I’m driving to SJ for the evening to catch a movie at the Westwind Drive-In and then staying overnight at the downtown Westin. I’m not too familiar with San Jose. I’ve been to Original Joe’s and the Hi-Life with friends years ago, and I think I might’ve gotten ramen somewhere (based on recommendations from this forum) once before, but otherwise, I haven’t spent much time in the area. I’ll probably swing by Chiaramonte’s Deli tomorrow morning for a hot sausage sandwich and an Italian soda. I’d really appreciate suggestions for this evening though. I know there’s supposed to be some excellent Vietnamese restaurants nearby, but I’m planning to takeout food that could be eaten picnic-style in the car before the movie screening (I want to arrive early to get a good spot in the lot) and I’m not sure whether that’s so easy to do with that kind of food - no pho or any kind of soup or hotpot. Does anyone have ideas? The movie starts at 9pm but I’d like to arrive by 8:15pm to settle in, lay out blankets, pop the beer cooler, eat dinner and then hit the concession stand. Ideally wherever we choose to get food from will be open until at least 8pm, so that I can pick it up on the way…
Edit: I forgot to mention that my partner has a legit gluten intolerance so no dumplings, wheat noodles, etc which makes a lot of Asian difficult, but not impossible. Are there any good Chinese restaurants maybe from regions where this stuff can be avoided?
Yikes, sorry to be late to the party. I’ve been trying to get down to San Jose to patronize places, but it’s a bit of a ghost town. On reflection, I might have proposed take-out from Anjappar Chettinad, it’s near the freeway, and Chettinad (being indian) travels well, and the wheat can be easily discerned. I would have mentioned A Yard, I think the pick-up is good and they’re not gluten heavy. Last time I had Viet down there was at a place Kali Noodles, but I had only one dish (soup-thing) and while it was perfectly good it wasn’t good enough to send someone to. I see that Bun Bo Hue An Nam seems to still exist and is fairly nearby, they were very well rated 15 years ago when I last went.
We ended up staying an extra night because Valentines Day at the drive-in was a total nightmare… we were locked in bumper to bumper traffic on the intersection leading into the parking lot for over 45 minutes. It was literally 4 min walking distance according to my navigation app, but we were deadlocked the whole time and barely inched forward. It was a zoo. Cars were backed all the way into the intersection. We left an hour early and still didn’t get into the lot in time for the movie, so we decided to stay an extra night and try again this evening. Hopefully it’s less crowded on a Monday night. We’re going to leave extra early so we can get a decent spot and hit the concession stand. Anyhow, food yesterday was a bust and I won’t even mention where we ended up because I have nothing good to say, but we went to Vit Dong Que for lunch today and had a really wonderful & memorable meal! The banh beo chen, banh bot loc and duck porridge were all favorites and not something I’d experienced before - all highly recommended! The 1/2 duck salad was less exciting to us, but I think that’s down to personal preference as we both prefer a crispier roast or bbq preparation and I’m not a big fan of coriander which is very prominent featured. Every other table (all Vietnamese or Chinese) seemed to love it though. The owners and chefs are really warm and lovely people. I’d definitely return! As for this evening and the original question… I’m going to follow up on all suggestions right now and make a choice! I’ll be sure to report back. Thanks again!
