English
Spanish
Vietnamese
One of the great pleasures of compiling stories for The Biz Beat is meeting remarkable restaurant owners and soaking up their enthusiasm. Having the chance to stand in a corner of a kitchen and watch them prepare their dishes is a joy and an education. Their stories are diverse, from those who learned recipes by...
Santa Clara reserves fall short of revenue needs
Santa Clara’s budget deficit has shrunk dramatically, but city officials warn that new tax strategies are necessary to build up long-suffering coffers. City officials told the Santa Clara City Council this month the $27 million deficit has dropped to about $9 million. But to maintain this downward trend, city employees recommended some adjustments to the...
‘Dying to stay here’: The plight of Black people in Silicon Valley
A local economist startled by the staggering disparities pushing African Americans to the margins in Santa Clara County is launching a video and podcast project hoping to bring more attention to the issue. Chuck Cantrell’s “Dying to Stay Here” video was formally released at CreaTV studios in San Jose earlier this month. The roughly nine-minute...
San Jose Flea Market vendors get two-year reprieve
San Jose Berryessa Flea Market vendors have been guaranteed another two years to stay open, thanks to an early morning deal struck between San Jose and the landowners. San Jose Councilmember David Cohen reached an agreement on Friday with the Bumb family to guarantee the flea market can stay open until at least January 2026....
San Jose Chamber of Commerce names new CEO
The San Jose Chamber of Commerce has selected Leah Toeniskoetter as its new president and CEO, the organization announced today. Toeniskoetter is the founding director of public policy think tank SPUR San Jose, as well as a senior manager at Deloitte and daughter of prolific developer Chuck Toeniskoetter. She is the third CEO for the...
San Jose bends to developers in delaying wage theft policy
A shiny luxury condo tower in downtown San Jose is a stark reminder of the dark and tragic abuse workers endured to construct it—with some locked in shipping containers after spending the day working for little to no pay. The city’s latest policy is designed to ensure history doesn’t repeat itself. Under the proposed responsible...
The Biz Beat: Midtown San Jose restaurant puts a spin on breakfast
Groucho Marx once said he would not care to belong to any club that would have him as a member. But if he’d seen the fantasyland of selections at The Breakfast Club at Midtown San Jose, it is likely he would have made an exception. While the menu is broken down into traditional breakfast and...
The Biz Beat: The food at San Jose’s Funny Farm is no joke
The sandwich board outside The Funny Farm Restaurant advertises a rum cake so good it needs a designated driver. A sign on the front counter next to a bucket of rubber chickens reads, “Warning: Snarky Staff.” A stuffed unicorn hangs upside down from the ceiling, surrounded by dangling multi-colored Slinkies. “We’re a very homey place,”...
San Jose hosts a futuristic vision of mass transit
The future of transportation arrived in San Jose via a conference centered on automated, sustainable forms of public transit for the region and beyond. The 2023 Podcar City transit innovation conference took place Friday at San Jose City Hall, where about 100 representatives from transit organizations, companies and municipal governments from around the world gathered...
Downtown Sunnyvale’s housing anchors the community
The stream of customers barely slowed at Bean Scene Cafe on Murphy Avenue in Sunnyvale, as owner Kenny Lam poured espresso shots and steamed milk for lattes. The cafe, along with all of downtown Sunnyvale, has returned to pre-pandemic levels of foot traffic and engagement. City leaders and business owners attribute the success to a...