Where to eat at Santana Row

Santana Row is where many Palo Alto families go for a big dinner out without the drive to San Francisco. It is a single tree-lined street in west San Jose, built in 2002 to look like a European main street, with restaurants on the ground floor and apartments above. On a warm Saturday night the patios fill, music drifts out of the bars and the sidewalks are busy until late.

This guide names only places that appear on Santana Row's own dine page in late October 2026, plus a few details from the restaurants' websites. The center's list ran to 34 food and drink businesses. We picked fourteen that cover the main types of meal. For parking, holiday events and the shopping side, see our Santana Row and Valley Fair guide.

How the Row is laid out

The district runs north to south between Stevens Creek Boulevard and Olsen Drive, with Olin Avenue crossing near the south end. Most restaurants sit along the main street itself. A newer cluster, called Park Valencia, sits on Olin Avenue and Olsen Drive around a small park where the holiday snow shows happen. Suite numbers on the Row are long, but every place on this page is within about a ten-minute walk of the others.

Westfield Valley Fair is directly across Stevens Creek Boulevard. Its food hall and restaurants are in the city of Santa Clara, not San Jose, so we cover them on our Santa Clara food guide.

Big dinners and celebrations

Augustine

Augustine is the newest big room on the Row. It comes from Bacchus Management Group, the company behind The Village Pub in Woodside and Selby's in Atherton. Its website lists the restaurant open daily from 11:30 a.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. on weekends, with service running to 10 or 11 p.m., plus a separate cafe that opens at 7:30 a.m. It also books private dining. Palo Alto readers who know the Bacchus restaurants closer to home can read about them on our Woodside food guide.

Fogo de Chão

Fogo de Chão is the Brazilian steakhouse chain that started in Porto Alegre. Servers called gauchos walk the room with skewers and carve meat at the table until you flip your card to stop. The Santana Row listing says the kitchen grills 16 cuts. It is the easiest choice here for a birthday table or a hungry group. For meat-focused dinners nearer home, see our steakhouse guide.

Maggiano's Little Italy

Maggiano's sits on Olin Avenue at the south end. The chain serves Southern Italian American food in large family style portions: baked pastas, chicken parmesan, steaks and seafood. Portions are built for sharing, which keeps the bill per person reasonable for a group.

Japanese, Singaporean and Indian food

Ozumo

Ozumo pairs a traditional sushi bar with a robata grill and a sake lounge. The center's listing gives hours of 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Monday to Thursday, noon to midnight on Friday and Saturday and noon to 10 p.m. on Sunday. Ozumo also has a restaurant in San Francisco.

Momosan Ramen & Sake

Momosan is the ramen and yakitori izakaya from Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto. Expect tonkotsu bowls, skewers off the grill and a long sake list. It does not feel like a quick noodle counter, so plan to sit for a while. Our ramen guide covers bowls closer to Palo Alto.

Dumpling Time

Dumpling Time makes handmade dumplings and dim sum in a casual room. The menu centers on soup dumplings, potstickers and steamed buns, which makes it a good lunch stop between shops. See our dumplings and noodles guide for options near home.

Straits and Fitoor

Straits is chef Chris Yeo's Singaporean and Southeast Asian restaurant, with family style dishes meant for sharing. Fitoor is an Indian grill and lounge from the team behind ROOH. Its name means passion in Arabic and Hindi. The menu draws on regional Indian cooking with a cocktail list to match. Both run late enough for a post-shopping dinner.

Mexican, Spanish and Peruvian food

The Row has an unusually strong Latin American lineup for a shopping district.

• Zazil serves traditional Mexican dishes from chef Yerika Muñoz Rodríguez, who draws on her Mexico City roots.
• Taqueria Parranga is the casual counter, inspired by Mexico City street food, with handmade tortillas and fresh salsas.
• Oveja Negra means black sheep. Executive chef Pedro Calvo runs a dinner menu of what the restaurant calls unruly tapas.
• Suspiro mixes Spanish and Peruvian flavors over brunch, lunch and dinner, with seafood and grilled meats.

For Mexican food closer to Palo Alto, see our Mexican and Latin American food guide.

Coffee, pastries and sweets

Cocola is a French bakery and cafe that bakes its breads and pastries on site every day. It also makes sandwiches on baguettes with soups and salads. It has both indoor and outdoor tables. It is the best spot on the Row for a light lunch.

Johnny Doughnuts runs a walk-up window in Park Valencia. The Santana Row listing says it is open daily from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. with raised, old-fashioned and vegan doughnuts plus coffee and espresso. It makes an easy treat after the holiday snow show or a movie.

Eating with kids

Families do best at the counters and at Maggiano's, where portions arrive fast and in bulk. Taqueria Parranga, Cocola and Dumpling Time all suit children who will not sit through a long meal. Park Valencia has open space where kids can move between courses. If you are combining dinner with a visit to the Winchester Mystery House, about a mile away, book the tour first and eat afterward, since tour times are fixed.

Planning your visit

1. Book weekend dinners. The patios fill by 7 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Book Fogo de Chão, Augustine or Ozumo a few days ahead.
2. Park once. The property has several garages. Pick one near the end where you plan to eat and walk the rest.
3. Go early on weekends. Brunch at Augustine and Suspiro gets busy after 11 a.m.
4. Mind the drive home. Interstate 280 north can back up on Sunday evenings. Our San Jose day trip guide has tips for a full day in the city.
5. Stay over for a big night. Hotel Valencia sits on the Row. You can compare hotels near Santana Row if you plan a late dinner and a show.

Openings, closings and checking ahead

Restaurants on the Row change more often than in a typical downtown, because leases turn over and the landlord brings in new concepts. Some third-party listings still show restaurants that have left. The center's own page is the most current list we found. It also showed a well-known cookie bakery announced for 2027, so expect at least one new name next year. Before you go:

• Check the Santana Row dine page for the current lineup.
• Open the restaurant's own site for hours, since several close between lunch and dinner on weekdays.
• Look for holiday hours from late November, when the Row runs its tree lighting and snow events.

Frequently asked questions