We'll be there this Sunday night.

Chaminade

Star Bene

Shadow Brook

Pearl Alley Bistro

Chez Renee

Shadow Brook? Yuck!

Zagat lists (Food/Decor/Service/Cost)

Oswald's (26/19/24/45)
Omei (26/14/17/27)
Gayle's Bakery (24/12/17/17) (for lunch or early supper)
Gabriella Cafe (21/16/17/36)
Shadowbrook (19/26/21/41)
Pearl Alley Bistro (19/19/18/35)
El Palomar (18/17/17/22) (Mexican seafood & tex-mex)

OR...

Come to Los Gatos . It's an easy 30-minute ride.

Thanks for all the suggestions!

It ended up being a kid-focused weekend. We brought Alec and a friend. With Alec, we can usually con him in to good restaurants, but the friend is the mac-and-cheese only variety.

1st Day - Winchester Mystery House and dinner at Bella Saratoga (fine but not wonderful) in Saratoga. We stayed at the Moorpark (nothing special) in San Jose.

2nd Day - NASA Ames Research Center then on to Santa Cruz and the Mystery Spot. Unfortunately we didn't have time to hit the Bigfoot Museum in Felton. Stayed the night at the Coast Hotel in Santa Cruz (great location for a Santa Cruz vacation with kids, nice views too). I couldn't get enough votes to drive to a good restaurant so we ate at Riva on the Santa Cruz pier. Again, OK, but nothing special. The next morning I spent on the verge of nausea with one ride after another on the Boardwalk. (How do these kids do it ?!)

All in all, a nice trip. It's fun to take mini vacations in your own "backyard" and although our destinations were kitschy, that can be fun too.

That sounds like you had fun.

We haven't been to Bella Saratoga for 10 years. It was the original Bella Mia but then got sold. Bella Mia moved to downtown San Jose and two years got shut down for serving pork-parmagiana where the menu listed veal-parmagiana. It actually tasted pretty good but the Jewish contingent that had been eating there for years were a little, make that a lot, upset. True story.

They have sinced re-opened but they haven't really recovered from that debacle.

Didn't see this one until now, so maybe someone else can use this info. Really enjoyed Cafe Sparrow last time we were out there. It's in Aptos, has a nice menu and a good wine list that features almost exclusively Santa Cruz wines. Just over the hill in Saratoga is a fun place some friends took us toLa Fondue . We took our own wine and if I remember correctly corkage was reasonable.

La Fondue is very nice but it is also very pricey.

And nobody goes there anymore because it is too crowded.

I was taken there by one of my co-workers last time I was out there, and he picked up the tab. I guess I never really paid attention to the prices. We went on a weeknight and got right in, so I didn't notice the crowd issue. I can imagine it gets crazy on weekends.