Best Theater Company

San Jose Repertory Theatre

101 Paseo de San Antonio, San Jose. With its big blue Cubist building, the Rep can’t be missed. After a smooth transition from longtime artistic director Timothy Near to new guy Rick Lombardo, the company has scored with a well-received version of Spring Awakening and a cool stage adaptation of noir classic Double Indemnity. The Rep recently scored 22 nominations from the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics’ Circle.

City Lights Theater Company 529 S. Second St., San Jose

San Jose Stage Company 490 S. First St., San Jose

Best Small Theater

Company Retro Dome

1694 Saratoga Ave., San Jose. That old stately pleasure dome, Century 25, lives again. More than a venue for giving Hollywood standards the big-screen treatment they deserve, the Retro Dome has become a successfully producer of plays, most recently Becoming Britney, a musical meditation on pop stardom.

Children’s Musical Theater San Jose Performances at the Montgomery Theater, San Jose

Renegade Theatre Experiment Performances at Historic Hoover Theater, San Jose

Best Dance Company

Ballet San Jose

40 N. First St., San Jose; performances at San Jose Center for the Performing Arts. A new partnership with American Ballet Theatre gives the veteran company a chance to present some major classics of the 19th and 20th-century repertory. The results are already on display in a spring season boasting several Ballet San Jose premieres.

sjDANCEco www.sjDANCEco.org

Los Gatos Ballet www.losgatosballet.org

Best Comedy Venue

San Jose Improv

62 S. Second St., San Jose. Over the years, the Improv has built up a collection of favorite area comedians they call on to fill an opening slot here or there, or even headline. And the big names that come through regularly seem to like it, too, coming back for weekend-long stands every time they’re on the road. All in all, there’s a real neighborhood feel to the place, which is rare for the Improv comedy brand. We’re big fans of Big Al’s monthly Big Ass Comedy Show, too.

Rooster T. Feathers 157 W. El Camino Real, Sunnyvale

ComedySportz 288 S. Second St., San Jose

Best Pre-Sharks Game Spot

Henry’s Hi-Life

301 W. St. John St., San Jose. The battle for fans’ hearts is a brutal one among surrounding bars, but Henry’s Hi-Life has stacked the deck. It’s the old-school favorite (est. 1960) with amazing barbecue (Adam Richmond of Man vs. Food swooned over the baby-back ribs), gives fans the chance to rub shoulders with the players who hang there and has special hours just for post-game wraps.

Poor House Bistro 91 S. Autumn St., San Jose

Britannia Arms San Jose 173 W. Santa Clara St., San Jose

Best Sports Bar

Double D’s Sports Grille

354 N. Santa Cruz Ave., Los Gatos. The Los Gatos institution consistently draws big crowds of enthusiastic sports fans. You will get the full Sports Bar experience with all the spinach dip, wings, burgers and beer you want, along with TVs everywhere broadcasting every sporting game imaginable. People flock from all over the South Bay and over the hill just to get their fix.

Britannia Arms San Jose 173 W. Santa Clara St., San Jose

Rookies Sports Lodge 1535 Meridian Ave., San Jose

READER’S PICKS

Best Live Music Club

The Blank Club

44 S. Almaden Ave., San Jose. Whether it’s a showcase of new bands from the chip-music craze or the upcoming X show, this is still the black-lined, dimly lit heart of the local rock scene.

JJ’s Blues 3439 Stevens Creek Blvd., San Jose

Poor House Bistro 91 S. Autumn St., San Jose

Best Dance Club

The Blank Club

44 S. Almaden Ave., San Jose. This really ought to be the most competitive nightlife category in our reader’s poll, and yet Blank Club—known best for winning the Best Live Music category—runs away with it every year. It shouldn’t be a surprise anymore, since dance nights have actually been the Blank’s most popular offerings for some time now. Both the venerable Atomic Night and the newer Adult Dance Party are anchored by Basura, one of the South Bay’s most respected DJs, and Vitus and Kevin have brought their own style to the New Wave Proms.

Cardiff Lounge 260 E. Campbell Ave., Campbell

The Saddle Rack 42011 Boscell Road, Fremont

Best Latin Music Club

Azucar

71 E. San Fernando St., San Jose. The downtown club has cornered the market on Latin rhythms with a full slate of live acts ThursdaySunday, salsa lessons and bilingual karaoke. It doesn’t hurt that Azucar’s menu and mojitos consistently rate high in the readers’ polling.

Miami Beach Club/Beso 417 S. First St., San Jose

Agenda Lounge 399 S. First St., San Jose

Alberto’s Nightclub 736 W. Dana St., Mountain View

Best Underground Music Spot

Good Karma Vegan Cafe

37 S. First St., San Jose. At last year’s Left Coast Live, the Good Karma underground showcase was always packed. Just as Good Karma has carefully established the palette of dishes on its vegan menu, so has it cultivated a distinctive identity for its miniscene, something people in the South Bay have been craving for years. Good Karma continues to celebrate the most personal and idiosyncratic corners of the music underground.

X-Bar Homestead Lanes , 20990 Homestead Road, Cupertino

Nickel City 1711 Branham Lane, San Jose

Best Gay or Lesbian Bar

Brix Nightclub

349 S. First St., San Jose Brix pretty much owns this category annually because it’s the most fun spot for LGBT nightlife, having taken over where Hunter’s left off with an organic, casual vibe. Even the guys at the door are fun here—gay or straight, who doesn’t want to go?

Splash Video Dance Bar 65 Post St., San Jose

A Tinker’s Damn 46 N. Saratoga Ave., Santa Clara

Best Hotel Bar or Restaurant

Hedley Club

Hotel De Anza, 233 W. Santa Clara St., San Jose. No one thinks of jazz as a growth industry, unless they’ve been to the Hedley over the last few months. Those Wednesday live shows are killing it, adding a new elbow-to-elbow layer of hipness to the Hedley’s vintage vibe. V Bar Hotel Valencia, 355 Santana Row, San Jose

Pagoda Lounge, Fairmont Hotel, 170 S. Market St., San Jose

Best Jazz/Blues Club

JJ’s Blues

3439 Stevens Creek Blvd., San Jose. To hear the awe still in the voice of Bay Area blues icon Tommy Castro when he talks about JJ’s is a testament to the towering influence the club has had on the scene over the last few decades. Growing up in San Jose, Castro saw Albert King, Buddy Guy and Junior Wells there, and his first band, Nite Cry, came out of his time at J.J.’s. Now multiply Castro’s memories by every blues player in the Bay Area scene—every one of whom seems to have a J.J.’s story—and it’s easy to understand this club’s enduring power.

Poor House Bistro 91 S. Autumn St., San Jose

Hedley Club at Hotel De Anza, 233 W. Santa Clara St., San Jose

Best Place to Play Pool

South First Billiards

420 S. First St., San Jose. South First is more than just a pool hall. It added some clubby swank a while back and continues to book popular underground bands. At this point, South First Billiards is pretty much a legit nightlife spot that also happens to have great specials on pool. Santa Clara Billiards 4525 Stevens Creek Blvd., Santa Clara

California Billiard Club 881 E. El Camino Real, Mountain View

Best Freestyling Club Night

Terrible Tuesdays

Johnny V’s, 31 E. Santa Clara St., San Jose. Has any weekly club event ever so audaciously flaunted the established rules of the dance night, and become a breakout success doing it? Ben Bremer and DJ Clint Westwood saw an opening on Tuesdays and filled it with their own warped vision for a club night. Where other nights stick to a specific theme or genre to build an audience, they careen wildly between styles, week in and week out. What audiences have responded to on Terrible Tuesdays is the rule-breaking itself, the liberating spontaneity and the ingenious mix of live bands and Westwood’s DJ mixes with each theme.

Best Gentlemen’s Club

Pink Poodle

328 S. Bascom Ave., San Jose. San Jose’s undisputed champion of gentlemen’s bars is of course, the Pink Poodle, which opened shop in the early ’60s and continues to attract customers with its roster of nude dancers.

Brass Rail 160 Persian Dr., Sunnyvale

Cheetah’s Gentleman’s Club 907 E. Arques Ave., Sunnyvale

READER’S CHOICE

Best British Pub

Britannia Arms Almaden
5027 Almaden Expwy., San Jose. People come to the Britannia Arms for good old-fashioned pub food and brew: bangers, fish and chips, steak and kidney pie, mash, corned beef and cabbage as well as Guinness, Stella, Fuller and all the over-seas beer faves. But after hours, they put away the menus and turn into a late-night bar of choice for the South Bay, with DJs, bands and karaoke.

Trials Pub 265 N. First St., San Jose

Britannia Arms Downtown 173 W. Santa Clara St., San Jose

Best Irish Pub

O’Flaherty’s

25 N. San Pedro St., San Jose. Locals have been raving about the Irish coffee at O’Flaherty’s for years. And with the cozy, friendly ambience and charming Irish atmosphere, it’s the closest thing you’ll get to an Irish pub in the land of the Googleplex. Plus live Irish music every Tuesday and Sunday.

Katie Blooms 369 E. Campbell Ave., Campbell

CB Hannegan’s 208 Bachman Ave., Los Gatos

EDITOR’S PICKS

Best Local Filmmaker

Sean McCarthy

Subject of the Feb. 22 cover of Metro and maker of the “It ain’t gonna work” trailers for Cinequest, Sean McCarthy has been a working filmmaker ever since he got out of high school. McCarthy brings his own Sam Raimi-esque sense of humor to tales of battle between hell-creatures, odd schizophrenics and punk-rock girls. His recent Boxed Up was a local answer to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Raging Cyclist, stolen off the bike trails of Silicon Valley, concerns a sinister two-wheeled “Devil Hunter” who is pursued to a climactic battle of good and evil at Castle Rock State Park. And Superhero displays unforced hilarity in a story of a would-be righter of wrongs who is wronger than he looks.

Mark Tran

Alejandro Adama

Best Place to Watch Campy Movies

Camera 3

288 S. Second St., San Jose. The first time I saw the movie The Room, I wondered simultaneously if I had just seen the best and worst movie ever made. What can you say about a film that recycles a sex scene, dubs its main character’s lines, never finishes a plot point and entices theatergoers to finish characters’ lines because they’re so awfully memorable. Camera 3 is the premiere spot for movies like this, whether it’s The Rocky Horror Picture Show or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Best Showcase for Short Documentaries

The United Nations Association Film Festival

It seems like everyone knows what “fracking” means now: hydraulic fracturing using a witches’ brew of proprietary (i.e., secret) chemicals to knock natural gas out of the rocks. But it took Jasmina Bojic and the United Nations Association Film Festival to bring us the short documentary that first sounded the alarm about fracking, Gasland. A nonprofit group aiming to aid the U.N. conducts the festival. Oscar contenders are common at this traveling event held every year in the fall, with a stop in Silicon Valley; last year, UNAFF received 600 submissions, winnowing them down to more than a week’s worth of international and local offerings. One can learn more here about the precarious state of the world than at any other film festival in the Bay Area. No wonder Stanford University declared Bojic a “community treasure.”

READER’S PICKS

Best Film Festival

Cinequest

With the exception of a beach crowded with bethonged starlets, Cinequest has just about everything Cannes does, and it’s a lot closer. The festival presents a canny mix of indies, world cinema, documentaries, big names (Philip Kaufman and Elliott Gould, for instance, in 2012), parties and red-carpet premieres.

Retro Dome Weekend Revivals of Classic Films

San Jose Short Film Festival

EDITOR’S PICKS

Most Improved Festival

Left Coast Live

For two years, Left Coast Live couldn’t find its groove, the bills made little conceptual sense, and some of the people who went looking for the shows spread out over dozens of city blocks still haven’t returned. But in 2011, LCL relocated to the alleys behind First Street, set everything up on a few stages and managed to capture exactly the kind of open-air, eclectic vibe organizers had been looking for all along. Having Campbell’s own success story the Limousines as headliners added to the feeling that it was grounded in the South Bay, and Good Karma’s showcase for underground bands killed.

Best Open-Mic Night

Rooster T. Feathers New Talent Showcase, Wednesdays

157 W. El Camino Real, Sunnyvale. Starting out in comedy is no easy feat. It can mean five, six nights a week of performing at whatever comedian cattle call will have you. That’s why Wednesday night at Rooster T. Feathers has been a dream come true for new comics. It’s really the only place in the area where newbs can stand on a real stage in a real comedy club and give it a shot. Yes, there are some painful flameouts, but there are some real discoveries, too, and a lot of laughs. Smartly, they tend to get some funny local comedy vets to headline.

JJ’s Blues, Pro Jam, Mondays and Tuesdays 3439 Stevens Creek Blvd., San Jose

Johnny V’s, Cypher, Wednesdays 31 E. Santa Clara St., San Jose

READER’S PICKS

Best Concert Venue

Mountain Winery

14831 Pierce Road, Saratoga. When Paul Masson built the Mountain Winery in 1901, he famously quipped, “I have only one request: ‘Freebird.’ ‘Freeebird!'” Back then, no one knew what he was talking about, but his wish has come true time and time again as the party chateau he built in the Saratoga hills has drawn rock stars every summer for decades. Has there ever been one who didn’t comment on how gorgeous it is?

Shoreline Amphitheatre 1 Amphitheatre Pkwy., Mountain View

HP Pavilion 525 W. Santa Clara St., San Jose

READER’S PICKS

Best Art Gallery

Anno Domini

366 S. First St., San Jose. The monthly SoFA district extravaganza of gallery receptions, street artists, museums and art-making that is South First Fridays has as its epicenter the tireless dedication to avant-garde creativity of Anno Domini. The gallery, the labor of love of Cherri Lakey and Brian Eder, hosts provocative shows year-round by underground artists of many nationalities—with a bracing emphasis on the potent fecundity of street arts like graffiti and tattooing.

San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art 560 S. First St., San Jose

Empire Seven Studios 525 N. Seventh St., San Jose

Best Small/Quirky Museum

Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum

1660 Park Ave., San Jose. Always a time-and-space-warping surprise in its suburban setting, even when you know it’s coming, the Rosicrucian Museum has brought a slice of Nile Delta architecture and flora to San Jose for almost 100 years. The buildings, done in the style of the Temple of Amon at Karnak, harmonize perfectly with the museum’s extensive collection of Egyptian artifacts. In recent years, the museum has implemented an initiative to make its cuneiform tablets available in digital form online.

Hiller Aviation Museum 601 Skyway, San Carlos

Campbell Historical Museum 51 N. Central Ave., Campbell

EDITOR’S PICKS

Best Maze

Cantor Art Museum

Stanford University Campus. Richard Serra’s 67-foot long, 13-foot high Sequence (2006) is usually exhibited indoors; that’s the way I saw it at the Broad Contemporary Art Museum in L.A. But this curved iron behemoth is more formidable now that it’s being displayed outside for the first time. Serra’s sculpture is a cyclopean alien space open only to the sky and the ground. At dusk (the Cantor Museum’s grounds are open until 8 on Thursdays), all the sun-warmed iron in the dimming light makes the piece feel like the gateway to another dimension.

Best Breakfast Burrito

Cafe Rosalena

1077 The Alameda, San Jose. A hearty burrito paired with a slightly less spicy version of orange sauce makes Cafe Rosalena a destination on The Alameda. Outside seating on a weekend morning is where it’s at.

READER’S PICKS

Best Dining Value

Aqui Cal-Mex

Multiple locations. Aqui offers a fresh, creative approach to Mexican food with top-notch ingredients and prices Metro readers appreciate.
Sonoma Chicken Coop Multiple locations Sonoma Chicken Coop

Blue Rock BBQ 3001 Meridian Ave., San Jose

Best Late-Night Eats

La Victoria

Multiple locations. There’s something about Mexican food and the wee hours that go together perfectly. La Victoria has gained a sterling reputation for catering to night owls with hunger pangs.

Original Joe’s 301 S. First St.

San Jose Flames Eatery & Bar 88 S. Fourth St., San Jose

Best Restaurant Patio

Aqui Cal-Mex in Willow Glen

1145 Lincoln Ave., San Jose. Cold margarita. Spicy food. Warm night. The patio at Aqui in Willow Glen is hot.

Gordon Biersch 33 E. San Fernando St., San Jose

Naglee Park Garage 505 E. San Carlos St., San Jose

Best Latin American Restaurant

Cascal

499 Castro St., Mountain View. Silicon Valley boasts plenty of Mexican restaurants, but Cascal takes things one step further and draws on culinary influences from Mexico and Latin America at large, with
an inventive bar program to match.

Azucar 71 E. San Fernando St.,
San Jose

The Mmoon 177 W. Santa Clara St., San Jose

Best Ethnic Market

Mi Pueblo Food Center

Multiple locations. Instead of an aisle of Mexican food, Mi Pueblo dedicates the whole store to everything Mexican and Latin American—from the meat and fish to the produce and spices and secret ingredients. Having won in 2011, when Metro first introduced the category, Mi Pueblo is already on its way to Hall of Fame status.

Ranch 99 Multiple locations

International Food Bazaar 2052 Curtner Ave., San Jose

Best Fruit That Can’t Be Found in the Supermarket

Blenheim apricots

Novakovich Orchards, 14251 Fruitvale Ave., Saratoga. Most fruit is engineered for transportability, not flavor. That’s why the fragile Blenheim apricot is such a treasure. It’s too juicy to be shipped. But you can go to Saratoga’s Novakovich orchard and taste what you’ve been missing.

READER’S PICKS

Best Vegetarian Overall

Good Karma

37 S. First St., San Jose. Good Karma distinguishes itself with its eclectic meatless menu, good vibes and low prices. That’s good karma.

Falafel’s Drive-in 2301 Stevens Creek Blvd., San Jose

Vegetarian House 520 E. Santa Clara St., San Jose

Best Asian Vegetarian

Blue Mango

635 Coleman Ave., San Jose. Thai cuisine lends itself well to vegetarian food, and Blue Mango showcases an extensive menu of brightly flavored meatless dishes.

Good Karma Vegan Cafe 37 S. First St., San Jose

Vegetarian House 520 E. Santa Clara St., San Jose

Best Outdoor Gear

Mel Cotton’s

1266 W. San Carlos St., San Jose. For more than 60 years, Mel Cotton’s has been feeding the valley’s need to get back to the country, with all the basics in tents, sleeping bags and camp stoves as well as the latest advances in compaction and efficiency. The store is deeply involved in community and youth events, and the window displays are as good as a natural-history museum diorama.

Sports Basement 1177 Kern Ave., Sunnyvale

Any Mountain, multiple locations

Best Bike Mechanic

Mark SanfILiPpo

Hyland Cycles, 1515 Meridian Ave., San Jose. The most difficult part of cycling is, of course, proper component choice. You need a professional on your side who knows why a Campagnolo Record 11s shifter isn’t compatible with a XL Primal Wear jersey. It takes a professional who’s honed his or her skills for years. Luckily, Mark has the capability to resolve the most challenging questions in cycling, and he’ll repair your fixie as well.

Eric Olsen, Bicycle Express 131 E. William St., San Jose

Caleb Fowler, La Dolce Velo 1280 The Alameda, San Jose

Best Skate Shop

Circle-A

108 Paseo de San Antonio, San Jose. Don’t let the compact size of Circle-A’s shop mislead you. The store carries plenty of custom decks for serious skaters.

Ohana Board Shop 3567 Stevens Creek Blvd., San Jose

Mojo’s Surf & Skate Shop 198 Great Mall Dr., Milpitas

Best Bicycle Shop/Maker

Hyland Family Bicycles

1515 Meridian Ave., San Jose. A family-owned business spanning several generations, Hyland caters to cyclists at all skill levels, ages and price points, with mountain bikes, cruisers and all the add-ons that make a good bike a mobile entity.

Eric Olsen 131 E. William St., San Jose

Mike’s Bikes 201 N. Santa Cruz Ave., Los Gatos; 3001 El Camino Real, Palo Alto

Best Motorcycle Shop

San Jose Harley-Davidson

1551 Parkmoor Ave., San Jose. It doesn’t take the popularity of Sons of Anarchy to reinforce the permanent place this Harley-Davidson brand holds in the American psyche. And San Jose Harley-Davidson is the epicenter of the valley’s Harley culture.

Road Rider Motorcycle Accessories 2897 Monterey Highway

House of Thunder 16175 Condit Road, Morgan Hill