Elite Event: The Farmer’s Union

The best Unilocal elite event to date for me in the South Bay! Thanks to the Farmer’s Union staff for providing the nice locale as well as all the wonderful food and drinks. Thanks to Candice and Donna for setting this all up. And a big thanks and shout out to all the fellow cool Unilocalers that I met and hung out with — Shirley V, Charissa L, Daniel L, Kelly G, Jim, P and Mikey U. They definitely made the event super fun. I believe Farmer’s Union is only open for dinner on the weekends but they opened it up especially for Unilocalers for a cool sampling on a Saturday lunchtime. We took up the whole upstairs area.
For drinks, we had the white cosmo (my personal fav) the bee’s knees (super strong), mango beer (light and delicious), and an assortment of wine.
For food, there was pulled pork sliders, meatballs, mac & cheese, grilled cheese, and the farmer’s salad. Everything was great but I liked the mac and cheese the best.
There were plenty of food and drinks for the whole afternoon. And can’t forget about the Unilocal swag — flask, shot glass, lip balm, and cards. All and all, a smashing good time. Located right in downtown and super close to San Pedro Square. Parking in the structure across the street and Farmer’s Union also validation for us too. Will be back soon to try their regular menu and their many beers on tap.

On this gorgeous Saturday afternoon, The Farmer’s Union opened its doors for an unforgettable elite event.
I’ve often passed by but never dined at The Farmer’s Union, and I have no idea why! With spacious high ceilings and plenty of windows to let in natural light both upstairs and downstairs, the space is thoughtfully laid out. The ambiance is rustic, hip, and quite comfortable. Did I mention the amazing selection of beer on tap? Ahh, be still my heart.
With delicious sliders, mac and cheese, salad, meatballs, and grilled cheese, there were plenty of bites to go around. The drink, not to mention, was generous and free flowing. Nothing like a little liquid courage to get out of one’s comfort zone, although none is needed really when with a group as fun as fellow Unilocalers. I got to meet many new people at this event, and we eventually ventured around San Pedro Square afterward for some more fun together. ‘Twas a fantastic day.
Cheers to Candice and the entire team at The Farmer’s Union for hosting such a wonderful event! Hope to see you all again soon :)

My first YEE was great! I met friendly Unilocalers who were so happy to finally see me! Lots of drunkey monkeys too. LOL. I was happy to meet many more Unilocalers, which included some of my OG original Unilocalers and Unilocalettes to some of my newbies list. I met CM Candice, Boba Princess Unilocaltern Donna, Tina V, Jim P, Liv K (sweetie for hanging out with me & keeping me company), Dennis T, Stan L, Jen C (the vivacious friendly mama), Cat V, Mikey U, Alex L (looking like the photographer with his huge camera), AJ C, Rick S, & Deep S. When I walked upstairs, I went to the far end Unilocal décored table and said my hello to CM Candice. She asked if she could touch my long hair. Lol, gosh. So funny…
I made a new friend Tina V who is 2 inches taller than me! I was like wow you’re tall, how tall are you? We’re both tall being Asian chicks. Hehe. We clicked right away and turns out it was our First Elite Event in Cali.
Overall, nice people, food was not too impressive, only salad and BBQ pork sliders were good. Or possibly because the mac & cheese and grilled cheese sandwich was already cold by the time I could take a bite. Loved the salad! Wonderful flavor and ingredients. Got all the Unilocal schwag! Yay! Since Jen C invited, a bunch of us went to Treatbot afterwards too, and later hanged out a bit with the awesome CM Candice. It was a good experience. *hugs to all you nice cool peeps*

Such a cool and charming venue. Got to see some familiar faces and met some new ones too. Candice, our South bay CM. great job! Kudos to the staff at Farmers Union. The meat balls were so good! The salad so fresh and tasty! It was a great day to socialize!
Oh the cool swags! Thank you. I love the Unilocal canister! aka flask

Candice Girlfriend G., what a fabulous, fun-​and food-​filled event! I feel like our SB events are simply getting better and better! Amazing job!
I’ve been to The Farmers Union a few times since they have an awesome draft beer selection but to try their crafty cocktails was exciting and absolutely fitting for that hot Saturday afternoon. Their White Cosmo and Bees Knees were the two to choose from. I preferred the White Cosmo to say the least. They also had a Mango Kolsch and some assorted wines.
The food now was plenty enough to satisfy our Elite bellies: salad, grilled cheese (BOMB!!), mac and cheese, pork sliders and meatballs were on the menu. Their bartender Joel also shared one of his favorite dishes, them ribs!
What made the event, of course, was having all of us together again to meet other Elites (old and new) in a relatively new establishment. It fascinates me that we can all get together — some barely knowing each other — and still manage to have such a wonderful time as we all share the same love for food, laughs and having a good time. Thanks Unilocal for making this all happen :]
Can’t ever forget the Schwag!!! «Somebody» not mentioning names, ahem, turned my purse into a SchwagBag and attempted to fill it up but of course I emptied it back out for other Unilocalies to take some stuff with them… I give to the Needy before being Greedy!
Once again, thank you Candice and Donna for such a memorable event. SB is back on the map, woot woot!

When I heard about this event I had the butterflies being such a shy person, but I quickly realized how welcoming Southbay Unilocalers are…
I walked in and Donna-​Yelp-​Tern got me checked in and Candice G gave me a verbal scolding for being late, so let this be a lesson to you Unilocalers don’t be late to Unilocal events it’s not cool yo!?! Right away I headed over to the booze and food area, there I ran into Tyler K very cool guy he’s new on Unilocal scene and I was skoolin him on the Unilocal Game if you know what I mean… once I got my food I could not find a place to sit, so I started to ask around if I could sit on people’s lap *stink eyes* left and right came gazing on me… finally Jen C gave me her seat, she truly wins Unilocal Humanitarian of the Year award. It was fun finally getting to meet a few fellow Unilocalers I have not met in person from Michelle S. Dennis T Tony B Andrea S Stan L and Robert C who is one of the boldest and funniest Unilocalers I’ve meet in quite some time!
We had the mixed drinks, beer, and wine flowing all afternoon. Those sliders were something else I must have had like 5 – 6, I was that «that guy» piling up his plate once Candice saw this she took me to the side of the restaurant and gave me a good beating *bruises on my culo* still this morning, well deserved so I won’t do this again and neither should you! Big thanks to CM Candice G for letting me attend, our Intern Donna T for keeping everything organized, and our handsome cameraman Alex L for taking glamour shots of us Southbay Unilocalers, till next time playas!?!

Boy, if I had a nickel for every Unilocal party I went to this year… I’d have a nickel.
Ok, I know I’ve been M.I.A. from Unilocal the last year or two. Having another kid will do that. Somehow, I don’t think a review of «Changing Poop Diapers» or «Watching Peppa Pig All Day» would get me Elite status. On the other hand, writing a review about my mom (
) probably helped me before.
Anyway, I figured the time had come to start writing reviews again. The writer’s block was gone and before I knew it, I had over 100 reviews! Hello Elite badge! As I have 2 kids at home, finding the right event that coincides with my work schedule and home schedule, was tough. But, when I saw the Saturday day time event, I knew I had to give it a go. Thankfully I got in!
I got there a little early and saw a familiar face in Julie K. Yay! Then I saw a few more roll in. SWEET! Then, I saw some new peeps that I’ve «talked to» on Unilocal.SWEETER! Then, I finally met the beautiful CM, Candice! SWEETEST! No, literally. She’s really sweet and awesome! Her, Donna, and the team at The Farmer’s Union really put on an awesome shindig (do people still say that?). The food was great (especially the sliders and grilled cheese) and the atmosphere was hoppin’! In past YEE’s I have been to, they tended to be very clique-​y. Not so much anymore! Everyone was pretty awesome!
Can’t wait for the next YEE, UYE, or whatever! Unilocalers rock! SYOY!

This is my fourth Unilocal elite event, and after having my last Unilocal elite event review muzzled due to ‘personal attacks’, I’ll try to keep my foot out of my mouth!
Well they accepted me, which means I’m no longer on the Unilocal black list.
This was held upstairs at the Farmer’s Union in downtown San Jose. I parked 10 minutes away at the 4^th street parking garage, free on weekends, but closed at 10pm. Turns out the restaurant would validate your parking for a free two hours. Too bad the Sharks weren’t playing right after this!
Downstairs was crowded at the door at noon Saturday, with everyone waiting to go upstairs to the name tag line, drink line and buffet line, in that order. No ticket, no laundry — in this case no name tag, no service!
They served wine, beer and other alcoholic beverages, but when I asked for the only beer I drank, root beer, Joel, the bartender said only coke. I’m sure Joel remembered me, as I was one of a very few nondrinkers among the 50+ attendees.
Got there right at opening, and like my opportunistic Chinese ancestors, headed right for the buffet table as they were opening, coke in one hand, napkins and fork in my front pocket, plate in the other hand.
1 serving of chicken avocado house salad in a cup, toasted cheese sandwich, macaroni cheese, pulled pork sliders, and pork/​ricotta meatballs in tomato sauce. A lady employee with the evil eye was there to make sure you took only 1 of each! Actually she was smiling, and assisted me in handling the salad cup, coke drink, and plateful of food to the nearest table!
And right at the table was Rick S –S for fellow Sunnyvale resident –found out that he lives near El Camino Real, a mile from my house near Las Palmas park, hence all the reviews on Sunnyvale El Camino Real restaurants!
Two other Unilocal brothers whom I was just introduced to –Tony B and Dennis T, both dressed in black shirts. Tony B had on a 1996 Ralph Lauren Blackwatch Polo Shirt, complete with gold emblem. I was in awe –never met a horse polo player –game of the ultra rich, until Tony told me, his wife had gotten the shirt at Macys a few years back!
And sitting next to me was Jim P, easily recognizable from the Elite mixer in Mountain View, as one of the few other guys with noticeable white hairs!
Yes, I looked a bit out of place among all these millennial generation Asian ladies –looked like a father chaperoning his daughters! Lots of ladies, the younger ones in short shorts and sparkling sandals. No discussing my ogling, as that got me in trouble during my last elite party review!
I’m easily the oldest guy at the party. Certainly the only guy in Hawaiian shirt, shorts, and thin criss cross strap open toed white sandals! My shirt is inside my shorts to keep my shorts, weighed with wallet and smart phone, from falling down!
Got up after the line died down, and got 2 more servings of coke, 1 serving of pork/​ricotta meatballs, and two sliders. The tray of macaroni and cheese was seemingly untouched –oh well you can save it for the dinner guests! The meatballs were billiard size and went like hot cakes!
Nice modern décor, but extremely noisy –difficult to carry on a conversation. Would I come back? Well it’s the wife who is a cheese fan, not me, so probably not. However it is the wife who wears the pants in the household, while I wear shorts with the thin cross strap white sandals!
Everyone, was collecting the packs of Unilocal cards, the Unilocal can openers, the Unilocal shot glasses, the Unilocal hot drink holders, Unilocal drinking flasks, etc, with our gorgeous looking Unilocal manager Candace in her brilliantly orange red hair, and double nose rings, going around making sure everyone’s need was met. Jen C, is that you with the 4 packs of Unilocal cards?!
Finally met and had conversation with ‘the playa’, the infamous, or rather famous Deep S, the only Asian Indian guy around, and his fellow Unilocal elite wife. It got so crowded that Deep demonstrated his physical prowess, by going under the table on his back! Another shirt for the laundry tonight!
Party ends at 2pm with Joel the bartender shouting out last call for drinks! Shake down time. A smiling Donna T, aka Boba Princess, comes around with a box with the Unilocal logo, collecting gratuities for the service. You would be smiling too if y

This had to be the BEST Elite party in my recent memory! What are the ingredients to an awesome party?
1. Local restaurant right here in the South Bay at a place I’ve never been to before.
2. Venue at a restaurant which has an incredibly beautiful décor and open to only the Elite party.
3. Held on a weekend so no need to fight traffic during the M-​F rush.
4. Seeing my favorite Unilocalers and meeting new ones.
5. Lots of free booze and small bites, although I was a bit too busy to partake.
6. Shotgun parking.
I’ve heard that Unilocal parties are clique-​ey. I can definitely see how some people can say that since I used to think that when I was a newbie. It was like high school all over again and maybe feeling a little intimidated by everyone who seemed to know everyone. For this reason, I try my best to meet and greet new faces especially the ones that seem to be off in the corner on their own. I didn’t see that at this event. Everyone just had the best time and if you introduce yourself to someone new, you’ll find everyone at these events are quite friendly. So many of the Unilocalers I saw today are real friends in life. I had such a great time trying to capture LOL (lots of laughs) moments as I made my way around the mezzanine.
Thank you Candice for all that you do. Not only for introducing us to new restaurants but for allowing us to meet wonderful people with a shared interest in great food, drinks, and friendship.

I was waitlisted for this event and was confirmed a couple days ago and was super excited to be part of this event because it was outstanding! The Farmer’s Union being my second Elite event, I must say that it was really fun.
Parking was easy to find. There were a couple of spots you could park within the block. There was a certain parking garage where you could get your ticket validated (courtesy of Farmer’s Union). I went with my friend Michelle S. and was greeted by one of the Unilocal interns, Donna T. We immediately started taking some pictures and went in line for the food.
They had:
Union Market (salad — chicken, tomato, dates, avocado, corn, almonds, goat cheese, and basil vinaigrette): The salad was amazing! Every ingredient in the salad complemented each other in every bite. What I thought that kind of tasted weird was the dates. At first I thought it was a huge raisin.
Grilled Cheese (havarti, gruyère, white cheddar, caramelized onion, mustard, and sourdough): I would say that this was one of the top 2 of my favorite in this whole event. I’ve never had grilled cheese that was flavorful as much as this! It was easy to eat and the cheese didn’t stick to your gums or teeth.
Pulled BBQ Pork Sliders (habanero coleslaw, brioche bun): My third favorite from this event. It was really easy to eat this. By easy I mean that every bite wasn’t messy.
Mac & Cheese (rosemary, white cheddar, parmesan): This was my favorite! I’ve never had a mac & cheese so good until I came to Farmer’s Union! If you’re ever here I highly suggest getting this! You won’t be disappointed.
Pork & Ricotta Meatballs (roasted tomato, olive oil, parmesan): I thought the meatballs here were huge. It took me about 6 – 8 bites to finish one.
For the drinks, I had white wine and a beer (clown shoes mango kolsch). The wine was great but I thought it was too dry for my liking. The beer was actually really good since it had that mango kick in every sip.
Anyway, it was another successful Elite event that I would like to thank our awesome community manager, Candice G., and Donna T. for arranging this. The staff in Farmer’s Union were also very friendly and were very welcoming!

This YEE was a well-​organized event by our CM Candice and intern Donna. As soon as you walk in, you’re greeted by the hostess who shows you the party upstairs. At the top you’re welcomed by our wonderful Candice and Donna, who had your name tag ready with your name on it.
What’s next? Food? Nope… the booze! Now that’s what I’m talking about! Bartenders Joel and Brock serving it up.
House Cocktails:
Bee’s Knees-​darjeeling gin, honey syrup and lemon was simple but great between the balance all 3 ingredients.
White Cosmo-​vodka, triple sec, white cranberry juice and lime juice. Refreshing!
After my first cocktail, I went straight for the awesome food.
BBQ Pulled Pork Sliders-​delicious in every way. Buns were fluffy and pork was flavorful. The cole slaw complimented well with the protein without overpowering.
Pork Belly and Ricotta Meatballs-​my favorite dish of the day. This is not your ordinary meatball. The pork belly made me not wanting to go back to traditional meatball. What a great concept that’s executed with perfection!
Union Market Salad-​Avocados! Mmm… mmm…mmm…must I say more?
Mac and Cheese-​taste was great. Very rich and creamy. Texture wise, it was a little runny though. Fine with me but may not be to everyone’s preference.
Grilled Cheese Sandwich-​not my cup of tea. Probably my fault for letting the sandwich cool down, letting the cheese solidify. Grilled cheese are only good when their hot. But when I went back, all the ones served already sat and were room temperature already.
The crowd was awesome as always. Lots of familiar faces as well as new were all friendly and welcoming. The future of the Unilocal community is looking bright and warm. The crowd was one of the most awesome and chillest I’ve seen.
As always, parking was FREE! with validation provided at the end for those parking in the garage on San Pedro. Thanks again Candice, Donna and all the staff at The Farmer’s Union for a great event with awesome food, drinks, service and welcoming crowd. Looking forward to the next!