moving to Atherton

[dkimerling]

I am moving to Atherton or one of the surrounding communities and I was wondering what the food scene is like out there? Does anyone have any knowledge?
Thanks
Dan

[doc]

I've lived in Palo Alto for 30 years, and I mostly agree with the tenor of the other posts -- restaurants on the Peninsula (and yes, you will need a car) do not compare favorably to those in San Francisco. But then again, what does? Given that, there are some categories of restaurants on the Peninsula that are OK places and some that beat anything SF has to offer. I'm not going to try to be comprehensive here ... I'm sure others will fill in some blanks, but here's my category analysis in sports reporting form.

ITALIAN (mostly northern as the bay area seems to have an aversion to the southern italian dishes we all grew up with) : I like Osteria in downtown Palo Alto and Pasta Moon in Half Moon Bay, but neither compares favorably to Incanto, Oliveto, Acquellero, etc up north.

Advantage: SF/Oakland

JAPANESE (full course) I have been nowhere in the city that does as good a job with Kaiseki-style dinners as Kaygetsu in Menlo Park. Even Bauer has now elevated Kaygetsu to his top 100 list.

Advantage: Peninsula

SUSHI Have a look at sushimonster's list of Peninsula sushi restaurants:
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/39452... I don't think the city can compare in either range of options or quality.

Advantage: Peninsula

MEXICAN Not an expert here, but I have not found a go-to high-end Mexican restaurant on the Peninsula. But recent posts seem to indicate the same problem in the city. Other than that ... "taco trucks are taco trucks" (the ones in redwood city on middlefield road are excellent) and there are lots of taco/burrito places that are fine.

Advantage: Tie

SEAFOOD I have been searching the Peninsula for years for a place that prepares simple, fresh, fish ala Tadich or Sam's in SF. No such luck, but a wide variety of places that do things like "pinenut-encrusted halibut with fresh mango sauce" ... yecch

Advantage: SF ... bigtime

STEAKS I'm a midwest snob here; nothing in SF or south is even in the same ballpark as a good Kansas City or Chicago steakhouse. 4" thick fillets with no steakknive provided or necessary. Given that, the Peninsula is weak anyway ... Sundance in Palo Alto is ok, Alexander's in Cupertino good, but very expensive. Best is probably Forbes Mill in Los Gatos but I think, a step below Harris, Alfred's in SF.

Advantage: Slight Edge to SF

INDIAN Lots of good press for Amber India in Mountain View, Junoon & the other upscale place in palo alto??? etc. I'm no expert here, but my Indian colleagues drive down from the city to eat at these places.

Advantage: Peninsula

FUNKY, GREAT NEIGHBORHOOD RESTAURANTS The biggest category weakness on the Peninsula ... there are of course some exceptions, e.g. Back-a_Yard in Menlo Park for great jerk chicken, etc, but by definitions the burbs can't win in this category.

Advantage: SF

Alright ... I'm getting tired here ... somebody else take over ...

[Judith]

You definitely need a car to get around the peninsula. Assuming you have one and that you don't mind driving a bit, I don't think the food scene is quite as bleak as other posts have painted it because you've got just about everything from San Jose to San Francisco to choose from. Even within the Atherton-Menlo Park-Palo Alto area, you won't starve, at least not immediately. Maybe say more about the kinds of things you like, price, etc.

[sgwood415]

Mountain View has a pretty good farmer's market too. They do it on Sunday morning right by the Cal Train station.

[Judith]

That's true. I also hear from friends that the Menlo Park Farmer's Market (I think it's Sunday) is quite nice.

[PeterL]

Both are excellent, with the MV market better.

[screetchycello]

I second this.

[sgwood415]

The Menlo Park one is pretty good, but small compared to some of the others. The purveyors are the real deal though.

[mikus]

Not the strongest area for food in the Bay area but here are some first-hand and second hand recs. You will definitely need a car in that area.

Redwood City: Old Port Lobster Shack - New England style seafood

Woodside: Village Pub

Palo Alto: Pluto's for casual lunch/dinner, Tamarine for upscale Vietnamese

Menlo Park: Flea Street Cafe

Half Moon Bay: (really need car) Cetrella

[Robert Lauriston]

There's some decent Mexican and Salvadorean in Redwood City, good Chinese and Indian in Mountain View, lots of choices in San Jose, most in places that are hard to get to without a car.

Atherton / Palo Alto's about the least chowish part of the Bay Area.

[screetchycello]

Not all that great. I was spoiled rotten by the Berkeley food scene, and had to drastically reduce my expectations when I moved to Menlo Park a couple years ago.

There's good individual places, but you have to hunt for them. Mountain View and San Mateo have nice downtown areas, but IMHO Menlo Park and Palo Alto tend to be overpriced and not all that great.

[dkimerling]

Do you need a car or can i just transit it around?

[screetchycello]

Getting around is difficult without a car. It depends on where you live and where you're going. Check 511.org for details. Riding a bike isn't a bad option, either -- there's a lot of bike paths/avenues. It's mostly suburban sprawl, though.

[jsaimd]

It depends on how much you want to bike... We live pretty much without a car. But it does mean we don't get the best chow sometimes. New Kappadokia in Redwood City is right by the Caltrain station, there is a Caltrain Station by Castro street in Mountain View. You can do a search on here for Palo alto and Menlo Park recs too. You are super close to tacos in Redwood city too. We bike there from our Menlo Park apt.

[PeterL]

Do you know anything about Atherton? It's one of the wealthiest cities in the country. The only person that rides public transits are the maids who work there. There are actually plenty of good restaurants in the area, just not in Atherton itself. Palo Alto, Menlo Park, and environs have plenty of options.

[Robert Lauriston]

There are good restaurants in Menlo Park and Palo Alto, but the food's generally mediocre and expensive compared with SF, and there's only a fraction of the diversity of cuisines.

[jsaimd]

It depends on the transit. Commuting by bike and Caltrain is actually quite chic around here. Atherton has a Caltrain stop that will take you right into the city albeit only the slow train stops there. Oh - and Atherton has very few commercial developments - it is mostly residental, so yes, seach for Menlo Park and Redwood City.