A dear friend is a member of Montalvo Arts Center and grateful for her to provide me some needed…read moreescapism as her luncheon guest. All proceeds support Montalvo Arts Center with the aid of a battalion of volunteers, young and old. From the first hello by Gail when greeted at check-in to exiting venue, high touch experience. Thoughtfully coordinated and seamlessly orchestrated, including redirecting exiting auto traffic due to nearby auto accident. Meal was delightful including iced tea and coffee. Can upgrade to wine and bubbly for a fee. There were roaming models (Sunny - a Tita from the Philippines - was in our area) showcasing outfits from a local Los Gatos boutique. Raffle for a 10 person dinner onsite. Gift shop with crafts to buy. Have more time can explore grounds. Was encouraged to take home the floral centerpieces which had plastic floral bags to aid with transport. If don't have a generous friend to treat you to luncheon, can purchase tix for $75. I was excited to learn they host Sunday high teas in November before Thanksgiving. Will add to my Yelp! High Tea collection.

Such a beautiful park maintained jointly by the Montalvo arts center and santa clara county parks…read more It's truly a hidden gem in Saratoga with beautifully maintained lawns, and ample trails. The Great Lawn in front of the main building ie the Montalvo Center allows picnics without reservations - just set up camp under a tree. There's a very well maintained Italian garden right next to the great lawn with varieties of succulents, a pagoda like structure and cedars. Also saw a wedding in progress while we were there and it is such a beautiful location for it! I will definitely visit again to explore the trails. Parking can be a little hard on weekends but you gotta just wait till a spot opens. If the event venue is booked out - that makes parking harder since they reserve a lot for guests. Free entry and free parking

Beautiful grounds for events! It looks like you can also rent out small cottages to help support…read moreyour events. Make it a stay! I was there assisting a Photo Booth vendor and got a chance yo walk the property a little bit. Majestic is the perfect word for this place. Lots of parking available. Extremely clean restrooms. Staff is super friendly!

I recently came here for a wedding ceremony and was absolutely blown away. This place is stunning!…read moreI didn't realize just how beautiful and amazing the space was until seeing it in person. I will definitely be returning soon to spend more time here and really explore everything it has to offer.

Have I really never rated this place? And yet, I've spent so many sloshy nights here, taking drinks…read morefrom random strangers, making friends with pretty girls in the crowd, and watching drunken-unruly customers get dragged out of the place on bar stools. What's not to like about that? Such great people watching, staff who remembers your face (but never a name---this place is pretty packed on weekends). You come here for the live music (and yes, you're gonna pay a club cover, but how else do you think DJ's or musicians get paid), and you'll stay for the azz twerkable DJ sets. I'm always fond of DJ Jason Dee or David. Yes, I'm going to dance. And if you've ever wondered if you could pull a cougar, well then wonder no more. Pull up here on a Friday or Saturday and test your suspicions. The worst thing that can happen is your pockets are $10 lighter. Cheers to new adventures.

Overall good experience. The Los Gatos demographic is very present. It's a no pressure no…read moreharassment environment. Drinks are good. Band was good music is not over powering. Service is effective. A good place to hang in Los Gatos.

Testarossa is the best winery in downtown LG. As such, it's a must do. It's historic, it's…read morebeautifully set, it is well maintained and cared for, and the tasting room staff is excellent. On top of that, the wines are very good to excellent. You must go if you're wine tasting or having lunch in LG.

Very pleasant ambiance especailly on Tuesday and Thursday evenings…read more Live music is nice but too loud to converse in a normal voice.

We pass by this restaurant every time we drive to Santa Cruz on highway 17. I heard about the new…read moreAYCE Texas BBQ menu with a Filipino twist. It was Father's Day weekend and we decided to check them out. We made reservations and arrived on a Saturday early evening for dinner. The restaurant is located in Los Gatos along side the highway 17 towards Santa Cruz. Parking is accessible out front in the parking lot. From the outside, the restaurant looks like an old western saloon. As soon as you walk towards the entrance, there a patio with plenty of tables that looks inviting. Inside to your left is the bar with plenty of bar stools and a stage area where the live bands perform. The decor is rustic and historic. We chose the AYCE BBQ menu along with a glass of Chardonnay and a glass of Cats American whisky. It's rare for Texas BBQ to be offered as an AYCE so we were excited to try this. All the dishes were delicious. Some of the standout favorites I enjoyed were the cinnamon cornbread, brisket Sisig, St Louis Ribs, and the lumpia. The cornbread was soft, sweet, and moist. Brisket Sisig was different in a good way with grilled onions and tender brisket. Ribs were juicy. Lumpia was crunchy and was complemented perfectly with the mango chili sauce. Our drinks were refreshing. Overall we enjoyed our experience at the Cats Restaurant. The staff were friendly and accommodating. I found the price to be fair especially for AYCE Texas BBQ. The vibe was bustling and welcoming. Unfortunately we did not hear the live band that was gonna perform since we had to leave to our next engagement. My only gripe was the entrance back to the freeway can be a little hard especially at night and if you have to go on highway 17 towards San Jose. I do hope to come back to bring other family and friends.

We've driven past this place countless times on our way to Santa Cruz and always wondered if we…read morewere missing out. Today we decided to be adventurous, save our cheat meal, and finally give it a try. We should've kept driving. $35 PER PERSON for this buffet felt like we had been robbed, but politely, with a receipt. First, I want to make something very clear: our waitress was beyond sweet. She was friendly, attentive, and deserves absolutely none of the criticism in this review. Unfortunately, she can't save what's coming out of that kitchen. The pork tasted like it had been sitting on a plate in the sun waiting for someone to remember it existed. The brisket was chopped into sad little pieces with so little seasoning that I started questioning whether salt and pepper had been banned from the building. And the chicken? I owe 7-Eleven an apology for the comparison I was about to make. Then there was the BBQ sauce. If you're going to call yourself a BBQ spot, the sauce should probably taste like BBQ sauce, not fancy ketchup poured into a different bottle. And I'm genuinely curious how old some of the photos on this Yelp page are, because the food we saw and were served looked NOTHING like those pictures. If we had walked in based solely on those photos, I would've wondered if we were even at the same restaurant. Calling this place a "must-have" or a local BBQ "staple" is wild. I genuinely hate writing bad reviews, especially for local businesses, but you cannot advertise yourself as a BBQ destination, charge $35 a person, and serve food like this. We came hungry. We came excited. We even sacrificed a cheat meal for this. The best thing we had all evening? The feeling of opening the door and walking out.

We've been coming to the Bank for years. They recently updated a bit of their place. Clean new…read morecarpet. Kind of a cozy neighborhood bar with some couches and faux fire place. They now have a little outside with some new tables you can get to. They now have some craft cocktails on their menu. Plus a full bar and some beers on tap. Forgot to take any interior pictures ugh. But a staple stop for bars in Saratoga.

Love the remodel. The bartenders were attentive. The vibe was cool. The crowd seemed laid back, and…read moreit wasn't overly crowded. The drinks were meh but the vibe and laid back crowd will bring me back. And I will stick to a glass of wine or beer.

My first local show was seeing the muckruckers break the microwave CD release show. 5606, Mall…read moresecurity were the bands that opened. This place was essential when I was in my early teens back in the early 2000s. I remember seeing yellow card there touring their one for the kids record what a great time to be alive and be a teenager

After SJPD took it upon themselves to shut down San Jose Skate's thriving music scene, this place…read morebecame the reigning champion of local all ages music for the south bay. While I've never been much of a fan of this venue in general it was certainly improved when Andrew Kutsenda of Pinup Productions fully took over this place and brought his SJ Skate PA and mixer to give a greater sound experience. The Venue now hosts regular shows of both local and national touring acts to crowds of 50-250 people. The place is small enough that 50-60 people seems like a good turnout, 100 seems strong, 150 seems packed, and over 200 seems downright uncomfortable. They serve pizza, water, and soda, as well as have pool tables to play on for free when you don't feel like watching the music. It is billed as a "place for teens" which certainly comes off as the general vibe with the bright colors, strict no ins and outs policy, and young staff working the concessions. Although I have played at and seen shows at better places than the venue, it definitely deserves a lot of respect for being one of the few places holding it down for all ages shows in the south bay. If you haven't been here, check out the local listings at www.myspace.com/pinupproductionssj for shows at the venue and other all ages venues in the area!

My favorite summer music series! There's a lot of live music in and around the South Bay in the…read moresummer, and this is the one I always make a point to go to. No, jazz is not my favorite music, but the ambiance and atmosphere here is just so fun and relaxing. I love that you can bring your own food and drink and have a picnic with live music in the background. They also have a booth selling wine, and it's usually a local winery pouring. They used to be very strict about not having blankets on the grass, chairs only, but this past summer a lot of people had blankets and they weren't told to fold them up. While it can get crowded, you're usually able to find a spot in the park to set up camp fairly close to the music starting.

We love going to Jazz In The Plazz summer concerts in Los Gatos. We go every week! We bring chairs,…read morewine, drinks, snacks, food. It's the best place to sit back outdoors and enjoy live music, wine and food. Everyone is friendly. The artists are great. We get to dance or simply listen and take it all in. I just wish they have it all year round!