Paper Plane

Great drinks… old fashioned made just right.
Food.pretty good for a bar
Environment… Nice. Not a dancing party type place but its a great spot to hang out with friends.

Awesome spot! Love the ambiance here at Paper Plane. It’s so much larger inside than it looks from the outside. Glad my friends and I stumbled in; we usually just stick to the typical San Pedro Square since that’s what we’re used to. I love how Paper Plane had high ceiling and the tall wall of poison — oops I meant alcohol. Haha. The vibes are also great, cool people, good music, awesome time! Even check out their food menu for more goods as well! They have plenty of tables so I definitely recommend to come by.

Probably won’t return.
I travel to San Jose about 15 times per year, for business. I’ve found great sushi & fantastic Mexican. However this trip, I am staying downtown instead of my usual spot in Cupertino. While exploring downtown hot spots, I came across Paper Plane on Unilocal,noticing the high ratings and proximity to my hotel.
The location is nice. The room/​décor are also nice. The drinks were ok. The food was bad.
Upon sitting at the bar, the mixologist greeted me by offering up a menu drink or a custom cocktail, based on my likes. He asked tons of questions about my preferences and settled on a Rye drink the ended up being a little too sweet, but passable.
When I tried to order, the mixologist objected to my food choice saying that the seafood items were not fresh, he would not recommend. He then pushed me to the Beef Cheek Nachos which were fatty, rich and bland. Yet THIS was supposed to be the recommended dish?
There are no servers here. Unless you’re seated at the bar, you’ll have to get up to place and retrieve your order.
Not the place for me.

This is a really excellent space, with a really impressive bar design that showcases the very large selection of liquors on offer, with a library ladder to get them down from the high shelves. I love this sort of bar, with a sort of industrial feel to them, and it’s a good-​sized space. They don’t have too many tables, though, and we wanted to eat, so we had to hover and swoop in to get a table as someone got up. It worked out quickly for us, but that can be a tiresome game.
They make some very good craft cocktails, but they have the same issue as any other craft cocktail bar – it takes forever the get a drink. When I walked up to the bar, the bartender was making 8 different drinks all at once, which was fascinating to watch, and he was startlingly fast at it. However, it still took roughly 15 minutes to get my drinks and order some food, while my friend sat at a table by herself waiting for me to come back with the drinks. They have «servers» of sorts walking around to clean up tables, but for some reason I don’t understand, they can’t take your order (for food nor drinks). So your only option is to stand in line at the bar. They do have a very clever matrix/​scale on the menu that helps you choose which drink to order, based on it being more comforting or adventurous, and more bold or easy-​drinking. I found that a clever aid in choosing my drink – Up in Smoke – which was delicious and just the sort of drink I was craving.
We ordered the pork belly chicharrones, the bone marrow, and the and the pork chop. The pork belly was decent, but nothing to get too excited about. The bone marrow was good, but the clean ALL of the meat off the outside of the bone, which other places often leave some on and is also quite good to go with the buttery marrow. The pork chop was quite good, and pretty juicy for that cut of meat.
So, five stars for the vibe of the space, five stars for the quality of the drinks, three stars for the wait for drinks, and three stars for the food. A solid four star average…

3.5 would be the rating I’d give this place for it’s drinks.
I feel as though you have to have a very particular palate to enjoy the drinks here. I’ve been to Paper Planes a couple of times, and each time I’ve tried something different.
The drinks here aren’t your typical cocktails, where the alcohol is masked by all the different flavors that are added in there. Nope, these drinks have spices and are very peculiar… it’s definitely a shock to your taste buds in my opinion.
I love the ambiance here, the giant wall of alcohol, the bartenders are cool, and the crowd isn’t too rowdy. The food looks freaking amazing! But I’ve never gotten a chance to try it out. I’m going to probably come back and try that out one of these days.
But they have some pretty cool drinks. Smoke & Fire actually emulates the taste of smoke and fire. it’s super weird, super different, but interesting all at the same time.
This is a nice bar to come and relax with your friends on any given evening.

AMAZING place! Awesome drinks, great ambience and incredible food. The bartenders are very helpful and know what they’re doing. We got the «don’t tell mom» punch (really great) and the «monkey and a ½ banana» (super delicious — tasted a little bit like coffee to me and was perfect after the meal).
The food was incredible! My boyfriend got the burger which was quite large and juicy and the fries were very crispy. I got the pork chop which was cooked and seasoned perfectly. So tender and juicy. The butternut squash-​potato mash and Brussels sprouts were so good too. All in all, a great night!

Lots of young professionals… I see a lot of Asians too.
So I come here for the crowd. ;)
Sometimes this place gets too cool for me. It has all these different specialty alcohols.
Can’t a girl just get some patron and jameson though?
Even though it’s pretty hipster, the bartender did a good job of helping my girlfriend out of making an alternative AMF drink with the alcohol they had.

Ill admit it — Im not part of the cool club. Im not really in with the trend but I think with this one I accidentally stumbled on something that may actually be cool :)
Met a friend for a drink at 7 and walked right and got a table. I love that their drinks arent just some pink fizzy soda with a smudge of alcohol. The drinks are good and their choice of sides are great!
This is a place id like to hang in and drink!!!

I bookmarked Paper Plane about a month after their first Unilocal!review was posted, and now can’t believe I haven’t posted one of my own.
At this point, what can I say that hasn’t already been said? I am not really much of a drinker, but if I read the menu carefully, I can always find a drink I like. I have yet to try their food, mostly because I think I just end up coming here after I’ve already eaten, but with Original Gravity next door I don’t really think I need to anyway.
I, personally, have only ever seen a line out the door for entry once, but I’m sure it happens quite often. Of course some may argue that the drinks take a long time to get made, but please look around and be patient — there are a bunch of other people ordering drinks from the same bartender that you are.
The last time I visited was on November 7^th, a marathon day considering my husband and I got married in the morning, had a rip-​roaring reception in the afternoon, hauled our stuff and ourselves back to San Jose from Palo Alto (not far but quite the drive when you can barely keep your eyes open), had dinner at The Grill on the Alley, and came here for a nightcap with some friends. Entry was quick, the service was good, and it was an all-​around fun time. I always look forward to going back!

I don’t think I’d come back and try out the food and alcoholic beverages again as it was my first time there. Reason being that I had ordered a Bone Marrow dish and all it had was two bone marrows on a bed of greens and sliced bread, thinking it be buttered or something but it was plain. Also, I never had jam placed on top of the bone marrow before, it was a horrible combination to the dish. Leave it as is, it just makes me think they ran out of ideas and picked up a knife and slapped on jam… I had this dish as it is one of my favorites somewhere else and it wowed me with rich flavors and its sides, this one not so much.
The Drinks:
While checking out the menu, the ingredients to the drinks seemed put together well. Once I tried the first cocktail, it had too much of a citrus taste to it and I couldn’t enjoy the other added ingredients in it. Having not finishing my first drink, I decided to try about drink that wasn’t their house drink. So my second drink was also horrible, tasted like black licorice… left me with a bad after taste. The mixologist seemed as he knew what he was doing, I must complement his fast serving to the waiting Crowd. Unfortunately, the items on the drink menu didn’t serve its justice.

This craft cocktail bar is seriously as good as it gets — it’s one of the most impressive bars we’ve been to when it comes to the quality of service, food, and cocktails.
Paid this place a visit on a Sunday afternoon, shortly after opening. We got there around 4:45pm and noticed the bar was already nearly full — a good sign to us!
Fun Fact: They switch out their menu every 6 months, bringing in fresh, new food items and most importantly, craft cocktails!
Here’s the rundown:
Drinks — THIS is where Paper Plane truly shines. The bartenders really know their craft, especially Ryan, the one who served us our drinks that night. Our first 2 drinks came off the menu: Islay Smash and their weekly special from the previous week, Sherry Painkiller. We really appreciate how Ryan explained to us not only what was in the drink, but how mixing everything together creates a certain taste.
From there, he asked us what we’d like next and he was able to mix some tasty drinks based on us describing what we liked. Boyfriend got The Curse of Scotland and I got the CocoNOT, both that fell right into what we were looking for. Ryan was spot on! We got a couple more craft cocktails, all of which tasted amazing.
**Note that Paper Plane specializes in craft cocktails, meaning they don’t make your everyday cocktails (Long Islands, Midori Sour, etc.). Rather, their bartenders focus on unique and interesting flavor profiles.**
Food — Delicious! We ordered the Bone Marrow, which was served quite quickly. Couldn’t find anything wrong with it besides us wishing there were more to go around! We also ordered their weekly special, which was the Manila Clam Chowder — perfect for the cold weather. Again, nothing wrong with it: good amount of clams (we find that a lot of places usually skimp out on clams in their clam chowder) and the soup was hot and creamy.
Ambiance — Love that this place doesn’t try too hard when it comes to the ambiance. Very simple layout: bar, high tops, booths. Love the back brick wall that shares a large collection/​library of spirits, elegantly lit. It kind of has a little of that speakeasy-​feel without trying too hard to look or feel like one.
TIPS:
— Sit at the bar if you can. It’s always nice to chat it up with the bartenders — they’re super friendly and knowledgable.
— Be open to trying new drinks! The bartenders can help put a drink together for you based on what you like and don’t like.
— Have your ID handy. They take their carding responsibilities seriously.
— Enjoy your favorite cocktail on the menu while it lasts. Once they switch it out of their menu, it won’t make it’s way back! (You MIGHT be lucky if they have the ingredients to make it after they remove it off the menu, but I hear it’s rare)
We’ve dubbed this place our new go-​to bar, so we’ll definitely be coming back.

We came here on a Saturday night, and it busy but not elbow-​to-​elbow packed. The bartenders were really friendly, and the décor was great. There’s a mural at the back that show cases all big themes of San Jose (SJU, San Jose Sharks, rose garden, and etc).
One of this concept is that their menu has a grid to help you select your drink based on what you are feeling. We got a pitcher (#1 and #4). The #1 was better in my opinion, but the #4 was similar to a very sour whiskey sour. The table also got a few other cocktails, and they were all mixed well.
It was my first time in downtown San Jose, and I really liked it!
Note: This place does not play music, so it’s not the place to dance or anything like that.

Paper Plane has taken «cocktail bar» to a whole ‘nother level. HOLY COCKTAILS, this place is impressive.
It’s in a classic bricker and features one of the more impressive bar shelving I’ve come across. Their menu sets the tone for how serious they are about cocktails. It’s more of a map than a menu. I’m not kidding, they actually map out where a cocktails lies amongst the spectrum of adventurous, sipping, bold, smokey, what have you. They have cocktails on tap. They have punch. Ho-​my god. They have their cocktail game on lock.
Oh but guess what? Their bar bites game is also strong. Bone marrow, mini octopus salad and fries are all extremely satisfying.
I don’t know if I’m a fan of San Jose, but I’m definitely a fan of Paper Plane.
Come here before a Sharks game. Everyone else was.

Fun, trendy bar with a nice selection of cocktails. Super friendly service at the bar… They take the time to describe all the hand shaken cocktails as well as the appetizers.
If you sit away from the bar on a slow night just be aware that there may not be staff manning those tables. The «bouncer» will usually tell you that but you should check at the bar if you have not been served for a few minutes when you walk in.
If you would like a fancy cocktail experience at a higher price point with personal service once you sit at the bar… Come to this joint and be patient because the drinks and service are good.

THIS PLACE IS TERRIBLE. DON’T GO HERE!!!
I tried to keep you away from my favorite bar in DTSJ, I hope it worked. I absolutely LOVED this place when it was still new and empty, but now it’s filled with tons of people and I hear them complaining about how expensive drinks are ALL the time. This isn’t a regular bar weirdos, take your complainy pants and get out of here! And, there’s usually a wait on the weekends which is no bueno :’(
The drinks are still on par, and the bartenders still take the time to make your drink properly, so you’ll always get my stars for that! I’ve come here and had the food before, definitely was not a fan… Stick to the drinks Paper Plane!

You know, I actually started out really liking paper planes and have frequented here a lot the past month or so… I thought their little puzzle/​chart thing for ordering cocktails was really neat, fun, and spontaneous. However… This last time I was there, I had a less than stellar experience… Actually, I’m going to go ahead and call it a bad experience.
The bouncer there that day was extremely grumpy like he hated his job with a passion. I guess you’re not allowed to smoke within a certain range of the bar. While I wasn’t smoking, he rudely interrupted my friends who were and DEMANDED that they back up to the other side of the train tracks. Then, at the bars, I was trying to get my friend, who was prettyyy drunk, some water. I walked up to the bars, not knowing you’re not supposed to cross a certain point (I wasn’t behind the bar, yet) and the bartender shouted and made a scene about it. I can understand that approaching and getting behind the bars can be a hazard for the bartenders and the bar, but the way he executed that was not professional at all. Being shouted at seemingly out of nowhere while you’re sort of buzzed, was such a shock.
I probably won’t be back for awhile. There are many, MANY other bars around the area. You know what they say, it only takes 1 to ruin it, and in this case, it was 2. :\

This place is known for their amazing drinks, so we decided to give ti a shot as our dinner destination for last night.
Service was a bit slower than we would have wanted to get our drinks, but once we got them, they were pretty damn good. Also you order your food at the bar, and you would honestly expect the food to not be all that great for bar food, but honestly it turned out really good. I’ve had some really good luck with burgers recently, so you won’t catch me complaining at all.
It got really busy towards the end of our visit, but that wasn’t a big deal as we were already leaving. It seemed to be a trendy spot and I can see why. Their alcohol selection is huge! Either way, besides the service being slow, it was a pretty good experience in the heart of downtown SJ. Be warned though, downtown SJ is changing, and not for the better. Never saw so many crazy people there as I did last night.

Nice bar in downtown San Jose. They have lots of seating indoors which I’m a huge fan of. Very accommodating for groups big and small. I recommend the bowl of punch to split with two or more people. It was fizzy, delicious, and just the right amount of alcohol to make you feel tingly but nothing overwhelming.
It’s dimly lit inside but still bustling and busy with fun music playing over the speakers. I’d classify Paper Plane as a perfect spot for an awkward first date or for kicking back with friends. It definitely gets crowded on weekend nights so get there early for a big table and be ready to fight through a bit of a crowd at the bar. They do have servers walking around who can take your food orders. One of the nicer spots downtown and worth checking out!

Wow so hip, so artsy fartsy.
Drinks here on on point! Love the categorization of the cocktails on the menu! Really helps out indecisive noobs like me! Heh. They also have the option to get certain cocktails as a pitcher, really great for groups!
This place gets SO packed on the weekends, so be ready to wait in line after ten pm! And there’s really limited tables, so get ready to stand!

Another one of my way way long overdue reviews for what I consider a downtown SJ classic.
The first thing you’ll notice upon strolling in is the space, which is large (almost cavernous) and the dim lighting throughout which oozes a relaxed vibe.
Mosey on up to the wide bar and a friendly bartender will take your order. My personal favorites are the Spice of Life (with refreshing cucumber soda) and the Fenway Flip (raw egg and all). The keepers of the bar literally lovingly and patiently craft your cocktail even on busy weekend evenings. I almost feel guilty at how much time they take to create my libation, sensing the 3 deep line behind me.
At the end of a long week, this is a great place to decompress. The ambiance won’t dazzle you but PP is a solid joint to wet your whistle.