UYE South Bay Holiday Event at Paragon

Though my man and I only stayed for 20 minutes the crowd was awesome and the venue great and totally swanky.
Everyone seemed really nice and it was great to meet some of the Unilocalers I’ve read about for a while now if only briefly. Walter, Linda and Ron were as nice as every other time we’ve gotten together, Connie brought some great little Unilocal stuff to have and well everyone looked fabulous and ready to have a great time.
Sadly Zak was totally starving and needed nurishment. . so we had to leave and then things went crazy and we couldn’t make it back in time — but I was so happy that more south bay people got together!

Shout out to Walter for organizing such a fun event and to Connie for bringing Mr. Winkles and all the fun Unilocal goodies.
Finally, I have my shirt, my Unilocal stick, and something a little extra thanks to Cindi N. I did not stay for long, but was pleased to meet some of my FANTASTIC Unilocal friends-​heck even some new ones. Nice venue, and I was early enough to enjoy a fabulous dinner with one of my friends. Staff and chic environment were great, as was the live band playing in the background. Thanks again everyone for being so welcoming, and making my first Unilocal even a blast. Nice to see this «small» and intimate event packed a PUNCH!

Don’t you know we’re Unilocalers?
If you did you’d be a little quicker with those ferraris and calamari.
The thought did cross my mind but I wasn’t seriously dissappointed with the service because the company was great and I was happy to be having some post work weeks drinks in my system.
It was nice to meet some south bay Unilocalers and we even met a neighbor. Thanks for the shirt connie and thanks walt for doing the neccessary computering to make it happen.
I might rethink my previous review of Paragon because they make a damn good vodka collins.

Loved it! Thanks Walter, for organizing it, and Connie, for getting it all together and ordering apps and stuff! I had a great time and I’m so happy to have finally met all you South Bay Unilocalers! Serbelle, where you at?! Guinness, yes? And Linda, great meeting/​chatting with you.
The Paragon staff was great, and the executive chef even sent out a round of yummy, fruity shooters for all of us. Very cool. I will definitely head back for dinner sometime.
I can’t wait for the next event…99 Bottles, yes? I need to get started on my own card. :o)
Cheers to a great night and great new Unilocal friends!
xoxo

We had an unofficial South Bay Unilocal Holiday event here in the bar/​lounge.
We got a section of the lounge with 2 couches facing a low table, pulled up 2 armchairs & little stools/​ottomans. There was occasional live jazz playing. Most of the time it wasn’t too loud so conversation was still reasonable. I sat on one of the couches for most of the time… it was wide enough so that you could sit comfortably yet still wedge your purse behind you. We also draped our coats over the back of the couches.
Several of their specialty drinks use house infused vodka. I tried the pomegranate ginger (house infused ginger vodka, pomegranate juice, housemade sweet & sour) and the lemon verbena drop (house infused lemon verbena vodka, triple sec, housemade sweet & sour, served with a sugar rim). I also got to sample a Ferrari and Montgomery sidecar. All the drinks were good! They’re $ 7.75 each. The executive chef ended up sending out shots for us too – something fruity, which was quite good.
I hadn’t eaten dinner yet, so I ordered the mac & cheese and rosemary garlic fries to be my dinner… both were quite good. The mac & cheese has a thick layer of cheese on top. I also sampled the sausage & pesto flatbread, which was yummy too. The bar menu consists of appetizers & sides. It looks like the dinner menu is also available in the bar.
Service was good (well, hello, they knew we were coming, so that’s really not a surprise), with our server keeping track of us pretty decently (there were probably about 30 of us throughout the whole evening).
Bathroom is in the hotel… clean, with 3 – 4 stalls in the women’s room.
All in all, a fun evening! I got to chat w/​some people I knew already and meet & chat with new people (lots of Unilocal event virgins attended – see, we’re nice & don’t bite – much), which is quite an amazing feat, since once I parked it on the couch, I really didn’t leave it until the end of the evening. So, great food & drink, service, & company – can’t be beat! Thanks Walter, for organizing this! Thanks Connie, for coming w/​Yelp schwag & Mr. Winkle to make it semi-​official!
There’s valet parking & their own self park lot available, but I didn’t use either… I lucked out & got a spot in one of the «free» garages a block away.
It’s a great spot to hang out – upscale but not snooty. I would totally come back! Most of the bars in my neighborhood are way too loud to just hang out & chat.
Located on the west side of First, just north of San Carlos, with the Hotel Montgomery. The entrance is on the north side of the building, not the side facing the street.

1^st Unofficial Unilocal Event.
2^nd Unilocal Event.
100^th Review!!!
I actually had a really good time here. Brought my cousin and a buddy along… had a chance to meet many of the South Bay (and Santa Cruz) Unilocalers. Everybody was quite friendly… and Connie hooked me up with my highly-​anticipated Unilocal Elite T-​Shirt.
I’m definitely looking forward to seeing and hanging out with many of the people I had a chance to meet last night again, as well as meeting some more Unilocalers (and friends) at future events.
Here’s hoping that I convinced Connie to award me an ’08 Elite status *hint hint, nudge nudge*!

Incredible good times, y’all! I left for a few minutes to walk a friend to her car, and when I got back, people were gone… it made me a little sad! THAT’S HOW FRIGGIN ROCKIN YOU ALL ARE! I got a lil misty-​eyed!
Hope to see you all again soon!

We laughed… we cried… we talked some mad shit!
As usual, the 408 and 831 area codes held it down!
It was great seeing everyone and chopping it up for a minute.
The live music was fab and the drinks looked yummy… next time I will have to take a sip.

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RJR — ISSUE #47 — South Bay UYE Special Edition
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«AH YES, ANOTHER SOUTH BAY UYE NOTCH TO CHALK UP WITH GOOD PEOPLE AND GOOD TIMES…»
My first time at this place & I was the first one there at 5:30pm…to scout out and stake out a location inside this nicely low lit lounge which to conduct our UYE Unilocal event.
The dining area was mid-​size to the left, with an elongated bar in the back, and in front of the bar were three sectional areas with arm chairs, a couple of long couches, and low tables. And it was crowded with Silicon Valley office workers and diners waiting for their tables to be readied.
So I claimed the center sectional with the two elongated couches in the center which was in view of the entrance for all Unilocalers to see. (
)
And best of all it was three steps from the bar — I get jazzed when little effort is needed to get your drink on. But I didn’t need to step up since our waitress… who was superbly attentive & always with a smile… came by numerous times to check up on me & take my drink orders as I waited and waited… for the other couch to free up and for the Unilocalers to arrive…
And free up the couch did… and out came the South Bay Unilocalers with many of their +1’s in full force (about 30 people)… and from there we raWk the night!
As always it’s great to hang out with some South Bay Regulators like Waltski, Sebelle, Vicky T., Mikey U, Sabrina A., Zak W, Linda T… and Ron S (via photo cut out –Ha! Ha!).
And it was awesome to finally meet (off-​line) and lounge with others Unilocalers over drinks & lite meals like Connie C (Thanks for the shirt!), Gene A (The guy who kissed Mikey U!), Yvonne C, Cindi N., Muriel L., Donna P, Tiffany T, Mary M… and Mr. Winkle the Dog! I didn’t get to converse with all the Unilocalers that showed up, but I do hope to at the next South Bay event…
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As for the venue — specializing in American Brasserie-​style fare I only had the chance to sample their light appetizers:
Pulled Pork Sliders
Crispy Calamari
Which were very good and tasty — hitting the spot in between my many-​many beers… reviewing their dinner menu… I would like to make a return trip to dine on their featured entrees.
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Based on their excellent services to accommodate our large group — From the attentive waitress that brought me my beers, the friendly hostesses that allowed me to steal more arm chairs & floor stools, and the barman that replenished my beers with out a wait… I’d award Paragon place FOUR STARS…
*BONUS MOMENT*
We had a chance meeting with the Executive Chef — Philippe Breneman (recently named one of the Top 5 Chefs under 35 by the Wave Magazine) — outside the lounge as he’s taking his break… Four of us chatted with him about Unilocal,which he recognizes and loves reading by the way, because as he said… those are the reviews he respects because its real people with real opinions of their place…
And as a treat that very night, Philippe arranged to have the bar send out free shots for our entire Unilocal group which we all toasted to and enjoyed!
It was a nice touch to ensure we were enjoying out time at their venue — and for that Phillipe — just like the big red star you were wearing on your shirt that night… you earned my FIFTH STAR…
When our evening came to a close, I thought from this lounge experience… Paragon lived up to its name as defined — A model of excellence — with superb service and an inviting atmosphere… and I look forward to dining here…
As the great General MacArthur said, «I shall return!..»

Here’s the official review for the UYE!!!
We downloaded Serbelle’s pictures into my computer. I should have them ready by tomorrow! Awesome time everyone!!!

Much love to Walter and Connie for getting this going! I had such a good time meeting everyone that I have been communicating with in this crazy place called Unilocal*!The staff at Paragon took good care of us and the live music was nice. I can’t wait to meet up with my fellow Southbay Unilocal*ers again in the near future! I’m sure I will run into Veronica or Donna in the near future because we don’t live too far from each other! Ms. Tizzle aka Vicky T– thanks for listening to my drunken jibberish! I hope I didn’t make a total ass of myself! (haha) I’m not photogenic– but I can’t wait to see the pic of Mr. Winkle and I ! MR WINKLE ROCKS!