The GrandView — Restaurant in San Jose

We usually LOVE this place, but this time we were quite disappointed. Went there for July 4 dinner and my husbands birthday. We heard that it was a nice place to watch all the fireworks happening across the bay, so we made the reservation. It was $150 per person for the special July 4th themed menu, prix fix… it was more than we usually like to spend. But we thought this would be a special treat for us, plus, we had also bought 4 costco discount cards to help pay for this. So off we went!

Sadly the food was meh and the price tag was too high. But I want to say, for sure the staff was very good: professional, courteous and helpful.

The quality of food was just not up to par with their usual quality of food and was not worth the price at all. We had come here a few times before, over the past few years, and those meals were outstanding.

For our 3rd and 4th courses we ordered the Texas style bbq ribs, Alaska Salmon with corn risotto, Spaghetti with meatballs, and Zucchini eggplant lasagna. The bbq sauce tasted just like ketchup no bbq seasonings on it at all. It was ribs with ketchup. The lasagna was super super salty and I couldn’t eat much of it. I should’ve sent the dish back but didn’t want to be “that person”. The salmon was cold and plain but the risotto was actually good, thank God!

The 1st and 2nd courses were good but the dessert was just ok. We ordered each of the 2 available desserts: one of which was supposed to have chocolate gelato. There was NO gelato. I guess they ran out. At that point I just wanted to get our bill and go home. The bill was over $400 because wine was not included plus there was a preallocated tip. Thankfully the waitress highlighted that the tip was already included when she gave us the bill. That was very nice of her to do. Then we hoped to pay $200 of the bill with our 4 costco gift cards. But we could only use 2, we didn’t read the fine print. The waiter who handled our bill was very nice about it and expressed empathy towards our disappointment, which I appreciated.

While paying our bill, we overheard one of the managers tell another customer that they were going to change to a prix fix menu regularly on weekends and a simplified menu on weeknights. I think that’s a bad idea. The prix fix menu just did not work on this day.

Also, just a side note: when calling to make the reservation, they asked if we were celebrating a special occasion besides July 4th, and I said yes it was my husband’s birthday. I hoped that this message would go down the line to the hostess and the wait staff, but when we arrived, they asked us the same question. Why bother asking it at the reservation stage if you’re not going to communicate it to the rest of your team?

Overall we were very disappointed with Grandview this time, and the high price tag was reallly a bummer. It is likely we...

I was part of a party of four that visited the Grandview for a weekend dinner. As I had come to expect from previous visits, the food was good (although not stellar) and the service was excellent.

The business practices struck me as unfortunate. There is a hefty cancellation fee, so once you show up, you presumably have to eat there and it's more important than usual that the information on the web site be accurate.

It wasn't. There was a 26% aggregated fee for service and "living wages." The online menu and the house menu differed. We knew we would have to order from the tasting menu, but thought (incorrectly) that we could order different versions of the tasting menu. These issues generally remain, but the online menu is accurate.

Worse was that there was a limit on the number of Costco cash cards we could use. This is definitely not disclosed on the web site, and I'll leave it to you to decide if you'd have noticed while shopping at Costco to get the cards. Once you buy them, you're out of luck: To get the cards, you have to hand over the display item that does disclose the limit. The cards disclose the limit on the back, but they are taped together back-to-back so there's no way to see it until you go to pay.

I told the maitre d' that these collective business practices struck me as unreasonable, and that my online reviews would likely reflect that. He responded by personalizing the interaction, telling me that I couldn't leave a bad review because we were neighbors (which we are, but I was unaware that meant I couldn't leave an honest review). He asked my dinner companions to confirm that it would be wrong for me to leave a bad review (really??) and they told him that I was just fine. He then told me to never return to the restaurant, and asked that I delete his contact information from my cell phone.

On my way out, I slipped $20 to the waiter who normally helps us, telling him that we had been asked not to return and saying I was sorry that this was the last tip I'd give him.

There is an implicit contract when you go to any restaurant, let alone one that describes itself as fine dining. Part of that contract is that you not get upbraided by the maitre d' when you've had a below-average experience. I spoke at some length with the owner, who was right to refund 100% of what I paid...

We scheduled our reservation for an hour prior to when estimated sunset was and the timing was perfect. When you make reservation you can request your table location. We asked to be inside next to window and they were able to accommodate the request. The outside patio has roll down plastic curtain/windows so the view is a little blurred/warped (at least from the inside that’s how it looked). I don’t know if they always have it rolled down or just on windy days. You can walk to the side for clear pics of the view. On the patio there are some tables right next to the railing/“window” and some tables along the side of the building. They have several heaters. Most people were sitting outside. The view and ambiance is lovely. On open table you can let them know ahead of time with reservation that you are celebrating something. I did get a call from them on the day of reservation and they offered a discount on champagne to have ready to drink when we arrived. Our server Max was awesome. He was very friendly and attentive. The other staff members were really great as well. The garlic butter that came with the complimentary bread was garlic heavy and delish. They also brought a complimentary biscuit/fritter type of thing for each guest. I personally did not like it, but others did or thought it was okay. The side of smashed Yukon potatoes were the best I’ve ever had anywhere. Prob could serve up to 3 people, but it was so good i could eat it all myself. Sea bass (special) was good, but a bit heavy on the rosemary for me. Truffle Arancini was decent but I probably wouldn’t order again. I’d rather try something else. Side of veggies was large and easily served 4. I wish they were cooked a little bit more and had more seasoning or something. Agnolotti della Montagna was tasty, but next time I think I’ll try steak or chicken with just the potatoes. They did give a complimentary dessert sample of the bread pudding for the “celebration”. It is a bit pricey at this restaurant, but you are getting farm to table food with a great view and really good service. Lovely place and would...