Restaurants in Sunnyvale
Recommended Restaurants by Groupon Customers
The dinner menu is a savory spread of fresh starters, salads, and entrees. Appetites can dip their toothed toes in the edible waters of baked brie puff pastries ($9) or Dungeness crab cakes with avocado mousse and mango salsa ($9.50) before a hearty wedge salad with prosciutto and feta ($6). Larger plates support a wealth of robust entrees; braised short ribs are matched with onion strings and garlic mashed potatoes ($19.50), while the rack of lamb chooses the friendship of rosemary roasted taters, grilled zucchini, and a mint-scented lamb reduction ($24). Seaside cravings extend toward the mesquite-grilled salmon over cherry-walnut rice ($18.50) and the smorgasbord offerings of cioppino, a celebration of mussels, clams, shrimp, white fish, potatoes, and a sea of spicy tomato sauce ($16.50).
Shuffle up a deck of carbs stacked with premium meats and veggies on fresh-baked breads from Boudin Bakery in San Francisco. Lettuce Sandwich Shop's menu provides classic cold cuts such as ham or salami served on your choice of sourdough, sliced wheat, marble rye, and more. Likewise, expand your acronymic understanding with a B.L.A.T sandwich, composed of bacon, lettuce, avocado, and tomato on triple-decker toast. Vegetarians can opt for the Haight Ashbury, with cucumbers, avocado, and a choice of cheese. All sandwiches come with a slathering of special garlic sauce, but each creation can be customized to taste. Have a friendly sandwich wizard hold the sauce, or request the less popular—hold the sandwich.
Firmly anchored by the tranquil waters of Shoreline Lake, Lakeside Café offers refreshing café fare to refuel fatigued beachgoers after a rousing sail or lake-monster search. Breakfast offerings such as three-egg omelettes (starting at $7.75) and eggs benedict ($8.50) are served with roasted new potatoes and toast, while pancakes ($7.75) and bagels ($2.25) keep things classic and classy. For lunch, ravenous aquanauts can fork into crisp bistro salads or hot and cold sandwiches, which are served with potato salad or fries. Leafy plates such as the Mediterranean spinach salad with feta, kalamata olives, red onions, cucumbers, and mint vinaigrette ($7.95) comfortably coexist alsongside sandwiches, like the fresh mozzarella, tomato, and basil on herb focaccia ($7.95), and classic fish and chips ($8.95).
A musician strums a ukulele onstage as hips sway around him in a hula dance. Laughing heartily with his friends at a nearby table, one man pinches seaweed-wrapped squares of sushi rice—authentic Hawaiian musubi—from shared plates as he talks up his latest adventures. At another table, the diners sing along with the ukulele player, eyes twinkling as the melody calls up memories of home.
This feeling of camaraderie, the spirit of aloha, is what owner Peter Be and his wife, Rena, wanted to capture when they opened Da Kine Cafe in 2010. When Rena, who was born in the Kalihi Valley on the island of Oahu, craved true Hawaiian eats, her choices were limited to lackluster mainland-style interpretations, such as lau lau wrapped in a tortilla instead of taro leaves. She put together a menu of authentic Hawaiian cuisine, with 10 variations of the hot noodle soup called saimin and 10 types of poke, which the head chef of the mainland's most famous Hawaiian restaurant dubbed the best in town. Classics such as the gravy-soaked beef patty of the loco moco fill the menu, waiting to be washed down with fresh-fruit smoothies and on-tap ales from the islands or local microbreweries. Gluten-free options are also available.
The décor reproduces the laid-back Hawaiian feel that Rena and Peter remember, so that even the restaurant’s stage wears a grass skirt. On Ohana Saturdays, visiting musicians take the stage, many of them winners of the Hawaiian islands' most prestigious music accolades, the Na Hoku Hanohano awards. Performers include slack-key-guitar player LT Smooth as well as the singer Mailani, accompanied by esteemed ukulele player Dr. Trey. Starting in the springtime, weekly festivals celebrate Hawaii's music, its dance styles, and its excessive number of festivals.
Sunlight pours through the large windows of Maltby's Restaurant, illuminating the wood accents and English-pub-inspired decor that populates the restaurant’s spacious bar and dining room. But, even as the interior screams "authentic pub," the menu slyly mouths "eclectic cuisine." While traditional pub dishes such as fish 'n' chips and beer-battered onion rings comfort tongues with familiar flavors, other dishes work with less predictable tastes. Beds of fries welcome dashes of gourmet ingredients, including grilled jalapeños, sun-dried tomatoes, feta cheese, and sea salt infused with chipotle and truffle oil. All-natural Niman Ranch beef patties cozy up to buns in each of the pub’s burgers, and large salads sport only locally sourced, organic leafy greens. The restaurant's tavern specials mix it up by serving steaming plates of barbecue baby back ribs and spicy risotto jambalaya, whereas the weekend brunch menu pairs classic English and American breakfast platters with tequila sunrises, bloody marys, and Pimm’s Cups.
After Sandro Costanza left his home in Calabria, Italy, in 1988, he devoted decades to waiting tables and cooking his way through Paris, London, and Rome before finally landing in Saratoga. There, he opened Ristorante Da Mario to re-create the bursting flavors and vibrant colors of the southern Italian dishes he remembered from his childhood. Today his chefs forge these staples by layering lasagna, stuffing ravioli, and fluffing gnocchi in-house, and by using a number of lighter cream sauces instead of exclusively glazing entrees with marinara. Although Sandro's wine list features numerous California varietals, it also includes bottles from major wine-producing regions across Italy to complement the authentic dishes.
Faux tuscan walls mimic the cuisine's rustic, down-home approach, but crisp, white tablecloths and framed artwork also lend their touches of refinement to the dining room. Outside, patio seating pairs rich Italian meals with light gulps of fresh air and lets diners keep eyes out for invading Byzantines.
