'Metro Silicon Valley Newspaper picks the best of the best of South Santa Clara County'

Best place to get a tri-tip sandwich on garlic bread

Winner: Trail Dust BBQ

17240 Monterey St., Morgan Hill; 408.776.9072 In our age of tofu and vegetarian options, sometimes a person just needs to give into their carnivorous instincts and consume some good ol’ animal flesh. Trail Dust BBQ, located in the heart of downtown Morgan Hill, is a Mecca for the meat eater, offering big slices of tender beef and pork that are all slowly fired to perfection on the grill. One of the house specialties is their mouthwatering tri-tip, which has a crispy, caramelized layer on the outside, and a juicy, medium rare inside. Order it up as a sandwich, and it comes served up on hearty, butter garlic bread. (JF)

Best place to pick a peach

Winner: Andy's Orchard

1615 Half Road, Morgan Hill; 408.782.7600. Feel the juice run down your chin as you bite into the best peaches in the Bay Area at Andy’s Orchard, one of the premiere purveyors of rare stone fruit around. This Morgan Hill farm offers 61 varieties of the very products that earned Santa Clara County the title “The Valley of the Heart’s Delight.” Attend their summer fruit tastings and walk the orchards, bucket in hand, with owner Andy Mariani to learn about his myriad of fruit. (JF)

Best local India Pale Ale.

Winner: El Toro Brewing Company

17605 Monterey Road, Morgan Hill; 408.778.BREW Hardcore hopheads should rejoice in El Toro Brewing Company’s India Pale Ale and Deuce Imperial IPA, two of the most underrated bitter beers out there. This small, Morgan Hill-based brewery opened up a brew pub in downtown mushroom town in 200,6 where they pore the two different supremely crafted IPAs. Hops cling to the throat in their deliciously jacked-up double Deuce Imperial, while their traditional IPA is a well-balanced combination of subtle sweet malt with a dominating hop finish. (JF)

Best Place to Eat BBQ Oysters

Winner: Poppy’s Fish and Poultry

30 E. Third St., Morgan Hill; 408.778.3200 People can suck down some of the best BBQ oysters in the world while they sit on the casual patio of Poppy’s Fish and Poultry in Morgan Hill. Slathered in a delicious secret sauce and topped with Parmesan cheese, these huge fresh Pacific oysters are shipped in special from Washington State by shop owners Michael and Jana Castelan. The couple really is the soul of this little old-fashioned butcher and seafood shop, offering humor and hospitality along with ice-cold Alaskan brew, wild seafood and an extensive selection of organic meats. (JF)

Best place to get sprinkles on top

Winner: The Cupcake Shop

17385-B Monterey Road, Morgan Hill; 408.778.2023 The concept of haute cupcakes, the melding of nostalgia and exotic ingredients to make trendy individual baked delights, had a huge boom in LA last year. So it’s no surprise that South County now has The Cupcake Shop, a little downtown bakery serving up morsels of moist sugary goodness in flavors with names as cute as the shop’s pink decor. Try their Tropical Carrot, which has a light, fruity cream cheese frosting that melts in the mouth, or the Old School, a yummy coco cupcake with a marshmallow cream center, dipped in chocolate ganache. (JF)

Best Place to buy absinth accoutrement

Winner: Magpie Home and Garden

17505 Monterey Road, Morgan Hill; 408.779.4594 Magpie, a darling French-themed shop in Morgan Hill, looks like The Palace of Versailles threw up inside it. Seriously, every corner of this little upscale home and garden shop is sparkly, lacy, floral rococo overload, the perfect sort of place to buy a unique, one of a kind gift for the girly-girl in one’s life. And if that girl is into a little experimentation, they also stock full absenthe accoutrement including Czech-made fountain sets and specialty glasses, all for drinking up a little of the green fairy. (JF)

Best place to buy an Orange Amplifier.

Winner: The Music Tree

17470 Monterey St., Morgan Hill; 408.779.4312 If you were in a punk or rock band in the ‘70s, Orange was the to go to brand for guitar amplifiers with an amazingly knarly crunch that could be heard for miles. With their distinctive bright orange amplifier heads, speaker cabinets and iconic psychedelic logo, Orange gear is beloved among vintage band gear heads and guitar connoisseurs alike. Along with being a pillar of the Morgan Hill music community, The Music Tree is the only authorized Orange Amps dealer in the South Bay. (JF)

Best place to get homemade German raisin bread.

Winner: Mitra’s Bakerys

435 Vineyard Town Center, Morgan Hill; 408.778.9000 Hearty breads, buttery rolls and scrumptious desserts are the mainstays Mitra’s Bakery, a newly opened bakedgoods shop located in Morgan Hill’s Vineyard Town Center. Mitra’s moved into the old Morgan Hill Bakery location a few months ago, where they now produce an array of traditional homemade German breads and confections in huge portions and attentive customer service. Make sure to pick up a loaf of their German raisin bread, a light, not-too-sweet cinnamon infused loaf that is as great for making French toast as it is for a ham sandwich. (JF)

Best place to ride a giant banana.

Winner: Gilroy Gardens Family Theme Park

3050 Hecker Pass Highway, Gilroy; 408.840.7100 Where else can one take flight under the cap of a colossal mushroom, spin in a giant strawberry, twirl in enormous garlic bulb, ride a huge artichoke or swing in a big banana? Gilroy Gardens Family Theme Park is the place for young children and their parents to enjoy some food and foliage fun under the sun. Originally owned by the Bonfante family, the attractions also include six majestic gardens with unusual landscape architecture, circus trees, rare topiaries and colorful flowerbeds. (JF)

Best place to pet a kitty

Winner: Town Cats of Morgan Hill Rescue

P.O. Box 1828, Morgan Hill; 408.779.5761 As Santa Clara County’s only no-kill cat shelter and center, Town Cats of Morgan Hill Rescue is always in need of a few good people to help take care of their hundreds of friendly felines awaiting adoption. Many of the cats that come into their center are in need of socialization, so volunteers are more then welcome to come by for a couple of hours to pet, play with and socialize the kitties as they get ready for their new homes. (JF)

Best Place to Paint a Pot

Winner: Glazed Creations

17245 Monterey St., Morgan Hill; 408.778.0441 Glazed Creations offers amateur artists an unique way to indulge in pottery, but without all the mess. This family friendly ceramics painting shop lets patrons pick out unfinished pots, plates, cups and figurines, which they then paint to their liking. The pieces are fired on sight, and make unique handmade gifts. Warmed from their indoor kiln, Glazed Creations specializes in group events and children’s birthdays, and even has a big party room in back. (JF)

Best place to get that LA look.

Winner: Karma Boutique

311 Vineyard Town Center, Morgan Hill; 498.778.7900 Looking like an edgy SoCal rock star is not hard at Morgan Hill’s Karma Boutique. Shoppers will know this is not their mother’s clothing boutique as soon as cross the leopard-print carpet and take a look at the racks upon racks of sultry clubbing minidresses and tight designer jeans by True Religion and Seven Jeans. One of their biggest labels is Ed Hardy, so make sure to stock up on all those trendy tattoo-print t-shirts and bags here. (JF)

Best shop to get an unusual piercing

Winner: El Toro Body Shop

17400 Monterey Road Ste. 2D, Morgan Hill; 408.778.5444 Funky tribal art and jewelry may line the walls of Morgan Hill’s El Toro Body Shop, but this is not a stumble in drunk and get a Chinese character on your shoulder type of parlor. Talented tattoo artist Marty Maaske and piercing expert Melissa Clayton run this shop, where safety, hygiene and privacy are of the up most importance. One could seriously eat off of this place’s floor, it’s so immaculately clean. El Toro Body Shop is everything a person could want in a responsible body modification location. (JF)

Best place to get a carbon bike frame.

Winner: Specialized Bicycle Components

15130 Concord Circle, Morgan Hill; 408.779.6229 It’s no secret that the Silicon Valley has some of the best bicycling terrain in country, but few biking enthusiast know that one of the United State’s biggest manufacturers of frames is also based in the south bay. Specialized Bicycle Components, located in Morgan Hill, makes some of the coolest, lightest carbon bike frames out there. Whether riders want to transverse the chaparral in Hollister on a mountain bike or cruise around downtown San Jose on a stylish fat tire, Specialized has them all. (JF)

Best place to smoke stogies with the boys

Winner: Morgan Hill Cigar Co.

17430 Monterey St., Morgan Hill; 408.776.7667 When the Morgan Hill Tobacco Company closed its doors earlier this summer, South County smoke aficionados were without their beloved smoke-filled haven, where the camaraderie was as important as the luxurious hand-wrapped cigars. Thankfully, a small group of investors recently bought the shop, and it will re-open by the end of this month. The new Morgan Hill Cigar Company is sure to be the best place in town to chill old school, imbibe vintage wine and play a few rounds of pool or chess, all while chomping on some of the tastiest stogies from around the world. (JF)

Post a comment

Name:

Email:

Word verification*

Type the characters you see below. Try another

Retrieved from "http://www.morganhillobserver.com/Article:News/2009/09/28/Metro%E2%80%99s_Best_of_South_County"