The 2nd Floor Motif

Two completely different Unilocal?Really Motif? You not only get 1 star but two 1 stars.
The décor is amazing. I like how its spacious and nice. Bartenders are chill.
My friend was having her birthday here. So not only young people but older people (her family). And they trusted to be a private party. Not just anyone could be allowed in. And she was very strict about people having dress codes.
Everything was going fine. Her trusted friends had decorated everything. They had a birthday table, table for her parents to sit at, and everything.
Things got poppin, familiar faces had arrived. Everyone was dancing, all in dress code (except for one of them who was helping run her birthday event). We all behaved very well, there was no spills on the floor, everyone was responsible, and a great time.
Then unfamiliar faces started showing up. Random people not in dress code had come up from the downstairs portion of the club. One tall skinny old creeper was staring at a couple of my friends. The floor started to have splatter of drinks. A drunk guy from the lower level had grabbed at a married woman and her husband almost beat him up but then he threw up near the cake. Luckily my friends parents had left before all of this happened so they didn’t have to see it.
I told the bouncers that there were people that didn’t belong to the party and he said he would grab other people to get them. He never showed up.
So what had happen this club only has one bathroom spot. The lower level. So as our party guest went down and came back up, other people came up as well thinking it was just part of the club. Maybe the bouncer we had met switched shifts and didn’t tell them but at one point there was no one maintaining the stairs at all.
I think to avoid all of this, is to put a bathroom upstairs with the upper level to avoid this ever happening again.
–SN

One of the better clubs in San Jose… Good music. But the drinks are way too overpriced for what it’s worth! They charged us 11 $ for a kamikaze??? And it taste like crap. The AMF from the bar tender was good upstairs that was 12 $ that was worth it… But the kamikaze in the lower level smh

Not sure what to think… it’s early & there are only private parties here…
«SoFA district» in SJ, not really near anything, and the décor is kinda creepy.

This place is absolutely gorgeous! I love the mood lighting, the low sofas and the high tables. We came here for happy hour before a Sharks games and had a great time. The drinks and the food were delicious. It would have been pretty pricey but they have such a great happy hour! The thing that surprised me the most was how empty it was. For such great prices in such a swanky atmosphere I would expect it to be packed. I am already planning a happy hour get together here.

Happy Hour: Thursday — Saturday 5pm — 7pm
I’ve been here a few times for Happy Hour and have to admit I enjoy coming for happy hour than the night life. Do try:
Stuffed Mushroom
Oyster Shooters
Lumpia
These items are under $ 10 and I can say I’ll come back for more.

I don’t know what happened but my girl and I came in to have some dinner at this place, and the host sat us on the 2^nd floor. The atmosphere was nice. After all the Unilocal reviews, We had to try this place out… After giving us the menu, There was only 2 skewers that you can make an entrée… what happened to all the other food that I been hearing about here on Unilocal?
Anyway…it was pretty empty there there was only 2 other tables there that was occupied… I was especially starving after practice.
15 minutes had passed and our waiter never came. My girl and I changed our minds and left the menu to the host and left. I don’t know if it was an off day or not, but that was extremely disappointing.

Thursday Nights! shots 5 bucks =). Dj follows through with requests! Nuff said!

The drinks were delicious and unique, and the food was tasty. The atmosphere was fun and I would recommend The 2^nd Floor Motif as a great place to lounge with friends over light food and some drinks.
The only negative was that service was extremely slow.

It was a special occasion when we went there — they just got a new chef so everything was falling apart in the kitchen and the manager came to apologize, and hooked us up with two free drinks even though we thought everything was fine! That is great service and positive attitude!
LC and I came here after work one day. He got two beers and I got two cranberry vodka. The place seemed empty but we were pretty stupid to request to be seated upstairs — I felt really bad that our waitress had to keep running up and down for us.
We ordered some eggrolls and fries, I honestly thought they were not that bad. They were a little greasier than usual, but nothing you wouldn’t expect for the amount of money you pay at happy hour price. The food came a little slowly, but I just thought that’s because we were seated upstairs and they were mad at us for making them work extra hard.
I was sad that they did not have sangria, I am not sure if they are bringing it back but I would love to try it the next time I come back… if I come back.

The food and atmosphere are great, one of the few happy hour places I love :)
Recommend:
Stuffed Mushrooms
Sweet Potato Fries
Spring Rolls
Lumpia
Meat Lovers Pizza

My trip to 2^nd Floor Motif was on a Friday at 6pm and we were among the handful of people there-​pretty empty. I didn’t mind that there was no crowd-​easier to talk to my friends that way. The music wasn’t too loud and the girl who waited on us was really friendly.
The food was really tasty. The bruschetta, sweet potato tater tots and fried cheese things were good. The menu was a little heavy on the fried side but it was still tasty.
The cocktails were delicious and all had cute names. There was no wine menu to speak of (only house red, house white, and house sparkling), so that kind of sucked.
Overall, tasty food, tasty drinks and uncrowded. My kind of place.

I was SO excited about going to 2^nd Floor Motif, I was telling everyone I couldn’t wait to try it. I even added them on my facebook and shared their happy hour menu to get other people interested. My husband and I live in San Ramon, and we were celebrating our 12 year anniversary. We wanted to go somewhere cool, unique and a place that had a great happy hour. I found 2^nd Floor Motif on Unilocal,and after reading the reviews decided this was the place. I even called to make reservations and confirmed they had happy hour on Saturdays just to be safe.
Saturday finally arrived and my husband and I drove all the way to San Jose, paid $ 10 parking and headed for the restaurant. We got there around 5pm (reservations were for 5:30p), and the doors were locked. We waited… and waited… and waited. Finally we called the reservation line only to get an answering machine. I couldn’t believe it! I was so embarrassed I dragged my hubby all this way. What a disappointing way to start off your anniversary!!!
We ended up walking to another restaurant, paid a large bill and talked about how unprofessional that whole experience was. I mean what type of establishment can’t even open on time!!! When we were walking on our way back they were finally open, as some teenager, half asleep girl greeted us as we past by. No one ever even called us back to apologize or explain what happened. Because of this I will be telling everyone NOT TO GO HERE. You never know, they may not even show up to open! What a waste of time…
~ Farrah

Wow…. .
I am so glad we got to try this place. We were on the secondth floor, they have an outdoor patio if you prefer to dine outside and enjoy the fresh air. Motif has two stories, the first floor is more of a dancefloor and the secondth is more like a lounge, both have full bars. I especially love the ambiance and décor upstairs, it’s definitely trendy and lux! I love the beaded drapes. O-​m-​g everything we ordered was D-​E-​L-​I-​C-​I-​O-​U-​S! from the carne asada fries to the stuffed mushrooms and the special calamari thai salad. and the oyster sake shooters?!? so freakin gooOOddd.. Happy Hour FTW!
Thank you Vijay you are the BEST! :)

Let me start by saying, I am not a club-​lounge person and I was semi-​dragged here by a friend who wanted to try this place. She made reservations for the happy hour time so I am going to review my experience at the place form 5:30pm to 9pm before the dance floor was opened.
As soon as We arrived (under the rain) the hostess took us upstairs, she was very polite and friendly and gave us a very nice table.
My first impression was of a futuristic lounge .a little Alien womb like :) which I thought was pretty cool, our 2 waitresses were extremely nice and brought us really good Sangria and a super delicious Lemon drop Martini (one of the best ones I have had in a long time)
We ordered appetizers and I saw a few posts here complaining about the food which I have to say our food was very good, specially the dip for the sweet potatoes.
Later on, a very friendly and polite girl visited us a couple times at our table and then in my drunken thoughts i figured she was the manager, Teresa, super nice girl, she drank a shot with us and We talked for a little bit, in how many bars-​lounges you have the manager hanging out with you?
The music int he beginning was not necessarily my taste but an hour later they were playing Alternative rock (Nirvana, smashing pumpkins etc) so I had an even better time. Bathrooms are clean, the only tricky part is that you have to go downstairs and after a few drinks oohhhh boy!
Then the moment of truth… the check: 72 dlls. WHAT?! that’s it? Awesome… the count was:
–3 captain Morgans (very stiff… in a good way ha)
–1 Martini (non happy hour drink)
–1 pitcher of Sangria (non happy hour)
–2 big appetizers
–2 FREE shots.
–AN Awesome time (priceless)
2 thumbs up, this place and their happy hour EXCELLENT.

My buddy and I stopped in for happy hour a few weeks ago. It’s a very scenic room upstairs, nice looking bar, comfortable seating and I don’t know a man that wouldn’t appreciate being waited on my gorgeous waitresses and trust me they are in abundance hre.
We weren’t impressed by the food…
the stuffed mushrooms were iffy
the sweet potato fries weren’t memorable
the lumpia was a pleasant surprise as it was VERY GOOD
We ended up throwing back a pitcher of Sangria which at $ 20 wasn’t exactly a steal but a reasonable price for a nice sized pitcher.
Bottom line if you want to be in a pretty environment with pretty ladies Motif will do the trick.

+1 Happy Hour Drink Specials 5−7pm
+1 Seafood Bruchetta
+1 Taste-​bud tingling Sangria
+1 Relaxing atmosphere and good customer service
My best friend and I decided to go here on a Friday night and try out the food to see what all the hype is about. High five for good hype!
Must haves:
–Sangria: Go big or go home, get the pitcher $ 20. You’ll be walking out a happy camper, but keep walking until you walk it off my responsible friend.
–Seafood Bruchetta: Buttery seafood, celery, onions and leeks on top of a perfectly toasted slices of french bread then drizzled with buffalo sauce. I had one order to myself because it was that great.
Also tried:
Sampler with mozzarella sticks, stuffed mushrooms, and sweet potato fries. Comes with three dipping sauces — ranch, ketchup, and a spicy mayo-​ish kind of sauce.
Mozzarella sticks: were good. I’m not a fan of these on the regular because the cheese always gets hard. These reminded me of cheese on a stick from hot dog on a stick — the pepper jack cheese kind.
Sweet Potato Fries: Your average spf
Stuffed Mushrooms: Hit or miss. First time they were cold so it didn’t taste too good. Second time was warm and tasty. Stuffed with parmesan and something else and cradled with balsamic vinegar.
Still waiting to try the Ceviche which they never seem to have =(
Perfect place to lounge with friends and if you get tipsy just stay for the dancing on the weekends =)

After hearing the ravee reviews, decided to come check it out one of the seemingly last summer nights of this year!
Tried the:
— Sangria– it was yummy but wasn’t sooo tasting making me craving for more
— Stuffed mushrooms– so so as well– tasty but nothing great
— Sweet potato fries– one of my favorites, especially with the spicy sauce– a nice big plate!
— spring rolls– tasty but kind of weird
— fried rolls– tasty but eh… ground pork inside?
— chicken wings– tried the Parmesan garlic which was interesting but not really to my tasting
— Carne Asada fries– bit disappointing– nothing special and not much topping
The service was great with the waitress always asking if we needed anything else
The setting was nice but it was quiet annoying since I guess they were testing out the sound system or something? But they kept turning up and down the music and sometimes just completely off. Annoyingggg.
At the end of the day, the price is right but everything else is medium par!

The 2^nd Floor Restaurant @ Motif is my new favorite place for happy hour! I wished I’d discovered this place earlier! I spent a significant amount of time in downtown San Jose because of Cinequest Film Festival, and I can’t believe Motif is so close to California Theatre and I’ve never seen it before! I thought it’s a new establishment but the cute and bubbly waitress (Alice) said they’ve been around for 5 years!
We ordered a pitcher of Sangria. It’s not the Sangria that I’m used to, I still prefer to see lots of fruits and even orange pulp in my Sangria. But it’s good enough, but be warned, it’s potent! I felt buzzed when I just half way through my first glass.
I like the appetizers (it’s $ 3 during happy hour!). We had sweet potato fries, chicken wings (I like that they marinated it with garlic and parmesan cheese), stuffed mushrooms (yummy!) and a fried spring roll.
For the amazing décor and ambience (I can totally see a corporate event being held here), tasty appetizers at a steal during happy hour and considering that this is downtown SJ (and not SF), I’m giving this place two thumbs up!

Did I hear you say Sangria???
So I hear that someone makes better sangria than I do… nah! But I just had to roll through to check it out. and who better to roll with than the SBC to put these folks to the test.
GREAT IDEA!
We pretty much tried everything on the happy hour menu along with more drinks and more drinks. The chicken wings. all three flavors were great! I love mushrooms… and you know whats better than mushrooms… stuffed mushrooms!!! The sweet potato fries helped absorb some of the alcohol. Both the fresh and fried spring rolls were good and provided enough sauce for all our other deep fried greatness.
*drool*
;D

Summary: Awesome. Hot waitresses, awesomely priced drinks, great menu, loud house music. Boooo freaking ya.
We are going back for happy hour, which we’ve been told by staff is even better priced drinks. We’ll also come hungry coz there’s items such as sweet potato fries, mac n cheese n bacon, and a sampler on the menu.
I had the watermelon cooler and the mango mojito. Both were spot on. The watermelon cooler had fresh watermelon blended into it. Definitely a superstar for a warm day. The wifey had the sangria which was really spiked and full of fresh fruit. Gobble gobble!
The service was decent. They were in the middle of getting ready to close but were attentive and kept asking if we needed anything else (2 diff waitresses). Rewally pleased with the service.
Keep in mind it’s open until 9, then Cinderella’s ride becomes a pumpkin and this place gets ready top be transformed into a club.

Where are all the HUNGRY ALCOHOLICS at!!! Wait. let me rephrase. Where are all the hungry alcoholics on a BUDGET at?
HAPPY HOUR from 5−7pm every Thursday, Friday, AND Saturday. Not just the shitty «WELL DRINKS.» You call it and its ALL ½ OFF. Even better; get a BUCKET OF BEER (comes in 6) for $ 15!!!
This place is GOLD if you are looking for a place to chill with your friends. There is a LIVE BAND in the background that really sets the mood. Not only are the drinks ½ off, the tapas are TOO! (See picture for menu). I had a few and it was DELISH’.
Food– check
Drinks– check
Music– check
You bring your friends and I’ll be my friends and we can ALL be friends… YAY! (just buy me a drink) :D