In the heart of the Silicon Valley lies San Jose. As a huge part of an area renowned for technological advancement, the city has been a significant and ready adopter of food-focused startups, from Revel’s PayPal™ integration to the in-home supper club Feastly and the mobile- and web-based restaurant lunch delivery system EAT Club.

In a city that worships innovation, what tugs at the heart strings of its foodies?

  1. Beer & Bacon. Not always (but often!) together, it seems San Jose restaurants simply can’t go wrong with beer and bacon. Beer tasting flights and beer pairings are growing in impressive popularity, and even desserts aren’t safe. The bacon-maple doughnuts at Psycho Donuts are a thing to behold, as is the wonder of the beer and dessert love child Beeramisu.
  2. There’s a Vineyard in the Backyard. No matter how popular beer gets in San Jose, it’s still dipping its toes in Wine Central. San Jose is located in close proximity to some of the world’s best winery regions – Napa, Sonoma and Santa Cruz Counties. As a result, the city’s restaurants boast some amazing wine lists, appreciated by their often discerning and highly educated clientele. Meanwhile, several widely respected wineries are crafting beautiful blends and varietals right in the city of San Jose itself.
  3. Is That Your Pinky Finger? A trend is emerging from amongst the trends, and it’s beverages. When not drinking killer wine and finding new ways to eat their beer, the people of San Jose won’t say no to a gourmet cup of tea. Because the region is rather nutritionally aware, your standard bag of no-name black tea isn’t going to cut it. These folks want nothing to do with added pesticides, toxins, artificial flavors or GMO ingredients in their tea (or anything they consume, for that matter).
  4. Would you like fries with that? Maybe it’s the techie culture, who knows? But add-ons are big here, and feature fries are a hit. Potato-shmotato. What started with sweet potato fries long ago has evolved to odd delicacies like avocado fries and SPAM® fries.
  5. Oodles of Noodles. Dry, salty, cheap – that’s what Ramen used to be. But San Jose is part of a growing Ramen movement. Be it fresh noodles, added vegetables or Ramen crusted fried chicken, places like West San Jose’s Santouka have developed a following from around the entire Bay Area. And it hasn’t gone unnoticed. The National Restaurant Association reported¹ an 11% increase in Ramen restaurant sales in its latest Trends Report.

For locals and visitors alike, the Revel and PayPal™ integration is an invaluable tool that opens doors to new San Jose trends, flavors and great food spots through convenient mobile payment and order-ahead options. The Revel and PayPal™ solution is easy to implement, and gives merchants visibility and customers payment flexibility. Participating businesses appear in the PayPal™ app directory, making it easy for customers in the area to discover them and order ahead or check in to pay.

Source:
¹http://www.restaurant.org/Downloads/PDFs/News-Research/WhatsHot/What-s-Hot-2014-supplement.pdf

 

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