California - 10 Things to Do in Silicon Valley Before You Die

(according to Citysearch)

1. Winchester Mystery House
525 S Winchester Blvd, San Jose, CA
Climb staircases that lead to nowhere as you take a flashlight tour of Silicon Valley's spookiest attraction.

2.
Paramount's Great America
4701 Great America Pkwy, Santa Clara, CA
Gorge on red licorice and pink popcorn and then try not to turn green on the high-flying Top Gun coaster.

3.
Happy Hound
15899 Los Gatos Blvd, Los Gatos, CA
Take the family for chili-cheese dogs and thick vanilla shakes on a Sunday afternoon at this Los Gatos institution.

4.
HP Pavilion at San Jose
525 W Santa Clara, San Jose, CA
Learn how to do the "chomp" when the San Jose Sharks go on the power play against other NHL teams.

5.
Falafel Drive-In
2301 Stevens Creek Blvd, San Jose, CA
Round up co-workers and make a lunchtime pilgrimage to this veggie-friendly hot spot for the best falafels in town.

6.
Black Watch
141 1/2 N Santa Cruz Ave, Los Gatos, CA
Order the famed cranberry kamikaze and play darts at this longtime tavern where tough bikers mingle with preppy collegians.

7.
Britannia Arms of Almaden
5027 Almaden Expy, San Jose, CA
Get your game on at 6am at one of the only local bars that shows football games telecast live from Europe.

8.
Taco Bravo
1950 S Bascom Ave, Campbell, CA
Post-pub crawl crowds chow down on gooey cheese and bean burritos at this Campbell institution.

9.
Scruffy Murphy's Irish Pub
187 S Murphy Ave, Sunnyvale, CA
Karaoke to U2 and order a properly poured pint of Guinness at Silicon Valley's most happening Irish pub.

10.
Habana Cuba
238 Race St, San Jose, CA
Taste one of the best mojitos in town and salsa dance to live bands on Friday nights at this local hot spot.

(according to Citysearch)

I don't know about these lists ... they seem to get sadder and sadder. Did these restaurant pay to be on here? Where's the Tech? The art museum? The Discovery museum?

Tacos-to-die-for (so get the other 10 things from this list done before you eat there) - the taco truck in Alviso called El Taco Del Oro adjacent to the Alviso Mini Market.

Fresh, clean (OK, abit greasy) traditional Mexican food - none of that Americanized junk. Grilled meats with cilantro layered on two warm corn tortillas, with or without cheese/sour cream - served in the same style as the street food you can find all around urban Mexico with less risk.

Order your tacos or burritos at the truck and they will be delivered tableside in the eating area inside the Minimart. Wash down your lunch with some traditional fruit sodas.

Delicious and quite popular - you might be eating lunch next to a local tech company CEO. Yahoo's ex-CEO was a frequent lunch patron.

R I D I C U L O U S list. Post number two has it right. And why is this kind of stuff taking up space? Doesn't Citysearch do this for almost everywhere?

And why is this kind of stuff taking up space? Doesn't Citysearch do this for almost everywhere?
^^^^

#1 is the Winchester Mystery house? Biggest tourist ripoff I've ever been to -- and I went on a special occasion when it only cost $1.75 to tour it!

As to the food places on the list, I've lived here mostly full time since 1974 and never heard of any of them. OK, I've heard of Scruffy Murphy's but never been motivated to even think about going there -- and it's only a few miles away from where I work!

IMO, the #1 thing in Silicon Valley to do before you die is (drum roll): GO TO SAN FRANCISCO!

#1 is the Winchester Mystery house? Biggest tourist ripoff I've ever been to -- and I went on a special occasion when it only cost $1.75 to tour it!

As to the food places on the list, I've lived here mostly full time since 1974 and never heard of any of them. OK, I've heard of Scruffy Murphy's but never been motivated to even think about going there -- and it's only a few miles away from where I work!

IMO, the #1 thing in Silicon Valley to do before you die is (drum roll): GO TO SAN FRANCISCO!

I am glad somebody resurected this thread.
Habana Restaurant on Race???? you must be kidding. That must be the worse cuban food anywhere. I agree, San Fco. rules.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the following two restaurants -

1) Manresa in Los Gatos
2) A.P. Stump's in downtown San Jose.

Or just read the dining section of the San Jose Mercury for other recommendations.

And what about the concert series at several wineries (Mountain Winery and Montalvo) up in the hills behind Saratoga? They are some of the most enjoyable places to hear a wide variety of different concerts - from classical to jazz to country to rock.

To me there is a big difference between things to do in Silicon Valley and places you should eat at. I can see having maybe 1 or 2 top restaurants on a list of things to do...destination restaurants so to speak.
But this citisearch list seems a bit pathetic. How about walking the length of Stevens Creek from Mountain View to the Bay, or going to a concert at the Mountain Winery (as mentioned in the post above), or attending the Cinco de Mayo celebrations in San Jose?

I don't know if you can walk the length of Stevens Creek to the bay in Mountain View, at least not yet. The segment of the trail near us seems to end near 237. Going towards the bay, can you get across 101? And many parts of the trail are not very scenic as the main view is the route 85 freeway.

But it does have the Taj Mahal of pedestrian/bike bridges on it, maybe that is something to see before you die. I am thinking here of the bridge that crosses over Central Expressway, the Caltrain RR tracks, and Evelyn.

...the taco truck in Alviso called El Taco Del Oro adjacent to the Alviso Mini Market...

Delicious and quite popular - you might be eating lunch next to a local tech company CEO. Yahoo's ex-CEO was a frequent lunch patron.

You'll probably be eating next to me (though I'm no CEO)!

I eat there about once a week as I work down the street, very very good food.

Many people are not aware of the wineries that are close by. Wine tasting in the Santa Cruz mountains is a fun thing to do. There are some great wines being produced by these wineries. Enjoy a day of relaxing scenery and fine wines. Visit hthttp://www.cheers2wine.com/santa-cruz-wineries.html for information.

attending the Cinco de Mayo celebrations in San Jose?

In fact, many weekends during the summer there is something interesting going on at Cesar Chavez Plaza, and for kids, the water fountains are back on there.