The Best Bars for a Date in San Jose

Goodtime Bar in Downtown San Jose pairs natural wine and small plates with a stylish room of dim lighting, tile and bottles marked with handwritten prices. We'd start with the arancini in Japanese curry, while the bartenders can point you toward a new wine or pour a yuzu spritz. Arrive early, since the walk-in-only room fills quickly.

Paper Plane gives a first date plenty of room to find a corner, with a very long bar, a large downtown space and nooks for group seating. The mood stays busy and social, while the cocktail menu makes ordering easy by sorting drinks from comforting to adventurous. Guests must be 21 or older, and the bar is closed Mondays.

For a quieter night, slip through Still O.G. to Alter Ego Cocktail Club, the seated speakeasy lounge hidden in the back of the downtown listening bar. A gatekeeper leads you into a room with restrained lighting, softer music than the DJ-driven front room and tableside service. Start with the rye-and-passionfruit Canyon Lullaby in its cactus-shaped glass, or the tequila, avocado and lychee Asteroid Blues. Guests must be 21 or older.

S.Suspiro is hidden behind Suspiro in Santana Row, reached either through a black curtain inside the Spanish and Peruvian restaurant or through an unmarked plaza entrance marked by a red star. The reservation-only speakeasy is dimly lit, with books on the shelves, vintage pisco bottles on the walls and a booth for private conversations. Its bar and menus are separate from the restaurant.

Head downstairs and through a corridor to Haberdasher, a downtown basement bar with booths, bar-top seats and a corner nook for four to six people. Rather than sticking only to a set list, the bar can build a cocktail around each guest's taste and also keeps a deep archive of classics. It works especially well after a show. Haberdasher is closed Mondays and Tuesdays.

Five Points Cocktail Bar brings a saloon-and-speakeasy feel to downtown San Jose, drawing on the old Five Points neighborhood in New York. Date nights are part of the appeal, and the hidden Bowery Room gives you a quieter place for a nightcap. Signature drinks include the vodka, peach and yuzu Peach Racket, the tequila, guava and raspberry No Witnesses and the bourbon-and-coconut Cowboy Colada. Live jazz plays Mondays.

55 South is a downtown cocktail lounge with one of the Bay Area's biggest whiskey lists, balancing a homey, higher-end feel with live bands and big-screen TVs. It works as a drink before an event or a stop after one, with food designed to pair with the cocktails. Sundays bring bottomless mimosas.

Meet over wine and cheese at 20twenty Cheese Bar in Willow Glen, where the choice between patio, indoor and bar seating keeps the setup flexible. The list has 20 wines by the glass, rotating local craft beers on tap, small plates and artisan cheeses, and the new owners have added a craft cocktail program. The bar is walk-in only.

Next to the California Theatre in the SoFA district, The Continental Bar occupies a brick building from 1917 and adds a patio to its leather seating, reclaimed wood and salvaged metal. DJs and live bands play acid jazz, soul and rare grooves while sports run on the TVs. Craft cocktails and specialty beers make up the drinks menu, and happy hour runs daily.

Lamella Tavern in Willow Glen puts oysters and crudo at the center of the night, with bubbles and small plates alongside them. The menu runs from oysters on the half shell to butter-roasted and Rockefeller versions, plus shrimp cocktail, ahi tuna poke, caviar service and Champagne combinations. Open mic nights are part of the calendar. Guests must be 21 or older, and the bar is closed Sundays.