Orchestria Palm Court Restaurant Introduce
Introduction / Overview: A Truly Unique California Dining Experience
For California residents seeking an unforgettable and distinctive dining experience that goes far beyond a simple meal, Orchestria Palm Court Restaurant in San Jose is a truly remarkable destination. This establishment is much more than an Italian restaurant; it operates as a fine dining venue, a bar, a live music venue, and a historic piano bar all rolled into one. The restaurant’s name is derived from its numerous orchestrions
—electric-mechanical pianos that play continuously using wax perforated scores, creating a mesmerizing soundtrack to your meal. This unique feature gives the restaurant a captivating good-old-day atmosphere
set within a stylish brick warehouse.
The atmosphere is described as a blend of casual, cozy, historic, romantic, and upscale, appealing to a wide array of patrons, from groups and families to solo diners and tourists. The decor is intentionally vintage, featuring an old fountain bar that serves both modern cocktails and classic items like milkshakes and rare phosphate drinks—a unique offering in the United States. Beyond the captivating ambiance, the menu focuses on high-quality, healthy ingredients, including organic dishes and grass-fed meats alongside classic Italian entrees like Pesto Gnocchi
and comfort classics like Boeuf Bourguinon
. It’s an ideal spot for a special dinner and is highly praised for its singular, fun, and fascinating experience.
Location and Accessibility for California Users
Orchestria Palm Court Restaurant is conveniently located in the downtown area of San Jose, making it accessible to both local residents and those visiting the Silicon Valley region.
- Address: 27 E William St, San Jose, CA 95112, USA
The location is easy to find and the restaurant offers multiple parking options, which is a significant advantage in a city center:
- Free street parking
- Paid parking lot
The restaurant is committed to ensuring a comfortable visit for all patrons, as demonstrated by its accessibility features:
- Wheelchair accessible entrance.
- Wheelchair accessible parking lot (referring to available nearby options).
- Wheelchair accessible restroom.
- Wheelchair accessible seating.
This inclusive design ensures that the unique dining experience is available to everyone.
Services Offered (Use a list)
Orchestria Palm Court provides comprehensive services focused on the evening dining experience:
- Dine-in: Full table service is offered for dinner and dessert, with a designated seating area.
- Takeout: Meals are available for pickup, allowing customers to enjoy their high-quality food at home.
- Reservations: The restaurant requires and accepts reservations, with
Dinner reservations recommended
—a necessity for securing a table at this popular, unique venue. - Live Music: The core service highlight is the continuous live music provided by the orchestrion machines, offering a truly unique auditory backdrop.
- Full Bar Service: Operates as a full bar, offering Alcohol, Beer, Cocktails, and an extensive Wine selection.
- Phosphate Bar: The vintage fountain bar serves traditional soft drinks, milkshakes, and the rare, unique phosphate drinks.
- Family Services: Clearly identified as
Good for kids
and providing high chairs, making the fascinating atmosphere a memorable experience for children as well. - Inclusive Environment: Listed as LGBTQ+ friendly and a Transgender safespace, promoting a welcoming environment for all groups.
- Payment Options: Accepts both Credit cards and Debit cards.
Features / Highlights (Use a list)
The Orchestria Palm Court boasts numerous features that make it a standout destination in California’s culinary landscape:
- Orchestrion Collection: The primary highlight is the extensive collection of animated, antique mechanical pianos that play constantly, providing unparalleled
live music
and a fascinating visual element to the dining experience. - Unique Ambiance: Features a strong historic, vintage fashion and
brick warehouse setting
, creating a romantic and upscale yet cozy atmosphere. - Focus on Organic and Quality Ingredients: Menu items emphasize
quality healthy ingredients
andOrganic dishes
, including Grass-Fed Rib-Eye Steak and Grass-Fed Tenderloin Steak. - Rare Phosphate Drinks: One of the few places in the US where patrons can still enjoy classic, vintage phosphate fountain drinks.
- Specialty Menu Items: The Italian-inspired menu includes unique entrees like
Butternut-Marsala Pasta
,Chicken Breast Saltimbocca
, and premium items likeSurf and Turf
and Sea Bass. - Unique Service Model: Features a self-serve counter system where customers order and pay at the back, allowing for a service fee included in the bill, meaning no tipping is necessary.
- Partners' Passion: The restaurant was founded by two partners who based the concept on their personal passion and growing collection of these antique machines, adding a compelling, personal story to the venue.
- Diverse Offerings: Functions as an Italian restaurant, Fine dining restaurant, Bar, and Piano bar, providing a comprehensive entertainment and dining option.
Contact Information (address, phone)
For reservations or more information about the menu and unique experience, please use the following contact details:
- Address: 27 E William St, San Jose, CA 95112, USA
- Phone: (408) 288-5606
- Mobile Phone: +1 408-288-5606
What is worth choosing: A Meal and a Museum-Quality Show Combined
The Orchestria Palm Court Restaurant is absolutely worth choosing for California residents looking for an evening out that transcends typical dining. This establishment offers a rare fusion of fine Italian cuisine, a commitment to organic, quality ingredients, and an unparalleled display of historic, automated music and mechanics. Patrons consistently highlight the very unique experience
and the fascination of watching and listening to the orchestrions play, making it ideal for celebrating birthdays or creating memorable family events. The atmosphere is truly one-of-a-kind, providing a backdrop that is both nostalgic and deeply romantic.
The menu, with its high-quality steak cuts and specialty entrees, ensures that the food matches the elevated environment. Moreover, the distinctive service model—where the service fee is included, making tipping unnecessary—simplifies the end-of-meal process, allowing guests to fully immerse themselves in the experience without distraction. For a fun, vintage, and high-quality dining experience in San Jose, Orchestria Palm Court offers a blend of culinary pleasure and mechanical marvel that can't be found anywhere else.
Orchestria Palm Court Restaurant Menu
Small Plates
- Soup of the Day $6.40
French Onion Soup with Gruyere cheese and crouton
- Strawberry Salad $7.20
organic spring mix lettuces with strawberry slices, blue cheese, cherry tomatoes, and candied walnuts, in a strawberry vinaigrette
- Palm Court Cheese Plate $13.60
Brie, smoked Gouda, Irish cheddar cheeses; served with savory tapenade and fruit
- Shrimp Scampi $15.20
in lemon-garlic butter
- Gnocchi Appetizer $13.60
potato pasta with grilled artichokes, charred Spring onions, crispy capers, in a lemon cream sauce with Peccorino-Romano cheese
Vegan Entree
- Vegetable Platter $19.20
(always available) - sauteed market vegetables, wild rice, balsamic reduction
Entrees
- Sea Bass $28.00
(gf) - with crayfish topping, on roasted potates and vegetables
- Boeuf Bourguinon $21.60
(gf) - traditional French preparation, braised beef in a red wine sauce with carrots, mushrooms, and pearl onions, served on roasted Yukon Gold potatoes
- Surf and Turf $41.60
(gf) steak and lobster tail served with mashed potatoes and vegetable
- Sampler Trio $36.00
seared Salmon with tapenade; grass-fed Tenderloin on potatoes; Gulf Shrimp with garlic-butter sauce on wild rice; served with vegetables
- Vegetable Platter $18.40
(vegan and gf) - sauteed market vegetables, wild rice, balsamic reduction
- Shrimp Puttanesca $24.80
(gf) - our signature version of the Italian favorite, wild-caught Gulf shrimp with tomatoes, artichokes, capers, olives, roasted potatoes, anchovies (omitted upon request)
- Chicken Breast Saltimbocca $24.00
sage-rubbed and pan-roasted, hormone-free, bone-in breast, with provolone and crispy prosciutto chip, on polenta, with roasted broccolini, in a Marsala wine reduction
- Butternut-Marsala Pasta $19.20
(vegetarian) - white wheat pasta with butternut squash, mushrooms, vegetables in sage Marsala cream sauce
- Grass-Fed Rib-Eye Steak $40.00
(10-12oz grass-fed beef) (gf) - mushroom-Swiss cheese Yukon Gold potatoes, Blue Lake green beans
- Grass-Fed Tenderloin Steak $29.60
(5-6oz grass-fed beef) (gf) - served with mashed potatoes and vegetables
- Shrimp Scampi Entree $24.80
our wild-caught Gulf shrimp on pasta with butter-garlic sauce, kale, sun-dried tomatoes
- Pesto Gnocchi $19.20
(vegetarian) - potato pasta with pesto (contains cashew and pine nuts) and butter sauce, served with vegetable and fresh Parmesan cheese
Ice Cream, House-Made Desserts
- Profiterole
(white whole wheat cream puff, organic grass-fed whipped cream)
- Creme Brulee
- Traditional Banana Split
- Ice cream
Orchestria Palm Court Restaurant Details
Service options
- Takeout
- Dine-in
- Delivery
Highlights
- Live music
Popular for
- Dinner
- Solo dining
Accessibility
- Wheelchair accessible entrance
- Wheelchair accessible parking lot
- Wheelchair accessible restroom
- Wheelchair accessible seating
Offerings
- Alcohol
- Beer
- Cocktails
- Coffee
- Comfort food
- Organic dishes
- Small plates
- Vegetarian options
- Wine
Dining options
- Dinner
- Dessert
- Seating
- Table service
Amenities
- Restroom
Atmosphere
- Casual
- Cozy
- Historic
- Romantic
- Upscale
Crowd
- Family-friendly
- Groups
- LGBTQ+ friendly
- Tourists
- Transgender safespace
Planning
- Reservations required
- Dinner reservations recommended
- Accepts reservations
Payments
- Credit cards
- Debit cards
- Credit cards
Children
- Good for kids
- High chairs
Parking
- Free street parking
- Paid parking lot
Orchestria Palm Court Restaurant Photos










Orchestria Palm Court Restaurant Location
Orchestria Palm Court Restaurant
27 E William St, San Jose, CA 95112, USA
Orchestria Palm Court Restaurant Reviews
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★ 5★ 4★ 3★ 2★ 1This is a unique restaurant with a good-old-day atmosphere of a brick warehouse setting. The restaurant is so named because of its numerous "orchestrions" (electric-mechanical pianos). Some of these pianos play constantly with the wax perforated scores. It serves good food. With minimum staff, customers order food and drinks at the back counter, were they also pay after dinner. Service fee is included in the bill so no tipping is necessary. Overall it was a nice experience.
May 25 · Je Vais PartoutI brought my kids to this remarkable restaurant for their birthdays. It was a very unique experience and we had a lot of fun.The place is decorated in a very vintage fashion, complete with an old fountain bar serving phosphate drinks as well as other cocktails and milkshakes. They have a unique menu and they seem to be very conscious of having quality healthy ingredients. They told me that this is one of the very few locations in the United States where you could still get phosphate drinks.The entire seating area is surrounded by a variety of animatronic automated pianos that use a form of sheet rolls to play a variety of tunes. It was very fascinating to enjoy our meal and watch and listen to these machines play around us.I believe the two partners that founded this place work behind the two different bar areas, they have quite the story of how they founded the restaurant based on their personal passion for collecting these machines. And then the collection only grew and the result is this fascinating restaurant.If you're looking for a fun and unique experience in a vintage setting, then this place is for you.
January 23 · KarlMy heart was very warm having dinner here. My stomach was very happy as well.To start, for a part time hobby of the owners, this restaurant that is only open on Friday and Saturday, did not come off as exclusive but welcoming. We were traveling in the Bay Area with our dog and wanted to find a restaurant with a patio that our dog could come to instead of leaving her in the hotel. And Orchestria asked what breed(corgi) and asked that we have her behave and welcomed us.As for the dining experience, I felt like I was in a Time Machine and travelled back a century ago with self playing pianos taking turns serenading the dining room.Ordering food is a pleasant experience where you walk up to the bar and place your food orders and get your drinks. The servers and possibly owner? Were very warm and attentive.The food was home styled Italian cooking with good portions. We did not have dessert but enjoyed our appetizers and main dishes.All in all, you don’t come across restaurants with this much culture and personality often, if ever.Go to Orchestria Palm Court if you’re in San Jose, remember, on a Friday or Saturday.
November 16 · Mike SuiDon't have high expectations for the food.... Like others said, it's not fresh (frozen veggies, food coloring in the pesto and gnocchi). I came here for my birthday, and everyone was disappointed in the food quality and service. One of them only received veggies but no pasta, so we had to flag the waiters down to add pasta. My pasta was also burnt. The only positive was the vibes/atmosphere of vintage self-playing pianos.
September 25 · M.Very unique restaurant and ambience... self playing instruments, old time charm and organically sourced food makes the visit worth it.The Shrimp Puttanesca and Chicken Breast Saltimbocca were excellent...loaded with veggies and proteins! Apricot Ambrosia from the ancient fountain was unique.will definitely visit again... Reservation is recommendedLove the fact that tip is included...
January 28 · _anj _n
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