We will be visiting our college student daughter prior to heading to Carmel for a meeting. We would like to take DD and 5 of her friends out for a nice dinner (they appreciate good food). She said everyone else's parents take them out for pizza, so she doesn't have any ideas on nice restaurants in the area.

I am familiar with restaurants up in Palo Alto, but we would like to stay pretty close to Santa Clara. My son suggested Fontana's in Cupertino, but admitted that it doesn't get great reviews lately. Also E & O Trading Co. in San Jose---this one looks great, actually. But I'm wondering if my Fodors friends have other thoughts? Italian, Asian (but not sushi for this group), or "California" would all be fine.

And then we need suggestions for a restaurant in Carmel; we'll be having dinner there the following night with another couple. I haven't been there in years, and don't know where to start looking! Something small and bistro-ish if possible; but good, fresh and local food would be most important.

Thank you for your help.

We were in Carmel in May and dined at Casanova for the manyith time over nearly 30 years---always wonderful--charming, romantic, continental/French/Italian style.
Around the corner is a special French restaurant, L'Escargot. Owner/chef prepares teriffic fresh dishes.

I would venture into downtown San Jose and go to my favorite place, 71 St. Peter. Spiedo also might fit the bill for what you want. I have found E & O to be overpriced and overrated. Gordon Biersch is also good, nice food in a somewhat casual but nice atmosphere (it's a microbrewery and the San Jose location was their first). Does your daughter go to Santa Clara University? My alma mater...

Near Santa Clara, in Santana Row there are some good options. I like Thea Mediterranean and Sino (Asian). See attached: http://www.santanarow.com/dining/
I noticed Village California Bistro looks interesting, though I haven't been there yet. I also like Pizza Antica, which is definitely a cut above a pizza joint with great salads and pasta in addition to the thin crust pizza. I used to like Fontana's but haven't been there in a year or two.

These are great suggestions. I appreciate the feedback on E & O---that's what makes Fodors so useful! I like both 71 St. Peter and Thea Mediterranean---I'll show the menus to my husband. I hadn't thought of Greek food, but I know our daughter loves it---here in Seattle she always want to go to Lola, which is incredibly expensive. This looks more reasonable.

We have a Gordon Biersch up here, so that wouldn't be a special occasion place. Actually we've never been---my husband can't stand the smell of beer. . . too many reminders of his misspent youth.

MonicaRichards, yes, she is a student at SCU. Halfway through her sophomore year, and loving it.

Maggianos at Santana Row has great Italian food. Down the street on Stevens Creek Blvd. is By the Bucket also.

I thought about By the Bucket and Maggiano's myself. For a chain, M's is pretty darn good!

Actually, my son mentioned Maggiano's too, but admitted that it is a chain.

So it's not just an upscale Olive Garden?

I think it's a lot better than Olive Garden, and the prices aren't much more. The portions are large though, so think about sharing or the 1/2 portions, if you go there. My top vote is still for Thea Med.

If you head a bit north, on El Camino in Sunnyvale, there is Kabul restaurant; excellent Afghan food, nice service and settings, though located in a strip mall.

Fun atmosphere, college kids would love it, but a bit farther away, would be La Fondue, in Saratoga. Allow extra time if you do this one.

Now if you want to show them you know great local food (but zero atmosphere), you could try Su's Mongolian BBQ, very near campus (also on El Camino). My kids, who went to college elsewhere, always want to hit Su's when they are home.

Hi, Enzian!

Kabul is a wonderful recommendation. Very unusual to have Afghani-Persian food around here and very good food at that. Try their shish-kebab combination, the meat is sooo tender!

Manggiano's is also a good recommendation. Santana Row has lots of places to eat, but Manggiano's is one of our favorites there. We always get the all you can eat and then really pig out on their mussels (appetizer), M's salad (ohsogood!), salmon (main course, unfortunately not wild), and tiramisu. Have been to a couple of M's and this is really the best of the lot.

Just across from Santana Row on Winchester is Khanh's, one of the best Vietnamese restaurants in town. It used to be wildly popular in the shopping center than has been replaced by Santana Row. Moving across the street has affected their business somewhat but not the quality of their food.

Another wonderful buffet place is Indian. If your tastes in Indian food extend beyond chicken tikki masala (arghhh!), then try the Bombay Garden Restaurant on El Camino in Santa Clara. Their buffet is awesome and very good - velly velly hot as well! You'll just have to order a glass of their mango lassi to cool down a bit.

I wouldn't recommend the more expensive places for college kids who usually have hearty appetites.

Santana Row has a slew of restaurants, some expensive like Left Bank (French), Amber (Indian), etc. But I like value as well as good food, but that may just be me. Here's a link for you to browse

http://www.santanarow.com/dining/

Santana Row is fun at night - there are several bars in the area also.

Whatever you do, I would NOT recommend the East Asian restaurants in Santana Row - some of the worst Asian food I've ever had and expensive.

Happy dining!

Hi easytraveler! Thanks for jumping in. I keep hearing about "Santana Row" and I'm dense--but what is it? A mall? I does sould like we would have many options there. I've heard Maggiano's mentioned so many times I will look into that one. Amber was another of my son's reccos, but I don't know. We and our daughter love Indian food, but I don't know about the rest of the girls. I've noted what you said about the East Asian places at Santana Row---we'll stay away from those.

(Did I every get back to you on the maple tress and report that I now have 5, nor 4, thanks to you?)

Santana Row was built a few years back - it is a mixed use neighborhood - 3-4 story buildings, shops and restaurants on the 1st floor, housing on the upper floors. There is also a hotel, a spa, and probably some other things. It has a garage for parking and narrow, pedestrian-friendly streets.

Think adult Disneyland when you think Santana Row. It's a manufactured neigbhorhood done in a European style, so very walkable, an outdoor mall kind of but very heavy on the restaurants. I'm sure those students over there at Santa Clara have already familiarized themselves with it, you can bike there easily from campus.

P.S. And I still like 71 St. Peter--get them a little off the beaten track of where they always go! Still only about a five to ten minute drive. Personally, I wouldn't choose anywhere but downtown SJ or Santana Row, if they really like the restaurant it would be nice if it were close enough for them to get there again.