I went to this restaurant Saturday night around 6pm without reservations. It was full even bar counter. Recommend to book on weekend. I really liked the sausage! Beef tongue was tender! Shrimp flitters taste very shrimpy so it was ok for me. All dish has a lot of flavor and everything is good with wines!
Victoria B.
Food was delicious but service was slow and slightly awkward? Dinner took almost 2 hours for a party of 2 and we only had 5 dishes. They warned us that the rice took 25 mins to make which was fine but instead of timing everything else around if they brought everything super fast and the rice at the very end. We wanted the rice to eat with our steak so the steak was cold by the time the rice came. Dessert took another 30 mins to come out which we were not wanted about and then after that it took forever for someone to come give us the check. We only ordered glasses of wine but those also took a very long time to get. The house salad - we loved this but had to ask for more dressing as it was dry at first. Once we added a little more dressing it was great. The grilled prawns - perfectly cooked and delicious. The herby citrus sauce was great on the shrimp. They are just a little messy to eat since it's the whole shrimp. Filet mignon in garlic sauce - this was super yummy but as mentioned it got cold while waiting for our rice to show up. It's so saucey that you want a bread or rice with it and it's unfortunate that they didn't come out at the same time. Flavor was there but meat was slightly over cooked. Asperagus rice - this was cooked perfect. Rice was so creamy and the asparagus had just a tiny bit of crunch left. This was the star dish! As expected the garlic sauce from the steak dish was also great on it. Banana chocolate bread pudding - was not worth the wait. Came out room temp after waiting forever and was a little too dense. Overall I would come back as long as we didn't have anywhere else to go after due to slow service.
Samuel T.
Tl;dr: worst dining experience of my life My partner and I went to Petiscos last night. We originally showed up at the downtown location, who told us our reservation was actually at their Alum Rock restaurant. When we got there we were sat down by a waiter who looked lost, and despite only one other couple being in the restaurant it took 20 minutes to get our drinks. After we got our drinks we had to tell the waiter we wanted to order before they walked away. My partner asked how many plates we should order, to which the waiter replied three to four is a fair amount (we ended up ordering 9, neither of us are very large). The waiter then asked us what order they should bring it out in and couldn't recommend an ordering to us. The food was incredibly poor quality for the hype and reviews of the restaurant. Undercooked bread. Asparagus wasn't fully cooked in asparagus rice. Clam broth was tasteless. Chewy filet mignon in a garlic-water soup was the icing on the cake. On top of the horrid service and quality, they somehow managed to make the entire restaurant feel awkward and eerie. Other tables keep glancing around, probably looking for their waiter. If nothing else this was a memorable restaurant experience for Petiscos to simultaneously fail on every front.
Meghan B.
Wanted a date night, showed up to the Petisco's in downtown San Jose, come to find out our reservation was for their location in Alum Rock. (that was our fault) but even when trying to look up directions to the other location it wouldn't show up on apple maps OR yelp, only their downtown location. We showed up to their Alum Rock location and our server seemed like it was his first day on the job. Didn't know too much about the menu and couldn't really explain it to us when we asked about certain dishes/what were popular items. Anyways, we ordered their cheese bread, octopus, ribeye steak, codfish with potatoes. Honestly the food was decent, very rich for me personally, I started feeling kind of sick and nauseous after the first couple of bites. Ended up sticking to the COLD fries that came out with one of the dishes (not too sure which dish because it didn't say on the menu) Overall I felt sick, but my boyfriend liked the food. Took the leftovers home and no one else would even touch it. At the end of our meal we asked our server for the bill and to go boxes, he only brought the boxes... we gathered all of our stuff and asked another server at the front if we could pay for the bill because no one had brought it over after sitting at our table for 15 minutes all packed up. She told us that we could've walked out without paying and they wouldn't have even noticed because everyone was telling us to have a good night (including our server). So if you want to save a couple hundred dollars maybe you can go to their Alum Rock location, they'll forget to bring you the bill.
Alexica Qian
Chill and cozy. Cocktails are also good to try.
Carlos Villalva
Bad experience
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Young Y.
The food was delicious! We tried a variety of different Portuguese dishes as shown by the photos. My favorite were the seafood rice, duck rice, and blood sausage. I was surprised how good the blood sausage was since I've had beef blood before in other cuisines at it tasted way more iron-like, whereas it was just beefy and delicious here. The service was great! Much above average, as the waiters were very kind and proactive with the service. They were also very engaging and gave good recommendations! Made us feel very welcome and comfortable. I liked the ambiance there and it was a cute vibe with these fake candles that is great for a date night. The portions were on the smaller side but we ordered quite a few and it was enough for 3-4. Rant: Also on a side note, I'm starting to hate yelp reviews since it's always full of negative Nancies who just pick at ridiculous BS to lower a restaurants reviews. Like someone I read far down complained abt how the seafood rice was too wet for their liking? Uh that's how the dish is supposed to be so stop disrespecting the culture. I've been to Michelin star places and have been around the world to some countries before so I know what high end food and authentic food is like too. Some ppl just can't learn to be open and appreciate food from other cultures smh. I'm starting to take negative yelp reviews with a grain of salt now, and can't trust them very much.
Larry Griffie
Stopped in on a whim after seeing bread pudding on the menu outside. O.M.G!!!!! This newly-added bread pudding is amazing on many levels! If you love bread pudding like I do you know there are numerous variables to align to produce a great bread pudding. First of all, if you hate Nutella’s dominating flavor like I do, you’ll quickly realize this bread pudding is NOTHING without the Nutella sauce! Weird, I know! I ordered without Nutella bc why gross myself out! lol. But the balance was clearly unbalanced and underwhelming. So I asked for a sample of the Nutella and MIND BLOWN!! Order it on the side if you have toast issues like I do. You’re welcome! Second, the bread is ideally moist and firm, not soggy or dry. The ice cream’s creaminess is a delightful counterpoint to the subtle richness of the Nutella sauce and the warmth of the dessert itself.I think the bread pudding will do well, as long as folks aren’t thrown off by the Nutella like I was initially.Also, trust anything Ruben recommends! He seems to really understand flavor combinations!First timer here, returning ASAP for more including Ruben’s recommendation for the best octopus in the Bay.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Larry G.
Stopped in on a whim after seeing bread pudding on the menu outside. O.M.G!!!!! This newly-added bread pudding is amazing on many levels! If you love bread pudding like I do you know there are numerous variables to align to produce a great bread pudding. First of all, if you hate Nutella's dominating flavor like I do, you'll quickly realize this bread pudding is NOTHING without the Nutella sauce! Weird, I know! I ordered without Nutella bc why gross myself out! lol. But the balance was clearly unbalanced and underwhelming. So I asked for a sample of the Nutella and MIND BLOWN!! Order it on the side if you have toast issues like I do. You're welcome! Second, the bread is ideally moist and firm, not soggy or dry. The ice cream's creaminess is a delightful counterpoint to the subtle richness of the Nutella sauce and the warmth of the dessert itself. think the bread pudding will do well, as long as folks aren't thrown off by the Nutella like I was initially. Also, trust anything Ruben recommends! He seems to really understand flavor combinations! First timer here, returning ASAP for more including Ruben's recommendation for the best octopus in the Bay.
Nathan Pretorius
One of my favorite restaurants in San Jose, definitely my favorite downtown
Got octopus ? it was non eatable, first time in my life I realised that there is way to mess up on gilled octopus
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 3
Recommended dishes: Octopus
Bethany VanLaningham
Cute and neat place, would not recommend for vegetarians/vegansVegetarian options: Vegetarian options not clearly labeled, not enough offering to consider anything a meal. Mixing meat entrees into what looks like their only vegetarian section on the menu.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 3
Mario B.
Good food and service, will definitely be going back. I enjoyed everything I tried and the custard tarts were bomb
Jiaming Xiong
Nice atmosphere. Cocktail is amazing!! Tapas style, love their blood sausage, egg tart, grilled prawns and duck rice. Fish stew is not that good. Surely worth a second visit! Perfect place for dinner before musical!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Blood Sausage, Duck Rice, Pastel De Nata Box of 6
WILLIAM DOWNING
We had a fabulous dinner. Specialty cocktails were well mixed. Service was expert.Wheelchair accessibility: Restrooms meet ANSi A117
I went to this restaurant Saturday night around 6pm without reservations. It was full even bar counter. Recommend to book on weekend. I really liked the sausage! Beef tongue was tender! Shrimp flitters taste very shrimpy so it was ok for me. All dish has a lot of flavor and everything is good with wines!
Food was delicious but service was slow and slightly awkward? Dinner took almost 2 hours for a party of 2 and we only had 5 dishes. They warned us that the rice took 25 mins to make which was fine but instead of timing everything else around if they brought everything super fast and the rice at the very end. We wanted the rice to eat with our steak so the steak was cold by the time the rice came. Dessert took another 30 mins to come out which we were not wanted about and then after that it took forever for someone to come give us the check. We only ordered glasses of wine but those also took a very long time to get. The house salad - we loved this but had to ask for more dressing as it was dry at first. Once we added a little more dressing it was great. The grilled prawns - perfectly cooked and delicious. The herby citrus sauce was great on the shrimp. They are just a little messy to eat since it's the whole shrimp. Filet mignon in garlic sauce - this was super yummy but as mentioned it got cold while waiting for our rice to show up. It's so saucey that you want a bread or rice with it and it's unfortunate that they didn't come out at the same time. Flavor was there but meat was slightly over cooked. Asperagus rice - this was cooked perfect. Rice was so creamy and the asparagus had just a tiny bit of crunch left. This was the star dish! As expected the garlic sauce from the steak dish was also great on it. Banana chocolate bread pudding - was not worth the wait. Came out room temp after waiting forever and was a little too dense. Overall I would come back as long as we didn't have anywhere else to go after due to slow service.
Tl;dr: worst dining experience of my life My partner and I went to Petiscos last night. We originally showed up at the downtown location, who told us our reservation was actually at their Alum Rock restaurant. When we got there we were sat down by a waiter who looked lost, and despite only one other couple being in the restaurant it took 20 minutes to get our drinks. After we got our drinks we had to tell the waiter we wanted to order before they walked away. My partner asked how many plates we should order, to which the waiter replied three to four is a fair amount (we ended up ordering 9, neither of us are very large). The waiter then asked us what order they should bring it out in and couldn't recommend an ordering to us. The food was incredibly poor quality for the hype and reviews of the restaurant. Undercooked bread. Asparagus wasn't fully cooked in asparagus rice. Clam broth was tasteless. Chewy filet mignon in a garlic-water soup was the icing on the cake. On top of the horrid service and quality, they somehow managed to make the entire restaurant feel awkward and eerie. Other tables keep glancing around, probably looking for their waiter. If nothing else this was a memorable restaurant experience for Petiscos to simultaneously fail on every front.
Wanted a date night, showed up to the Petisco's in downtown San Jose, come to find out our reservation was for their location in Alum Rock. (that was our fault) but even when trying to look up directions to the other location it wouldn't show up on apple maps OR yelp, only their downtown location. We showed up to their Alum Rock location and our server seemed like it was his first day on the job. Didn't know too much about the menu and couldn't really explain it to us when we asked about certain dishes/what were popular items. Anyways, we ordered their cheese bread, octopus, ribeye steak, codfish with potatoes. Honestly the food was decent, very rich for me personally, I started feeling kind of sick and nauseous after the first couple of bites. Ended up sticking to the COLD fries that came out with one of the dishes (not too sure which dish because it didn't say on the menu) Overall I felt sick, but my boyfriend liked the food. Took the leftovers home and no one else would even touch it. At the end of our meal we asked our server for the bill and to go boxes, he only brought the boxes... we gathered all of our stuff and asked another server at the front if we could pay for the bill because no one had brought it over after sitting at our table for 15 minutes all packed up. She told us that we could've walked out without paying and they wouldn't have even noticed because everyone was telling us to have a good night (including our server). So if you want to save a couple hundred dollars maybe you can go to their Alum Rock location, they'll forget to bring you the bill.
Chill and cozy. Cocktails are also good to try.
Bad experience
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
The food was delicious! We tried a variety of different Portuguese dishes as shown by the photos. My favorite were the seafood rice, duck rice, and blood sausage. I was surprised how good the blood sausage was since I've had beef blood before in other cuisines at it tasted way more iron-like, whereas it was just beefy and delicious here. The service was great! Much above average, as the waiters were very kind and proactive with the service. They were also very engaging and gave good recommendations! Made us feel very welcome and comfortable. I liked the ambiance there and it was a cute vibe with these fake candles that is great for a date night. The portions were on the smaller side but we ordered quite a few and it was enough for 3-4. Rant: Also on a side note, I'm starting to hate yelp reviews since it's always full of negative Nancies who just pick at ridiculous BS to lower a restaurants reviews. Like someone I read far down complained abt how the seafood rice was too wet for their liking? Uh that's how the dish is supposed to be so stop disrespecting the culture. I've been to Michelin star places and have been around the world to some countries before so I know what high end food and authentic food is like too. Some ppl just can't learn to be open and appreciate food from other cultures smh. I'm starting to take negative yelp reviews with a grain of salt now, and can't trust them very much.
Stopped in on a whim after seeing bread pudding on the menu outside. O.M.G!!!!! This newly-added bread pudding is amazing on many levels! If you love bread pudding like I do you know there are numerous variables to align to produce a great bread pudding. First of all, if you hate Nutella’s dominating flavor like I do, you’ll quickly realize this bread pudding is NOTHING without the Nutella sauce! Weird, I know! I ordered without Nutella bc why gross myself out! lol. But the balance was clearly unbalanced and underwhelming. So I asked for a sample of the Nutella and MIND BLOWN!! Order it on the side if you have toast issues like I do. You’re welcome! Second, the bread is ideally moist and firm, not soggy or dry. The ice cream’s creaminess is a delightful counterpoint to the subtle richness of the Nutella sauce and the warmth of the dessert itself.I think the bread pudding will do well, as long as folks aren’t thrown off by the Nutella like I was initially.Also, trust anything Ruben recommends! He seems to really understand flavor combinations!First timer here, returning ASAP for more including Ruben’s recommendation for the best octopus in the Bay.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Stopped in on a whim after seeing bread pudding on the menu outside. O.M.G!!!!! This newly-added bread pudding is amazing on many levels! If you love bread pudding like I do you know there are numerous variables to align to produce a great bread pudding. First of all, if you hate Nutella's dominating flavor like I do, you'll quickly realize this bread pudding is NOTHING without the Nutella sauce! Weird, I know! I ordered without Nutella bc why gross myself out! lol. But the balance was clearly unbalanced and underwhelming. So I asked for a sample of the Nutella and MIND BLOWN!! Order it on the side if you have toast issues like I do. You're welcome! Second, the bread is ideally moist and firm, not soggy or dry. The ice cream's creaminess is a delightful counterpoint to the subtle richness of the Nutella sauce and the warmth of the dessert itself. think the bread pudding will do well, as long as folks aren't thrown off by the Nutella like I was initially. Also, trust anything Ruben recommends! He seems to really understand flavor combinations! First timer here, returning ASAP for more including Ruben's recommendation for the best octopus in the Bay.
One of my favorite restaurants in San Jose, definitely my favorite downtown
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
Got octopus ? it was non eatable, first time in my life I realised that there is way to mess up on gilled octopus
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 3
Recommended dishes: Octopus
Cute and neat place, would not recommend for vegetarians/vegansVegetarian options: Vegetarian options not clearly labeled, not enough offering to consider anything a meal. Mixing meat entrees into what looks like their only vegetarian section on the menu.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 3
Good food and service, will definitely be going back. I enjoyed everything I tried and the custard tarts were bomb
Nice atmosphere. Cocktail is amazing!! Tapas style, love their blood sausage, egg tart, grilled prawns and duck rice. Fish stew is not that good. Surely worth a second visit! Perfect place for dinner before musical!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Blood Sausage, Duck Rice, Pastel De Nata Box of 6
We had a fabulous dinner. Specialty cocktails were well mixed. Service was expert.Wheelchair accessibility: Restrooms meet ANSi A117
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Flamed Chouriço, Duck Rice