Vahl's Restaurant & Cocktail Lounge

My friend wanted to go have a beer and then go to a park to see stars so I immediately thought of Vahl's and the nearby Alviso Park Boat Ramp at the south tip of the San Francisco Bay. I often go to the park but had only been to Vahl's for a work lunch years ago. It was Friday around 7 pm.

We walked into Vahl's and saw a trio playing on the other side of the bar so we grabbed a booth. The food was nothing special but the trio were for karaoke!. A lot of older people started streaming in and in no time the keyboard player with the high hair had them all singing. It was a fun, out-of-the-ordinary night.

(Started writing this last year when I went.)

I've always seen this place, but shied away due to the ratings.  I finally decided to give it a shot.  I had a couple guys in from Japan, staying at the Biltmore, so it was convenient.  I also thought it would be fun, not something the Japanese guys would typically get to experience.

The food, as pretty much everyone points out, is really not very good.  I decided to try the veal cordon bleu.  As neary as I can tell, it was something previously frozen.  My guests had a NY steak, which looked OK, and broilded salmon.  Veges were boiled broccoli (same as Mom makes at home), salad was bagged, soup was canned.  Bread was pretty greasy, anti-pasta was fine, but how can you screw that up?

So, Denny's quality food, but prices were pretty high.  Three dinners, 1 glass of wine and maybe 5 beers, total with tip was $144.  

It's definitely campy, but not worth enduring the bad food and paying way too much.

Eat at Maria Elenas across the street, and then hit the bar at Vahls.  That actually looked fun.

A fun time warp back into a world long gone.  NOT a place you'd want to bring a date you're trying to impress.  Not a place to go if you are in a hurry.