Category Archives: Out-and-About

Yard House Santana Row and BJ’s in Cupertino

Posted on April 23, 2012 | Leave a comment

The Yard House in Santana Row opened a year ago in April 2011 and continues to be a popular place with good food and over 130 beers on tap. Had lunch there back in late December with a couple of buddies, one visiting from Boston.

I like their beer samplers and how they change them up weekly. These particular samplers were all very tasty.

Also back in late December was a cousins’ gathering at BJ’s in Cupertino.

On this evening, I particularly liked the Pale Ale and Jeremiah’s Red – they paired with my ribs the best in my opinion.

Some of these photos are from my cell. phone, and some are from my cousin’s camera. I very much appreciate that he took some photos for me as I forgot my point-and-shoot at home. That evening reminded me how it’s always fun hanging out with my cousins, which is something we did so often in our younger days.

Always Grateful,

~Andy

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Posted in Drinks, Family, Friends, Out-and-About

Catching up with Moveable Feast Posts and a One-Year SJ Eats Anniversary Congrats

Posted on April 19, 2012 | 2 Comments

From the better-late-than-never files (AKA the I-took-these-pics-and-I’ll-post-them-no-matter-how-old-they-are-dang-it files) are pics from previous Moveable Feast food truck gatherings.

I caught the craft beer bug early last year. But at the time, I already had the food truck bug. In fact, it was the presence of the food trucks at the San Jose Meet the Brewers beer festival last year in February that enticed me to attend in the first place. And it was seeing the lively San Jose beer scene up close and personal at the beerfest that stoked a deeper interest in craft beer in general and then local craft beer in particular that continues today.

Still, I’m always keeping tabs on the South Bay food truck scene. This post is a lengthy catch-up post, and its timing coincides with the one-year anniversary of the historic San Jose food truck festival called SJ Eats (later to become Moveable feast) that took place last April 2011.

Today, the San Jose food truck scene is popular and continues to expand, and most of the credit goes to the Moveable Feast founders Ryan and Christine Sebastian, owners of San Jose’s Treatbot karaoke ice cream truck (for those not already familiar with Treatbot, yes you read that correctly – karaoke and ice cream truck).

Let’s get to the pics already!

From Oct. 8, 2011 in West San Jose.

FOOD TRUCKS:

An the Go – Garlic Noodles
Chairman Bao – Baos
Hiyaaa! – Fushion
Iz It – Hawaiianese
MoBowl – Rice Bowls
The Wow – Silogs
Treatbot – Karaoke Ice Cream

The “408” from Treatbot is one of their signature flavors, and I certainly see why.

From Oct. 22, 2011 (West San Jose).

Hiyaaa
MoGo BBQ
O Mi Ninja
Rice Rockit
Sanguchon
The Wow

Those banana fritters from the WOW truck are addicting. Is it possible to have just one?

From Dec. 17, 2011 (West San Jose).

Chairman Truck – Baos
Louisiana Territory – Cajun
Nom Nom – Vietnamese
Sanguchon – Peruvian
The Wow – Silogs
Treatbot – Karaoke Ice Cream

The tofu tacos from the Nom Nom truck were a delight with their fresh ingredients.

From Feb. 4, 2012 (West San Jose).

FOOD TRUCKS:

Chairman Truck – Baos
KoJa Kitchen – Japanese/Korean Fusion
Louisiana Territory – Cajun
MoGo BBQ – Korean Fusion
Sanguchon – Peruvian
Treatbot – Ice Cream
Wow Truck – Silogs

It appears that shortly after we left this particular day in early February, the crowd kept getting larger as Moveable Feast announced on Facebook, “Thank you for supporting quality street food in your hood. We had a record breaking Saturday with 1,000 visitors in 3 hours!” Moveable Feast would go on to announce new attendance records as well as new locations throughout the San Jose area.

Since February, we’ve driven by the West San Jose spot a number of times but have had to pass right on by upon seeing the large crowds. It’s a bummer missing out on good food, but the huge turnouts are awesome sights to behold.

Always Grateful,

~Andy

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Posted in Dining Out, Out-and-About

Tagged FoodTruck

Harry’s Hofbrau in San Jose: Bringing Friends Together

Posted on January 2, 2012 | 4 Comments

So, how does Harry’s Hofbrau keep friendships intact?

Through their comfort food. Their family friendly environment. And through their craft beer offerings. Especially Thursday nights.

Thursday nights is when Harry’s hosts Pint Nights, where a particular craft beer and brewery are featured with special promotions, ranging from beer and glassware discounts to the opportunity to meet brewery reps.

I’ve had the chance to hang out with a number of good folks the last couple months on these Pint Nights. Let’s take a look:

Thursday pint night on Nov. 1, 2011 featured Lucifer Belgian Golden Ale (a Belgian strong pale ale, 8.5% ABV).

This was one of those pint nights where we could purchase discounted glassware.

We all enjoyed this beer, which was smooth and refreshing, and went well with our meals.

Count three more families that had a good time that night.

The Thursday pint night on Dec. 1, 2011, which four of us buddies went to, featured Stone’s Double Bastard Ale (an American strong ale at 10.5% ABV).

We ordered some other beers to help mellow the assertiveness of the Double Bastard ales. Plus, we were all in a rare situation where we knew we could stay out a bit longer than usual.

St. Bernardus ABT 12 (10.5% ABV).

Mongo (American double/imperial IPA, 9% ABV).

Deschutes Hop in the Dark (American black ale, 6.9% ABV).

That was a particularly pleasant evening of hanging out and catching up.

The Thursday night on Dec. 8, 2011 was a special one, a tap takeover featuring many Firestone Walker beers. It was also special because I was able to hang out with my brother on this night.

Including their Double Jack (American double/imperial IPA, 9.5% ABV).

And Double Barrel Ale (aka DBA) – English pale ale, 5% ABV.

And the real special pouring of their Firestone 15 Anniversary ale (American strong ale, 12.5%).

I’m not the only one catching up with friends on these pint nights.

Cheers! Prost! Gun bae!

~Andy

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Posted in Drinks, Out-and-About

Tagged Beer

3rd Annual Foodbuzz Blogger Festival Taste Pavilion Part 2 of 2

Posted on December 10, 2011 | 5 Comments

Time was running out for us at the Taste Pavilion, and wifey and I knew that we had to head home soon. But not before making these last stops:

We returned to the fine folks at Bison Brewing and their beer!

Catching up with Sarah (AKA Mama Pea) from Peas and Thank You. It’s great seeing the success of Sara’s book of the same name, as wifey followed her original blog three years ago. Looking forward to her next book.

We saw Tyler Florence up close. I repeatedly heard different folks say something similar to: “Not only is he hot, but he’s sooooo down to earth!!!”

Seemed like a very likable guy.

All these pictures show why we had such a good time at the Taste Pavilion. We already can’t wait for next year’s Foodbuzz Festival.

But for now, we had this to look forward to upon getting home:

Always Grateful,

~Andy

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Posted in Out-and-About

Tagged FoodBuzz

3rd Annual Foodbuzz Blogger Festival Taste Pavilion Part 1 of 2

Posted on December 9, 2011 | Leave a comment

After an unexpected late start to the morning, we eventually got on our way to the Taste Pavilion. By this time, we knew that it was unlikely we’d be able to make it to the Foodbuzz Dinner Gala or the Goodbye Brunch, so we wanted to enjoy the Taste Pavilion as much as possible.

The following are the Taste Pavilion Part 1 highlights, mostly presented in pictures.