Downtown Willow Glen

I really like Willow Glen, such a positive environment with friendly people and cute little restaurants and stores. Definitely a place worth checking out especially if you like to bring your family somewhere for the weekend. Just wish there was more of a night life here, a lot of the restaurants and bars aren’t open too late.

My favorite place. Good place to raise a family and meet good people!
It’s a community similar to a young Burlingame Ave or Los Gatos.
Schools +, houses++, people /​restaurants /​community +++.
It’s a must to check out the hidden gem of the South Bay.
I’ve been here over 12+ years and my memories and fun is timeless.
I started as a single Firefighter in the area and now I’m an active member in the community, married, and selling homes to people who feel my love for the area too.

Willow Glen? LOL more like a willow tree. This place is olddddd, nothing exciting about this area. I don’t even know how shops there exist with all these restrictive driving and the inadequate parking spaces. The people on the bikes are just a bunch of knuckleheads that don’t follow the rules of the road. Run red lights and ride right in the middle of the streets. There are bike lanes, use them! And they have the audacity to look at you and be mad when you want to pass them. Your legs not mine. The flag thing is a joke, invest in some real crossing beacons if you want to be «fancy.» The people there think that once they get a hold of the flag they can just walk out into the street like it’s some sort of magical force field that will protect you from a 2 ton moving object. The flag is there to help you be more visible not to make you invincible, got it?
I do say though there are only a few places I would go to there, and they don’t even fill up the number of fingers I have on a single hand. The majority of the people that do «hang out/​shop» act like their shit don’t stink. Nose high in the air like they are too good to talk to everyone else. Speaking from experience not assumptions so don’t even go there.
I would give this a goose egg for stars if I could. Nothing makes it stand out from any other places I’ve been to.
Let the review bashing begin LOL

Oh where do I begin…
Three years ago I moved into this area without realizing I was walking distance to Willow Glen. The people that have lived here long term call it «The Avenue» and «Downtown» claiming it was called this 80 plus years ago. To me, it’s just another street with shops, nothing special. I thought it was a safe neighborhood, I hoped the people were nice and my primary reasons for migrating this direction was the schools. Well in the short time I have been here, much has happened. On good olé Facebook, you will find a few pages by loyal residents desperately trying to shine and represent the «town». One turned into a bloodbath via words, one has a snobby real estate agent (this is from experience, think high school days personality… I gave up trying to smile and say hi), one is trying to keep the page moderated, one highlights all the neighbors trying to get rid of their pets so often I had to remove myself from the sadness and the king issue right now the ROAD DIET page. The «politicians» of this place lied to the neighborhood when they said the Road Diet would be a 3 month trial. They reduced the lanes from four to two lanes to make pedestrians and bikers happy. They forced so many people out, businesses are suffering, people are angry (with the acceptation of some happy go luckies), the amount of crashes and road rage has escalated and the «town» has been divided because of this mess. It all comes down to money, the rich people (Richard & Tim are two annoyances) that rule the land will be any means necessary get their way. I personally am looking forward to moving, but I can leave at any time. The people who own homes are stuck, so make sure this is what your happy signing up for. Crime is a weekly occurrence, home invasions, car breaks ins, currently someone is on the loose stealing cats and killing them (google that to) and over all its not a place I would ever consider rooting myself long term. I don’t feel safe letting my son play outside, some parents do… but I have seen cars driving slowly around the school we attend and the crime stories in the area keep me on my toes. At the very end of Lincoln Ave the lush life appeal flips to very poor. This also happens at the end of Malone, Willow Glen tries to be in their own little bubble and push the others out. We still get scam solicitors and the helicopters flying around with the search light is the new norm. If you move to close to the High school beware… kids in the streets, smoking, loitering, drugs… you name it. Wild random parties that parents will openly justify in the Facebook feeds. Santana Row cost shopping, when in reality you could drive down the street to Campbell and have FREE parking, lower costs and more to choose from. Yes I said free parking… The Willow Glen parking garage at the corner has started charging for a tiny spot if you are unable to justify where exactly you are going and for how long.
I could seriously go on and on…
But let me just say, if you think moving here will be sugar and spice and everything nice… you are wrong. Plenty of people will debate this with me. But I have kept up on everything, and this place is not except from crime. There are so many nasty massage parlors around this place its gross. One is bright yellow on Lincoln. Smashed windows, late night search parties… the other day I left for work and there were officers lingering. I was happy to see them!
Only thing worthy of every ones business is La Villa, definitely check them out.

Willow Glen is now a nightmare with it’s lane closures called the «road diet» from Minnesota to Coe.

HORRIBLE. You cannot get out of parking spaces or out of parking lots because of a steady stream of cars. People are not letting you in cause they are frustrated trying to get to their destination. I will take my business someplace more consumer friendly

IMPORTANT NOTICE: As of 02÷21÷15, traffic on Lincoln Avenue between Minnesota and Willow will be restricted to one lane of traffic in each direction. Be advised.

Living in the area for about ten years now, I’ve come to love this charming town. I’d say it’s more of a family-​oriented neighborhood & the locals are quite friendly. During the weekend it’s thriving with families, dog walkers, & shoppers. There’s something for everyone with a good variety of restaurants, boutiques, & coffee shops all along Lincoln Avenue. The town also offers various events throughout the year. My personal favorite is Ladies Night Out which is two times a year & a free event. Christmas is another beautiful time of year with the tree lighting ceremony & Christmas Tree Lanes. Truly, Willow Glen has a strong sense of community & is a lovely little town.

Downtown Willow Glen is very cute! I love how it’s family friendly and I see a lot of babies out at night. There are many dogs, too. Unlike downtown San Jose, we can stroll around with our baby without inhaling pee and weed or having to hear bums yell at each other.
For about 10 years, Bill’s Café and Aqui’s used to be the only place I went to get decent food and drinks (mmmm…Industrial Strength Swirls!), but now there are many places to choose from. Yuki Sushi has great sushi and sake samplers, I enjoyed a Mediterranean omelette from John’s, the sweet rice and mango from Blue Mango was yummy, and the burgers I had at Main Street Burgers were excellent. Every time I’m in the neighborhood I must have ice cream in a waffle cone from Willow Glen Creamery! I have yet to try Stumpy’s, I’m excited to check out the new Opa, and I still need to know why The Table is getting so many good reviews. I just realized there’s a lot more restaurants I need to check out. I should come here more often! I wish there was more parking and maybe I could give this place 5 stars!

Downtown WG is a great spot. Whatever time of the day it is, there is something here you can do, or eat or just hang out.
There are plenty of places to go for breakfast. The Starbucks is pretty much at the end of Lincoln, but Pete’s Coffee, Noahs Bagels and Jamba Juice is right smack center of Downtown WG.
My favorite brunch spot is Bills Café, they get pretty busy, but if you are lucky they will seat you right away. Oh and they have great mimosas, they put strawberries in theirs to look fancy. For something quick I grab bagels from Noahs or donuts at Manleys. If you like fast food, the only one they have is Jack in the Box. There are plenty of coffee spots that I have not tried out here yet.
When it comes to lunch there are so many options. They did just open up a Main Street Burger that I want to try out. But when it comes to pizza they have Round Table, Willow Street Pizza, Jakes Pizza or Pizza My Heart. There is Chinese food, nothing I like. They have Opa, new bigger spot right in the center of WG. They have Sushi, my favorite spot Yuki Sushi. There is also a LeBuolanger for sandwiches. I really like Crepevine which is not just sweet stuff, it’s a must try if you haven’t already.
If you are looking for something sweet, they have a nice little candy store called Powell’s that has everything. But if you are looking for ice cream there’s a Baskin Robin, Willow Glen Creamery or Yogurt Cove. All very nice places to get something sweet.
You can do Aqui for dinner or just drinks. There is also a place called Goosetown, but I’ve only eaten there for lunch. There is Subway for something quick. There are other Mexican restaurants if that’s what you are looking for but nothing fantastic that I’ve found yet.
Oh and if you are looking for your bank I think they have all of them. BofA, Wells, Chase, Citibank all within walking distance.
A must do in WG is when they have Dancing on The Avenue, where they close off the street for a one day festival. Lots of fun.
The one thing I wish they did have was a good Phở and pearl drink spot!

This is the quaintest little downtown ever. The shops are adorable and actually fairly affordable considering. We went through this area during a wine walk. Everyone in all the cute little shops were so nice and friendly. There were food shops, antique and collectable shops, beauty and nail shops, clothing stores and a lot more. It’s just a neat place to walk around and look in the shops and just spend a pleasant afternoon. I can’t wait to go again when I get the time.

I’m a huge fan of Willow Glen!
It’s full of small town community charm and reminds me of the tony town I grew up in.
A few of my favorites are Powell’s, Mariette’s Chocolates, Athletic Performance and Whatnots and Dodads. They’re some of my all time top shops to frequent.
I’d love to see a few more really neat shops drop in to round out the awesome set they already have! :D

This place is the gem of San Jose. Great restaurants and a great vibe. I love the street fairs ! It’s kept clean and friendly as well. At Christmas time the residents decorate their houses and lawns so take a walk around with a hot chocolate during Christmas.

Downtown Willow Glen does often feel like a walk back in time. I love walking around checking out the shops and restaurants. The addition of valet parking up near Lincoln and Willow has helped with the parking on busy dinner nights. And unlike Campbell and Los Gatos, the people in Willow Glen are a bit more laid back and less… I dunno… Let’s just say people smile a lot, wave a lot, stop and say hi for no reason… all that. Dog friendly, family friendly, and bike friendly. What would make downtown Willow Glen 5 stars? Having the great little shops stay open a touch longer on Friday and Saturday evenings. It would be great to go and get a bite to eat then walk around in the shops. Most shops are small business owner owned so I am sure working a 14 – 15 hour day on Friday and Saturday may be a bit more than most people want to do! Other than that, I love DTWN WG!

Downtown Willow Glen has almost everything; restaurants (cheap to expensive), ice cream, frozen yogurt, boutiques, bookstores, hair salons, yoga and a lot more I can’t think of. Although there are a lot of shops, most of them are pretty random. Downtown WG is an ideal place for Sunday brunch, morning coffee, or drinks after work at Aqui’s. It is very family friendly. Additional parking structure recently added is very helpful. Lincoln Avenue is great for food and window shopping but it is a painful place to drive through during peak traffic hours! Also, most of the shops, besides the restaurants, close early so it isn’t that great of a place for night-​time hang out. I like Downtown Mountain better.