Want a blast from the past, unique option for a date, or just a spot to dine on good food with even better views?
If you’ve never been to the Mt. Hamilton Grandview Restaurant before, you’ll most likely walk in and think you need to turn around. The historic musty smell and the dated furniture will make you think you’re walking into a warped time zone. You may even expect to see a mummified host take you to your seat.
While your first reaction will possibly turn you away, fight the urge! This place is incredible. If you can snag a seat in the far right corner by the window, you will not regret it. The food is fantastic, the service is homey, and if you’re lucky enough to have the owner (Luci Ciciarelli) serve you, it will feel like a extravagant home cooked meal and grandma is taking care of you on your birthday.
My recommendation is to go for the steak and prawns. The steak is a 7.5 on a scale of 1-10 and the prawns are an 8 on the scale. Price is not the cheapest but definitely not the most expensive. For two people with a glass of wine you can expect about a $60+ meal – but well worth it.
I’m heading up with my girlfriend’s parents (in town from Bloomington Indiana) in about 30 minutes and I’ll be back with mind blowing views (even with the cloudy weather).
Check back in a few hours for photos! Maybe even meet us there!
(UPDATE – Check us out on Twitter to view our post on the time we had there along with photos compliments of the iPhone and Twitpic. Photos: http://twitpic.com/4j2pw (start here and navigate back in time to see the food and view)
Here is the contact info:
Address: 15005 Mt. Hamilton Road (approx 2 miles past Clayton Road)
In the meantime here is some history to further entice you:
History:
Grandview Restaurant was originally named Grandview House which was opened in 1884 as a hotel and tavern by Alanson Story. It served the Mt. Hamilton Stage Co. which ran scheduled trips from San Jose to James Lick Observatory.
The stage line was motorized in 1911, causing Grandview House to close its doors. The house again reopened in 1934 and continued to operate as a tavern until 1942.
On a windy day in February 1942, thirty-mile-an-hour winds fanned a blaze which destroyed the tavern as the Division of Forestry crews watched helplessly.
Grandview House was rebuilt and operated on the same site until 1954, when it was moved across the street to the present location and a new building.
Two years later on November 7, 1956 the Grandview House was again destroyed, along with a very valuable collection of antiques and historic relics, in a pre-dawn fire. Within a year the present building was constructed, and reopened under the name Grandview Restaurant.