
The Black Watch used to be a place that locals chuckled would not allow anyone in under 35. That was a time when youth was suspiciously adorned in flowers and love beads. Today, CEOs in their 20s from what is left of the dot-com startup industry travel to town to visit the Black Watch on Sundays, parking their shiny custom motorcycles in a row out front alongside "hawgs" from the mountains. Inside, it's a dark and noisy place.
Affable bartenders know by heart the drinks that are called and have been serving them seven-days-a-week, 17-hours-a-day for 43 years. Owned all that time by the Anzelone family, it is one of the older businesses in town. A pool table in back affords some respite and a frayed, 1960s menu proves the place once offered lobster Thermador for $3.25.
Down N. Santa Cruz Avenue and to the west on Bachman Avenue is C.B. Hannegan's, owned by friends and business partners Chris Benson and John Hannegan since 1980. While every day is reason for a party to Benson and Hannegan, St. Patrick's Day in March becomes a huge celebration of Irish dancers, spits roasting 200-pound pigs and gallons of green beer.
The Irish welcome lasts all year, however, in the dark-wood upstairs bar and in the downstairs indoor and outdoor dining areas, making it the spot for locals to see and be seen, smoke a cigar out back or let some "friendly" rub off on them.
Black Watch, 141 1/2 N. Santa Cruz Ave., 408.354.2200
C.B. Hannegan's, 208 Bachman Ave., 408.395.1233
Best Place to Celebrate
California Café
After extensive renovation in Old Town, the California Café reopened in 1998 with a sculptured, retro-modern look with lots of wood and color and a menu by Miles Neal, a veteran of 13 years with the restaurant chain. Together with his sous chefs, Neal creates appetizers, main dishes and desserts that are celebrations in and of themselves.
Located in what once was an elementary school before even the "old" Old Town existed, the Café now offers wide booths for dining, a separate full-service bar and two banquet rooms for 50 and 75 guests, respectively. A live jazz band plays on weekends. During warmer weather, lunches on the patio under a large oak tree are popular. In the evenings, French doors open to the patio from the banquet dining area, making it a popular place for family and office celebrations.
California Café, 50 University Ave., 408.354.8118
Best Breakfast
Los Gatos Cafe
Although it also serves a lunch menu of soups, salads and sandwiches, this narrow little diner with the peaked roof is perhaps best known for its breakfasts.
Served early and often, these day-starters are as varied as the people who eat them. One frequent diner, who earned the nickname "Waffle Woman" among her lunchmates, favors the huge Belgian waffles--along with the freshly flipped pancakes and decadent French toast. All come with syrup and butter; the more expensive ones add blueberries, strawberries, bananas or apples.
The Cafe has no trouble satisfying heartier appetites, with more than two dozen choices among its signature omelettes and Cafe Specialties. Meats include turkey, chicken, ground beef, Canadian bacon, bacon, ham and sausage. A garden of fresh vegetables and herbs can be scrambled in, as can four or five types of cheese.
Along with its most famous side dish--garlicky herb potatoes, the Cafe also offers corned beef hash, grits, oatmeal, cold cereal and homemade muffins and coffeecake.
Los Gatos Cafe, 340 N. Santa Cruz Ave., 408.354.4647
Best Beer Selection
Los Gatos Brewing Company
The large, cavernous building facing Grays Lane off N. Santa Cruz Avenue once was a Swanson Ford showroom. The structure enjoyed several incarnations until the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake caused its gutting and reconstruction as a mini brewery. The Los Gatos Brewing Company offers five kinds of beer from the huge copper and stainless steel tanks viewed through windows behind the long bar.
Appropriately served during this autumn season is the Oktoberfest amber lager, along with light and stout beer. Another is the albionale, an unfiltered beer served at room temperature. The hefeyweizen is a German stout, golden in color and also served unfiltered. It has an unusual banana-like taste.
In addition to its beers, the brewery offers simple "pub food" along with more formal dining and a Sunday brunch.
Los Gatos Brewing Company, 130-G N. Santa Cruz Ave., 408.395.9929
Best Soup (Tie)
Erik's DeliCafe
Le Boulanger
Steamer's Grillhouse
Soup menus change with the weather, the day of the week and on customer demand. Theoretically, they can be a combination of vegetables, meat or fish cooked in a liquid. Thick like a gumbo, thin like a consommé, hot as a pepper or cold like vichyssoise, smooth like a bisque or chunky like a chowder, they tend to be a comfort food associated with home and hearth.
At Erik's DeliCafe in New Town, Manager Crystal Turiello says they serve certain favorite standbys every day, including vegetarian vegetable soup, beef stew, chili and New England clam chowder. "We are like the soup kings," she says, ticking off an impressive list that suits the season: Italian vegetable lentil, "Kickin' Chicken," spicy Southwest stew, tomato basil bisque (20 gallons in a week), minestrone, corn cheddar chowder and split pea.
At Steamer's Grillhouse in Old Town, the chowders are New England and Manhattan. There's also a potato leek Stilton cheese soup--Stilton is the English contender for "King of Cheeses"--along with a Moroccan carrot and a mushroom. "They're always changing, depending on the time of year," says co-owner Mark Matulich.
Le Boulanger on W. Main Street serves about six gallons per day of its popular Indian curry chicken soup. The menu changes every day, but remains consistent each week. It includes minestrone, clam chowder served in a sourdough bowl, five bean and sausage, cream of tomato, French onion, southwest corn and vegetable.
Erik's DeliCafe, 15495 Los Gatos Blvd., 408.395.6363
Steamer's Grillhouse, 31 University Ave., 408.395.2722
Le Boulanger, 145 W. Main St., 408.395.1344
Best Late-Night Eats
C.B. Hannegan's
The atmosphere alone at C.B. Hannegan's makes it a great place to visit late at night. The dark paneling and dimly lit booths convey a feeling of warmth. The bar, known for its assortment of beer, closes at around midnight on weekdays and 2 a.m. on weekends. There's plenty of space to accommodate large groups. But best of all, there's the food.
Hannegan's serves up pizza, pasta and burgers, among other things. There's cuisine to satisfy healthy eaters, including salads, cold sandwiches and vegetarian dishes. More importantly, they've got appetizers--just what the after-dinner crowd wants with drinks--such as potato skins, calamari, onion rings and their famous chicken wings.
Those who want food shouldn't wait too late, though--the kitchen closes at about 10 p.m.
C.B. Hannegan's, 208 Bachman Ave., 408.395.1233
Best of Los Gatos 2001
Civic Pride
People at Work
Goods and Services
Kid Stuff
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