From the Dishcrawl website: _____________________ Foie Finale Dinner Dishes from the 2 winning chefs will be prepared for a battle of the best! Josiah from Sent Sovi and Cocoy Ventura (previously of French Laundry) have risen above and won the foie battle. Join us in an underground setting in Los Gatos for an eclectic night and flavors from these two chefs. _____________________ OOOH! The foie finale dinner prepared by "chefs from San Jose to San Francisco, to Half Moon Bay" for the Silicon Valley Foie Battle?!?! My expectations were sky high! I'd been to one of the Dishcrawl Foie Gras dinners before and it blew my mind! I wanted to get my foie gras fix before the stupid ban in July! Plus, I thought it would be a fun way to celebrate Chris C's bday so I bought tickets for us for $150 each plus a $16 processing fee. The day before the dinner I received a couple of emails that revealed the location and the menu. My first thought was, hmmm...an apartment?!? I was hoping it was at a nice restaurant, or any restaurant but, whatever. My next thought was, we can't purchase wine pairings at the dinner??? Kinda lame but I was excited about dinner. No ice bucket for our champagne?? OK, they said there was a fridge but it was full. I was so stoked but when we got there I didn't see any professional chefs! No Josia from Sent Sovi and no Cocoy Ventura of French Laundry. My heart sank with disappointment thinking about the freakin' FALSE ADVERTISEMENT that sucked me in to pay $316 for dinner for 2! All eight dishes were prepared by Tracy, the Dishcrawl CEO, who has a background in marketing. She's not even a chef! GAHHHD, that sucks! What's even worse is that as she served the dishes she said (these are exact quotes from that evening): "I've never tried this before." How can you make something and never try it?!?! "Oh, I didn't make the sauce vert..." for the foie gras tacos, even though it was on the menu. "I didn't make the pea gastrique" for the foie gras & peas even though it's on the menu. That dish was lame! It was a slice of raw, unseasoned foie on a slice of baguette with 1/2 of a pea pod on the side. "I was gonna do it this way but it just didn't happen..." And giggles. Those comments sucked the life out of me! Eleven of us paid $158 and you couldn't deliver what was on the menu?!?! COME ON! At least pretend they're epic dishes so I might forget that I paid $300+. I'm not gonna list all 8 courses but I will say there were two dishes that were very good. I loved the first course of Foie Gras Panna Cotta served in a cute little jar. The candied sage and the garlic blossom added a surprising kick to the subtle sweetness of the panna cotta. That garlic flower actually tasted like garlic! And it was great with the panna cotta! My favorite was the third course of Foie Gras Benedict because it was seared perfectly, sweetened with maple, and the bacon on top was crunchy-salty goodness. It was so good that the birthday boy had another one. The other 6 dishes were underwhelming and they're not even worth mentioning. Just check out the pics. I wanna cry when I look at those pics. OK, you talked me into it, I'll mention a few bad ones.... Here's the lowlights: The foie gras & jelly sandwich was particularly lame. Apricot jam on white bread with frozen, grated foie on top. I couldn't even taste the foie gras, what the hell was that? And the last 2 courses were both desserts with snickerdoodle? Where's my foie? And why are you so unimaginative that you have 2 snickerdoodle desserts? Is it a snickerdoodle dishcrawl? I paid $20 for each course and this is what I get? If you want to experiment and have some friends over, this is the kind of dinner party you might throw for fun. But to charge $158 per head? This is ridiculous. I've been having friends over to experimental dinners at my place for FREE! I did enjoy chatting with the other 9 people I met that night, even though I was so bummed about the dinner. There was also a reporter and a photographer from The Daily Telegraph and a reporter from French TV 2. It was cool to be interviewed but then I was kind of annoyed every time the camera and the video camera were so close to my face while I ate. Damn, I wish I had my hair and make up done! Why didn't Dishcrawl mention that there would be reporters there before I bought tickets??? BEWARE of false advertising on the Dishcrawl website! The location and menu are not revealed until after you pay so be careful! After that experience I was totally turned off to Dishcrawl! Besides, why do I have to buy tickets from Dishcrawl to try food at a restaurant? Why not just skip the Dishcrawl and go to the restaurant to try their food? If you're lazy, and don't want to plan your own food adventure, you can pay these guys to do it for you. I'll admit it was fun to try once, a sit down dinner in a restaurant, cooked by a professional chef. But from now on I will not be signing up for anymore Dishcrawls! read more

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Shout out to Jen C for such a great review of Dishcrawl that I had to peep the sight out. Lucky for us, there was a Dishcrawl the next night for Chinese Food in the Lundy area of San Jose. We went online, bought our tickets, and the next morning we were told where to meet. This is a unique concept for sampling foods we would probably not otherwise think about going into. Our crawl consisted of two Chinese food places, a dessert place, and an 'after dessert place'. We started at the one place, ate our dishes, and before we could even finish our drinks.. on to the next place! The arrangement of the night's festivities kept things fresh and lively... will even appeal to your (inner) ADD side! YAY!! New food and new friends to share your experience with? COUNT ME IN! The food was good and our company was even better. Everyone was in eager spirits to try new foods and our new friends kept it amusing and fun. I'll definitely be peepin' out more Dishcrawls! (Thanks Jen C!) read more

Dishcrawl - Dishcrawl's Downtown San Jose Dishwalk - Caterers Near Me - San Jose, California

I say if you can afford it you must do the dish crawl. My first one was Foie Gras Dinner at the Myth. This one is quite reasonable at $90 plus $35 for wine pairing. The five course menu was amazing. Well prepared, nicely plated and awesomely crafted taste by Chef David Ramsay. I cant speak about the wines paired because I opted out of it since I was leaving at the crack of dawn the following day on a backpacking trip. Although the standout for me that night was the Pan Seared Foie & Slow Roasted Pork Belly with Bing Cherries, Frisée, & Pain au Lait. The dessert was Ice Cream Cone Blueberry Mousse with Brandied Foie Gras" Sprinkles" was good but would've been better if it was crunchy like Jen C's was. Mine came out chewy and concurrently hard to munch on. The venue for this dish crawl could be better. The howling wind and rain was somewhat disturbing that night. Jackets were never far from us or was never taken off. Not enough heating lamp considering we were outside in a "Tent." but it's nice to see this venue get upgraded to a very stylish taste. Defintey will return to see what this chef can prepare in the advertised offering at Myth as Greek food. Chatting and meeting new people and a couple of foodie Yelpers in a communal table was priceless! Thanks Jen C for the wonderful idea! read more

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I went on my first dishcrawl last night. What is a dishcrawl? It's an organized walking tour through a city in search of good eats. Along with 30 others we made our way around San Jose. Our night included stops at 4 locations: Billy Berk's - flatbreads, fried zucc (bla) House of Siam - fried sweet potatoes, pickled salad, chicken curry Eat On Monday food truck - fried pork? sando with wasabi slaw, beef taco, churro with strawberry sauce (best food of the night) Li'l Puffs Artisan marshmallows - smore's cupcakes The food was good as was the company. I look forward to doing this again in the future. read more

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I almost want to give them 2 stars because 2 of the 8 courses were good. Half of them were forgettable and there were 2 different dessert courses both with Snicker-doodle! You can't go out and buy Reeses-doodle or Mars-doodle? But seriously, $150 per person? Plus a handling fee? For this? What a joke. We wanted a special foie gras dinner before the July 1 prohibition went into effect in CA. The $150 price tag was special but the food was not. Why is the location secret until the last minute? Is it because you're eating in the living room of someone's apartment? Yes, we ate in the living room of an apartment. There was no mention that we were going to be photographed eating dinner all night, ALL NIGHT, by some British news agency, videotaped by some French people and approached by other international reporters. I really wanted to enjoy my expensive dinner quietly, maybe enjoying the company of some fellow foie fans, but this environment made it difficult. Notice how, as of right now, there are 6 reviews that Yelp has filtered (removed or excluded from the company rating)? That means they are probably fake reviews or written by an executive of the company, let's take a look...Oh look! 6 filtered reviews, all 5-stars! One of the reviews that was filtered was written by Tracy, the CEO of Dishcrawl. That ain't right! These reviews a little hard to find, click the "filtered" link near the bottom of the reviews page and type in the captcha. And let's talk about false advertising...they advertised this dinner being the culmination of the weeks-long South Bay foie gras battles with the two remaining chefs. There were no chefs. There was a nice woman with a marketing background and her mother cooking. There were NO drinks for sale! grrrr I was looking at the ratings distribution and you're either going to have a great meal or or one that leaves a really bad taste in your mouth. Nothing in between. Do you want to risk it? read more

San Jose Neighborfood Dishcrawl (6/19/13) was, by far, the least organized one I have attended (out of 3). It made me very upset and angry. Additionally, as a weeknight event to unwind from work it just caused additional stress. Here is the breakdown... Lots of waiting. :( - we arrived at 6PM and had to wait 15 minutes to sign in (somewhat expected based on past experience) - we had to wait 25 minutes to get into 19Market, then 10 minutes for our food (7PM) -Fahrenheit was quick and well organized (7:20 PM, including walking time) - we had to wait 15 minutes to get into Billy Berk's, then 20 minutes for our food (7:55 PM) - tried last minute to get cheesecake at Bella's, but they were all out (Dishcrawl now over) This was made worse since the cashier recommended we buy $35 worth of tickets and that 'we shouldn't have problems using them'. We threw away $14 in the end. To me, Dishcrawls are about being about to experience a variety of food in a short period of time. This definitely wasn't the case. As a result, I don't expect to do a Dishcrawl again (in addition to many others we talked to along the way). read more

These are neat little events if you like hanging out with and meeting other food folks, trying new restaurants, and sometimes being pleasantly surprised. You know the city. You buy the tickets. You get notified of where to meet ... and maybe a couple of the places you'll be visiting ... and then the adventure begins. Food is included, drinks are extra. We went to the inaugural Saratoga event. It was both well-managed and a lot of fun. Plenty of dishcrawl staff on hand to answer questions, keep us on track, and make sure everyone was doing well. They split us into two groups of forty when visiting the smaller restaurants, and this was a very manageable size - things got a little stuffy at the beginning when they stuck eighty foodies into a little wine bar, but it wasn't bad at all. Restaurants Visited: Uncorked!, Ristorante da Mario, Sent Sovi and Yolatea. It's a combination of advertising opportunity for small, locally owned businesses you might not have visited before, pub crawl, and traveling foodie conference. We met local restaurant owners, several local foodies, and the vice mayor of Saratoga. For a traveling event with eighty people who had to walk around to four places on a schedule, things went off amazingly well - almost like clockwork. We enjoyed it and will likely be back for another one in another city soon! read more

Are you a foodie? Or at least a food aficionado? Do you find yourself seeking out new restaurants every time you dine out? Or at least enjoy trying new ones? If you answered yes to any of those questions, Dishcrawl is definitely for you! I know this sounds like a plug for the company, but I recently attended my first Dishcrawl event in downtown Palo Alto and it was a blast! We tried the following establishments: - Cafe Renzo - Mantra - Junoon - Michael's Gelato Cafe It was a great way to try out different restaurants in a given neighborhood. Foodies unite and enjoy! read more

Eesh, some painful reviews here. Good thing I didn't check the Yelp reviews before signing up. Either they have improved since these reviews were written or I got lucky. Whatever the case is, I had a wonderful experience. I participated in a Redwood City Crawl. We met at a restaurant with a bar so that we could have some drinks before we started. (Not included) We went to 3 different restaurants where tables were reserved for us and meals were ready to go so the waits were minimal. At each place we had some samples of the dishes available at the restaurants, and the owners chatted with us to discuss their establishment and their food. Each restaurant selected has very friendly owners, as they are the type that would be willing to participate in a Dishcrawl. The whole thing was well organized. Things flowed smoothly, and we got 5 minute warning before moving between places. It felt similar to a Yelp Event, in that you met a bunch of other people who are also interested in checking out the food scene in an area, and can converse whilst experiencing/learning about (hopefully) unfamiliar restaurants. The price was quite impressive as well. $45 for 3 dishes at 3 different restaurants (9 dishes total, Not the cheapest restaurants). Plenty of food and a stress free environment with everything organized and managed by Dishcrawl staff. read more

6/19 DishCrawl in Down Town San Jose. This will be my last ever DishCrawl. I went in a group of 4, we all got the package deal from travelzoo.com (2 passes + 6 meal tickets for $19 total). Even though the $19 was well below the cost, compared to if you bought the same package directly from DishCrawl... the value wasnt there. Given this is a timed event (starts at 5pm & ends at 8pm) you think "EFFICIENCY" would be a keyterm. right off the bat, 25 minutes for the registration line + another 5 minutes for your 'free cupcake' - so 30 minutes is gone, before you even really started. I dont know who to blame for the long lines at each restaurant, DishCrawl vs. Restaurant. DishCrawl has the data to accurately estimate the amount of traffic that each restaurant should plan for. The Restaurant's should have the experience to know which food items are optimized for pre-cooking/preparing for rapid distribution. It was AWFUL to wait line for close to 30 minutes, then be handed a cold tamale. This theme followed us to each restaurant (the four that we visited) - the one exception being Bella's who had a delcious cheesecake ready for us. I found no real value to this experience. It wasnt fun standing in line. It wasnt enjoyable eating food in subpar conditions (improperly prepared). Poor execution of logistics 1) registration was the opposite of easy and efficient 2) there was a rouge restuarant out near 87 that I doubt anyone went to 3) all restaurants were ill-prepared. I'll gladly return to my usual process: go on yelp - read reviews - pick an eatery - enjoy my meal. DishCrawl, this chaotic "urban buffet", is apparently too difficult to properly execute. read more

Dishcrawl is such a great concept! I went on my first crawl with them on their Sunnyvale Dishcrawl and I was beyond satisfied. Maybe it's partly because I didn't know what to expect, but the restaurants were great, there was plenty of food to be had (including what I saved for my lunch the next day), and great people! Our tour included 2 restaurants, a food truck and a pub. Great variety! It's definitely the perfect way to discover a neighborhood and to try great food! The people on the tour were from all demographics. Out of the 24 attendees, you found people from their 30's to 60's. With the way that we kept moving around, we were able to talk to various people throughout the night, which was fun as well! I definitely can't wait to sign up for my next Dishcrawl and plan to take my parents with me too! read more

If I could give SJ Dish Crawl no stars I would. I agree with all the 1 star comments. It was completely disorganized....at one place they didn't even know that it was happening that evening -- HUGE LINE. This was a complete rip-off and certainly did nothing to give me a good impression of downtown SJ restaurants. If I were the participating restaurants I would DEMAND my money back (I am sure they paid to be included) and request an apology. I have lived in SJ since 1987 and still can't understand why downtown can't get it's food act together. This will absolutely be the one and only time my wife and I do Dish Crawl....whether it is SJ or any other city....I think they are promoting a crawl up in the SF Mission. read more

Dishcrawl is a really fun dining experience. I went to a San Jose dishcrawl inside The Fairmont Hotel. We tried many different dishes from the restaurants inside and lots of cocktails too (you have to pay for those separately. The ticket includes only dinner). One of the other interesting aspects of this is that the point is to sit with strangers, mingle and make connections. I would say the crowd is 30-50. It's really not geared toward the younger crowd but I like to go anyway :) Tickets are about $30 per event, give or take. I highly recommend giving it a try! read more

I was excited by the concept of a stroll through an area of town sampling the wares of various restaurants. I was looking forward to a gastronomic experience. Unfortunately for me, this turned out to be more of a social outing/coctail party than an actual food experience. Having said that, it was a vary amiable atmosphere and people seemed to be enjoying themselves, but there was very little actual food tasting in the final analysis. Also, only the first restaurant put any thought into tempting us with something interesting to taste. The restaurants to come offered rather unimaginative items. We have since returned to the first restaurant for a full meal, which is, I suppose, the point of an establishment participating in the Dishcrawl. If a social evening is what you're after, then this is a good venue. If you're wanting to try a variety of interesting dishes in one evening, it ain't. read more

This such a cool idea! I am someone that has trouble trying new restaurants. I hate the idea of wasting my one night a week or so out for dinner at a place that I end up being disappointed in. BUT I'm a huge fan of finding a gem in one of the many little "downtown" areas common to the Bay Area. Dishcrawl gives you the chance to try a couple of different places for a reasonable "all for one" price. The restaurants that I have experienced have all been quite good and ones that I would not have gone to otherwise. Food is included in the price, alcohol is not. The business involved usually offer some really good drink specials for Dishcrawlers. I say, GO! read more

Full Stars are deserved for this wonderful experience. If you are into foodie type events and meeting people you have hit the jackpot. I have done this Dishcrawl three times already and have been completely satisfied and also met some new connections along the way. Everyone is mostly open and friendly to the point of where I can feel comfortable going by myself. My favorite was the mission Dishcrawls in San Francisco because of the young crowd *wink wink. But on a more serious note, the events were well organized with a bit of chaos. There's a good time to catch a couple drinks before it starts to get the juices running. Usually more than enough courses from each restaurant to get a grasp of their styles and cooking techniques. So give it a try and I don't think you will regret it ! Keep an open mind and I hope you enjoy meeting new company over a multi-course meal and light walks! read more

I will give Dishcrawl 5 Stars because they are awesome people with an awesome cause! If you are looking for great food and great entertainment then look no further. My experience with Dishcrawl was definitely a positive one and would recommend to all my friends! read more

San Jose Neighborfood Dishcrawl on 6/19/13 was my first event with Dishcrawl. Recommended from a high school classmate that works for their office, I bought 2 entry tickets for myself and my boyfriend. I wasn't really sure what to expect for this event, since I've never been to one, but I would try other events in the future, even though this one seemed unorganized. We were chatting with one of the restaurant managers that Dishcrawl sold 800 tickets and they were not expecting a large crowd. So it seemed like a common theme with all the stops we made that each place couldn't get the food out fast enough. Our stops: 1. Registration: There was a 10-15 minute wait to register for the event and purchase tickets for every location. I was given a map to were each restaurant are located and what each restaurant were providing. The $5 entry fee came with a cupcake from Luscious Lovelies. I got a Chocolate Salted Caramel cupcake and my bf got a Maple Bacon cupcake. We got 10 tickets for $35, figuring we will probably not make all 8 restaurants and we don't want to try every dish. There was the option that more tickets could be purchased if we run out or wanted to try more. 2. 19Market: Vietnamese Taco with BBQ Pork, shredded cabbage, & spicy sauce. The tacos were delicious, 2 tacos per pate/ticket. I liked the pickled cabbage with the bbq pork, but had to pick off the spicy roaster sauce. We also had a drink while waiting, $5 7&7. 3. Vino Vino: Brie, Fig, & Prosciutto Crostini. My favorite dish of the whole event!!! Who doesn't like cheese, meat, fruit jam on bread?! There was special event seating on the patio and was first come first serve. The wait for food was less than 10 minutes. We shared a talk with another couple and swapped story of our experience so far. Out of all the stops we made, Vino Vino was the most efficient place. A++ 4. Fahrenheit: Hanger steak on chip w/cucumber & tabiko with spicy garlic noodles. I liked the steak but filled up on the spicy garlic noodles. I thought it was ok, nothing special. But why is a double jack and coke $18?!?!?!?! I've been to Fahrenheit for drinks before, but recall pricing being so high... This stop could have been used on a different one. 5. Billy Berks: Toasted Crostini with Mojito-glazed steak, fried jalapeno and Mango jicama salad. The steak was great, juicy and tender! This was our last stop before the event closed at 8pm. We enjoyed another drink while waiting for our dishes $8 7&7. Overall the evening was enjoyable. I overheard a few people complaining about the wait time at each stop which cause some, include myself, to not use all of the tickets we paid for. Honestly I don't care about the unused tickets. For $45 ($35 for 10 tickets and $10 entry fee) 4 courses for 2 people is a good deal. I could and have easily spent $50 on food that was less than good. Final note: Just keep in mind that service could be slow, due to the large crowd, and you might actually had a good time. I got to try new places that I otherwise wouldn't have gone to and all for a moderate price point. Plus got my exercise in. :) I will try other Dishcrawl event again. read more

I have done five Dishcrawls to date. At all of the events, I discovered great restaurants, tried new foods and made new friends. Dishcrawl is a must for any foodie. read more

3.75 rating! I went on a dish crawl.. Its a wonderful way to sample a lot of restaurants.. I will totally do it again. I like the high end stuff, but not really into the cheaper or mid level restaurants. The woman who hosted this was really nice and accomodating though it would have been good to have more time to drink wine. :P If you do this, be sure to take an apertif before and then a digestiv drink or shot afterwards..A hot cup of tea could work as well to aide digestion.. its a lot of different types of food in one night :) read more

If you love food, socializing, meeting new poeple and supporting local eateries then you MUST give Dishcrawl a chance!!!!! Ive been hearing about Dishcrawl forever now from a few different people but never actually went out to try it. the BF bought us tickets to an event in SF and I loved it!!!! It was such an amazing night. Im not too familiar with SF (even though ive been living in SJ all my life) So it was a really nice experience! I wish I could join a Dishcrawl every time I went on vacay! Love this concept! Its so fun! Do yourself a favor and buy a ticket to one :) you will have fun, eat great food and make a few friends along the way! read more

I went to one of these and it was really unorganized. It was overcrowded and more of a hassle than anything. Some of the people there were rude and the girl who was running the show wasn't organized at all. Like Toonces C. mentioned, the food was good but I'd rather try new places in the company of my friends versus dealing with an unorganized event with random people (in a huge crowd), standing and waiting around in the cold at another dishcrawl event. read more

Absolutely dreadful evening. Cost $42 for the event plus $17 for the drinks that are pushed at each restaurant. Very disorganized and the 1st tasting was an amuse bouce featuring duck pate, my date doesnt eat duck. There was no hint that it would be standing/bar scene every where. By 8:30 we had only eaten 1 uninteresting lettuce wrap & equally bland small slice of pizza. We called it a loss, left the "crawl" and went to a delicious restaurant for dinner. Never again! read more

I have attended a ton of these and they are always a great time. There is no better way to experience a wide variety of cuisines in a single night. Usually, you even get to hear the chef talk about their cooking style and background. As an added bonus, everyone else on the Dishcrawl is also foodie so you get to network with like-minded food fanatics! Highly recommended, especially the Downtown San Jose crawls. read more

The event on June 19 was a disaster! Very unorganized from check in to the way things were handled at restaurants. 19 Market only had TWO people working the front of the house! Vino Vino, Billy Berks and Mezcal were organized but all left a lot to be desired. Mezcal and Farenheit ran out of some of the menu items. We couldn't even get to Cafe Stritch & Paolo's in the time alotted. No raffle was offered as advertised, parking cost us $12, it took us 20 minutes in line to even get our tickets. The list goes on an on. A total rip off! We purchased 20 tickets and were only able to us e 10. Someone is laughing all the way to the bank. The last Dishcrawl I will ever attend! read more

Dishcrawl apparently offers services in several different locations, but their offices are based in San Jose. My review is for the services offered in Boston, MA. I made an inquiry via the Dishcrawl website to inquire about having our corporate holiday party hosted by Dishcrawl. I thought it would be a unique idea. I heard from a team member pretty quickly who suggested that we speak by phone three days later. Being eager, as I was in the information gathering phase of my research for our holiday party, I was a bit put off that the earliest they could fit me in was three days later, but se la vie. Well, the time we eventually scheduled to speak came and went. A little later, I emailed the team member to ask what had happened and I was told that she called several times but that the phone kept ringing and didn't go to voice mail. The number I gave her was my work line, which is manned by a receptionist and if that fails, by an automated system that either puts you directly through to me or gives you my voice mail. Not exactly sure what happened, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. When I asked if we could reschedule a time to speak, the response was that she couldn't fit me in again for four more days! When I responded that waiting two weeks from my initial contact to the company would be too long for my company to wait to get our planning underway, the response I got was, "We completely understand ... please keep us in mind for the next time." Not ... "I'm very sorry, please let me try to make this work." I totally understand that people are busy, but if you are a company that seeks to get business, you should be responsive to potential customers. Apparently, the owner, Tracy Lee, who was copied on the emails thought so too. Because within an hour, I received an email directly from her that said she would be happy to hop on the phone that day if it worked for me, as she understood that waiting more time would be too long. OK, I took that positively and decided to give them a chance, since the owner herself had been responsive. So, I responded that I could speak that day and asked her what time worked ... I never received another response ... ever. So much for the owner taking care of the situation. I am unimpressed with this company. You would think that when a potential client reaches out and wants to give you their business that you would respond quickly. Not the case. I don't know about their actual services or whether the dish crawl itself is worth it, as we didn't get that far. I can't recommend this company, based purely on my experience with their customer service. read more

Dishcrawl should be apologizing to everyone who attended this event (edit - San Jose Neighborfood Dishcrawl on 6/19/13). They sold way more tickets than the restaurants could handle and may not have properly prepared the restaurants for the number of people. The line to sign in was up to a half block long and this is the long block between Santa Clara and St. John, not the short block between 1st and 2nd St. This was my 4th dishcrawl and I would need a lot more information before I sign up for another event like this one. We started with 19 Market, a restaurant that we have been to before and enjoyed. They have a great Happy Hour and were selling beer, wine and drinks at Happy Hour prices since it was before 7 pm. But they were totally over-whelmed by the crowds. The dishcrawl staff helped to assist restaurant employees, but line was too long and moved too slow. There was still a line out the door when we returned to our car about 8:30 so 19 Market appeared to go beyond the stated hours of the Dishcrawl to try to satisfy customers. Next, we tried to go to Mezcal and Billy Berks, but both had ridiculous lines so we let a pedicab talk us into taking us to Paolo's. Paolo's had it under control as we had a glass of wine and our calamari on the patio and were quickly out of there. After that we walked to Cafe Stritch where the line was short when we got there, but still took some time for us to get to the front, and was much longer when we left. They allowed us to use tickets for Moscow Mule drinks which was very nice. I did not try the bacon/mac 'n cheese waffles as they said that would require a wait. The sliders and fries were both very good (although not what I attend dischcrawl to eat). Dischcrawl staff there was helpful We took another pedicab to Fahrenheit where they warned us at the door they were running behind. But since it was about 7:30 and we heard there were still lines at Billy Berks and Mezcal, we stuck it out. The dischcrawl staff there seemed surprised that we were having trouble using our tickets and were not helpful. It took almost 30 minutes to receive our plates. While the garlic noodles (that I've had there many times) were good, we did not receive our steak bruschetta and the waiter acted like we were lucky to get anything. Even though it was now after 8, we went by Billy Berks (where I could have been attending a free appetizer event hosted by an organization to which I belong), but they were done with dishcrawl. Mezcal tried to accommodate us by scraping together two plates, but they was mostly cold and did not compare to our previous dishcrawl event there where we had some of our best mole ever and I think they even gave us mezcal. Fahrenheit and Billy Berks both had events other than dishcrawl in progress during the evening and Mezcal was also very busy at 8 pm. We ended up with one unused ticket and probably did better than some people by using pedicabs and getting to further away places. But I think dishcrawl should have sold 1/3 less tickets and had restaurants better prepared for crowds, read more

Dishcrawl is a wonderful idea for foodies. It's a way to try a lot of different eating places for very little $ all in one evening. And you meet a bunch of fun foodie connections as well. I have been to three Dishcrawls, one in San Mateo and one in Palo Alto, Both of these were typical Dishcrawls where we walked about the downtown area and visited 4-5 places, tasting their signature dishes. The final one was different, a sit down 5 course Foie Gras menu prepared in a demonstration kitchen by the chef at Vogniers. Some of the dishes were wonderful, and some not so much, but the dinner itself was lots of fun. It was especially great to talk about the local food scene with the other food obsessed folk at our table. read more

Went to the one in San Jose at the Fairmont hotel. Great food, hanging out in the lobby with friends and drinks was fun, and the finale was amazing. 20th floor presidential suites filled with amazing desserts and champaigne was such an epic way to end the night. Thanks for the good times, my wife and I will be attending another event f'sho. read more

this was the first time my husband and I tried out Dishcrawl and we are do glad we did. It gave us the opportunity to check out some fabulous restaurants in one fell swoop and meet some interesting people along the way. The food was great, the people were fun and it was just a very fun date night. I highly recommend it! read more

Dishcrawl is an awesome concept and I had a really good time when I signed up for the event last time. It not only helps you find new places to go to when you wanna eat, but also lets small businesses thrive. A win-win for sure. Great job Tracy and team. read more

What a concept. Paying $5 per drink in a plastic cup, and $5 per dish which you can get for $3 any time, then standing in the street in front of office build enjoying them. I appreciate this so much that i will pay $19 handling fee just to be part of stuffing my face during the slow business hour (2-6pm on Sunday) experience, plus downtown san jose parking. Pretty sure the restaurant made money hand over fist. DishCrawl made out ok with the $19 per dufus and some commission from the ticket sale. I am wonder who is the sucker while sucking the straw out of plastic cup sangria with my fellow patrons in suits and ties. read more

This was the first time I have participated in a Dishcrawl, so I didn't know what to expect. My cousins and I paid $70 total for 12 tickets (apparently allocated for 6 food items and 6 drinks). Upon arrival at 2:30 pm (event was from 2-6), there was a check-in table that was completely congested with people, no lines that were visible, just chaos. At one point, someone that worked for Dishcrawl came out and tried to straighten things out, but to no avail. I showed them my ticket via my iPhone Passport (which they gave the option of using from an email confirmation) and the woman said she couldn't find me on the list so she just asked me how many tickets I purchased. Clearly a sign of lack of training and overwhelm. Apparently my cousins had the same problem and one of them was even shorted tickets (twice)! After getting our tickets, a ballot and a very confusing map we were on our way. The first stop was obviously the bar - which every single person was waiting at since it was right next to the check-in spot. The poor people working at the bar, apparently they had no idea that they would be bombarded by 200 people waiting for drinks. Anyways, they were making specialty drinks which took twice as long, so there was a lot of impatient people waiting on drinks. Next stop, food. The lines for the 6 places were absurdly long and the waits for food was even longer. The line for Bray Butcher Block & Bistro was incredibly long but they managed to get people through the lines and fed faster than any other restaurant on the list. Konjoe Burger on the other hand, had massive demand but the wait was over 25 minutes to get a piece of fried chicken. They ended up running out of food very quickly because apparently Dishcrawl didn't tell them that there would be over 200 people to feed. The chicken was amazing and I felt absolutely terrible for Konjoe over that situation. This event truly lacked planning. Being an event planner myself, I cannot imagine feeling satisfied with this event. There was no clear labeling of which way people should travel to the specified locations, there wasn't even a sign saying that the restaurants were participating in the event that day. There was no one from Dishcrawl around to help answer questions or navigate people - it was just terrible. I was beyond frustrated with the entire event that I almost went to the ticket desk and ask for a refund on our tickets. The last thing I will say about this event is for any restaurants that are considering is a Dishcrawl, I recommend that you think twice. The way that this event was put together did a lot of damage to the restaurants that were communicated with properly about timing, number of people, etc. Whenever I heard people complaining about service at any of the places, I tried to mention that it wasn't their fault - because it wasn't - it was completely the fault of Dishcrawl. Never again, will I purchase tickets or attend one of these events. I could have taken my $70 to a nice restaurant and have had an amazing dinner vs the chaos of the Dishcrawl. read more

Dishcrawl was more like a Dishwait: wait 30min just to redeem the livingsocial coupon for tickets, wait 20min to be seated at 19Market, wait 15min at Fahrenheit, and wait 40min at Billy Berks. Even though we arrived at 5:30pm, we were in a slight panic that we wouldn't be able to use all our tickets by the events 8pm closing. Each establishment's staff were very nice, and would apologize profusely about the wait, but I was surprised that they were surprised about the crowds. I mean, this is not the first ever Dishcrawl, yet everything was VERY DISORGANIZED. The venues need to clear out a standing area only space, break out the paper plates and stop trying to do mini-sit down dinners which result in lines of irritated people that snake out the door (which I guess has allowed me a lot of time to write this review). Also, if it wasn't for the livingsocial deal ($10 got you admission, 3 food/drink tickets and a cupcake), I don't know if it would've been worth it, since $5/ticket is pretty pricey for 2 small tacos (19Market), or prosciutto crostini (Vino Vino), and in general so-so food. So sad to see such an awesome concept implemented so poorly. read more

I have attended at least 3 different Dishcrawl events. All have been fabulous. They introduce you to a number of restaurants that you probably would never have tried. Now they are some of our favorites. Especially when we have out of town company we love to take them to these restaurants that we have been introduced to by Dishcrawl. It's also great that they introduce you to the chefs and the chefs have a chance to explain their signature dishes. We've met so many wonderful people at these events. In San Jose we also had the chance to see entertainment pop up between our walk to the next venue. Santana Row is so much fun as we can window shop along the way. I give Dishcrawl 5 stars, we can't wait to go again! read more