656620 Fri Oct 02 14:18:53 -0700 2009 4 1 San Francisco Bay Area 0 5075249 Chicago Chowhound Needs Lunch Spots in Monterey & Dinner Spot in San Jose! My husband and I are heading to Monterey for a wedding later this month and are flying in and out of San Jose, so we are spending a night there on either end of our trip. We will be staying at the Sheraton and would love any suggestions on nearby casual spots for dinner. Most of our time will be spent in Monterey (at the Intercontinental hotel) for a wedding and rehearsal dinner, so our evenings are full and we will be left with lunches open on Thurs, Fri and Saturday. We would love great seafood and we'll have a car, but don't want to be driving too far and it's always nice to walk if we can, although we will be out exploring and visiting wineries one day. Please let me know your favorite must go to lunch spots! Thanks! Fri Oct 02 14:18:53 -0700 2009 282922 ms. mika 1 5075907 Are you staying at the Sheraton SJ that's really in Milpitas? That's 1801 Barber Ln, Milpitas. You'll be close to tons of Asian Restaurants: ABC Seafood (Chinese), Top Cafe (HK style food), etc. For seafood: Dia de Pesca (Mexican food) M-Sun 10:30a-8p, CASH ONLY, San Jose. I haven't been, but recommended highly by Chowhounds. It's a dive. http://www.pescasifood.com/ Isabella's Restaurant (Peruvian), SJ - I reviewed it, search the board. For Monterey you need to post on the California board: http://chowhound.chow.com/boards/3 Fri Oct 02 22:48:56 -0700 2009 5075249 10677 hhc 2 5079703 Yes- that's the Sheraton I will be staying at. Thanks for the suggestions! What's your favorite out of the Asian places mentioned? (and thanks- I did separately post for Monterey on the California board) Mon Oct 05 07:33:11 -0700 2009 5075907 282922 ms. mika 2 5080749 As someone who's been there a bunch of times, I want to point out that Dia de Pesca is NOT a dive at all. It's clean, creatively and thoughtfully laid out, a professional operation run by a restaurant veteran. That said, I wouldn't recommend it to the OP. There's much better Mexican food, seafood included, in Chicago, than in the bay area. Much better. Dia de Pesca is fine and fun, but not extraordinary. It's also not that close to the Sheraton in question. ms. mika, you're almost certainly going to have to do some driving from that location, though maybe not very far, especially if you stick with Asian food in Milpitas. For more Asian, particularly Chinese regional possibilities, search for Milpitas in this forum. There are Szechuan, Islamic Chinese and other regional Chinese places nearby. San Jose has countless Vietnamese restaurants. You could eat pho at a different one every day for a long time. Pho Kim Long is a popular one that's nearby. A little different than most in that the broth is richer than usual. There's plenty of other Vietnamese food, too, though I have no particular recommendations in that immediate area. A few regional Chinese places in Milpitas: Liou's House (Taiwanese) South Legend (Szechwan) Darda Seafood (Islamic) I should point out the food at the three I just mentioned can be on the oily side. If you like that, great, because these are popular spots in this forum. But if you don't like your food like that, be forewarned. It's been awhile since I've been to South Legend, but I liked it and don't recall excess oil being an issue, but I may not be remembering that clearly. There are Indian restaurants in Milpitas, but I haven't eaten at any of them. I'm not sure how much Indian or Korean food there is in Chicago, but there's plenty in the south bay, but maybe more in Santa Clara, Sunnyvale and Mountain View than in Milpitas. It's not a long drive, though, if you're so inclined. There are a number of Ethiopian places in San Jose, but there are a few in Chicago, too. Closest to your hotel is Café Rehoboth in San Jose's Japantown. Closed on Mondays. And there are the Afghan places in Fremont, maybe 15-20 minutes north of your hotel. Mon Oct 05 13:50:45 -0700 2009 5075907 109657 maigre 3 5102175 Can anyone help me narrow down this list to the best asian place since it sounds like that may be the best choice for the area? Chinese or Vietnamese. Can be a casual spot, but would prefer somewhere that has some atmosphere since we will be dining in. We will have a car, so don't mind driving as needed. If there's another spot we can drive to that's a must go to restaurant- please let me know! Wed Oct 14 07:52:21 -0700 2009 5080749 282922 ms. mika