The Best Restaurant Contractors in San Jose, California

As one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the U.S., San Jose boasts a varied restaurant scene. Award-winning fine dining, American household brands, and local favorites all showcase the different cultures and flavors thriving in the city. In order to cook food properly and serve it attractively, you have to have the proper facilities. Building these restaurants are talented and exceptionally skilled San Jose contractors.

This list features seven of the top restaurant contractors in San Jose and Silicon Valley. You will find general contractors, historic renovators, and design-build firms that understand how food and ambiance work together to create the perfect dining experience. To compile this list, our team thoroughly researched hundreds of firms and selected the best based on awards, press features, work portfolio, and total work history.

If you are thinking about building a restaurant, we recommend checking each builder’s license with the local licensing board, speaking to past clients, and using our bidding system to get competitive quotes from at least 3 contractors. Getting multiple bids is the best way to ensure you get a fair price and that bids include the complete scope of work.

7) McLarney Construction

355 South Daniel Way, San Jose, CA 95128

Local design-build firm McLarney Construction has been building restaurants and retail space in San Jose since 1987. From high-end lounges to shopping centers, the firm has created distinct spaces throughout Silicon Valley. The firm has also ventured into other commercial projects such as medical facilities, educational institutions, and tenant improvements. Additionally, it specializes in seismic retrofits and historic restoration and preservation.

The firm’s founder, Kevin McLarney, has over 40 years of experience in commercial building. He constantly reviews and re-evaluates each step in the firm’s construction process to provide a more refined product each time. His restaurant projects with the firm include a number of local cafes and diners. Featured here is Jalisco Taqueria. The place serves Mexican fast food and is one of the few authentic taquerias to have a drive-thru.

6) Teamwrkx Construction

1855 Park Ave., San Jose, CA 95126

California-based Teamwrkx Construction is the construction and facilities management arm of Teamwrkx, Inc. It is licensed in California and Oregon to develop projects that add distinct value to the community. It currently services the rest of the West and the Pacific Northwest with projects in the automotive, office, medical, retail, restaurant, and education sectors.

The company’s founder Eric Venzon serves as President and CEO. He earned his degree in Business Entrepreneurship from the University of Southern California and has developed a business model that brings in profit but also adds emphasis on the training and personal development of the team. As a result, the firm has been recognized in the Top-50 Business Journal rankings.

Opa!, an authentic Greek restaurant in Campbell, is famous for its cuisine served in their summertime patio surrounded by glistening lava pits. The 3,500 square feet space features an impressive hand-painted ceiling, stone walls, hand-stained boxed wood beam soffits, and stainless steel kitchen line on full display behind an arched glass veil. Teamwrkx had great success in employing the fast-track 12-week construction timeline on the project, making it one of the most anticipated openings in Campbell.

5) Tilton Pacific Construction

940 Saratoga Ave. Suite #105, San Jose, CA 95129

Washington-native James Tilton started his career in construction on nuclear power plant projects. His love for physics and a master’s degree in Civil Engineering drew him to these projects which eventually led to a general contractor job in Portland. After a whirlwind of events and buying out his partner’s share, James was able to establish Tilton Pacific Construction in 1994. He turned a $6 million company into a $60 million company in just seven years.

Today, Tilton Pacific serves California, Oregon, Washington, and Nevada. 75% of its projects are centered in the Bay Area and include big-box retail, shopping centers, healthcare, senior living, and restaurants. Its list of restaurant clientele includes well-known national names such as Panera Bread, Buffalo Wild Wings, and many other specialty brands.

4) TICO Construction

11585 Terminal Ave., San Jose, CA 95112

TICO Construction is a leading Bay Area Commercial General Building Contractor specializing in tenant improvement, ground-up, retail, cleanroom, and biotech projects. For over 30 years, the firm has been steered by an exceptional team, resulting in repeat business. With an experience in construction, business, and real estate, their business development team coordinates and develops construction strategies that incorporates both solving current client challenges as well as anticipates their client’s future needs.

Tico Construction’s restaurant portfolio features a variety of modern and country bistros as well as rustic restaurants that draws inspiration from classic farmhouses. One of their notable projects is their renovation of the Manresa Restaurant in Los Gatos. Chef David Kinch’s three-Michelin-starred restaurant now has an inviting ambiance with lighting playing an important role. Each table has its own soft spotlight for definition and exclusivity while the amber pendant lights warm the space. The subtle elegance of the earth tones preserves the focus on the restaurant’s world-renowned cuisine.

3) W.G. Fritz Construction

5091 New Trier Ave., San Jose, CA 95136

Northern California has benefited greatly from W.G. Fritz Construction in terms of commercial contracting and design-build projects. Headed by experienced general contractor William Fritz, the firm has done numerous projects in the Silicon Valley since its inception in 1995. The firm specializes in tenant improvements, retail, and restaurant spaces.

The firm’s restaurant projects range from small gourmet restos to charming cafes in San Jose’s historic district. It has also remodeled some local favorites including the Tee Nee Thai and Mini Gourmet. These projects have been featured by SanJose.com and the San Jose Mercury News. In addition to this, the firm won a Business Beautification Award from the City of San Carlos Chamber of Commerce for its retail rehab work.

This retail-to-restaurant conversion was efficiently executed by the firm in Westfield Oakridge Mall. The elegant dining space of Sanraku Sushi was a former Apple store. The custom-designed charred cypress wood door and the wood slats that provide an open, yet private experience also mirror Japanese style and design. Customers can dine inside the warm inviting space or in the open patio illuminated by skylights.

2) Garden City Construction

618 South First St., San Jose, CA 95113

Garden City Construction is an award-winning historic renovator and commercial general contractor known for its retail and restaurant, tenant improvements, historic preservation, and seismic retrofits that dot the Silicon Valley. The firm is especially notable for its exceptional rehab work on the Jose Theater and the Biggs Cardosa Associates building at 865 The Alameda. These projects have earned the Gold Nugget Awards from the Pacific Coast Builders Conference.

Jim Salata is known throughout San Jose for his efforts in preserving the city’s historic places. He has been recognized with the prestigious Don Goldeen Award by the Rotary Club of San Jose and has been elected to the Board of Directors of SPUR San Jose. He has led the company for the past 30 years in rejuvenating dilapidated or outdated structures, and he’s also built new ones tailored to the historic face of San Jose.

The firm beautifully restored and completely reinvented the Continental Bar in a 1917 building in downtown San Jose. Featured in The San Jose Mercury News, Salata shared the hand-selected wood with the bar’s co-owner Sam Ramirez and designer Antonio Curiel from the Garden City recycle archives. Almost all the woodwork tells a part of the history of Santa Clara Valley. The bar’s big front door was originally part of the Scheller House on the San Jose State campus, and some of the oak floorings were preserved from the Carlson House at West Valley College. Wood salvaged from the sulfur house at Del Monte Plant 51 is used to display wines and liquors as well as form part of the bar itself.

1) De Mattei Construction

1794 The Alameda, San Jose, CA 95126

Since 1985, De Mattei Construction has built a reputation as a leader in the residential and commercial construction industry in Silicon Valley. Its design-build construction model has built more than 2,000 homes, making it one of the premier custom home builders and remodelers in the Bay Area. In the commercial scene, it has ventured into restaurant and retail projects for local and national brands.

Over its 30 years in the business, publications like Qualified Remodeler, Silicon Valley Business Journal, and the San Francisco Business Times have featured the firm and its projects. It has also earned awards, with the most recent one being a 2018 NARI Meta Award for Best Historical Renovation for the University Electric Home Appliance Center in Santa Clara.

The firm created The Table – an urban, neighborhood eatery focused on seasonal ingredients, hand-crafted cocktails, and progressive wines. The owner, Jim Stump, collaborated with the firm’s designer to bring his ideas to life. The firm managed to transform a shabby rundown building into a blended industrial-rustic space perfect for this farm-to-table restaurant.

How can I find a contractor near me?

Read our latest articles on the best contractors in and near San Jose. If you don’t see your project type below, just let us know – we are happy to create a tailored recommendation list just for you.

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About Our Rankings

This list takes a range of ranking criteria into consideration, including but not limited to: work history, customer satisfaction, awards and recognition, geographic area of work, cost, building permits, and clientele. We spent over 40 hours researching local contractors before calculating the final ranking for this post. If there is additional information about your business that could affect these rankings, please fill out this form and we will take it into consideration