Mortar Pestle - San Jose

If you want to smell curry or all your clothes have to dry after a fun night, mortar and pestle is the place for you. From the moment we entered, the strong fragrance from the neighboring restaurant (Curry Up Now) was unavoidable as they share the same restaurant place. The cocktails here were fantastic. The Perennials Poison and Primm's Island had a delicious combination of flavors, good amount of alcohol (Vodka, Gin and Rum) and were a great balance of fruity, tart and bitter. And the presentation and garnish for our drinks were creative and fascinating, especially the Nimbu Pani Puri, with a crisp, perfectly round pani puri shell that floated on the surface. The bartender was friendly and worked hard, although the waiting period was long later in the evening when it became more busy. In fact, after we waited for a bit when we sat at the bar, another employee went to us in front of the bar to take our drinks order, he said that the bartender was weakened (even if the place wasn't very busy). The ambience here is missing. It is a casual restaurant atmosphere where the bar is more of an afterthought... permeated with potent curry smell... At least the drinks are good.

12 out of 10—I don’t know what else I could say! Not only was the food amazing, but the service…top notch. My husband and I were traveling and left a cell phone there…with all of our travel info and basically our whole life on it…it was a worst case scenario. We texted with the staff the next day and they had found it and held it until we arrived again. The food was so good that we ate there twice. The drinks were amazing! Chronic tonic…get it!!!!! Masala burrito…do yourself a favor! I will be back for sure. So impressed!!!!! Couldn’t be more thankful for the service and solid staff—it could’ve gone a different direction for us. Thank you!!!!!!!!’

Yummerz: 6.75/10Moniez: 8.7/10 (if happy hour)Noices: 8.5/10Vibez: 3.6/10Gabagoos: 7.2/10

Cocktails and Indian food under the same roof. Samosas and a cosmo.

My wife and I were up here for the weekend to attend the Niners vs Bucs NFL game. We wanted to blow off some steam after the Bucs lost and I was searching for a place which served craft cocktails. Lo and behold I found this hidden gem. We came in and sat at the bar. Our bartender VINCENT was OUTSTANDING. He was personable, charismatic and above all made some amazing drinks.Unfortunately there was one drawback, we witnessed the assistant manager as a horrible people person and people manager. I’m in customer service and I DO NOT condone his behavior with his staff or his energy with the customers.