On Thursday June 16th, Eataly, Silicon Valley, opened their doors. Located on the West Side of San Jose’s Westfield Valley Fair Shopping Center, the heavily anticipated Italian mecca has 42 locations world wide, adding more all the time. The Silicon Valley store has two sit-down restaurants; La Pizza & La Pasta and Terra. For our first visit, we opted for the more casual of the two, and who doesn’t want to give the pizza and pasta a try as soon as possible?
The menu is good-sized, and really great for sharing as a group. We settled on a salad, three pastas and a pizza to share between four adults and two young children. We were especially excited to try the Bucatini All’amatriciana (Afeltra Bucatini, San Carlo Guanciale, Mutti Tomatoes, Genuine Fulvi® Pecorino Romano DOP) – a similar version used to be on the menu at ReddWood in Yountville (RIP) and we can say Eataly’s take was a close second. The star of our meal may have just been the Insalata di Ceci (Marinated Chickpeas, Brown Rice, Dried Cranberries, Spinach, Radicchio, Toasted Almonds, Snap Peas, Herb Vinaigrette) – an excellent take on this salad. It even has a little chili oil/flake kick to it and could be an entire meal itself with a protein added. Rossopomodoro pizzas are fired in glitzy gold ovens and the ‘A Ruota Di Carro Margherita’ was perfect.
[items we ordered are circled above]
The atmosphere was lively, and service was a little slow, like you would expect on opening weekend. The restaurant has a bright and sleek vibe, with an outdoor dining option as well.
After dinner, we stepped out of La Pizza & La Pasta, and decided to stuff a cart full of dreamy Italian goodies to cook and eat at home in the coming weeks. Fresh and dried pasta in all shapes and sizes fill up three whole aisles and a refrigerated section. Gorgeous salumi and formaggi is carefully curated and displayed to make anyone’s mouth water. An entire wall of olive oils was not to be missed and just beyond that you will find more candies and treats than any one human can consume. A nice touch was local items that round the third floor of Eataly out to be a one-stop-shop grocery store. I could have easily picked up my oat milk, some produce and fresh fish on the same visit.
We are so excited for future trips to Eataly; quick-service on the first floor, an entire floor of wine on the second level and then the rooftop restaurant, Terra.
Eataly Silicon Valley – 2855 Stevens Creek Blvd, San Jose, CA 95128
