NVIDIA, a San José artificial intelligence and technology company, held its GPU Technology Conference (GTC) on Monday, garnering more than 30,000 attendees and increasing overall foot traffic throughout the city.
For the duration of the conference, Plaza de César Chávez turned into GTC Park, acting as an event center featuring a series of companies showcasing products, according to an article by Bay Area News Group.
GTC Park is located Downtown San José where large portions of the street are closed off until the conference is over, including neighboring streets, according to the San José Police Department.
Most restaurants that are within walking distance from GTC Park experienced high customer volume and business.
Alex Tsado, an attendee of the conference, said he enjoys what food San José has to offer.
“The first couple of days, you eat within the conference space because part of what we paid for is food,” Tsado said. “But then, I’m sure folks will want to be adventurous and go outside of that space and check out the local food scene.”
Some restaurants are closed to the public because tech companies have bought those spaces out for the week to hold different company meetings and events, according to the Bay Area News Group article.
Tsado said San José has a great food scene with lots of places for the convention attendees to try.
“It’s a very diverse audience, and the GTC gets bigger all the time,” Tsado said. “I think there’s going to be enough people to go around to different kinds of food spots. I do love Mexican food, and I was thinking about Italian, and maybe Indian.”
One restaurant that opened on days they’re not typically open on was Jackie’s Place, a local soul food and barbecue spot with two locations, one of which is located across the street from GTC Park.
The owner of the 840 N First St. Jackie’s Place location, Kiana Jackson, said she wanted the company to make sure that if people were to come back to the area in the future, they would spread the word and return for more food.
“We’ve never, in the history of Jackie’s Place in the past seven years, been open on a Monday or Tuesday,” Jackson said. “We did it specifically because we understood the high volume of the conference. We expect to see business booming for the rest of the week.”
Jackson said with how full the restaurants have been each day of the conference, Jackie’s Place is making sure to provide the best food possible to help their business and food gain lots of popularity.
Daniela Martinez, a cashier at Angelou’s Mexican Grill, said it’s crazy busy at the restaurant, and the conference is the reason why.
“Our margaritas are selling a lot, and the fajitas are selling too, which is something new for us. I don’t know what it is, but the fajitas are selling a lot,” Martinez said.
