Carfulll. Google probablly run u out of town.

Ya, Red rock's coffee is pretty bad and most of their music at night is kinda open mic like. Seems to be a weird christian following there or maybe Scientologist??? The Red Rock recording studio is a tiny hole with decent equipment but you have to stay up on the engineers or your final product will sound like garbage. You do get what you pay for!
Now Dana Street Cafe has AWESOME fresh roasted coffee and their music scene is by far the best in Mountain View. I mean Tony Monaco,Charlie hunter,Scott Amendola. These are just some of the best shows I've seen there. Anyway, I hope they catch the dog, I really hope they venture outta Mtn. View and see what real venues are like. Of course, having fun comes first! No music links or website???

I like Dana St. and Red Rock each for their own offerings. Its really kind of rude to put down Red Rock. Personally, I am not crazy about their coffee quality, but they offer youth a wonderful opportunity to perform. They know their niche, and they do it well. I like Dana St. for its vibe. Friendlier than the other and great coffee, but I don't need to knock down Red Rock to tell you how much more I love Dana St. =)

Not sure why I'm defending Dogcatcher, Red Rock Coffee and Red Rock Recording Co. from someone who calls themselves "urmom" but here goes...

Your "final product sounding like garbage" is definitely a hazard of working at any recording studio anywhere. Since opinions about sound/music/production are subjective, you do really need constant communication with your engineer to make sure your final product is how you want it to be. If your final product did not turn out how you liked, there was probably a communication issue on your side. Here are a few records from Red Rock that do not sound like garbage to me:

Dogcatcher - http://dogcatcher.bandcamp.com
Colin Carthen - Web Link
East of Western - Web Link

Red Rock Coffee has great live music, including an upcoming show from Glen Phillips (singer of Toad the Wet Sprocket and solo artist). The actual open mic at Red Rock can be a little rough at times, but overall it is amazing that Cavin & King have been running that community event for over a decade.

In response to your hope of Dogcatcher "venturing out of Mt View to see what real venues are like," you should probably know that Dogcatcher was just up in the Poster Room of the Fillmore in SF (for the 5th time) last week performing at the Neon Trees show. In addition, Dogcatcher has also performed at Cafe Du Nord, Bottom of the Hill, Hotel Utah, the Noise Pop Festival in SF, Filter Magazine's Culture Collide Festival in Los Angeles, the Casbah in San Diego, etc, etc.