Village Cafe

We were there with a few friends on a Saturday evening and thoroughly enjoyed the expensive meal. I specially liked the cheese plate covered in caramelized red wine... it was a yummy treat. The entrees that followed were of course very tasty - we had calamaries, some chicken dish, mussels etc etc. The sizes were a little small. Overall a good experience, however the tab was high in the end... as expected from a santana row restaurant! Will go back for sure! Cons: Expensive more

We eat at Santat Row at least once a week, we went there a week ago on a Monday...horrible service, waiter was rude and condesending. The waiter said he would be back for drink orders and never did. We then went to the bar and the female bartender would only give my husband one drink, even though we were at a dinner table two feet fromt he bar. We walked out and have NEVER done that before. I then emailed the manager who called to profusely appologize and said he would send out a gift certificate, guess what..never showed. Ran into my sister in law the same evening and she stated they don't go there anymore either due to the service.\r Go to the Yankee Pier next door for fresh fish, their service is 100 percent better. Cons: contrite, condesending more

Food is just ok. Service is horrible. We waited approx. 35 minutes to be seated, the waiter came to our table after 15 minutes and our drinks took another 15 minutes. The food was very ordinary, nothing special. The salmon was actually overcooked. They forgot to bring bread and butter to our table when we sat down so they brought it almost at the end of our lunch. Don't ever order lemonade cause it'll burn your throat. We think they use artificial lemon juice as the acid taste is very strong. more

I absolutely LOVE The Village. I have been there for lunch, dinner, and obviously drinks! The service is Fantastic! Everyone is so friendly and very knowledgable about their wine selection and pairings. While the wine is great, I would never be able to go in without getting infused vodka. I reccomend raspberry and pineapple mixed if you are lucky enough to go when they have both! I have been for all different occasions, when my parents were in town, a friends 21st birthday and even Valentines Day...The Village is perfect! There is a bit of a wait on weekends and the dinner crowd seems to be a bit late- going early wouldn't hurt, but the bar is a great place to wait, or even eat! The brie is a must and their lamb is to die for! Never had a thing I didnt love! Best place in town! Pros: food, drinks, service, location Cons: the wait more

I first tried this restaurant last summer, and both the food and the service were excellent. However, a second trip in the fall was disappointing. The food was tasteless, especially the fingerling potatoes. The service was okay, until a hurried waiter knocked over a wine glass and sent drops of red wine flying onto my dining companion's white shirt. The only thing that saved the night was the manager's willingness to comp the wine, though he hesitated to do so until he knew which wine we had ordered (i.e., not too expensive).\r \r We gave it one more try this weekend, and again were disappointed. The food tasted good, but the service was lacking - the waiter was unfriendly and ignored us until I embarrassed him by requesting bread. I noted that he and other waitstaff were standing around in the back of the restaurant. \r \r So I don't think we will be going back. I think that this restaurant has become popular, so perhaps they have become lazy. I'd say that if you are going to Santana Row, try Consuelo or Straits instead! Pros: Decent wine list; indoor and outdoor seating Cons: Unfriendly/unprofessional staff; food does not live up to prices more

Kids dumped off with the grandparents, wanted a nice dinner date with the wife. Ended up here. Should have turned around when the reservations we made were not in the computer, he rudely seated us anyway. Service was prompt. Kept pushing the wine list when it was obvious that neither one of us wanted any (we ordered beers). Ordered the venison steak and was told that they serve it medium rare. It came out seared like an Ahi tuna. Even the waiter recognized that it was raw. He took it back, came back 5 minutes later with 4 small pieces of well done, re-cooked venison. Bland, chewy, and deffinetly not what I expected. Even smoothering it in th sauce didn't help. Told him it was less then ok, and he asked if I wanted something else. By this time, I am starving and my wife is almost done. Told him to leave it. Never received a, ""sorry about that, is there anything we can do?"" Instead, he charged us for the venison jerky, and threw in a free bland creme brulee. I will never go back, and don't recommend this restaurant to anyone. There are to many other good places to eat in Santana Row. Pros: Couldn't find any Cons: Food was bland, customer service non-existant more

So I'm not a big Santana Row fan (too pretentious), but we did have a great weekend brunch at this place. There's a nice ambiance to it, but I lik... more

It's date night and you want to impress that special someone. Village California Bistro (really a mouthful of a name, if you ask me) is a place wor... more

My husband and I were very disappointed with this restaurant. Once we were seated for about 15 minutes out waiter never approached our table. I had to return to the hostess station in order to get service. Apparently no one knew who was responsible for our table even though the restaurant had been serving for at least 3 hours already. When we received our appetizer we had to use our bread plates because we weren't given appetizer plates. Our water glasses were never refilled. The food did not make up for the poor service. We will not be returning to this restaurant or recommending it to anyone. Pros: Wine list Cons: Service more

I've been to this place maybe 5-6 times. It's good when you want a nice meal at a reasonable price. It's not *the* best food, or *the* best service, but I don't expect that from any restaurant with entrees less than $20 or so. The atmosphere is casual and not pretentious. The food is solid, sometimes great. For what you pay, it's a definite winner.\r Pros: Atmosphere, value Cons: The latest new menu is not as interesting to me as the one before. Hopefully they'll change again with season. more

My party was, at first, happy to learn that we could get seated right away at 7:30pm on a Saturday night considering the fact that the other Santana Row restaurants we had tried to eat at had lengthy wait times. We should've realized that this was our first sign to avoid this place. The food was cold, overpriced, and average in taste. The service was HORRIBLE. Worst of all, we were stunned and amazed to find out that the ""server"" who treated us so poorly and rudely was the restaurant's owner. We eat out very frequently and haven't had that experience before. You'd think as the owner she'd want folks to keep coming back -- since customers are the ones who keep the place open. Given her lack of respect for customers, its good to know that there are plenty of other options for eating out in San Jose. We'd never go back here. Pros: Attractive looking restaurant Cons: Horrible service, no desire to 'make things right' when staff are rude or overcharge customers more

I went there last saturday night with my husband. We ordered out appetizer and five minutes after it came out, they also brought out our entrees. Major pet peeve. Out little table was covered in plates and glasses. It was obvious that we were being rushed. Maybe they were trying to rush us so we would not notice how bland and boring the food tasted. The waiter never came back until it was time to pick up the check. There are too many really nice restaurants within a stones throw of this place. Go somewhere else. Pros: decor, location Cons: waiter, food was terrible, we were rushed more

I have never had such a bad experience! The staff is RUDE and the management is worse! Trying to get someone to wait on you is a real challenge and the food is marginal at best. Cons: Poor Service, Rude Management, Marginal Food more

I dined there on a Saturday night. I wanted a vegetable plate. The waiter told me that the chef ""didnt do special orders when the restaurant is busy"". All the items I wanted were already on the menu; just paired with other items. I settled for an overpriced salad, swimming in dressing. Im sure the waiter never even asked the chef to do the plate. I wont be back! Cons: Mediocre food, Loud acoustics, Bad service more