Crispy bacon cheese fries and meaty chicken wings are the perfect complements to an ice-cold beer on a great evening in Downtown San Jose.
GameDay, a dining option at San Pedro Square Market, offers killer American food reminiscent of home cooking.
On Friday night my friend, Aimee Ross-Tupper, and I decided to try GameDay, which is nestled in the corner of the market along West St. John Street.
We parked in the garage across from San Pedro Square Market and crossed the closed-off North San Pedro Street to enter the building. The market was quiet, with only a few sporadic restaurants open and very few people ordering.
After wandering around the market hall for a short time, Ross-Tupper and I found GameDay and began to look at the menu. The restaurant owner, SJSU alumna Kasandra Solano, immediately greeted us and recommended food we could share.
Solano suggested Ross-Tupper and I order wings and one of the loaded french fry options GameDay has on the menu. The fry options include their Bacon Fries and Philly Fries, which are cheese fries topped with a choice of meat, bell peppers, mushrooms and caramelized onions.
We followed Solano’s advice and ordered 10 buffalo and honey barbeque flavored chicken wings along with Bacon Fries.
The food was slightly pricey, $11 for the bacon cheese fries and $14 for the wings.
Solano said that we would need our receipt to buy alcohol anywhere in the San Pedro Square Market because of the current COVID-19 health guidelines. She then gave us our receipt and a remote buzzer for the food.
We walked to the outdoor patio which had a fair amount of people sitting at the tables so we decided to order two Pliny the Elder beers to-go from Market Beer Co., a bar in the San Pedro Square Market. We found a table away from the main crowd and waited for our food outside on the patio where there were about 150 people spread out across tables.
After about 25 minutes, our buzzer went off to indicate our food was ready and we enthusiastically went inside to pick it up. We were given our food in a bag that contained two large cardboard boxes.
Ross-Tupper and I decided to take our beers and a warm bag of food home after seeing the patio’s large crowd.
After arriving at my apartment, I eagerly opened the boxes of food to take pictures before we ate. The cheese and bacon on the fries and the tangy sauce on the wings smelled so good, I had to fight the urge to immediately dig in before I took photos.
We were not disappointed by the quality of the food once we settled down to eat. The wings were very meaty, with way more chicken than bone, and the chicken was moist under the thick layer of sauce.
The honey barbeque wings were tangy, smokey and sweet, while the buffalo wings had the acidic taste of hot sauce, although neither flavor was spicy.
The wings came with celery, carrot sticks and two cups of the ranch that paired nicely with both wing flavors. My only complaint was that I wish the wings had delivered more of a spicy kick.
The bacon cheese fries stole the show, with a thick layer of provolone and Monterey Jack atop perfectly seasoned and cooked fries.
The thickly cut fries were held together in clumps with cheese and bacon and were not greasy. On top of the gooey layer of cheese, the bacon added a crunch and enhanced the flavor in the way only bacon can.
The portions were large enough for Ross-Tupper and me to share the food and still have leftovers.
Drinking beer and eating wings with fries made me nostalgic over football season, a feeling which really encompassed the name of the restaurant.
This spot would be the perfect place to grab food and a beer while watching sports and hanging out with friends. GameDay is worth the price and I look forward to returning on a game day to enjoy the experience that much more.
