El Patio Restaurant

What a gem! I ran inside for a bite and got an amazing burrito! The owner is so sweet and you can tell the staff is a team. Their passion showed in the food, I swear you can really taste it! Maybe it's the loving atmosphere that made it so good?

I will be back next time I am in San Jose!

Italian, Mexi, burgers, pasta, sandwiches. You wanna box something in that's hole-in-the-wall and "hidden gem" then this is it. That's saying a lot because I don't favor using such terms.

El Patio is a one-off that's been X'd from the bookmarks on more than one occasion. That's how mind-slipping it is. You try it, you buy it, then it's forgotten till the next time you have that hankering of chicken sandwich you ate when you first started looking after your health last year.

I don't even know if a photo of that will attach to this review. That's a well-placed shot in the dark I take whenever I try to remember to eat here.

It's small and cute inside as the actual Patio is out. Matter of fact, this might be one of those unspoken date spots to test how 'down' or hood a girl is aside from the taco trucks on Story.

This is staying and is one for the book(marks) in case I forget again. It has some Heart.

I decided to hit up a recommended mom & pop restaurant, this was pops spot.
MAN. Let me tell you..

Food: Everything was on point! Home cooked meal.
The bruschetta, not over powering with garlic or onions, fresh tomatoes, great balance.
Chicken piccata was fantastic; perfect lemon, nice size capers, steamed veggies and delicious red potatoes
Chicken Cesar salad was good, shrimp was the bomb. Had the grill flavor, but not over cooked.

Drinks: a hefty glass of Lodi Cab

Ambience: I felt at home with family. I probably could've ordered anything and pop would've made it. He enjoys cooking! We were the only ones in the restaurant at 8PM Thursday evening and I loved it!

Staff: we had an extended conversation with the owner... he's wonderful. The waiter/cook/host was also wonderful.

Parking: Don't miss the turn, go to the back!

Overall Experience: 5 stars is hard to come by, but I loved it. I will be back and recommend El Patio to everyone! Please support small business.

I love finding awesome restaurants like this!

Looking for the hidden gem? Try Googling El Patio restaurant in San Jose. It is a great little place in the old Portuguese section of San Jose. It is located on Alum Rock next to a 7/11 parking lot. There is "No Parking" on the street so you must enter a narrow driveway on the left side of the El Patio building to access the parking lot in the rear of the property. Plenty of parking, even for an over-sized SUV like I own.

El Patio is miniscule. The interior has about four tables and the patio has about six. Since it was a pleasant early evening, we chose to sit on the patio. We noticed that the building next door to the patio was tall enough to block the direct sun light, so that the patio was somewhat shaded and protected from the wind. Maybe some time during the day, the sun might shine directly on the patio, but the day we were there it wasn't.

The server was quick to attend to the drink order and place menus on the table. The drinks took a bit but it was worth it. The wife ordered a Corona beer. She was given a very cold glass and a very cold bottle with a slice of lime. Nice touch. Jim ordered a Coke and I ordered an Ice Tea. The Coke can was cold and a nice glass with plenty of ice provided. The ice tea was a little disappointing because it had a fruity taste to it. When I asked, the server said that it was a tropical ice tea. I wish that he would have stated that before ordering. I prefer a non-sweetened tea. The wife loved the taste of the tea, so what do I know.

The menu has an eclectic mixture of American classic, Italian and Mexican cuisine. We found burgers, fajitas and pastas available. Jim ordered a steak fajita. Since Jim dislikes anything green (veggies) he ordered fajitas without the green peppers. He reports that the enjoyed the meal. The wife ordered a bacon cheese burger. What a surprise. When the plate hit the table, Jim and I wanted to swap plates with her. Burger was very good. I ordered the eggplant parmesan. The eggplant was a little mushy, however I did enjoy the overall taste. The sauce over the parmesan was a bit sweet and I wished the chef had put just a tad more on the plate. The veggies and potatoes were outstanding.

Overall the food is very good. The service is sporadic but the server was very kind. The experience was very good but I would hesitate to go on a bad weather day. Having said that, we noticed a lot of to-go orders being picked up. Would we go again, YES.

We have tried to go here twice before, 1x it was closed for vacation and the 2nd time we realized it is closed on Sundays.

Finally - we got there on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. Yelp reviews said to order burger and spicy criss-cross fries, so that's what we did.

The workers are super nice,

I will say I don't think it was a hand-made burger, (more like a frozen patty) yet still, it was cooked and dressed well. The fries were good and spicy. Not likely we will ever make it back, but glad we finally made it there.

We came here with my in laws, who swore on the food in this little shack. I was a little unsure but trusted them!

We all ordered our food, I order shrimp fajitas, one ordered a veggie burrito and the others order the patio burger.

The sangria! ORDER IT!

The food came and it looked delicious. The shrimp fajitas with home cooked beans and gorgeous Spanish rice were absolutely delicious! Perfectly grilled veggies and shrimp! Generous portions- I'm rolling out the patio currently.

And everyone else loved their food, and raved about the crisscross fries! And homemade ranch-I die!

Go, you won't be disappointed. A little on the pricey end, but good food.

At first, El Patio may be a difficult place to find; navigation apps sent me to the backside of the street into a dead end, so keep your eyes peeled for the restaurant on the main road! The storefront is not too big, and you may miss the parking entrance if you're going too fast, but take is slow and you'll find hidden amongst a string of closely packed family owned shops and stores is this little gem.

My friends and I have become pretty loyal and somewhat regulars of this establishments since last year and we usually dine in large parties out in the outdoor seating area. The inside does seem a little cramped if it happens to be a busy night. On cold nights the heaters are very much appreciated outside! In the evenings you may be able to catch the owner; he'll usually come and greet us; the staff are always very welcoming, ready to provide us with suggestions. Super attentive.

The food in general is definitely rich; not for the faint of heart or those who fear grease and butter, so be prepared.

First come the breads: Their jalapeño corn bread is SO BOMB. It literally melts in your mouth. The rolls are also fantastic; I want to eat them all and I haven't even gotten to my entree yet! My go to is the seared ahi tuna, coupled with the salad and fettuccine is perfection. I'm not the hugest fan of cheesy foods, but the fettuccine won my heart. Try not to take home the fettuccine though; it doesn't take well to being reheated. You can also never go wrong with a steak: many cuts to choose from. Aside from that, I'll usually partake in the special of the night, so be sure to ask if it isn't mentioned.

No matter how full I am, I always finish with the tiramisu, accompanied by fresh strawberries and drizzled in copious streams of chocolate. Some port to wash it down and I am content as a bear ready to hibernate for the winter.

I absolutely LOVE El Patio and will hopefully be dining here for many days to come.

I so wanted to like this. Super tiny, off the radar, actually we only ran into this after our plan A dining option failed. It looks like a cozy little shack with maybe 3-4 tables inside but a decent patio awaits outside, probably hence the name.

Even though the patio is nice and clean, it just seems like that they could put a lot more effort for the dining experience. There are nice pavers but the furniture is a bit flimsy and dilapidated. Throw something down with a little more weight and comfort. It felt like our tables and chairs would tumble if a hard brush were to occur on the corners. Also maybe more plants of some sort, brunch people subliminally love that shit.

The cook/owner seem to have decent experience in the business. Maybe almost too much cuz the menu has Americanized "Mexican" specialties like burritos/fajitas to Americanized "Italian" like Chicken Parmesan to Piccata. This was kind of a red flag for me upon glancing at the menu. I felt it was a bit A.D.D.

But all were to be forgiven if the execution were proper. Clean and simple presentations were there +1. Proteins were okay, my New York Steak ($18) was decent, petite but decent. Chicken Parm ($16ish) was surprisingly moist and good.

Chose pastas as a starch and it was nice and al dente. But their "marinara" either has to be changed or they have to simply call it something else. First it was orange and thin. I would've been ok with that part, but the taste was overwhelmingly sweet. Like the addition of table sugar sweet. So not good in my book. It is okay to add sweetness to a sauce, but it should be to balance the acidity, and not make the entire thing "sweet".

Also the garlic bread, they used grocery store sandwich rolls. Kinda missed the mark again, gave off a cheapish vibe.

This place has good potential but there are just a few too many misses right now to make it solid.

Talk about a hidden gem. This place looks like a typical hole in the wall spot yet the menu and food make it far more than that. From the moment you walk in the door you are instantly transported to another place. A small restaurant in the heart of Mexico/Italy. You are no longer on your lunch break, you are visiting another beautiful country. We sat out on the patio and it was beautiful. The service was exceptional and they made us feel like family. The menu is a mix of Italian and Mexican fare with pasta items and tacos. I ordered the salmon salad and could not have been more pleased. The fish was cooked perfectly and every ingredient was fresh and seasoned perfectly. It came with grilled chiles that you normally wouldn't think would go with a salad but were heavenly. The meal also came with a warm roll, also delicious. What a perfect place this restaurant is. I can't wait to be back!

Finally got a chance to go here. I got the balsamic salad with grilled chicken and my brother got the Mexican burger-grand total $51 (Including 16% tip)

The chicken was wonderful, very flavorful. It had hints of rosemary and cooked perfectly (nice and tender). My brother enjoyed the burger and the waffle fries were lightly seasoned and tasty. It kind of reminded me of mojo potatoes that can be found at Shakey's pizza (except less sodium). The service was great the gentleman taking care of us always made sure that our drinks were refilled.

I do not like jalapeños (allergic) and unfortunately one was on the salad off to the side. Sopped up the juices, no big deal. But for our appetizers we got the trio which was deep fried zucchini,onion rings, and jalapeño poppers. The zucchini was great, though oddly enough the onion rings I guess share the batter with the jalapeños because for some reason they were very spicy. It was ok though because they gave a good portion of zucchini.