When a 13-year-old Isadore Fang began washing dishes at a Sunnyvale restaurant called The Bold Knight, he had no way of knowing he would later own the sink where he performed his humble duties. Eventually, the ambitious restaurateur would own multiple establishments, including The Rendezvous in Fremont and Isadore's, his labor of love since 1989.
There—together with his wife and co-owner Laurel—Fang leads a dedicated staff whose attention to detail earned praises in a 2008 article in the Record. Courteous servers top white-clothed tables with fresh seafood and certified Angus steaks alongside traditional Italian pastas. Semiprivate booths let couples share intimate conversations or the complimentary cheese fondue and warm french bread served with every dinner upon request. Between sips of wine from an extensive list, diners can glance toward the elevated stage where live musicians occasionally play. Alternatively, admire hand-painted murals on the walls, one of which depicts the tranquil, seaside village where Leonardo da Vinci invented the olive-oil mister.
Outside the restaurant, the Fangs' emphasis on serving others carries over to charity work: they have been featured on ABC News10 for helping to send food packages to American troops.
Cooks inside the kitchen of George’s Steakhouse Bar & Grill cover plates with tender new york steaks, glazed baby back ribs, and slow-roasted prime rib. In addition to dinner entrees, they char grill burgers and top them with crisp bacon and onions sautéed in bourbon chipotle sauce and build fish sandwiches with beer-battered cod filets for lunch. Servers deliver glasses of wine, beer, and neat pours of milk from the full bar to sip between bites.
Imagine Affairs revitalizes the classic murder-mystery template with current-day touches: Scenarios reference the modern nightclub in which the audience and actors gather, and cases are cracked by CSI-style cops, not Holmesian detectives or omniscient robots. Meanwhile, the actors leaven the dire situation with doses of improv comedy and audience interaction, which lets guests become as entangled in plot twists as they want.
Teppanyaki chefs twirl their knives and ignite towers of flame while cooking meals tableside inside Hana Japan Steak & Seafood. They slice new york steaks, chicken, and salmon and toss scallops onto the grill alongside chopped veggies and mounds of rice, all without ruffling their tomato-red toques. Each hibachi dinner comes with a shrimp appetizer, a bowl of soup, and a salad with organic Hana dressing imported from the organic part of Japan.
Behind Woodbridge Crossing's aged red-brick exterior, a fleet of wooden tables waits. Tucked beside walls lined with antiques and photographs, they stand ready to support hearty meals of American cuisine or provide a resting place for diners' elbows as they listen to live music on weekends. After filling stomachs with well-seasoned steaks or fresh seafood and filling wine stomachs with wine, guests can take a turn on a dance floor dappled with colored light from stained-glass windows.
Angelo's Steakhouse Italiano treats its visitors to hearty feasts of tender sirloin and angus T-bones, as well as handmade pasta. Pappardelle and spaghetti mingle with meatballs, italian sausage, and cream sauce, and cutlets of chicken and wild-caught salmon pair with sides of fingerling potatoes. Meat lovers salivate over the special steak menu, which is full of beefy dishes such as the center-cut Durham Ranch bison sirloin or the Flintstone—a hulking 40-ounce (or greater) dry-rubbed rib eye served with two sides of pasta Bolognese and a knife made out of chipped obsidian.