There is a shuttle bus that you can catch across the street from the terminal. It will drop you off on N. 1st St. and from there you can pick-up the light rail, which will take you into downtown SJ where many of the restaurants the previous posts mentioned exist.

My dept. at work held our Christmas lunch last year at The Grill on the Alley at the Fairmont Hotel. There were 21 of us and we dined in a nice private room. Service was wonderful and everyone enjoyed their meal.

http://thegrill.com/location.cfm?subs...

I live near SJSU and I like exploring the restaurants on S. 1st St. past Williams St.

All of the restaurants on S. 1st are neighborhood joints and are definitely not fancy, but they do serve wonderful dishes.

My favorite is La Penita on 601 S. 1st St. It's a hole-in-the wall spot that serves delicious homemade dishes. The tortillas are made to order. I had the beef meatball soup which was very filling and calmed my hangover. The chicken mole was tasty in that the chicken was juicy and the red mole didn't taste like it was homemade and not from a jar. Price hovered between $7 - $12.

There are taco trucks that sprout up at night. One is located on Story Rd. and S. 10th St. The others can be found on Mckee and N. 19th or 20th (near the 101 freeway).

Melanie-

At Kimba, I've tried the Spring Rolls, Beef Veggie Stew, Spicy Noodle Soup, and the Summer Rolls.

The Spring and Summer Rolls were made to order (3 for $3). I loved the Summer Rolls which contained slivers of carrots, bean sprouts, tofu and mint. The rice wrapper was still warm from being dipped in water and the rolls were soft and not chewy to the bite. I would have liked the Spring Rolls more, but it had the dry shredded pork I detest that taste like sawdust and, to me, was very bland (my fault for not asking and not the restaurant's).

The Spicy Noodle and Veggie Beef Stew ($5.50 each) were delicious and very filling, but I enjoyed the stew much more. The Spicy Noodle had thin rice noodles and an assortment of tofu/soy meats in it. The Spicy soup was not bad, but it lacked the flavor of the one I enjoyed from Good Karma. It needed a little more seasoning or more spiciness. The Veggie Beef Stew was a hearty soup with spaghetti noodles, nice cuts of carrots, potatoes, soy meats. The potatoes helped thicken the soup and overall, had nicer balance of flavor. Both soups came with a lime wedge, bean sprouts, basil and few slices of jalapeno.

Another dish I tried was a chicken salad ($3 for a small). The salad was composed of shredded green and red cabbage, peanuts, sprouts, carrots and a fried chicken patty cut into five pieces. The dressing was nuc monh (sp?). My problem with the salad was the dry chicken patty which wasn't exciting to eat with the rest of the ingredients.

I work near-by so I plan to come back and try their combo rice dishes. The prices and portions were very good.

Carb Lover-
There are two vegetarian places on Santa Clara St.: (1) Tofoo Com Chay (Santa Clara and 9th St.) and (2) newly opened Kimba Vegetarian Bistro (Santa Clara and 7th St.). Kimba occupies the old location for Good Karma which has moved to S. 1st near San Clara.

Both locations are very good. I prefer Kimba just a little more because I can dine in without being in anyones way. The most expensive dish at Kimba's is $5.50.

Some of my favorites:

Just Laziz (Lebanese/schawarmas and Manakeesh)- San Jose
Mudai (Ethiopian)- San Jose
Naglee Park Garage (American)- San Jose
Quang Da (Northern Vietnamese)- San Jose
Nha Toi (Vietnamese)- San Jose
Minatos (Japanese- basic comfort food/no fancy sushi)- San Jose
Dakao (Vietnamese/cheap and great Vietnamese sandwiches)- San Jose