Summary: San Jose is an expensive city that doesn't offer anything unique and pales in comparison to its close neighbor San Francisco. If you're going to be in Nor Cal your time/money is better spent in SF.
City: San Jose's population is just under 1 million with another 1 million in the surrounding metro area. It's best known as the heart of Silicon Valley with companies such as Ebay, Cisco, Adobe, IBM, etc. maintaining headquarters or sizable presences in the city. There are also several universities in the general area: San Jose State and Santa Clara University being the largest. It's listed as the 10th most populous city in the U.S. but suffers from urban sprawl making a car necessary. Public transit exists but leaves something to be desired. The wealthier areas are located in the West and South areas of the city with the Northern and Eastern parts being poorer.
Weather/Best Time to Visit: The weather usually hovers in the 70's to low 80's for most of the year. Clear skies are the norm. The best time to visit is September as the colleges are back in session for the fall and the summer heat is dissipating.
Girls: The city is a mix of Latin, White, and Asian so there's something for most. That being said, the women of San Jose are sub par for a city of its size and have a reputation for being gold diggers/having inflated egos. This is inflamed by the skewed sex ratio in their favor coupled with a decent amount of well off single men who substitute throwing money around for game. It's not impossible to get laid here but do expect to work harder for your notches. If you have money stay in one of the hotels I mention below and dress the part and you'll have an easier time. Women here always have more than one horse in the race so focus on closing quickly and having multiple irons in the fire. If you can find a under 21 college girl then things are easier because she hasn't been bombarded with male attention at the bars/clubs.
Culture: The city divides along three lines: You have the more well off who tend to dress nicely and patronize the classier venues in the South and West. The "Bro's" with their Ed Hardy shirts frequent the adjacent city of Campbell. The ghetto element, "critters" as they're locally known, tend to frequent downtown and rock the usual backwards 59/Fifty hat and baggy clothes. Unfortunately the critters comprise a large amount of the population and have a reputation for spreading out and ruining otherwise good venues with low class behavior (fighting over nothing, creeping girls out, trying to "out-thug" the next guy). There's a joke that a venue only stays good in San Jose until the critters find out about it.
Daygame: San Jose State University (SJSU), San Jose City College (SJCC), and Santa Clara University (SCU) are all good places for daygame if you like coeds. SJSU is the largest and most racially mixed. SJCC has some cute latinas but students don't linger after class so YMMV. SCU is predominantly white and smaller than SJSU but larger than SJCC. You will get your best bang for your buck at SJSU due to it's sheer size (30K+ students and a huge campus). The best time to daygame at colleges is from 9-1 as most students have classes during that time. Pick up a class catalog and figure out when the passing periods between classes are. Park yourself along one of the main concourses and the rest is up to you. Again you'll find SJSU best for this strategy because of its size.
The Valley Fair Mall and it's high end sister Santana Row are across the street from each other but both don't pick up until after people get off of work. You'll find younger girls working at Valley Faire and moneyed MILFS/attractive 20 somethings at Santana Row. The help at many of the higher end restaurants in Santa Row is impressive. It's an open secret that the hottest chicks are recruited to work there.
Nightlife: There are four main areas for the nightlife
1. Downtown San Jose- Attracts the more ghetto crowd but there are some places of note. Flames is a restaurant/bar that has an great happy hour from 9-12. Many SJSU students go there to get the night started and move on to somewhere else as it closes at midnight. Sabor is a club located in San Pedro Square. Attracts a semi ghetto crowd but has a high concentration of cute latinas/college girls. They're strict on the dress code and have been known to charge an obscene cover on weekends. Tres Gringos and San Jose Bar and Grill are located midway between Flames and Sabor. Again a mix of college students and ghetto. The one plus to the two is that they are next door to one another so you can switch venues as long as you have a hand stamp. $5 cover for each one. Motif is another club but it can be hit or miss. There are other venues but due to the high turnover of venues in downtown I haven't checked them out yet.
2. Santana Row- A high end shopping center located in 10 minutes away from downtown San Jose it is the nice but hampered by the fact that all of the venues but one close early. Venues are high end restaurants that convert into bars/clubs at night. Straits- Attracts a bit of an older crowd. It closes at midnight and has a $10 cover. Blowfish- Almost all asian. Not sure about cover. Sino- Mixed crowd with some real stunners. More of a high end bar environment. Lots of old dudes with money looking for a pretty young thing. V-Bar is the bar inside the Valencia Hotel. Has a large patio with fire pits. People go in cliques so it's not ideal for pick up BUT it's dark and classy making it a good place to set the mood if you're with a girl. It closes early so I mainly use it for a venue change on dates before I bounce her back to my house. Roux- French Louisiana themed lounge/bar. Older crowd. Good place to start out at on a date. Rosie McCain's- Bar/club and my personal favorite. Stays open until 2 am and attracts a lot of mid 20's professional girls looking to let loose. When this place first opened it was an absolute whorehouse. Sadly it's a bit hit or miss now but is still decent. Be warned your wallet will empty quickly here and there is a strict dress code. Get there early and have a few drinks on the patio to get first shot at the girls/avoid cover and the line that snakes around the corner once 10 pm hits.
3. Downtown Campbell- Located 10 minutes by car from downtown SJ. Bro central. Lots of trashy white girls and dudes wearing Ed Hardy. Lately the critters have found out about it and it's been on the decline. Venues include: Katie Bloom's (weak drinks but a fair amount of girls), The Spot (cockfest), The Cardiff (hit or miss with regards to talent), and Khartoum. Campbell cops are notorious dicks so don't get wasted and stumble around downtown.
4. Downtown Los Gatos- Wealthy town just south of Campbell. The two main clubs are Mountain Charlie's and Los Gatos Bar and Grill. LGBG is more upscale and has hotter girls. Both have a $10 cover. Dress classy for LGBG and expect huge egos and expensive drinks to go with its top tier talent. Bars in Los Gatos aren't great for pick up since people use them to meet up with friends.
Logistics: Since San Jose is so spread out and things are so expensive logistics can be a huge pain in the ass. As a general rule don't stay anywhere outside of a 5-10 minute taxi ride from where you'll be gaming; the closer the better. If you have the cash stay at the Hotel Valencia in Santana Row or the Fairmont in Downtown San Jose so you can walk to the respective venues. There's also the hotel St. Claire. A motel will cost you over $100/night and renting an apartment will cost $1200+ a month for something decent close to the action making upgrading to a nice hotel an easy decision. I'm not familiar with hostels in the area.
Transportation: As mentioned earlier public transport sucks here. Rent a car or take taxis.
Activites: Not a whole lot. There are several museums in downtown San Jose. There are often concerts at the HP Pavilion. You can go to a San Jose Sharks pro hockey game. During the summer the city puts on free concerts in downtown called music in the park. There's a fair amount of bike trails and a few wineries in the Santa Cruz Mountains. You can drive 45 minutes and be in SF or Santa Cruz.
Food: Safeway supermarkets are everywhere. If you prefer to eat out the following are good eats:
1. Gombei (193 Jackson St, San Jose)- Has the best Japanese food in the city.
2.Tacqueria Eduardo (3123 Williamsburg Dr, San Jose)- Hole in the wall close to Santana Row with great Mexican food.
3.La Victoria Tacqueria (2 locations in dt sj)- More great Mexican food.
4.Original Joe's (Corner of 1st and San Salvador)- Italian food with huge portions. Has been in the same location for over 50 years.
5. The Mynt (5210 Prospect Rd, San Jose)- Good Indian Food
6. Stacks (139 East Campbell Ave, Campbell)- Excellent breakfast. Gets packed so expect to wait.
If you prefer more high end establishments there are plenty at Santana Row and Los Gatos. I would also suggest trying whatever catches your eye, it's rare that you run into a bad meal here.
Pharmacy Needs: It's going to be a pain in the ass to score more than some green here without knowing the right people. Ask around at the clubs and you might get lucky.
City: San Jose's population is just under 1 million with another 1 million in the surrounding metro area. It's best known as the heart of Silicon Valley with companies such as Ebay, Cisco, Adobe, IBM, etc. maintaining headquarters or sizable presences in the city. There are also several universities in the general area: San Jose State and Santa Clara University being the largest. It's listed as the 10th most populous city in the U.S. but suffers from urban sprawl making a car necessary. Public transit exists but leaves something to be desired. The wealthier areas are located in the West and South areas of the city with the Northern and Eastern parts being poorer.
Weather/Best Time to Visit: The weather usually hovers in the 70's to low 80's for most of the year. Clear skies are the norm. The best time to visit is September as the colleges are back in session for the fall and the summer heat is dissipating.
Girls: The city is a mix of Latin, White, and Asian so there's something for most. That being said, the women of San Jose are sub par for a city of its size and have a reputation for being gold diggers/having inflated egos. This is inflamed by the skewed sex ratio in their favor coupled with a decent amount of well off single men who substitute throwing money around for game. It's not impossible to get laid here but do expect to work harder for your notches. If you have money stay in one of the hotels I mention below and dress the part and you'll have an easier time. Women here always have more than one horse in the race so focus on closing quickly and having multiple irons in the fire. If you can find a under 21 college girl then things are easier because she hasn't been bombarded with male attention at the bars/clubs.
Culture: The city divides along three lines: You have the more well off who tend to dress nicely and patronize the classier venues in the South and West. The "Bro's" with their Ed Hardy shirts frequent the adjacent city of Campbell. The ghetto element, "critters" as they're locally known, tend to frequent downtown and rock the usual backwards 59/Fifty hat and baggy clothes. Unfortunately the critters comprise a large amount of the population and have a reputation for spreading out and ruining otherwise good venues with low class behavior (fighting over nothing, creeping girls out, trying to "out-thug" the next guy). There's a joke that a venue only stays good in San Jose until the critters find out about it.
Daygame: San Jose State University (SJSU), San Jose City College (SJCC), and Santa Clara University (SCU) are all good places for daygame if you like coeds. SJSU is the largest and most racially mixed. SJCC has some cute latinas but students don't linger after class so YMMV. SCU is predominantly white and smaller than SJSU but larger than SJCC. You will get your best bang for your buck at SJSU due to it's sheer size (30K+ students and a huge campus). The best time to daygame at colleges is from 9-1 as most students have classes during that time. Pick up a class catalog and figure out when the passing periods between classes are. Park yourself along one of the main concourses and the rest is up to you. Again you'll find SJSU best for this strategy because of its size.
The Valley Fair Mall and it's high end sister Santana Row are across the street from each other but both don't pick up until after people get off of work. You'll find younger girls working at Valley Faire and moneyed MILFS/attractive 20 somethings at Santana Row. The help at many of the higher end restaurants in Santa Row is impressive. It's an open secret that the hottest chicks are recruited to work there.
Nightlife: There are four main areas for the nightlife
1. Downtown San Jose- Attracts the more ghetto crowd but there are some places of note. Flames is a restaurant/bar that has an great happy hour from 9-12. Many SJSU students go there to get the night started and move on to somewhere else as it closes at midnight. Sabor is a club located in San Pedro Square. Attracts a semi ghetto crowd but has a high concentration of cute latinas/college girls. They're strict on the dress code and have been known to charge an obscene cover on weekends. Tres Gringos and San Jose Bar and Grill are located midway between Flames and Sabor. Again a mix of college students and ghetto. The one plus to the two is that they are next door to one another so you can switch venues as long as you have a hand stamp. $5 cover for each one. Motif is another club but it can be hit or miss. There are other venues but due to the high turnover of venues in downtown I haven't checked them out yet.
2. Santana Row- A high end shopping center located in 10 minutes away from downtown San Jose it is the nice but hampered by the fact that all of the venues but one close early. Venues are high end restaurants that convert into bars/clubs at night. Straits- Attracts a bit of an older crowd. It closes at midnight and has a $10 cover. Blowfish- Almost all asian. Not sure about cover. Sino- Mixed crowd with some real stunners. More of a high end bar environment. Lots of old dudes with money looking for a pretty young thing. V-Bar is the bar inside the Valencia Hotel. Has a large patio with fire pits. People go in cliques so it's not ideal for pick up BUT it's dark and classy making it a good place to set the mood if you're with a girl. It closes early so I mainly use it for a venue change on dates before I bounce her back to my house. Roux- French Louisiana themed lounge/bar. Older crowd. Good place to start out at on a date. Rosie McCain's- Bar/club and my personal favorite. Stays open until 2 am and attracts a lot of mid 20's professional girls looking to let loose. When this place first opened it was an absolute whorehouse. Sadly it's a bit hit or miss now but is still decent. Be warned your wallet will empty quickly here and there is a strict dress code. Get there early and have a few drinks on the patio to get first shot at the girls/avoid cover and the line that snakes around the corner once 10 pm hits.
3. Downtown Campbell- Located 10 minutes by car from downtown SJ. Bro central. Lots of trashy white girls and dudes wearing Ed Hardy. Lately the critters have found out about it and it's been on the decline. Venues include: Katie Bloom's (weak drinks but a fair amount of girls), The Spot (cockfest), The Cardiff (hit or miss with regards to talent), and Khartoum. Campbell cops are notorious dicks so don't get wasted and stumble around downtown.
4. Downtown Los Gatos- Wealthy town just south of Campbell. The two main clubs are Mountain Charlie's and Los Gatos Bar and Grill. LGBG is more upscale and has hotter girls. Both have a $10 cover. Dress classy for LGBG and expect huge egos and expensive drinks to go with its top tier talent. Bars in Los Gatos aren't great for pick up since people use them to meet up with friends.
Logistics: Since San Jose is so spread out and things are so expensive logistics can be a huge pain in the ass. As a general rule don't stay anywhere outside of a 5-10 minute taxi ride from where you'll be gaming; the closer the better. If you have the cash stay at the Hotel Valencia in Santana Row or the Fairmont in Downtown San Jose so you can walk to the respective venues. There's also the hotel St. Claire. A motel will cost you over $100/night and renting an apartment will cost $1200+ a month for something decent close to the action making upgrading to a nice hotel an easy decision. I'm not familiar with hostels in the area.
Transportation: As mentioned earlier public transport sucks here. Rent a car or take taxis.
Activites: Not a whole lot. There are several museums in downtown San Jose. There are often concerts at the HP Pavilion. You can go to a San Jose Sharks pro hockey game. During the summer the city puts on free concerts in downtown called music in the park. There's a fair amount of bike trails and a few wineries in the Santa Cruz Mountains. You can drive 45 minutes and be in SF or Santa Cruz.
Food: Safeway supermarkets are everywhere. If you prefer to eat out the following are good eats:
1. Gombei (193 Jackson St, San Jose)- Has the best Japanese food in the city.
2.Tacqueria Eduardo (3123 Williamsburg Dr, San Jose)- Hole in the wall close to Santana Row with great Mexican food.
3.La Victoria Tacqueria (2 locations in dt sj)- More great Mexican food.
4.Original Joe's (Corner of 1st and San Salvador)- Italian food with huge portions. Has been in the same location for over 50 years.
5. The Mynt (5210 Prospect Rd, San Jose)- Good Indian Food
6. Stacks (139 East Campbell Ave, Campbell)- Excellent breakfast. Gets packed so expect to wait.
If you prefer more high end establishments there are plenty at Santana Row and Los Gatos. I would also suggest trying whatever catches your eye, it's rare that you run into a bad meal here.
Pharmacy Needs: It's going to be a pain in the ass to score more than some green here without knowing the right people. Ask around at the clubs and you might get lucky.
