The Best Fine Dining In San Jose California

As California’s third-largest city, San Jose has its fair share of high quality culinary destinations, but the restaurants on this list go above and beyond your run-of-the-mill pizza place or family venue. They are found in the most luxurious of environs, source the best produce from all over the world, and employ the most talented chefs. If fine dining is what you’re after in the city, then look no further than our list of top quality restaurants.

1. Citrus

Restaurant, American

The Zagat rated Citrus is the restaurant of the Hotel Valencia, located on San Jose’s upmarket Santana Row. Diners can be seated either in Citrus’s plush interior or grand courtyard where they can enjoy a menu that changes often to reflect the chefs’ reliance on seasonal, local ingredients. They deal in ‘globally influenced California cuisine,’ which may take the form of Jamaican curried goat with arepas and poblano crème fraiche, or California oysters with vodka ice, young ginger, and chili.

2. Le Papillon

Restaurant, French, Contemporary, American

This distinguished restaurant has received accolades from Michelin, DiRona, and Zagat (among others) and has been catering to the brightest of the Silicon Valley set since 1977. Chef Scott Cooper uses seasonal, sustainable, and organic ingredients and brings together Pacific, French, and Asian influences in exquisite dishes like flounder with preserved mandarinquat, Okinawa sweet potato, and nori oil. Cooper’s inventiveness extends to the desserts: try the white chocolate and passion fruit frozen mousse with coconut and palm sugar. Le Papillon provides impeccable service in a space of quiet elegance, with a wine list exceeding 500 different bottles.