The Best Romantic Restaurants for a Date in San Jose

La Foret is a French fine-dining restaurant set in a creekside 1840s building in New Almaden, with a stone patio overlooking Almaden Quicksilver County Park. The setting makes it an easy choice for a special occasion or a more romantic dinner.

Order à la carte or choose a tasting menu. The six-course option has included dishes such as seared scallops in saffron herb cream and elk loin, with game regularly featured on the menu.

For a date night on Santana Row, try Fitoor, an Indian grill and lounge with stylish dining rooms and a lounge bar for cocktails and shareable plates. The space is jewel-toned and sophisticated, and the cocktails get daring, with black garlic and manchego among the ingredients.

Try the Duck Ghee Roast or the Double-Butter Dal Makhani. Live DJs and belly dancers perform every Friday and Saturday night.

Dinner at Le Papillon is an elegant, quiet evening, with French fine dining in West San Jose since 1977. Dress is semi-formal or business casual.

Choose the tasting menu or the prix fixe dinner, in three or four courses. The dinner menu includes Dungeness crab souffle, roasted duck breast and soufflé Grand Marnier. Dinner is served Wednesday through Friday from 5:30pm to 9pm, and Saturday and Sunday from 5pm to 9pm.

Take in the view over the valley from Mount Hamilton at The GrandView, a historic mountainside restaurant in the East San Jose foothills serving classic American cuisine.

The five-course GrandView Experience tasting menu comes with an optional wine pairing, and the regular menu has handcrafted pastas, steak and seafood. Produce and eggs come from the restaurant's own farm across the road.

Order Portuguese small plates in rounds at Petiscos, a casual restaurant in downtown San Jose's SoFA District. The owning family's recipes from Portugal anchor the menu, and the plates are made to be passed around the table without any rush.

Start with the Francesinha, a steak sandwich with a beer-based sauce, then add the octopus roasted with fingerling potatoes or the duck rice. The seafood rice is built for two. Walk-ins are welcome, and the restaurant also takes special-occasion dinners.

Settle in among succulents and colorful tile at Acopio, a contemporary Mexican restaurant in McKinley with a polished, Mexico City-inspired dining room. It works especially well for a date night or special occasion.

The room gets livelier at dinner, while the bar is a good option for cocktails, including one made with jalapeño-infused tequila. The menu includes chile adobo duck confit with chocolate chile molé, along with mushroom and hibiscus flower tacos.

Zona Rosa is a contemporary Mexican restaurant on The Alameda with a hacienda-inspired dining room and patios in both the front and back. The outdoor seating makes it an especially nice pick for a relaxed date or celebratory dinner.

The menu includes blue corn enchiladas with sweet potato and artisan cheese, blackened fish of the day, and crab ceviche. Weekday happy hour brings $8 margaritas in flavors like prickly pear, hibiscus, and chili. The restaurant is closed Mondays.

Palm & Ember sits on the grounds of Hayes Mansion in Edenvale, serving seasonal Northern California dishes and cocktails in a relaxed estate setting. Choose between the indoor dining room and the open-air patio, both overlooking the surrounding grounds.

The mansion itself is known as a romantic getaway, and Palm & Ember leans into that atmosphere with special dinners for occasions like Valentine’s Day.

Eos & Nyx is a Mediterranean-influenced California restaurant in downtown San Jose’s Paseo de San Antonio, with a low-lit dining room, tall ceilings, and plenty of greenery. The glowing bar makes it an easy place to start with a cocktail before settling in for dinner.

The menu includes wood-fired entrées, housemade pastas, and shareable plates like tagliatelle and Brussels sprouts with honey, alongside inventive cocktails. The restaurant is closed Mondays and for private events on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Oveja Negra, inside Hotel Valencia Santana Row, is a stylish spot for sharing tapas, cocktails, and wine. The dining room feels polished, while the lit courtyard gives you an outdoor option for a more relaxed date.

On Tuesdays, the restaurant offers a three-course dinner for two for $140 plus tax, with a 40-ounce Tomahawk steak, chimichurri, sides, salads, and dessert.