Loft Bar and Bistro

Went with a large group for my cousin’s birthday and the manager was very attentive. Calamari was good! Great to have the option to go upstairs for dancing!

Enjoyed a big celebration for family members’ birthday /​graduation from her Masters program. The food /​drink menu was pre-​arranged and the entire area of the downstairs bar was allocated to the event. Really quaint little place — the food was solid (caprese and chinese chicken salads; calamari; chicken wings; and other bar-​type food). Great bartender and the host staff were extremely friendly and attentive. Will definitely come back to try this place for dinner…

I went here for my cousins birthday and we all had a wide selection of entrees. I loved the bar they had excellent drinks «not watered down» !! I enjoyed my drinksI asked for the short rib. It was amazingly tender and juicy for with great sweet bbq taste! I also loved the loft cheese cake! Will definitely come back! Excellent staff and management!

Came here a few years ago and was not impressed but wanted to try this spot again. Glad I did.
Fun happy hour spot. Great food and drinks. I had the burger and it was perfect with a well poured Moscow mule. Dominic was the bartender on shift and being from the east coast made great conversation (I’m a little bias being from Boston myself)

Strange vibe & a God awful ghetto for a nightclub. Went after comedy show as friends were in town & they felt like going somewhere with music in November. We Made mistake of going here where it was packed with every type of hood rat from around the bay. We couldn’t tell which type of crowd it was either as it was mixed bag of techy weirdos & ghetto dudes. Zero dress code as they let in any mangy dog, Ummm i mean guy with a cap all dressed in blue or red?! Packed like can of sardines too. 100% ghetto, no thanks.

Service! THE SERVICE IS HORRIBLE! The waitress was very impatient. Dinner was great. Food is the only positive.
We order wine downstairs and a Hennessey n coke for $ 21. We make our way upstairs to dance.
We order the same 2 drinks and now they are $ 24. After awhile we return downstairs because all the drunk guys are just standing on the dance floor hanging out. We couldnt dance anymore. We went back downstairs n ordered the same two drinks.
Since theres only 1 bartender some guy. He is only sticking to one side of the bar. We wait like 20 minutes. I left my lady at one end of the bar so i can go order at the other end. He passes me and goes to my wife and takes her order. She orders our drinks. Now its $ 25.50. WTF!
She tells him that im paying and he gets throws a fit and tells her that we cant do that. She starts to ask why he then walks to me and yells 25.50. I give him $ 40. He fucken threw my change on the bar and walked away. I said hey, excuse me. And of course like a little punk metro dressing sensitive ass ignored me. He was scared after that. Will not return to this place. Will not recommend to anyone. STAY AWAY FROM HERE

Food isn’t very good. Very dry and expensive.
The pasta was dry, so was the Parmesan chicken.
AND THEN THE SERVICE! The «free desert» check in is only one per table, they told us this after all 10 of us had already checked in.
They ran out of ingredients for all the major menu items.
AND THEN THEY MADE US WAIT 45 mins for desert.
One of the worst experiences downtown ever.
The manager came out after we complained and did nothing to offer help beside telling us that we had to wait for a table’s dinner that came in AFTER us. Terrible service and food is just okay.

Avoid this place !! I’m one of the most unfussy people when it comes to food but first we were served an alcoholic drink with almost no liquor in it and when we asked for an extra shot we were told it was 8 dollars more when the drink was 10. Are you kidding me !!! 8 dollars for an extra shot !! ??? After that we were served the blackened salmon completely cold. Even after asking them to heat it up they did it in 2 minutes and still only served to us a little warm. Seems like they wanted to get orders out more than the quality of the service or food. Definitely never coming back here !!!

If the bartender wasn’t as friendly and attentice, I would have given 2.5 stars.
The Tri tip was dry and not seasoned, but the onions and mushrooms were goos. The bread tasted a day old and the vinaigrette served with it was… blah.
Lots of tables and bar space between downstairs and upstairs.

Though I have never been here for the dining experience, their nightlife is quite ratchet. All of the people too turnt from across the way at SJ Bar and Grill and Tres Gringos flock here to continue their path of ratchetry. This place is definitely a gathering for those that define Man Jose. Every guy in there is so thirsty for any sign of female life that they prey on females like a pack of rabid dogs. There are two dance floors (one upon entry and a second on the top floor), which are always jam packed with creepers. The music they spin is pretty ghetto and attracts the most grimey of San Jose. If you are seeking a classier experience where guys won’t be grinding their way on you then definitely avoid this place at all costs.

Although I like to go dancing after a night of drinking, Loft is definitely on my list of places we can skip. Since there’s no cover, EVERYONE ends up there. There’s a bathroom and a bar downstairs, but most of the action happens upstairs. The dance floor is always packed with people — think sardines in a can. Good thing there’s a patio where you can get some fresh air and space!
The ratio of guys to girl feels like it’s 10:1, so it’s the ultimate cockfest. When I’m just trying to dance with my friends, telling creepers «no» all night is not really my idea of a fun time.

Only because it was my friends birthday. Crowd is a little ghetto. Youngsters everywhere. $ 13 water down GooseTonic? No, thanks! GREAT MUSIC though. However, it gets crowded upstairs to dance. Downstairs also has a DJ and a less crowded bar. So if you want to dance, go downstairs. I am unsure about the steep, long staircase with all those drunk people… I am sure they have lots of falls weekly LOL The times I enjoy Loft is when they have live R&B bands on weekdays. Vibe is chill and you can actually have conversations.

My friends and I had dinner here before a Sharks game one recent evening. My friend actually got there early and the place was closed for a private event. The staff was very accommodating to her though and made sure she was taken care of until the restaurant opened back up at 6pm. The place was very empty at the beginning of the meal so our server was pretty attentive. Once they got a bit busier, she was off helping other tables and being the bartender. But service was good overall.
For food, I had the grilled shrimp salad. It was delicious. The shrimp were cooked perfectly. Good dressing on the salad. Not too heavy. One friend had the French Dip and the other had the Salmon salad. Both liked their meals.
I had a gift card for the place so that is why we went there but the food was good so I will probably be back.

Non food review.
This place likes to up their drink specials every few months so if you had a $ 4 white gummy a few months ago don’t be surprised when you come back a few weeks later and pay $ 6 for it. I honestly came here in hopes that someone would read this and let them know how much better their club could be if they hired decent DJs because the ones that spin here are utterly some of the worst I have heard. I’m talking not even college parties would pop off to the DJs they play here. I can literally be homer simpson NFL drunk and still stop to think, «dude this DJ sucks.» White girl can’t even.

In short: Awesome, upscale food with excellent service and a great location.
Should you try it? Yes
Ambience: They are right along the VTA, and there are plenty of parking garages downtown. I loved sitting outside in their small outdoor seating area. Nice upstairs tables, so lots of space to dine.
Service: Excellent service but we were waiting 15 minutes upon arrival (with a reservation, so they knew we were coming) with literally no one in sight. Maybe they were in a team meeting before the night got busier?
Location: Right along VTA.
3 Key Tips:
1) If you make an early reservation, no one may greet you until THEY are ready to. Just walk upstairs and see if anyone’s around to help you.
2) Excellent, tasty food with great drinks and well-​priced wine.
3) Take the VTA so you can drink all you want!
Best Dish: Grilled prawn skewers. So perfectly yummy.

Ok, I arrived here during club hours with my friend Alice, after 9pm. TO be exact at 12am on Sept 13^th 2015.
Pros: NO cover fees!
Cons:
(1) Theres only one bathroom down stairs behind the first bar that you walk in from the entrance. And kid you not, its F****kin UNISEX. Like really now, to make matters worse, the line is abnormally long! And I just want to take a quick urination. Thats it! Waiting for over 30min was not totally expected!
(2) ALL drinks are priced ABNORMALLY HIGH! For a lil plastic glass of AMF, got charged $ 13. WTF! One sip wasn’t even drinkable, pretty much wasted it and gave the bushes some alcohol, and too lazy too walk back to the bar to ask for a water instead. So I just saved the ice.
(3) You can’t stand in the hallway to converse nor drink as well. Have to go into the dance area that is overly packed upstairs! WTF!
(4) Overly drunk people was everywhere, the scene was a nightmare, dodging drunk people to avoid a VOMIT PROJECTILE unto me.
(5) MUSIC is wayyyyyyy too loud!
(6) NOT enough places to sit. Considering you can’t really stand at the hallway. And no standing next to the side of the dance area as well to take a rest… Ugh!
(7) Not ENOUGH SECURITIES!
(8) ELEVATOR wasn’t working to take a quick shortcut to go downstairs to avoid the drunk people from vomiting unto me.
(9) Its too hot!
(10) Not enough ventilation! Everyone stinks with all the mix perfumes/​colognes/​body odor! ULTIMATE YUCK!
Will I be back, certainly NOT DURING CLUB HOURS! This place is a JOKE!

Not a 3, and definitely not a 4. So many in-​betweens for me about this place but The Loft still makes for a pretty sweet night time spot. I’ve had the pleasure of dining and dancing at this location and the verdict? Not too shabby! There’s pretty good music, a very lively dance floor, and NO COVER CHARGE! It does get super crowded upstairs though, but what do you expect?
As for dining, the food is pretty good! Nothing to write home about, but good! My favorite thing has to be that complementary bread and dip. The bread kind of sucks but that balsamic whatever dip was YUM! I also really like the fact they serve low-​carb options here, which is great for the carb-​conscious — I personally had the sliced tri-​tip and I liked that it was tender, juicy and was served with a side of horseradish dip. I didn’t like the shitty lettuce and sliced tomato piece, making my dish look like a sad, deconstructed sandwich without the bun. The biggest downer was that everything is super overpriced for something that’s ‘okay’. You do, however, get a free desert with a Unilocal check-​in, so that’s always nice!

Me and my friend ended up here because there was no one at Studio 8 night club.
Lol this place is actually fun. The music is good, and I love how there is a place for you to sit down. There’s also no cover charge. And yes, there’s always more guys than girls but everyone knows that. What do you expect? I enjoy having conversations with people I’ll never see again :)

They Got Me with the Spiced Cucumber Margarita.
If there are two random things I enjoy when dining out, a well prepared cucumber and margarita. Combined the two together? Well, the end result is, «You got me.» My friend ordered the Lychee Martini and it’s scary delicious, it can sneak up on you. And if I may add, excellent martini selection.
I’ve only heard of The Loft Bar & Bistro prior, but more for it’s reputation of being one of the hottest nightlife destination spots in Downtown San Jose. I have friends & acquaintances that have attended party events and all have nothing but great praises about the venue. I also have a few fellow DJ friends that have guest DJ for few events at The Loft Bar and also have nothing but great review about the place. «A young, hip, sophisticated and chic venue that attracts guests, patrons and party goers that are the same» are the common praise I’ve previously heard about The Loft.
So, for a first timer, I was quite taken back surprised about the dining side of the place. This ain’t your neighborhood bar’s gastro food. Quality fine dining type food, excellent portion and savory dish selection. For starters, as predictable as I can be, if calamari is in the appetizer list, for sure that will be in my order, so we ordered the Crispy Calamari and off the bat this took the top 2 spots of all my favorite fried calamari dish, now if I could add side note, if the chef can offer his own take of a wasabi tartar sauce? this would be instantly my #1 Fried Calamari starter. My dear friend ordered the Salmon Pesto, it’s heavenly. I ordered the Crab Cake entrée and I love crab cakes, this for sure in my top 5 favorites, only because the rest of my top 5 right now involves Egg Benedict brunch dish.
For finale, we ordered the White Chocolate Crème Brule & fresh berries w/​Gran Manier Sabayon. The Crème Brule get an instant love from me, BUT the Fresh Berries w/​Gran Manier Sabayon?! Pardon my French, BUT OMG! (expletive!) this some very very (expletive!) delicious!
The host who sat us is welcoming and friendly. Our server was very attentive and sweet. Couldn’t have more lovely first time at The Loft Bar & Bistro.
Sincerely,
Officially The Loft Bar & Bistro Fan

I was Fortunate enough to score a pair of Tickets from Unilocal .
To Cinequest VIP Soirée and Screening Of Kill Me Three Times.
Thanks Candice and Unilocal .
After getting permission from my PO and Recharging my Ankle Bracelet.
I jumped into my Whip Black Beauty and rolled to Downtown San Jose and Cinequest.
I parked in my Secret Spot and Street Hiked to Loft Bar and Bistro .
This is Where the Cinequest VIP Soirée was being Held .
After Checking in with a Cinequest Coordinator and Receiving Tickets for a Screening Of Kill Me Three Times with Simon Pegg .
I headed Upstairs to the Cinequest VIP Soirée .
This is where I met Cinequest Representatives Katey, Douglas, Kathy and Tom .
They are Really a great source of Information on Cinequest and are Awesome Party Hosts.
Loft had a Great Spread of Food out. Canapés, Chinese Chicken Salad, Chicken Skewers, Calamari and Fried Onion Blooms.
Stella Artois and J Lohr provided Adult Beverages. Love That Stella Yum Yum.
Crave More was Handing Out Swag.
There were a Lot Of Beautiful People floating around .
Lots Of Great Conversation and Socializing .
I had to Roll to the Movie and Plus my Ankle Bracelet Started Going Off .
So I excited Stage Right LOL.