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Hi lexa99. I graduated from SJSU in 2008, there are plenty of unique places to eat.

In the downtown area, visit Zanotto's Market on 2nd and Santa Clara for great lunch panino.

Vietnamese places are abound in San Jose, just about any one you go to will be excellent.

Original Joe's on San Carlos has great, higher end Italian food.

Avoid Hi Life. It's pricey, the food is not that great, and it's in an unsavory part of town.

Whereabouts are you staying? Will you have a car?

It would be totally helpful, lexa, if you posted your preferences, price range, location, etc. san jose/south bay is big.

as for a diner in campbell, i suggest "stacks" they are in downtown campbell. a block down the street from them is a crepe restaurant that is cheap and totally delicious. the best drive in, by far, is FALAFEL'S DRIVE IN, where i could eat every meal of my life. campell aslo is the home of psycho donuts, which is an entirely weird entity in itself. the Vietnamese food in san jose is soooo good and there are two great restaurants a block away from sj state. also you can't go wrong with many of the taquerias that are everywhere and mega cheap. my favorite markets are all in the same area as falafel's drive in, there is an amazing mexican market, and a middle eastern market that is called international food bazaar on curtner. this way you can eat on the cheap and sample something from every culture. campbell is one of my favorite places in the world. also, if you are into frozen yogurt, willow glen frozen yogurt and frozen custard is to die for, willow glen is about 10 minutes away. all of the places i mentioned are mapped out on yelp, too, to help with addresses. have fun!

Downtown Campbell has a few good restaurants. Cyprus has delicious Mediterranean dishes (get the Mahummarah dip, it's terrific). Tigelleria is fabulous and very authentic Italian which is also organic. La Pizzeria makes the closest thing to Italian pizza that I've had Stateside. In south San Jose, go to Grand Century Mall which has an impressive food court of Vietnamese food and desserts (and 1 Thai stall, pretty good too). Think rice plates, bowls of pho and assorted noodle dishes, iced Vietnamese coffee, fresh-pressed sugar cane juice and desserts like che. Grand Century is located at Story and McLaughlin, inside a plaza that is all Viet. There's a bakery called Saigon Bakery outside of the big 'mall' building, right next to the Hai Thanh supermarket. This is one of the better places to go for fresh baguettes and the increasingly popular banh sandwiches. If you want something other than Asian and Italian, go for Ethiopian at Zeni on Saratoga Ave. A few stores down is a good Persian place called Deezi Cafe. My favorite Thai restaurant is on Winchester Blvd, called Krung Thai, a few blocks from Santana Row. If you are a sushi fiend, TGI Sushi on Hamilton in Campbell is pretty good, though the rolls can get really pricey or Michi's near Winchester and Campbell Ave.

Have a great time eating your way through San Jose and Campbell.

PS. If you manage to be in Campbell on Sunday from about 9:30am to 1pm, the Farmer's Market has some incredible food. They close off the car traffice in the downtown strip. Check out the Oaxacan food stall and have their freshly made food. The cook actually rolls out and cooks the tortillas as it is ordered.