Best Place to Pop Off an Assault Weapon

Best in the West

Playing with automatic weapons in 2013 America is very out-of-fashion and probably not a good thing to do anyway. If you have an overwhelming desire to pop off multiple rounds and need a place to do it safely, we recommend the largest invitational S.W.A.T. competition in the Western United States. Best in the West is run by the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office and takes place each September. Members of the Sheriff’s Advisory Board and invited guests can fire machine guns at targets with a certified instructor, providing a dose of Second Amendment excitement without all the nasty side effects.

Best Commercial Neighborhood Improvement

Lincoln Avenue Willow Glen

While tons of public funds have transformed Mountain View, downtown San Jose, Sunnyvale, and King and Story, with mixed degrees of success, little Willow Glen plugged along with private capital. The result: an authentic business district that’s popping with owner-operated small retail stores and restaurants, including one of the valley’s last independent bookstores. The effort has been so well embraced by the public that the new threats are parking problems and rising rents that endanger smaller boutiques.

Best Gravy Train

Santa Clara County Government

Ever since San Jose’s city government started exercising some fiscal discipline, the trough-feeders have set their sights on the $4 billion county budget. The county has been only too happy to comply, handing out P-cards to electeds and $100,000 grants to political organizations masquerading as health care nonprofits for things like “flash mobs” and “outreach.” Supervisors, county administration, auditors and the news media, until recently, have been only too happy to look the other way.

Best New Greek Restaurant

Nemea Greek Taverna

96 S. First St., San Jose. One of the new bright spots on the culinary scene is Nemea, a white-tablecloth restaurant in downtown San Jose with uniformed waiters who serve authentic food while maintaining a relaxed and informal atmosphere. The food and wine are authentic, and the desserts steal the show. A cocktail lounge nicely completes the mix.

Best Asian Street Food

Spice Kit

340 S California Ave., Palo Alto

Best New Coffee Roaster

Chromatic Coffee Co.

5237 Stevens Creek Blvd., Santa Clara. Artisan coffee roasting is a serious business, and the baristas and roasters at Chromatic consider it a way of life. As the latest addition to the valley’s caffeine offerings, it has brought together some of the micro-industry’s best talent, and the results are smooth and flavorful.

Best Downtown Coffee

B2 Coffee

87 N. San Pedro St., San Jose. A city needs well-crafted caffeinated beverages. Since the closing of Red Berry, the best coffee in downtown San Jose is, hands down, Bellano 2 a.k.a. B2 Coffee in the San Pedro Square Market. The specialty is slow-poured filtered coffee, from a choice of three types of beans from carefully sourced regions.

Best Liquor Store

Coach House Liquors

1655 S De Anza Blvd., Cupertino. A good place to buy limited lot wines from the Saratoga side of the Santa Cruz Mountains as well as an extensive selection of small batch distilled spirits from places like the hill regions of Scotland and Tennessee.

Best Eclectic Cuisine

Hay Market

185 Lincoln Ave., San Jose. Joe Cirone’s Hay Market is a place for foodies who don’t like to eat the same thing every time, enjoy farm-to-table quality and don’t mind sharing conversations with other diners at communal dining tables. It’s probably the area’s most interesting restaurant, well priced and friendly, without the attitude you’d expect from a culinary innovator.

Best Return to the Land

Veggielution Community Farm

647 S. King Road, San Jose. Recently expanded to six-acres, this organic urban farm with a social mission grows a range of healthy vegetables and trains volunteers in the tradition of turning land, sunshine and water into delicious and nutritious produce. The Saturday farm stand is one of the best values around, and kids love watching the chickens roaming free beneath the 280 freeway.

Best Craft Beer Store

Kelly’s Liquor Store

498 N. Fourth St., San Jose. An unpretentious wooden building on a residential street north of downtown houses Kelly’s Liquor Store. With a veritable selection of exotic and hard-to-find malt and hops beverages, even the pickiest beer snob won’t be disappointed here.

Best Beer-Making Supplies

More Beer!

991 N. San Antonio Road, Los Altos. More Beer! has been riding the craft-brewing explosion since 2007 and went from online only to bricks and mortar. For people who don’t want to inspect a sparge arm personally or select a mead-making kit in a non-digital environment, the Northern California showroom is thankfully located here. Pretty much anything one needs to wow aficionados with home made craft beer can be purchased here.

Best Place to Learn Cheese-Making, Goat-Milking and Blacksmithing

Hidden Villa

26870 Moody Road, Los Altos Hills

Best Kosher Restaurant

Jerusalem Bar and Grill

1740 S. Winchester Blvd., Campbell. Since the closure of Mountain View’s The Kitchen Table, it may be the only real kosher restaurant around. Luckily, it’s a good one, with a selection of tasty Israeli salads, traditional soups and grilled meats.

Best Place to Buy Tropical Plants

Green Design

415 Meridian Ave., San Jose

Best London/Amsterdam/Toronto Street Fashions

Underground

1342 Lincoln Ave., San Jose

Best Place for Tool Junkies

Harbor Freight Tools

241 Stevens Creek Blvd., Santa Clara and 32 Blossom Hill Road, San Jose

Best Car Detail and Wash

AJ’s Auto Detailing

702 Coleman Ave., San Jose

Best Auto Body Shop

Cronus Collision Center

277 N. Fair Oaks Ave., Sunnyvale

Best Small Bicycle Shop

Bicycle Express

131 E. William St., San Jose

Best Place to Clean an Oriental Rug

Martinous Oriental Rug Cleaning

25 Union St., San Jose

Best Place to See Meerkats and Lemurs or Spot a Spotted Jaguar

Happy Hollow Zoo

1300 Senter Road, San Jose

Best Place to Practice a Polonaise Over Pizza

New Mozart School of Music

220B University Ave., Palo Alto; 650.324.2373. The New Mozart School for music lessons has two locations in Palo Alto, one of which is actually upstairs above Pizza My Heart. You can literally work on your pizzicato over a pizza. You can practice sul tasto violin passages over a slab of pesto. You can write ledger lines above pepperoni and mushroom. It’s not a retail store; instead, it’s purely for lessons. They teach repertoire, technique, ear-training and sight-reading. At both locales, the school provides private instruction in piano, violin, viola, cello, guitar, electric bass, voice, clarinet, flute and saxophone. What a combination.

Best New Bridge From East to West

Japanese-American Museum

535 N. Fifth St., San Jose; 408.294.3138. Now occupying the former residence of Tokio Ishikawa, M.D., on North Fifth Street, the Japanese-American Museum in Japantown is perhaps the most solidified organization that documents the history of the East-West experience in San Jose. As an idea, the place has a long history, going back to 1987, when it grew out of a 1984-86 research project on Japanese-American farmers. There are many exhibitions. “Pioneers of San Jose Japantown” draws heavily on the valley’s agricultural history and the role Japanese immigrants played in its growth. “Asahi/Zebras Baseball” explores two Japanese-American baseball teams that existed in San Jose during the first half of the 20th century.

Best Place to Support a Dying Art

Foto Express

304 E. Santa Clara St. #C, San Jose; 408.971.3977. While many big-box stores make claims, local outposts like Foto Express quietly demonstrate why chains can never compete in the area of service. After only one visit, proprietor Henry Chang is known to remember a client’s name, and he takes note of what every order entails. Services include on-demand passport photos and digital prints, but Foto Express is also one of the few places that still processes color 35 mm film. Chang also develops 120 film and black-and-white 35 mm film by hand, typically having it ready for customers in only a few hours. For those still enjoying what film can do that digital cannot, and who don’t have access to a darkroom, Foto Express is a gem.

Best Open-Mic Night at an Art Gallery/Cafe/Flower Shop

The Canvas

Sunnyvale Art Gallery, 251 W. El Camino Real, Sunnyvale; 408.737.8188. Every first and third Thursday of the month, performers present anything from spoken word and standup comedy to full-band live music and DJing at this one-stop shop for culture and culinary delights. Regulars include accordionist and artist Gianfranco Paolozzi and singer/songwriter Randomher0, but highlights often come from the unexpected, such as a sing-along to the Proclaimers’ “(I’m Gonna Be) 500 Miles.” Plus, there’s a full cafe so patrons can sate both their minds and their appetites.

Best Local Supporter of Words

Mike McGee

Known as “Mighty” Mike McGee, this slam poet has been a fixture in the local spoken-word scene for more than a decade, presenting his quirky, humorous and all-too-relatable worldview around the South Bay as well as across the country on various tours. In the late 1990s, McGee helped to establish the San Jose Poetry Slam, and in 2003, he was crowned National Poetry Slam Individual Grand Champion. The SJ Slam has now become a little more than just poetry, as McGee and fellow poets David Perez, Tatyana Brown and John Staedler have taken the original slam format and added a musical component as well as “something uncommon.” Past installments of the bimonthly event included one or more of the following: audience-participant strip Scrabble, juggling and a burlesque show—”something uncommon,” indeed.

Best Intro to Old-School High Culture

Opera San Jose

Performances at the California Theatre, 345 S. First St., San Jose; 408.437.4450. Any excuse to go to the magnificent California Theatre is a good excuse, but the place is perfect for the opera, where shameless grandeur meets shameless grandeur. Opera San Jose is a superb company, and generally chooses sure-fire crowd pleasers that have withstood the test of a few centuries. Opera is one of those things that must be experienced live, and this is the best place to do it.

Best Small/Quirky Museum

Rosicrucian Museum

1660 Park Ave., San Jose; 408.947.3636. The Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum essentially began with one artifact: a statue of Sekhmet on Harvey Spencer Lewis’ desk. That was almost 100 years ago, and after many life-cycles of expansion, the museum continues to be part of the social fabric of San Jose, housing 4,000 artifacts, the largest collection of authentic ancient Egyptian artifacts on display in Western North America.

History Park, San Jose 1650 Senter Road, San Jose; 408.287.2290

Computer History Museum 1401 N. Shoreline Blvd., Mountain View; 650.810.1010

Best Art Gallery

Anno Domini

366 S. First St., San Jose; 408.271.5155. San Jose has always been a place where, if folks want anything interesting to happen, they have to fight for it. For 11 years now, Brian Eder and Cherri Lakey of Anno Domini have done exactly that. The gallery has brought artists from all over the world to San Jose. They’ve also been intertwined with almost every interesting countercultural meme that’s emerged during those last 11 years.

San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art 560 S. First St., San Jose; 408.283.8155

Empire Seven Studios 525 N. Seventh St., San Jose; 408.668.4434

Best Local Festival

Boogie on the Bayou

Downtown Campbell; www.campbellchamber.com. Campbell does its downtown festivals right, and where it was once considered sort of a season opener for Big Bands & BBQ in July and especially Oktoberfest, Boogie on the Bayou has now officially arrived. Held every third weekend in May, and featuring live music along with arts and crafts booths and Cajun cuisine, the point is not so much gritty down-on-the-bayou authenticity as it is a great excuse for a Big-Easy-style party to kick off the summer season.

San Jose Jazz Festival Downtown San Jose; www.sanjosejazz.org

Gilroy Garlic Festival Christmas Hill Park, Gilroy; 408.842.1625

Best Film Festival

Cinequest Downtown San Jose; 408.295.3378. At 21, Cinequest seems like it has been around forever. It’s hard to remember that, once upon a time, it was just the most recent attempt to start a film festival in a market where more than a couple of such festivals had died on the vine. Today, this event brings the cinematic world to our doorsteps, through dozens of celebrated directors and actors. Cinequest is also the launching pad for numerous local talents.

Midnight Movies at Camera Cinemas www.cameracinemas.com

San Jose Short Film Festival www.sjshortfest.com

Best Open-Mic Night

Johnny V’s Cypher, Wednesday 31 E. Santa Clara St., San Jose; 408.947.8470

Rooster T. Feather’s, New Talent Showcase, Wednesday 157 W. El Camino Real, Sunnyvale; 408.736.0921

Barefoot Coffee Roasters, Wednesday 5237 Stevens Creek Blvd., Santa Clara; 408.248.4500

Best Theater Company

San Jose Rep

101 Paseo de San Antonio, San Jose; 408.367.7255. San Jose Rep is a cultural ornament to the valley; since 1980, it has been entertaining and enlightening hundreds of thousands of attendees. The Rep’s upcoming season includes the provocative hit musical Spring Awakening, and then, in January 2012, the world premiere of a stage version of the noir gem Double Indemnity. They’re continuing “Pay as you will Tuesdays” (March 24 this month) and continue with community outreach programs too numerous to name.

TheatreWorks Performances at the Lucie Stern Theatre, Palo Alto, and the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts; 650.463.1950

City Lights Theater Company 529 S. Second St., San Jose; 408.295.4200

Best Dance Company

Ballet San Jose

40 N. First St., San Jose; performances at San Jose Center for the Performing Arts; 408.288.2800. As Ballet San Jose’s acclaimed production of Swan Lake just demonstrated, the movies are no substitute for the grace and discipline of real dancers. Dennis Nahat’s nimble company upholds the classical dance tradition with technical skill, exuberance and dedication.

Studio 10 Dance 6190 Bollinger Road, San Jose; 408.446.0103

Flamenco Society of San Jose Performances at the Historic Hoover Theatre, San Jose; 510.792.8355

Los Lupenos Performances at the Mexican Heritage Plaza, San Jose; 408.920.6070

Best Small Theatre Company

Children’s Musical Theater

271 S. Market St., San Jose; performances at Montgomery Theater; 408.288.5437. Not only does CMTSJ provide young actors the chance to experience the thrill of live performance, the company also puts on consistently entertaining and often quite elaborate shows. Over the course of some 40 years, CMTSJ has instilled more than 100,000 kids with a feel for the magic of the stage.

Retro Dome 1694 Saratoga Ave., San Jose; 408.404.7711

Cardboard Box Theater Project Performances at WORKS/San Jose; www.thecardboardbox.org

Best Concert Venue

Mountain Winery

14831 Pierce Road, Saratoga; 408.741.2822. Featuring arguably the best view of the valley one can get to without a grueling hike, a concert at Mountain Winery is like a mini-getaway. The lineups tend to do a excellent job of balancing veteran headliners with edgier openers, just as the bowl seating combines star-power shows with an intimate feel—which is perhaps why this spot gets more performers off the stage and up in the crowd than any other in the South Bay.

Shoreline Amphitheatre 1 Amphitheatre Pkwy., Mountain View; 650.967.4040

HP Pavilion 525 W. Santa Clara St., San Jose; 408.287.7070

Best Comedy Venue

The Improv

62 S. Second St., San Jose; 408.280.7475. With the “Improv” name providing industrial-strength comedy cred, this spot is able to snag big standup headliners the South Bay wouldn’t otherwise get. The classic theater setting ranks it among the top clubs in the Bay Area for rolling in the aisles.

Rooster T. Feathers 157 W. El Camino Real, Sunnyvale; 408.736.0921

ComedySportz 288 S. Second St., San Jose; 408.985.5233

Best Local Winery

J. Lohr

1000 Lenzen Ave., San Jose; 408.918.2160 Last year, Wine Enthusiast Magazine named them American Winery of the Year. And just like last year, Metro readers again named the San Jose wine maker their favorite local winery.

Cinnabar 14612 Big Basin Way, Saratoga; 408.867.1012

Testarossa Winery 300A College Ave., Los Gatos; 408.354.6150

Best Microbrewery

Gordon Biersch

357 E. Taylor St., San Jose, 408.278.1008; 33 E. San Fernando St., San Jose, 408.294.6785; 640 Emerson St., Palo Alto, 650.323.7723 Gordon-Biersch started right here in 1988, in the days when brewpubs were a complete novelty. The original location in Palo Alto led to the downtown San Jose landmark, with its Old World brick courtyard. This patio is the one of the best places around to be on a hot Friday afternoon. Over the years, G-B specialized in German-style beers; lately, it is also brewing heartier, hoppier beers to accompany their popular line of wheat, dark and lagers.

Rock Bottom Brewery 1875 S. Bascom Ave., Campbell; 408.377.0707

Los Gatos Brewing Company 130G N. Santa Cruz Ave., Los Gatos, 408.395.9929; 163 W. Santa Clara St., San Jose, 408.292.9928

Best Local Jock (except Greg Kihn)

Audio Dru

Is Audio Dru the hardest-working man in the South Bay electronic music scene? All we know is that while turning out a weekly radio show that Metro readers consistently vote among the best in the valley, he also runs open-mic fixture the Cypher (another Best Of winner this year), spins at local DJ showcases regularly, helps out Pacific Art Collective, pursues a photography career and writes a mean haiku.

Ophelia Necro, The Suicide Watch, KFJC

Robert Emmett, KFJC

Best Non-Beer Brewing
Use of Irish Moss

Cafe Gratitude’s Raw Vegan Desserts

Cafe Gratitude, inside Whole Foods, 20955 Stevens Creek Blvd., Cupertino; 415.814.1364. “Vegan” and “raw” aren’t often words that make the masses come running. But Cafe Gratitude’s raw vegan cheesecakes and pies, which use Irish moss as a thickening agent, are something special. The pies are all made by hand from organic and mostly local raw ingredients (if only we could harvest cacao here …), and along with staples such as chocolate-hazelnut and coconut cream, the restaurant features a pie of the day and a cake of the day. Other goodies here include the I Am I Am, Cafe Gratitude’s take on the It’s It ice cream sandwich, made with almond-milk ice cream and raw vegan cookies, and decadent milkshakes. This truly is a haven for good-for-you treats.

Best French Fries

International Kabob House

2707 Union Ave., San Jose; 408.626.7211. French fries aren’t really French. At least not anymore. For better or worse, they’ve become a staple of the American diet. That means that tradition has gone out the window. Cheese fries. Curly fries. Chili fries. It’s all fair game. My favorite tweak of the American classic is the Greek fries at San Jose’s International Kabob House. That’s right: Greek-influenced, Americanized french fries. The dish is quite simple: fries sprinkled with tangy feta cheese and tossed with an assertive oregano-based vinaigrette.

Most Over-the-Top Burger

Grill ‘Em’s “The Monster” Jucy Lucy

Grill ‘Em, 2509 S. Bascom Ave., San Jose; 408.371.8729. A bacon cheeseburger is already a ridiculously decadent creation if you think about it. Meaty protein topped with gooey protein with some crispy protein on top of that. But why stop there? Campbell’s Grill ‘Em steakhouse takes the burger to the next level of sybaritic outlandishness with its “The Monster” Jucy Lucy burger, which starts with a beef patty stuffed with pepper jack, Provolone and cheddar cheeses and stacks on bacon, sauted garlic mushrooms and crispy onion strings. Pickled jalapenos are served on the side.

Best European Cafe Experience Without the Jet Lag

Cafe Borrone

1010 El Camino Real, Menlo Park; 650.327.0830. Originally in Redwood City, Cafe Borrone has been in Menlo Park for what seems like forever. Located right next to Kepler’s Books and a mile from Stanford, the eatery continues to prove that if one has a concept that works a place can exist for a long time. Not only is Cafe Borrone a great place to sit around and write, if you’re a scribe, it just exudes an outdoor, Italian-style, charm that is difficult to compete with. You don’t have to be an academic or a venture capitalist. The food appeals to essentially anyone. It’s almost like a permanent Siamese Twin of Kepler’s. In 2011, you can’t imagine one without the other.

Best Asian Hamburger

Chinjin

1530 S. De Anza Blvd., San Jose; 408.865.0302. America doesn’t have a lock on the burger. Chinjin, an Islamic Chinese restaurant, serves a delicious but highly nontraditional Chinese hamburger: a thin, wontonlike wrapper stretched over deliciously seasoned beef to form a rough patty shape. The disc is pan-fried on both sides to a crispy brown. Knife into it and out spill oniony, garlicky juices. It’s really good and less than two bucks.

Best Restaurant Without a Kitchen

Enoteca La Storia

416 N. Santa Cruz Ave., Los Gatos; 408.625.7272. Enoteca La Storia is an Italian-style wine bar and wine shop that manages to serve a great lineup of sliced, cured meats, excellent Italian cheese, panini and salads. What the restaurant doesn’t have is a stovetop. But who needs a flame when the food is this good? The wine doesn’t hurt either.

Best Place to Have Sunday-Funday

Flames Eatery and Bar Downtown

88 S. Fourth St., San Jose; 408.971.1960. The world looks golden from the bottom of a bottomless mimosa. Sunday-Funday Brunch resembles some kind of labor of Sisyphus. Foolish mortals, the champagne and OJ flows like slurred speech on Sunday mornings. The cup may overfloweth, but it’ll never be empty. If the flames of hell resemble Flames on Sunday, I’m stealing the collection plate and inviting my friends.

Best Egg Dish

The 62-Degree Egg at Baume

Baume, 201 S. California Ave., Palo Alto, 650.328.8899. Eggs are such a simple ingredient but the 62-degree egg at Baume is extraordinary. Chef Bruno Chemel cooks the egg in a 62-degree water bath for one hour and then lets it set for another four. The silken egg is then served with creamy pureed peas and a vermouth-scented foam that mimics egg whites. It’s fantastic.

Best Street Food

Fruit Bites

55 W. Santa Clara St., San Jose; 408.722.2022. Yes, I love my taco trucks and Korean barbecue on wheels, but for sheer simplicity I’m a fan of downtown San Jose newcomer Fruit Bites. The Mexican-style fruit cart sells the sliced fruits and vegetables of your choosing (mango, pineapple, oranges, strawberries, watermelon, apples, cucumber and jicama). What sets the cocktail apart at this cart is the salsa served over the fruit. The sauce comes from a family recipe and is made with dried chiles, vinegar and various spices. It’s watery but anything but bland. It’s spicy, a little tart and faintly salty. Poured over the sweet fruit, it’s a delicious counterpoint.

Best Almond Croissant

Fleur de Cocoa

39 N. Santa Cruz Ave., Los Gatos; 408.354.3574. Never buy an almond croissant (or any pastry for that matter) wrapped in plastic. It’s guaranteed to be limp and stale. What you want is a flaky, buttery and rich croissant baked on the premises that very morning. What you want is what they’ve got at Fleur de Cocoa. You’d be hard pressed to find anything short of delicious at this Los Gatos bakery and chocolatier, but I’m especially fond of the almond croissants. Unlike most versions of the sweet pastry, which are made with marzipan, pastry chef and owner Pascal Janvier makes his with a light cream filling and then bakes them until they are brittle crisp at the edges yet still light and flaky inside. They are sweet but not overly so. The abundance of butter makes them supernaturally crisp and rich.

Best Royal Family Food on the Salt Flats

Lunch With Tony

5202 N. First St., Alviso; 408.493.6090. The Santos Family constitutes the royal blood of Alviso—sort of like the Jesus and Mary Magdalene bloodline of the salt flats. Proprietor Tony comes from a legendary and colorful family of Alvisans. His grandfather Tony P. Santos served time as mayor and police chief eons ago when Alviso was still its own city. Tony P. passed in 2004, and a street now bears his name. The eatery itself is a pure-hearted family-run operation of the most regal sort. For lunch with the divine right of Alviso kings, Metro recommends Lunch With Tony, even it’s your last supper before the crucifixion.

Best Place to Worship the Mighty Coffee Bean

Red Berry

231 E. Santa Clara St., San Jose; 408.286.0508. It’s easy to forget that coffee is an agricultural product. Someone grew it and harvested it by hand. There’s no better place to appreciate the virtues of a well-made cup of coffee brewed from carefully produced and roasted coffee beans than downtown San Jose’s tiny Red Berry Coffee Bar. The cafe serves artisanal coffee from the Bay Area’s top roasters and importers (Verve, Barefoot, Ecco, Temple, De la Paz and Ritual) made by baristas who know their stuff and take their craft seriously.

Best Salsa

Tu Mero Mole

2041 Woodard Road, San Jose; 408.369.9559. Tu Mero Mole is one of my favorite Mexican restaurants. The little restaurant specializes in regional Mexican food. But what first sold me on the place as I was waiting for my order was the array of six different delicious salsas. The roasted chile and tomatillo salsa is flat-out delicious, as is the unconventional spicy peanut sauce.

Best Place to Sip a Martini and Eat Mussels

Nick’s

Left Bank, Santana Row 377 Santana Row, San Jose; 408.984.3500. Sure, oysters get all the hype—they deserve it. But their bivalve cousins the mussels deserve love, too. At Left Bank, they’re treated with typically French affection, and are available with a variety of broths or sauces. But—as with oysters—the best accompaniment to a succulent mussel is vodka, on the side, in a chilled glass, with three olives. As a bonus, Nick’s attracts a cool crowd, and the bartenders are fast.

Best Excuse to Eat Cake for Breakfast

Los Gatos Cafe’s Carrot Walnut Bread

15662 Los Gatos Blvd., Los Gatos, 408.356.0600; 340 N. Santa Cruz Ave., Los Gatos, 408.354.4647. The carrot-walnut bread at the Los Gatos Cafe is sweet but not too sweet, so the sharp sweetness of the carrot and the tang of the nut come through. But be warned: If you order this thick, rich “bread” with your omelette, you aren’t going to be able to eat much of your omelette.

Dirtbag Dan

Looks like Dirtbag Dan’s hometown has finally discovered what it was missing. The longtime local MC built an international following while traveling from country to country smoking the competition in a series of Internet-broadcast rap battles with monster views on YouTube, but his bearded antics never seemed to catch on at home, until now. The Dirtbag has officially arrived.

Fingerbangerz

Gnarboots

Best Local Band

Picture Atlantic

Santa Clara alt-rockers Picture Atlantic put themselves on the map around here when they won Live 105’s local band contest in 2008 and got a chance to open for Coldplay at HP Pavilion. Clearly, Picture Atlantic has built on that opportunity, taking its first Best of Silicon Valley award on the heels of last year’s EP, Dolce Et Decorum Est. Not bad for a band originally formed by a folk singer, a punk guitarist and a metal drummer.

Corpus Callosum

Good Hustle

Whiskey Avengers

Best Cover Band or Tribute Band

Joe Sharino Band

Sharino is not just a repeat award hoarder; around here, he’s an institution. He got his start moonlighting while a student at San Jose State in 1974, built a reputation for high-energy live shows and never missed that broadcasting degree. After almost four decades in the party-music business, if there’s a song he hasn’t played for the dance floor, maybe it doesn’t belong there.

Full Throttle

Black Pearl

Best Singer/Songwriter

Ben Henderson

Many fans know Henderson by way of his postmodern funk band, Good Hustle. But since the release of his first CD, Dirty Birdies, in 2008, Henderson’s been gaining a following for his solo music, which trades funk for chunks of acoustic guitar riffs and puts a haunting lyrical and vocal spin on his songwriting vision.

David Knight

Cado

Best Gentleman’s Club

Pink Poodle

328 S. Bascom Ave., San Jose; 408.292.3685. The alpha and omega of old-school adult entertainment in Silicone Valley, the Pink Poodle still has to be seen to be believed. It never jumped on the decades-long trend of upscale, upscale, upscale, and having made its name in the fast and loose days of the ’70s and ’80s, the PC chill of the ’90s just passed it right by.

Brass Rail 160 Persian Dr., Sunnyvale; 408.734.1454

Cheetah’s 907 E. Arques Ave., Sunnyvale; 408.733.2628

Best Wine Bar

The Grapevine

1389 Lincoln Ave., San Jose; 408.293.7574. Though they treat their vino with both veritas and gravitas, there’s a fun vibe to this cozy Willow Glen wine shop that seems to attract wine lovers of all stripes. Part of that is the unpretentious vibe and the easy-to-understand tasting menus. There’s also regular live entertainment, including the popular weekly hootenanny.

Cin-Cin 368 Village Lane, Los Gatos; 408.354.8006

A Perfect Finish 55 S. First St., San Jose; 408.288.6000

Best Gay or Lesbian Bar

Brix

349 S. First St., San Jose; 408.947.1975. Hunter’s was a fantastic spot, and it didn’t look good for gay clubbing when it closed. But even with new ownership, Brix has managed to pick up right where its predecessor left off. It’s the best LGBT-friendly party in town, for sure—loud, bright and hot, with a back patio that’s still perfect for chatting it up when something clicks on the dance floor.

A Tinker’s Dam 46 N. Saratoga Ave., Santa Clara; 408.243.4595

Renegades 501 W. Taylor St., San Jose; 408.275.9902

Best Hotel Bar or Restaurant

Hedley Club

Hotel De Anza, 233 W. Santa Clara St., San Jose; 408.286.1000. The South Bay has a crowded field of classy hotel bars, but since Paragon left, the Hedley Club has been the top spot for cocktails in a swank cosmopolitan atmosphere. From the mashup of modernism and art deco to the weekly live jazz, the Hedley makes San Jose seem citified again.
V Bar Hotel Valencia, 355 Santana Row, San Jose; 408.551.0010.

Bamboo Lounge at Pagoda Fairmont Hotel, 170 S. Market St., San Jose; 408.998.3937

Best Happy Hour

Rock Bottom

Pruneyard Shopping Center, 1875 S. Bascom Ave. #700, Campbell; 408.377.0707. Happy-hour deals abound these days, so what makes Rock Bottom Brewery so special? Well, first off, they double dip, offering one happy hour from 3 to 6pm, and then another one from 10pm until closing time. Then there’s the fact that they don’t skimp on the appetizer portions during this sacred time of great value, making it cheap to nosh while enjoying $3.50 premium well drinks or beer and wine for $3.25.

McCormick & Schmick’s 170 S. Market St., San Jose; 408.283.7200

Firehouse Grill 1765 E. Bayshore Road #A, East Palo Alto, 650.326.9700; 111 S. Murphy Ave., Sunnyvale, 408.773.9500

Best Dance Club

The Blank Club

44 S. Almaden Ave., San Jose; 408.292.5265. First making its mark as a hotspot for local and touring rock acts, it was the Atomic and Club Satori nights that put the Blank on the dance-club map. But the club actually draws quite a bit of other DJ talent, as well—you might arrive on a night the Bang is playing and find guitarist Derek See spinning, or catch house favorite DJ Basura opening for Passion Pit.

Cardiff Lounge 260 E. Campbell Ave., Campbell; 408.374.7477

Saddle Rack 42011 Boscell Road, Fremont; 510.979.0477

Best Sports Bar

Double D’s

354 N. Santa Cruz Ave., Los Gatos; 408.395.6882. Great food, flat-screens beaming games from around the globe and excellent service add up to Hall of Fame status for Double D’s

Britannia Arms San Jose 173 W. Santa Clara St., San Jose; 408.278.1400

Britannia Arms Almaden 5027 Almaden Expwy., San Jose; 408.266.0550

Best Club DJ

Basura

After more than 15 years of DJing—including what is arguably the most successful club night in recent South Bay history, Atomic—it’s not surprising that DJ Basura (a.k.a. Michael Boada) is best known for ruling the dance floor.

RS2

Luicidal

Best Karaoke

7 Bamboo

162 Jackson St., San Jose; 408.279.9937

It doesn’t take a parody or a cute kid singing an inappropriately grown-up pop song to make a YouTube music star anymore. There’s a cottage industry’s worth of 7 Bamboo karaoke performances posted there now, bringing a lasting star quality to what was once a fleeting fame. 7 Bamboo continues to be the top place to seek it, and you still can’t beat the live energy of the crowd there.

Goosetown Lounge 1172 Lincoln Ave., San Jose; 408.292.4835

Effie’s 331 E. Hacienda Ave., Campbell; 408.374.3400

Best Pre-Sharks Game Spot

Henry’s Hi-Life

301 W. St. John St., San Jose; 408.295.5414. It’s not always going to be easy to get a drink, but that’s kind of the point. Pre-gaming for the Sharks is about being around other people and Henry’s is basically hockey’s version of tailgating in San Jose.

Poor House Bistro 91 S. Autumn St., San Jose; 408.292.5837

Britannia Arms, San Jose 173 W. Santa Clara St., San Jose; 408.278.1400

Best Jazz/Blues Club

JJ’s Blues

3439 Stevens Creek Blvd., Santa Clara; 408.243.6441. Despite a lot of changes over the last couple of decades, JJ’s is still the South Bay’s favorite spot for blues. Part of it is their relentless quest for the live-music version of pitching a perfect game—that is, offering live music every night of the year. They fall only a few short of 365, which in practical terms means one can find a show at JJ’s when everyone else has gone dark.

Poor House Bistro 91 S. Autumn St., San Jose; 408.292.5837

Hedley Club Lounge Hotel De Anza,233 W. Santa Clara St., San Jose; 408.286.1000

Best Latin Music Club

Azucar

71 E. San Fernando St., San Jose; 408.293.8482. The live acts swing, but what really makes Azucar feel like the real-deal Latin music experience is the vibe. It’s so packed there’s usually barely any room to squeeze between the band and the crowd. And there’s so much dancing breaking out in every available nook that you have to constantly be on guard for whirling dervishes.

Sabor Tapas Bar and Lounge 72 N. Almaden Ave., San Jose; 408.287.1737

Miami Beach Club 417 S. First St., San Jose; 408.971.6646

Best British Pub

Britannia Arms Downtown San Jose

173 W. Santa Clara St., San Jose; 408.278.1400. The Brit is now best known for pre-HP hang time and a place to watch the game, earning itself an assist in an area where finding quality sports bars is a challenge. But its Anglophile credentials are still in order. The beers check out, and English types say the bangers and mash are spot on.

Britannia Arms Almaden 5027 Almaden Expwy., San Jose; 408.266.0550

Trials Pub 265 N. First St., San Jose; 408.947.0497

Best Irish Pub

O’Flaherty’s

25 N. San Pedro St., San Jose; 408.947.8007. O’Flaherty’s is so Irish through and through they have a countdown timer to St. Patrick’s Day. They follow the Irish Rugby league. They serve Guinness stew.

Katie Blooms 369 E. Campbell Ave., Campbell; 408.379.9687

C.B. Hannegan’s 208 Bachman Ave., Los Gatos; 408.395.1233

Best Underground Music Spot

Cardiff Lounge

260 E. Campbell Ave., Campbell; 408.374.7477. Long before electronic music got big again in 2009, Cardiff Lounge was keeping the faith, supporting DJ culture and giving the tight-knit South Bay dance music community a home. From house to glitch to electroclash to dubstep, this place has seen all the trends come and go, and come back again.

X Bar, Homestead Lanes 20990 Homestead Road, Cupertino; 408.255.5700

Nickel City 1711 Branham Lane, San Jose; 408.448.3323

Best Martinis

Original Joe’s

301 S. First St., San Jose; 408.292.7030Dessication plus kick equals winner. In other words, OJ’s makes one powder keg of a martini. It’s a beautiful thing, and Metro readers love it.

Grill on the Alley 172 S. Market St., San Jose; 408.294.2244

Singlebarrel 43 W. San Salvador St., San Jose; 408.792.7356

Best Mojitos

Azucar

71 E. San Fernando St., San Jose; 408.293.8482. Just on sheer selection alone, Azucar towers above the mojito competition. Most bartenders still find a pomegranate mojito exotic, but these guys don’t blink an eye at blood orange, kiwi strawberry or pink guava. The mixology at work is impressive, too, walking the line between mint and fruit and never letting the alcohol overwhelm the flavor.

El Jardin Tequila Bar 368 Santana Row, San Jose; 408.246.1744

Cascal 400 Castro St., Mountain View; 650.940.9500

Best Live Music Club

The Blank Club

44 S. Almaden Ave., San Jose; 408.292.5265. The Blank has stayed on top of the local rock scene by staying on top of the local rock scene. That is to say, it holds on to its rep as the South Bay’s No. 1 club for rock shows by giving the most talented bands in the area a shot on a stage that might have been occupied the night before by the Buzzcocks, Passion Pit or the Heavy.

JJ’s Blues 3439 Stevens Creek Blvd., San Jose; 408.243.6441

Avalon 777 Lawrence Expwy., Santa Clara; 408.241.0777

Best Margaritas

Aqui

Multiple locations. Still the top place to get buzzed, South of the Border style, Aqui is Silicon Valley’s leading cause of temporary brain freezes.

Mezcal 25 W. San Fernando St., San Jose; 408.283.9595

Pedro’s 316 N. Santa Cruz Ave., Los Gatos, 408.354.7570; 3935 Freedom Circle, Santa Clara, 408.496.6777

Best Place to Play Pool

South First Billiards

420 S. First St., San Jose; 408.294.7800. South First Billiards reinvents its look every few years, but the source of its unequaled popularity among the cue-chalking crowd continues to be a vast landscape of tables and an unexpectedly hip vibe.

Santa Clara Billiards 4525 Stevens Creek Blvd., Santa Clara; 408.296.3333

Cinebar 69 E. San Fernando St., San Jose; 408.292.9562

Best Dive Bar

Cinebar

69 E. San Fernando St., San Jose; 408.292.9562. First-timers might walk into Cinebar, see the classy faces from vintage Hollywood on the back wall, and be prepping themselves for cocktail snoot. They will quickly be disabused of such notions, however—Cinebar is straight-up primo dive bar. They claim to have been in business since Roosevelt’s first term, back when people really knew how to drown their sorrows.

Caravan 98 S. Almaden Ave., San Jose; 408.995.6220

Black Watch 141 N. Santa Cruz Ave., Los Gatos; 408.354.2200

Best Bowling Alley

300 San Jose

5420 Thornwood Dr., San Jose; 408.578.8500 300’s swank, ultramodern spin on bowling won’t help terrible bowlers improve their score, but it does give them the opportunity to devour their opponent’s share of the Asian Chicken Skewers while he or she is making ridiculous fist-pumping displays on the way to a perfect game.

Fourth Street Bowl 1441 N. Fourth St., San Jose; 408.453.5555

Cambrian Bowl 14900 Camden Ave., San Jose; 408.377.2354

Best Place to Get
Your Hands Dirty

Common Ground Organic Garden Supply and Education Center

559 College Ave., Palo Alto; 650.493.6072. This outpost for sustainable and organic gardening products, seeds and plant starts, classes and gardening advice is near to celebrating 40 years serving the peninsula and South Bay. While “sustainable” has become a catch phrase in the last couple years, Common Ground has promoted this way of life since it opened in 1972, beginning as a branch of the Ecology Action nonprofit organization, which works with and promotes the Grow Biointensive style of gardening. Over the years, Common Ground has planted its roots in the community through events such as classes on eating seasonally and composting, as well as its annual Edible Landscaping Tour.

Best Remnants

FabMo

www.FabMo.org. With a sweeping embrace of upcycling, crafting and material reusing and repurposing, the team at FabMo diverts the waste stream of remnants and redirects it right into a creative community that is thrilled to get its hands on high-quality and designer fabrics it couldn’t normally come by. FabMo started out just dealing in textiles, but has since grown to include wallpaper, leathers, tiles, trims, carpets and more. A donation-run nonprofit, the vision for FabMo is that crafters and creatives can turn this “trash” into treasures to use as fundraisers for schools, churches and do-good organizations of all types.

Best Place to Get Tied Up

Green Planet Yarn

368 E. Campbell Ave., Campbell; 408.871.9196. Crafters, unite! Michael’s hasn’t got anything on Green Planet Yarn. They’re completely different animals, really. To the layperson, yarn is just yarn. But serious knitters and crocheters want to talk with someone who can explain what worsted weight yarn is, how to work in the round, and what size and type of needles or hooks will work best for hats vs. doilies vs. afghans. The staff here can do just that. The small store also prides itself in being stocked to the hilt with brightly colored, quality yarns, including those made from eco-friendly materials, some of which are fair trade and others are made from recycled fibers.

Best Space to Make the Pieces Fit

Jigsaw Java

846 Main St., Redwood City; 650.364.3634. Puzzled as to how to spend one these recent rainy days? Jigsaw Java has a free table of hot beverages (donations requested) and loads of puzzles to do some yoga for the brain. The jigsaw shop offers hourly and daily rates, as well as monthly memberships (which come with discounts on events and merchandise), and welcomes patrons to use their stock of used puzzles, buy and put together a new puzzle or bring in one from home. Jigsaw Java also serves as a team-building or birthday party location, and puts on its own events for young and old alike, including an upcoming class on the history of puzzles.

Best Wardrobe Rethinking Team

Urban Darling

San Jose; www.UrbanDarling.com. When the time comes to drag a tired, old wardrobe into the light of day for a serious evaluation, the darlings at Urban Darling have just what it takes to get you out of the old and into a new look; and it doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg. As adept at rethinking the clothing that you already have as they are starting from square one with a complete closet-clearing wardrobe makeover, the Urban Darling team of trained stylists at can help transport you from faded and frumpy to fitted and fabulous.

Best Purveyor
of Vintage Wraps

Diva Sharon’s Divine Vintage

1318 Lincoln Ave., San Jose; 408.294.9893. From stoles, boas and shrugs to jackets, coats and muffs, Diva Sharon’s is the spot to go for mint-condition vintage wraps that bring the glamour and style of bygone eras strolling right into today. The diva’s sharp eye for quality and long history of acquiring and wearing vintage clothing make her an invaluable resource and source of information and clothing from the fabulously fashionable mid-20th century;
a time when dressing up was the norm and clothing was made to last.

Best Place for Harried Parents

Tiny Tots Baby Boutique and Diaper Service

138 Railway Ave., Campbell; 408.866.2925. This local spot, located just outside downtown Campbell, is part cute boutique, part wash-and-reuse diaper service and part community-building organization, making for a one-stop shop for parents. Tiny Tots’ website alone provides a lot of information for new parents or parents looking to try new things in caring for their children, but the store also hosts workshops and events, including a baby sign language class and “diapering 101.” Parents-to-be can create a baby-shower registry and browse the colorful toys and accessories in the boutique or talk with knowledgeable staff about what options they have for diapering, co-sleeping, breastfeeding and more.

Best Place to Make the Cut at SJSU

Spartan Barber Shop

487 S. Fourth St., San Jose; 408.993.0717. Frank Annino has been cutting hair at this little downtown shop for more than half a decade, bringing a little bit of history to the seemingly ever-younger crowd of SJSU students while still keeping his cuts up-to-date. Annino’s charm and skill combined have helped keep Spartan Barber Shop in business, but his stories about San Jose’s past are what make him an invaluable part of the community. He has cut the hair of famous SJSU alums Jeff Garcia and the Smothers Brothers; he has seen neighborhoods shift and change and grow and wane. He can educate students in ways that many teachers at SJSU cannot.

Best Bullet-Shell Earrings

Shannon Amidon

San Jose; www.ShannonAmidon.com. If you haven’t seen them around, you will. If you have seen them around, then you already know: Shannon Amidon is creating something thought-provoking and lovely by upcycling and repurposing bullet shells into jewelry. The longtime and multitalented Amidon pairs the used bullet shells with feathers, stones, fossils and more to create one-of-a-kind pieces that catch the eye and imagination with their colors, textures, shapes and originality.

Best Polynesian Paradise by the Freeway

Kumar’s Island Market

1440 E. Santa Clara St., San Jose; 408.287.0557. Located just off Highway 101, this unique hole-in-the-wall establishment transports one to countless islands all in one petite crammed-up little place. The store really is an exotic island in the middle of a discarded portion of Santa Clara Street. Inside one finds unusual cuts of meat and fish from Australia and Polynesia, as well as XXXXL-size Hawaiian shirts, fenugreek seeds, boxes of sarongs, Guam-logo hoodies, Samoan music CDs, magazines, canned goods, homemade bread and who knows what else. A perfect place to search for the lost exotic piece of yourself.

Best Weekly Street Fair

Campbell Farmers Market

As downtown Campbell continues to evolve into an ever-more-vibrant hub of cafes, shopping, dining and nightlife, its farmers market remains one of the valley’s best Sunday-morning destinations. In addition to the dozen or so local farm stands colorfully stacked with mostly organic veggies and fruit, there’s local honey, a seafood stand, a rich mix of prepared foods and a knife sharpener. Usually some local musicians are present to serenade shoppers, and down the street there are some arts and crafts.

Best Way to Start the Work Week

Restorative Yoga

Mondays, 7:15-8:45pm; Downtown Yoga Shala, 450 S. First St., San Jose; 408.885.1000

So it’s Monday again and already the week can’t end fast enough? Restorative yoga, to the rescue. Instructor Lorien Neargarder gently runs yogis through the paces with light stretching, deep breathing and the help of blankets, bolsters and blocks. An hour and a half may seem like a stretch (har, har), but the time flies by. This class is also a great introduction to yoga; the poses aren’t challenging, the pace is slow, and Neargarder quietly paces the room assisting those who need a little extra help settling into a pose.

Best Place to Ease Into Your Thirties

Fishing at Lexington Reservoir

17770 Alma Bridge Road, Los Gatos; 408.356.2729. Once your bathroom routine extends an extra half-hour to facilitate the finding and removal of gray hair that appear “out of nowhere,” and you notice an unfamiliar jiggle coming from your mid-section while dancing at ’80s night, it might be time to retire the skinny jeans and highlights. You have entered a place even stranger and scarier than the “Twilight Zone.” Welcome to your thirties. To soften the blow, you might consider some new hobbies. Fishing is one of the best, and Lexington Reservoir is one of the most enjoyable spots to do it. It’s fun, relaxing, and best of all, that mustache that went from “cool” to “creepy” on your birthday will fit right in.

Best Birdwatching

Don Edwards National Wildlife Refuge

Main entrance is off Zanker Road in Alviso; 9500 Thornton Ave., Newark; 510.792.0222. Sure, backyards provide easy access to a few bird sightings. But for those seeking a wider landscape and a broader array of our feathered friends, Don Edwards Wildlife Refuge is an excellent, expansive locale for birding. The park stretches from Alviso up to Newark/Fremont and out to the west to Menlo Park/East Palo Alto, encompassing 30,000 acres. Here, waterfowl, tree nesters and scavengers alike can be found co-mingling, including house finches, great white egrets, song sparrows and double-crested cormorants. The visitor’s center also includes a log for birders to compare notes on what others witnessed during their trek around the park.

Best Polyurethane Paradise

House of Foam

150 Hamilton Ave., Palo Alto; 650.327.4300. For cubes, wedges, cylinders and rectangles, Palo Alto’s Bob Tallman is Mr. Foam. That’s all you really need to know. He is a specialist in supplying poly foam for all of his customers, both online and in person. This sounds like a butcher’s description, but he really does carry almost all cuts, types and sizes of poly foam imaginable. No matter what you’re looking for—mattresses, pillows, luggage, insulation or custom cases—Bob knows all. Choose your foam—poly, high resistance or 180—and Bob will provide the goods. He is the one and only. And his tireless crew of seamstresses can also reupholster any seat cushion currently on the market. Welcome to the House of Foam, now I’ve come of age.

Best Family Friendly Liquor Store

Kelly’s Liquor Store

498 N. Fourth St., San Jose; 408.297.4411. There’s something comforting about going into a liquor store to buy a bottle of whiskey and seeing a friendly face at the register. It makes a lonesome night of raging feel a little warm and fuzzier. The beer selection isn’t half bad, either.

Best Alternative to Gideon Bible Distribution

ISKCON Temple at Bhakti Yoga

951 S. Bascom Ave., San Jose; 408.293.4959. If you go to the Best Western in Milpitas, Hotel San Carlos in San Carlos or the Knight’s Inn of Santa Cruz, make sure to open all the drawers. The Hare Krishnas are putting copies of the Bhagavad Gita in cheap motels all over the Bay Area. That alone should be enough for a Metro Best-Of award. The “temple” is actually a while building just across the way from Streetlight Records in San Jose and offers a wealth of activities. Daily services and weekly programs are provided, as are regular lectures and meals.

Best Place to Watch Planes Land

Taylor Avenue near Highway 87, San Jose

Between Highway 87 and Coleman Avenue, there sits a grassy mound on Taylor Avenue. It is directly underneath the landing path of San Jose Airport and is an excellent location to administer alternative medicines on a sunny California day. If that’s not your bag, it is also a nice spot to take your honey and administer muchas smooches (an effective cure to many human ailments as well).

Best Place to Dirty Up a Wedding Dress Before the Honeymoon

Mount Madonna County Park

7850 Pole Line Road, Watsonville; 408.355.2201. Where some popular spots to seal the deal are snagged years in advance, some outdoor amphitheaters like that at Mount Madonna County Park are a little easier to book mere months before the big day. Just 10 miles outside of Gilroy off Highway 152, Mount Madonna’s beautiful, tree-enveloped amphitheater has ample space for a wedding party, plus wood-slab seating for up to 150 attendees, and a nearby picnic area serves as a simple space for a small reception on a warm summer day. Plus, mere feet away, the park houses a family of beautiful white fallow deer.

Best International Outdoor Recreation Spot

Rancho San Antonio County Park

23500 Cristo Rey Dr., Cupertino; 650.691.1200. The walk out to historic Deer Hollow Farm, up the somewhat steep and then vista-rich High Meadow Trail, through Wildcat Loop and back down the PG&E Trail (only one of countless hikes available at this open-space treasure) covers about five miles. Along the way, on an average sunny Sunday, hikers will encounter people from every continent except Antarctica, many taking their exercise with their families, speaking in their native tongues. The place is a celebration of the cosmopolitan valley that is displayed beautifully at its feet.

Best Bargain Superstar Show

Stanford Cardinal & Andrew Luck

The show takes place at Stanford Stadium—home of the 1985 Super Bowl, the 1994 World Cup and “The Big Game” going back to 1921. It’s the nation’s biggest privately owned stadium, and even the nosebleed seats afford a nice view. Last year, this historic arena witnessed the emergence of the Heisman-nominated quarterback Andrew Luck, who helmed the squad to a 12-1 season. Luck will be back in the fall, and tickets can still be had for a little more than the price of a movie.

Best Place for the Key to Success

Mountain View Lock and Key/Jehning Family Lock Museum

171 Castro St., Mountain View; 650.968.3323. The locksmith shop sits in one retail unit, while the museum sits next door. Both constitute a classic mom ‘n’ pop business right smack in the middle of downtown Mountain View’s restaurant strip. The family locksmith business has served customers for decades and the store looks like one would expect: racks and racks of every key blank imaginable, old perforated fixtures from years past, signs, memorabilia and more. And it doesn’t stop there. Next door, the museum contains antique doorknobs, safes, cash registers, key chains, historic locks and chains, handcuffs, machinery and glass display cases. Even better, a sign that glares: Do not bother the locksmith business.

Best Hair Salon Mural

David Choe /5 Color Cowboy

Before he did cover art for Jay-Z, before he gained fame painting naughty murals in Facebook’s first office in Palo Alto, before his portrait of Obama was hung in the White House, David Choe painted possibly his best work on the wall of a hair salon on The Alameda.

Choe was a long way from fame back then; he had done an exhibit at a Double Rainbow ice cream parlor and painted a mural on a Chinese restaurant before moving from Los Angeles to San Jose. But Johnny Granado, the future owner of 5 Color Cowboy salon, was already fascinated with his work. The two had met a comic convention in the mid-’90s, and Granado began filming footage of him that would eventually become the 2008 documentary Dirty Hands: The Art and Crimes of David Choe.

When Granado was getting ready to open 5 Color Cowboy in 2001, in a spot on The Alameda formerly occupied by Cafe Leviticus, he asked Choe to paint the particularly wretched north wall. Appreciation for Choe’s work aside, his motivation was fairly practical. “I knew he’d be able to turn this wall that looked like an outside wall into an interior space,” says Granado.

The piece was a staggering 48 feet across and 18 feet high. Choe first laid down a slate of black paint, then covered that with acrylics, then oil sticks, then stencils. The end result was an intricate and complex mishmash of themes, far beyond what they had discussed.

“There were things we talked about,” says Granado, “but I’ve got nothing to do with the twins or the robot. That’s just Dave. It was letting him create. I was like, ‘Just go for it.'”

The salon opened just five days before 9/11, and afterward some patrons saw an eerie prescience in images like an airplane and burning cityscape. But Granado has heard a thousand different interpretations over the last decade—even varying, sometimes, by where clients are sitting in the studio—and he thinks that’s part of the magic of the piece. “It’s completely layered,” he says. “Dave’s complexity hasn’t been done justice.”

The two are still friends, and Choe is scheduled to appear when 5 Color Cowboy celebrates its 10th anniversary in September. Choe is now a bona fide art-world sensation, fetching prices exponentially larger than the small fee he took for the mural.

“I couldn’t buy a watercolor by him now for what I paid for that,” says Granado. “But he would have done it for free.”

Greg Kihn

DJ – ROCK STAR – AUTHOR – RENAISSANCE MAN

He’s been on air since 5am, and a few minutes after signing off his KFOX morning show five hours later, Greg Kihn stops to consider how his day has been so far. “I guess I’m about the luckiest guy in the world,” says Kihn.

He hates getting up early as much as anyone else, he admits. But he’s hooked on talking to a million people every weekday.

The feeling is mutual. Maybe it’s his direct, personable style, or maybe it’s the fact that unlike most other jocks who sling classic rock, he’s actually lived the life. Something about Kihn has made him the top vote-getter in the Best of Silicon Valley Best DJ category year in and year out.

“I think the key is honesty, I really do,” he says. “I don’t have a shtick, so I really can’t pull off anything else except being myself. What you hear is the real Greg.”

Despite the fact that his winning streak is the stuff of Best of Silicon Valley legend, he says he never sees it coming.

“I never get used to it. It’s always a surprise, and it’s always a delight,” says Kihn.

When he began his disc jockey career at KFOX 98.5-FM in 1994, his voice was already known to rock-radio fans; he’d cracked the Billboard Top 10 a decade earlier with the Greg Kihn Band’s hit “Jeopardy” (and, incidentally, anticipated the zombie craze 20 years before its time with the early-MTV video). Back then, KFOX was what he describes as a “mom-and-pop station.”

After years as a Clear Channel affiliate, KFOX is now operated by Entercom, who moved the station to San Francisco but stuck with its successful classic-rock format—and Kihn. A month or so into the new management, Kihn says “so far, so good.” They’re simulcasting KFOX on 102.1-FM in San Francisco, increasing the potential listener pool by about sevenfold, and promoting the station heavily. But the most bizarre moment for Kihn came when he was introduced to his new program director, Larry Sharp—the man who gave him his first job at KFOX.

“I thought: ‘We’ve come full circle now,'” says Kihn, who is also working on the same slate as longtime San Jose DJ Laurie Roberts, KFOX’s 7pm-midnight jock. “KFOX has its own karma. It’s a really beautiful South Bay karma. That connection is as strong as it’s ever been.”

Meanwhile, he’s been working on a three-CD re-release of Greg Kihn Band material and writing a screenplay called 45 RPM, about the music industry’s mob ties in the early ’60s. He intended it to be a film, but TV networks have shown an interest, causing him to rethink it as a potential Boardwalk Empire-type series. He wrote that screenplay while waiting on development for his last one, Horror Show, which was an adaptation of his first novel. He’s also a proud new grandparent.

“Let me say it one more time,” deadpans Kihn, with a pause for dramatic effect. “I’m the luckiest man alive.”

Falafel’s Drive In

For the Best Chef category in Metro‘s Best Of issue we look to you to pick chefs other than Manresa’s David Kinch. I’m starting to think we might need to lay down a similar provision for the Best Mediterranean food category.

Year in and year out, San Jose’s venerable Falafel’s Drive-In snags first place. It’s as dependable as the sunrise. Open since 1966, the restaurant has become something all too rare in the forever-young Silicon Valley: It is an institution.

Generations of food-loving value seekers have come to the outpost of good, fast food for the simple menu of falafels, foul (a fava bean dish), gyros, chicken pita sandwiches and, of course, banana milkshakes.

Technically the restaurant isn’t just a Mediterranean place since it serves burgers and hot dogs and other American fare, but it’s the namesake fried chickpea ball sandwiches from the land of the Bible and Koran that made the restaurant’s reputation for affordable goodness and the mighty garbanzo ball will continue to be the restaurant’s flagship offering.

We salute you, Falafel’s Drive-In.

David Kinch

The chef that launched a thousand chefs

We’ve banned Metro readers from nominating David Kinch as best chef. He would win every year if we didn’t. As chef at Los Gatos’ Manresa, a Michelin two-star restaurant that is rated as one of the top dining spots in the world, he has created his own brand of cerebral, sometimes playful, intensely delicious cuisine. Kinch is on a plane of his own.

Although he is often referred to as a big fish in a small pond, his impact on gastronomy has rippled out of Silicon Valley. He was one of the first chefs to source his produce from his own farm. (Love Apple Farm in Santa Cruz isn’t his farm per se, but he has an exclusive contract for the superb biodynamically grown fruit and vegetables grown on the property). Now, more chefs like the French Laundry’s Thomas Keller are following his lead and growing their own.

Kinch was also out front with his series of guest chef events in which he shares the kitchen and the spotlight with outstanding chefs from around the world to produce some unforgettable meals. And what do you know? Other chefs are now following suit.

Kinch’s impact will be felt for years to come as talented cooks who once worked in his kitchen are now making names for themselves. Jeremy Fox, late of Ubuntu, Plum and the Tyler Florence Restaurant Group, and James Syhabout of Commis are two standout alums. More are being minted as we speak.

Kinch could probably make a bigger name for himself by opening spin-off restaurants in other cities (Manresa in Vegas?), but that’s not in keeping with his efforts to root his life and his work between Santa Cruz and Los Gatos. And what a delicious slice of the world it is.

And the rest of this year’s hall of fame:

Best Comic Book Store

Lee’s Comics

1020F N. Rengstorff Ave., Mountain View; 650.965.1800. You would have to be Stupendous Stan Lee himself to come up with the proper superlatives to describe Lee Hester’s comic shop, with its two branches in Mountain View and San Mateo. Over the years, Lee’s has hosted real luminaries in the business at in-store signings, years before the rest of the world (and particularly the film industry) figured out that there was something special in these polychrome myths. Here are valuable vintage comics for the wealthy industry geek as well as $1 comics for the ambitious scavenger. In between, everything from the incisively personal memoir like Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home to the seemingly oxymoronic Giant Sized Atom #1.

Best Bike Store

The Off Ramp

2320 El Camino Real, Mountain View, 650.968.2974; 2369 El Camino Real, Santa Clara, 408.249.2848. Now that gas is headed north of $4 a gallon, pedal power is looking more and more attractive. With a couple thousand bikes in stock and accessories to match, the Off Ramp has steadily upheld its reputation among Metro voters as a two-wheeled paradise. The store offers upfront advice about how to find exactly the right ride and fit, and can also provide expert service and repair.

Best Nursery

Yamagami’s

1361 S. De Anza Blvd., Cupertino; 408.252.3347. For gardeners who want to connect with the valley’s agricultural heritage with bare-root fruit trees, curate ornamental California native plants or enjoy an organic vegetagle garden, Yamagami’s provides pretty much everything that’s needed. The garden center has been a South Bay favorite since it opened in 1948, and in recent years Yamagami’s staff have dedicated themselves to working on technological advancements in the field of horticulture. This is Silicon Valley, after all.

Best Sports Bar

354 N. Santa Cruz Ave., Los Gatos; 408.395.6882. Great food, flat-screens beaming games from around the globe and excellent service make Double D’s the best place to grab a beer and a burger. Located in Los Gatos, the sports-themed bar and grill is almost guaranteed to be packed any time a local team takes the field, court or ice. And best of all, people here root for the home team. Since 1996, this combination has added up to an impressive set of Best Of accolades.

Best Coffee Place

Los Gatos Coffee Roasting Company

101 W. Main St., Los Gatos; 408.354.3263. This is the place that pretty much kick-started the wave of high-end coffeehouses in the valley, and Metro’s Best Of voters have always taken note in our balloting. Usually crowded, but ever accommodating, LGCRC occupies three contiguous rooms that offer plenty of nooks to call one’s own. The benches out front are coveted for taking in a sunny day and watching the cyclists, dog walkers and Los Gatos denizens on parade.

Best Music Store

Streetlight Records

980 S. Bascom Ave., San Jose; 888.330.7776. As other California record shops that did things right spun off multiple locations (Amoeba, Rasputin), Streetlight has been the South Bay’s claim to indie-record-shop fame. It remains a note-perfect model for record stores the way they were meant to be created: by the fans, for the fans. From the densely packed aisles to the live music shows to the “staff pick” write-ups with so much to say they read like liner notes, Streetlight is at the forefront of the post-Tower music store experience.

Best Seafood

Steamer’s Grillhouse

31 University Ave., Los Gatos; 408.395.2722. The only way for a restaurant to endure three decades is to do a few things really well. First, it must provide the personal service to keep regulars coming back and new customers coming in. Second, they have to offer a welcoming setting. And third, the food has got to be really good. Steamer’s Grillhouse in Los Gatos has been nailing all three since 1979. Fresh seafood, friendly people and a warm, inviting dining room have made Steamer’s more than a dependable neighborhood restaurant. It’s a Silicon Valley institution.

Best Chocolate

Schurra’s Fine Confections

840 The Alameda, San Jose; 408.289.1562. Founded nearly a century ago (seriously, it was established in 1912 in Modesto and moved to San Jose in the 1930s), Schurra’s has long been the place to go for special-occasion gift baskets filled with sweets, candied apples and chocolate-dipped strawberries. Its dependably delectable desserts have kept Metro readers hankering for more, continually voting Schurra’s as a valley favorite. The family-owned treatery also opened an outpost at the San Jose Mineta Airport in 2010.

Best Corporate Cafeteria

Google

Googleplex, Mountain View. The level of detail and range of options here is pretty much off the hook. Cheesy thin crust pizza (red card) to colorful salad bars (green card=healthy), cheese plates served on polished carrera marble, exotic superfruits and world cuisine — well, we could go on, but this is a short list. Tip: if you’re invited to Google for a meeting, tell them the only opening in your busy schedule is 11:45.

Best Children’s Bookstore

Linden Tree Books

170 State St., Los Altos; 650.949.3390. This three-decade-old local independent children’s bookstore was saved from extinction in 2009 when Jill Curcio and Dianne Edmonds bought it from longtime owners Linda and Dennis Ronberg. Their stated mission is to “help your child fall in love with books!” That’s enough to win us over too. Linden Tree Books stocks hardcover editions of such classics as Heidi, Goldilocks and the Three Bears and Peter Rabbit. They also sell puppets.

Best Hardware Store

Palo Alto Hardware

875 Alma St., Palo Alto; 650.327.0115. One of Silicon Valley’s last small hardware stores, this well-stocked retailer is legendary for its friendly, helpful service. Clerks provide patient, old-fashioned customer doting, whether cutting keys or giving detailed instructions for a home improvement or repair project. In addition to the basic nuts, bolts and light bulbs, Palo Alto Hardware carries many household items, such as countertop appliances and kitchen tools.

Best Shuk Shop

Casablanca Market

793 Castro St., Mountain View; 650.964.3000. The mystical culture of Morocco carries much allure, but these days, travel to North Africa depends on the day’s news. Luckily, Casablanca Market stocks a well-selected array of lighting, fabrics, tapestries, cooking tagines, tea sets and Moroccan and Spanish food products and cookbooks. The only thing that’s not authentic is the pricing philosophy, so you won’t have anyone chase you to your car asking, “How much do you want to give me?” if you just want to have a look.

Best Bookstore for Spiritual Enlightenment

East West Bookstore

24 Castro St., Mountain View; 650.988.9800. This specialty bookstore supports spiritual growth for the “soul’s journey” inspired by Indian master Paramhansa Yogananda and his disciple Swami Kriyananda. In addition to books about healing, enlightenment and wisdom, East West vends meditation aids, calming drops, scented candles, Sutra statues, foot stimulating acupressure pads and other must-have items for a well-stocked spiritual journey.

Best Dutch Treats

Cheese House Village

855 El Camino Real #157, Palo Alto; 650.326.9251. This small Palo Alto sandwich shop, a half-century old, is revered for its oversize sandwiches and deli meats and cheeses, as well as Dutch specialties such as hagel, stroopwafel and Dutch Crunch bread.

Best Place to Find a Seven-fold Tie

Robert Talbott Outlet

681 Leavesley Road, Ste. 250, Gilroy; 408.847.5111. Not that anyone wears them much anymore, but if you do need some knotted silk around your neck, it’s worth the trip to the Robert Talbott outlet in Gilroy, unless you are planning to be on the Monterey Peninsula or in Manhattan. The Carmel Valley clothier’s Seven Fold Ties are unlined and constructed completely out of single piece of folded silk, folded seven times in true 19th-century fashion. They also sell hand-stitched American-made suits for as low as $500.

Best Place to Alter
a Suit or Dress

Forest Tailoring

2469 Forest Ave., San Jose; 408.244.4288. We found out a few years back that the suit departments of Valley Fair department stores took clothing here for alternations. The service is quick, the prices excellent, and expensive clothing can be left here with confidence.

Best Bling

Jade Galore

316 Barber Court, Milpitas. 408.383.9868; 10821 N. Wolfe Road, Cupertino, 408.861.0988. An established, owner-operated watch and jewelry retailer, Jade Galore prides itself on personalized customer service and carries a stock of marquee brands, including Vacheron Constantin, Chopard, Jaeger Le Coultre and Cartier, along with many Asian and European jewelry pieces in sapphire, ruby, emerald, pearls, diamonds and, as the name suggests, jade.

Best Specs

Optical Illusions

378 Santana Row #1025, San Jose; 408.261.1010. The Rolls Royce of local eyewear boutiques, Optical Illusions stocks a wide selection of hard-to-find frames from designers like Prada, Oliver Peoples and Roberto Cavalli. The combination of high-tech equipment, such as a hand-held device that checks for blind spots, experienced opticians and stylish brands keeps clients seeing—and looking—better.

Best Micro-Creamery

Rick’s Ice Cream

3946 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto; 650.493.6553. A gourmet micro-creamery in Palo Alto’s Charleston Center, Rick’s has been scooping its own handcrafted ice creams for 35 years. Flavors range from all-American favorites like Black Raspberry Crunch, Rocky Road and Pumpkin to international fusions like Saffron Pistachio, Rose and White Chocolate Ginger. They also serve the healthy-sounding Carob Honey, the feminine Lemon Lavender and the very macho-sounding Industrial Chocolate.

Best Place to Buy Clay

Clay Planet

1775 Russell Ave., Santa Clara; 408.295.3352. Here in Silica Valley, there’s really no contest. Clay Planet inventories a huge array of glazes, potter’s wheels, tools and firing kilns, and makes its own clay, with names like Grogzilla, Big Sur and San Jose White with which local artisans or weekend hobbyists can keep alive the time-honored California ceramic tradition.

Best Place to Learn What to Do With That Clay

Higher Fire

499 S. Market St., San Jose; 408.295.5765. Both a teaching studio and gallery, Higher Fire offers classes in wheel throwing and fabrication of ceramic items, from vases and tea sets to dinnerware. The evening classes are a relaxing social experience as well.

San Jose’s BEST Answer to Burning Man

Mark and Ann’s Art Party

215 East Alma Ave., San Jose, when it happens; www.artparty2010.com. Just as Burning Man started on San Francisco’s Baker Beach, this event started at the Naglee Park manse of Anne Sconberg and Mark Henderson and grew to take over an unoccupied former fruit warehouse the couple owns in the industrial zone south of downtown. A fundraiser for Arts Council Silicon Valley, the eclectic, inexplicable art party melds art displays and installations with experimental music, costumery, fire-breathing, oversize rocking horses and backfiring go carts, among other wacky multi-sensory intrusions.

Best High-Tech Sports Clothing

Pearl Izumi Outlet Store

8555 San Ysidro Ave., Gilroy; 408.846.8123. Stylish, high-end biking and running outfits can help urban athletes stand out from the pack for reasons of vanity or safety. The U.S. branch of the Japanese outfitter, Pearl Izumi’s wide variety of high-tech apparel and footwear, while not exactly outlet-cheap, is some of the best around.

Best Manju

Shuei-Do

217 Jackson Street San Jose; 408.294.4148. Manju is 700-year old Japanese confection with a round rice flour skin and sweet bean paste on the inside. Japantown’s Shui-Do has a variety of manju, with lima, azuki and other flavors, in attractive shades of pink, green and white.

Best Baby Boutique

BabyBuzz

1314 Lincoln Ave #1A, San Jose; 408.885.9870. Combining contemporary aesthetics with classic sensibilities — as modern babies have come to expect — this tiny Willow Glen boutique is a trove of delights for miniature humans and their handlers. Miniature wooden cars and vanilla flavored teething giraffes are the kinds of unexpected gift items that can be found here.

Best Lighting Showroom

Wright Lighting

1572 Meridian Avenue, San Jose; 408.979.0800. Service separates Wright from its competitors. Whether looking for a modern Tech monorail lighting system or needing to rewire the old six-candle Spanish wrought iron chandelier that’s original to the house and now a fire hazard (less than $100!), Wright’s can provide a knowledgeable solution for the project at hand. Its showroom displays a mix of traditional, transitional and contemporary lighting

Best Wines & Spirits

Beltramo’s Wines & Spirits

1540 El Camino Real, Menlo Park.

K&L Wine Merchants

3005 El Camino Real, Redwood City.

Two of best options for wine and spirits in the whole Bay Area are Beltramo’s and K&L Liquors, both on the El Camino Real just north of the county line. Either one can supply every spirit and mixer known to humanity. Both have great service and assorted party gifts. If you can’t find that one bottle of wine from the thousands that Beltramo’s has, drive a few blocks to K&L and you’ll find a Parcel 41 Merlot that can’t be beat. If you shop by the case, this is the place. The staff is extremely knowledgable and helpful. And you can always find a great pinot.

Best Steam Engine

Baldwin No. 1215

History Park San Jose, 1650 Senter Road, San Jose. After an epic move last November, the 75-ton 1913 Baldwin steam engine No. 1215, now sits majestically on a small stretch of track just inside History Park’s fence along Senter Road. After many years of painstaking restoration by the dedicated members of the California Trolley and Railroad Corporation, the mighty switcher engine has been meticulously restored and given a coat of fresh black paint with red trim. It serves as a lasting monument to the glory days of railroading.

Best High-End Ramen

Alexander’s

10330 N. Wolfe Road, Cupertino; 408.446.2222. Ramen is one the strengths of Silicon Valley’s food scene. Most ramen shops occupy unremarkable strip malls and shopping centers, but Alexander’s Steakhouse, home of outrageously expensive Kobe beef and quadruple-digit bottles of wine, also happens to make a very fine bowl of ramen for lunch. Chef Jeffrey Stout offers a thoroughly respectable version that can hang with the best of them—pork belly, shiitake mushroom, a soft-cooked egg and firm noodles in a salty, rich broth.

Best Revolutionary Street Brew

Aromatic Arabic at Philz Coffee

118 Paseo de San Antonio, San Jose; 408.971.4212. To celebrate those on the street, fighting to overthrow dictators and paving their own way toward a better future, we raise our mugs at Philz Coffee. The brews on the menu are grouped into light, medium and dark roasts, the latter of which includes Aromatic Arabic. A bold and luxurious layer of Arabian coffee makes it smooth, incredibly dark and pungent with a full-bodied finish. If you take it completely black, you can almost chew on it, but with cream and sugar, a menagerie of aromas begin to unwind and make themselves apparent. A favorite morning blend after the revolution.

Best Royal Family Food on the Salt Flats

Lunch With Tony

5202 N. First St., Alviso; 408.493.6090. The Santos Family constitutes the royal blood of Alviso—sort of like the Jesus and Mary Magdalene bloodline of the salt flats. Proprietor Tony comes from a legendary and colorful family of Alvisans. His grandfather Tony P. Santos served time as mayor and police chief eons ago when Alviso was still its own city. Tony P. passed in 2004 and a street now bears his name. The eatery itself is a pure-hearted family-run operation of the most regal sort. For lunch with the divine right of Alviso kings, Metro recommends Lunch With Tony, even it’s your last supper before the crucifixion.

Best Place to Work on Your Jamaican Accent

Mango Caribbean

435 Hamilton Ave., Palo Alto; 650.324.9443. Mango’s has been through several ups and downs over the years, but still provides ultraspicy jerk chicken amid an exotic Caribbean milieu—jam-packed with bearded warriors on the walls, tropical plants, bananas and soft reggae music emanating from the stereo. You don’t even have to utter a Jamaican-style “man” after every sentence. The rattan chairs feature high backs, enabling much-needed neck support while you slump down after the food. Even the rice is flavorful and spicy. Add a few Red Stripes and some Matouk’s Calypso Sauce and the rest of the day is smooth sailing, Caribbean style.

Best Fake Phone Number to Give to a Creepy Guy

California Vasectomy & Reversal Center

2490 Hospital Drive #210, Mountain View, 650.962.4662. Is this a childish thing to do? Yes. Is it funny as all hell? Well, yeah. Some guys just can’t take a hint to scram, even if it was delivered with the dull end of a hammer to the head. A word of warning: Make sure the guy doesn’t try to swap numbers by calling right away. That would just be all kinds of awkward.

Most Enthusiastic Cashiers

Unicorn Thrift

1181 Redmond Ave., San Jose; 408.997.9188. It isn’t uncommon to hear “What a great find!” and “How cute!” flow forth from the friendly folks behind the counter while being rung up at Unicorn Thrift Shop. Unicorn Thrift Shop’s all-volunteer staff members are genuinely interested in the gently used goodies brought to the register by its customers. When not on duty, these friendly helpers shop the store themselves and can also be found in line comparing notes with other shoppers looking for a good deal. What’s even better? Along with the Butter Paddle and Happy Dragon Thrift Shop, both located in Los Gatos, Unicorn Thrift Shop’s proceeds benefit the EMQ Families First organization, which supports children living in impoverished and traumatic situations.

Best Local Photo Project

Lost San Jose

www.LostSanJose.com. Believe it or not, there was life in the San Jose area before Silicon Valley. This area has a rich history that runs deeper than the latest, greatest gadget or mirrored building and Josh Marcotte is committed to preserving it. Armed only with a camera, Marcotte takes to the streets to document the fading and slowly crumbling buildings, landmarks, signage and structures of the San Jose of old for a photo project that he refers to as Lost San Jose. Now 10 years and several cameras into the project, Marcotte is creating a visual tribute to what he calls “a city that’s hidden, overlooked and unwanted.”

Best Hodgepodge Hall of Mirrors

La Casita de Kaleidoscopes

389 E. Campbell Ave., Campbell; 408.370.7877. The brand-new Casita de Kaleidoscopes has claimed its role in humanity: by placing a kaleidoscope in every home, it will help promote world peace. What a concept. Recently relocating from Albuquerque, N.M., this bizarre gallery continues to offer an array of kaleidoscopes from an array of creative types. New kaleidoscopes, old kaleidoscopes, limited-edition kaleidoscopes, candy kaleidoscopes, marble kaleidoscopes, jewelry made from kaleidoscopes—these folks have it all. A completely, absolutely inimitable place. Campbell will never be the same.

Best Reason to Be Glad It’s Fall or Winter

Original Joe’s Crab Salad

301 S. First St., San Jose; 408.292.7030. How could something be so simple and so decadent at the same time? The secret is volume. OJ’s serves up a big, big pile of fresh crabmeat on top of a big pile of crisp romaine. That’s it. From November through March—the peak of the local Dungeness crab season—this uncomplicated meal is almost too much.

Best Signs Pointing to the Future

Tesla and Solyndra

Highway 880, Fremont. The Solyndra plant, which is now churning out next-gen solar panels, was the biggest construction project in California last year, after the Bay Bridge. And in just a couple of years, Tesla has become a cooler automotive brand than Ferrari. Seeing their two signs on Highway 880 just north of the Fremont-Milpitas border is a happy reminder that one day soon, we will all be driving solar-powered electric cars, and the green-tech revolution will revive the world economy. It’s not just the hippies making that prediction; some of the most powerful VCs in Silicon Valley—including John Doerr and Vinod Khosla—are betting a lot of money on it.