1.5 stars
Taqueria La Cumbre Mexican Restaurant has a location in San Francisco and San Mateo. We tried the one in San Mateo, located near Caltrain. They have everything from burritos to tacos to caldos to plates. The San Francisco location has lines often times. Our last visit was in 2017. The great thing about his place is the parking lot!
Little Sichuan is a Sichuan Chinese Restaurant located in Downtown San Mateo next to legendary foodie hangout Draegar’s. It has been around for many years but changed hands in 2007. The former co-owner and chef used to run Classic Sichuan Restaurant in Millbrae. Do not confuse this place with others with similar names. Many folks stopped coming after the change in ownership including ourselves. It was time to check Little Sichuan out again in October 2010, after another year. This is a place to come for Sichuan dishes like noodles, not for generic Americanized Chinese food such as Beef Broccoli. classic Cantonese Chinese dishes that are better down the block at Champagne Seafood or HK Causeway Bay. Our last visit was in March 2014.
California Pizza Kitchen started back in 1985 in Beverly Hills by two attorneys. It is now International and publicly traded. Their BBQ Chicken pizza is their signature dish. We were passing by the San Mateo location and decided to refresh our memories. Fate has lead us to eat here, more than we would like to admit..
Peggy Sue’s is a burger place that has been there since 1958 that also serves classic American breakfast. They have two locations in downtown San Jose, right near the major destination including the Children’s museum, The Tech Museum, and San Jose State. Free all-day weekend parking with validation. They push their USDA lean 100% Angus Beef. Our last visit was in April 2013.
Shanghai Winter Garden recently opened in Millbrae, continuing the trend of new Shanghai restaurant on the Peninsula. This restaurant is located in the spot that once housed the deli, so the interior is pretty nice.
Summary – Shanghai Winter Garden is a pretty mediocre restaurant except for a couple interesting dishes.
Insider Tip – Go for Snacks
Z&Y Restaurant is a Sichuan restaurant in San Francisco’s Chinatown that focuses on spicy dishes. Chinatown is a Cantonese community, so finding a good Sichuan restaurant here is an unlikely proposition. The place was full so we decided to give it a try.
Armadillo Willys is a local BBQ restaurant with 8 locations in the San Francisco Bay Area. It was started in 1988 and offers ‘real Texas barbecue’ cooked over a wood fire. We were in the shopping center and decided to give it another try so we could more fairly gauge other BBQ restaurants. We visited the Foster City location.
Alice’s Restaurant is located in the San Francisco coastal mountain range at the intersection on Highway 35 Skyline Blvd, and Highway 84. They are “Home to the best specialty burgers in the world”, as they put it. Lots of motorcyclists stop here on the weekend as well as hikers, bikers, and those touring the area. We have eaten here several times, the last time in June 2010.
Gourmet Village is a Chinese restaurant that opened in April 2010 on Millbrae’s Broadway Street. The chef used to work at the well-respected The Kitchen restaurant. We came once for lunch and once for dinner.
Decor, Vibe – Gourmet Village has bare-bones Chinese restaurant decor with just a couple artifacts on the walls and some seafood tanks in the back. Mostly locals were having lunch when we were dining. Dinner was another story, with the place jam packed. Asians seem to like trying new places.
Menu
Super Duper is a new hamburger restaurant in the Castro. It was opened by the folks behind Delarosa, Beretta and Starbelly. They use Niman Ranch meats. This restaurant opened in mid-April 2010. They have grown to several location in San Francisco as well as North and South Bay. We returned to this location in 2016.
Decor, Vibe – Brand-new Burger restaurant with some retro decor and stainless steel seats. The place had a couple younger folks stop by for a quick bite.
In-N-Out Burger opened way back in 1948 in Baldwin Park, California focusing as a drive through hamburger stand. Their motto is “Give customers the freshest, highest quality foods you can buy and provide them with friendly service in a sparkling clean environment.” They have locations in California, Nevada, Arizona, and Utah.
Baby Blues BBQ is a new BBQ restaurant in the Bernal Heights area of San Francisco that opened in late 2008. They have locations in Venice, California and West Hollywood. They have hybrid BBQ Memphis style rib and sauces that hail from North Carolina. Their racks are slowly smoked and rubbed with pepper and spices.
Shabu House is a Japanese Beef Fondue restaurant with locations in San Francisco and Burlingame. Shabu Shabu is a Japanese culinary dish which inspired from the Mongolian tradition of nabemono, or “one pot” cooking. In traditional shabu shabu, thin slices of beef are placed in a communal pot of boiling water and swished back and forth until cooked. We went to the new Burlingame location, open since late November 2009. The San Francisco one opened in late 2007.
Amigos Grill is a Mexican restaurant in Portola Valley’s Ladera shopping center, about 1/4 mile west of Highway 280 on Alpine Road.
Spiedo Restaurant is located in downtown San Mateo, across the street from Draegar’s supermarket. The restaurant, open in 1991, specializes in fine Italian cuisine and Daily Specials from the Venitian region. Their sister restaurants are Porterhouse San Mateo and Agave Viejo.
Pho Miss Saigon is an inexpensive Vietnamese noodle place in downtown San Mateo. You can order a bowl of noodles and have them in 5 minutes, making this a good alternative to fast food.
More Foodie delights from our recent trip to China.
What is a fast food place doing on the Foodnut.com? Eating fast food on a vacation? Sacrilegious! We visited KFC in a Beijing shopping mall when we wanted a small snack. We noticed some Egg Custard tarts on the menu and gave them a try.
More Foodie delights from our recent trip to China.
Street food is starting to sweep the US, see what street food looks like in Beijing, China.
Woodside Bakery & Cafe is a combination Bakery and cafe in upscale Woodside, right next door to Buck’s. The bakery has been here since the 1980’s. Our last visit was in October 2011.
Shan Dong Mandarin Restaurant is a family run Chinese Restaurant in Oakland’s Chinatown focusing on Shan Dong regional Cuisine. The focus is on noodles and dumplings. It was top rated on Yelp and has been mentioned in newspapers, so we decided to try it.
Gordo Taqueria is a long standing Mexican Restaurant in the San Francisco Bay Area, with 5 locations. We went to the original Clement st location in San Francisco that opened in 1977. Burritoeater ranks it highly.
KK Cafe is a small family owned cafe in the Western Addition neighborhood of San Francisco. This place has gotten 4 stars on Yelp. We decided to visit and try their highly touted burger.
Big Mouth Burgers Restaurant is located in the Mission and uses Mountain Natural Foods Natural Beef without hormones, antibiotics, insecticides or chemical residues. They include fries with their burgers.
Taqueria Cancun is a friend’s Mexican restaurant favorite. They’re located in the heart of the Mission district and take cash only. They have 2 other locations in San Francisco.
This place is popular with the late night crowd as it is open very late.
Golden Boy Pizza is a hole in the wall restaurant in North Beach. This place takes only cash and serves pizza slices from big trays that are warmed up. There are lots of beers and two rows of counter seating.
A stylish high end pizza place with 4 Northern California locations. We reviewed the location in upscale San Jose’s Santana Row shopping center. Pizza is the draw, so we focused on it. The pizza is thin crust artisanal Roman style. They also serve pasta and meats.
Classic Chicago-style deep dish pizza is the reason to visit. Pronounced “paw-CHEESE”, this place is run by a former cook and manager of Zachary’s Pizza in Oakland. With that heritage, it was time to compare it again the reference.
Gombei has 3 locations for this Japanese restaurant, Menlo Park, San Jose, and Santa Clara. They primarily serve Japanese teriyaki style dinners, Udon noodles, Tofu Hotpots, and Donburi rice bowls. They don’t have a sushi menu. The sashmi they serve is part of combination plates. We tried the Menlo Park location for lunch. They have specials listed on a wall dry erase board. These are usually the best deals and best food.
El Coleguita 2 is a popular seafood restaurant for the locals, in the Marina Vallarta area. It is located in the boat marina for Puerto Vallarta. An english version of the menu is available. The place was consistenly packed, while most other restaurants had only a couple tables occupied.
