Millbrae restaurants
 

We're looking for a lunch restaurant in Millbrae. What's your pick of the various Chinese restaurants, or do you have another favorite. We're open to suggestions and like all kinds of food.

We won't have a car, and don't want to take BART into San Francisco or otherwise leave Millbrae except for a possible short stroll northward to a San Bruno restaurant.

We'll be staying at a Millbrae motel.

Thanks.

IN-N-OUT Burger,over the bridge by bart station near ramp for 101. 11 Rollins Rd. Millbrae

I don't know how far it is from your motel -- Shanghai Dumpling Shop at 455 Broadway is small but yummy!

Hong Kong Flower Lounge is at Millbrae Ave & El Camino Real. Considered the best by many.

Fook Yuen is 1 block north of Honk Kong Flower Loung. Probably considered the best by Chinese voters. Both restaurants have lots of seafood dishes. Fook Yuen is less exensive.

Stu Dudley

Another vote for Hong Kong Flower Lounge. Finally had a chance to eat there recently and thought the dim sum was excellent, very refined, served piping hot and fresh from the kitchen.

If you choose Fook Yuen (also on El Camino a block from Hong Kong Flower Lounge), the noodles in gravy (or something like that) are super yummy.

We like Hong Kong Flower Lounge better than Fook Yuen. There are cabs all over Millbrae so it's an easy ride.

Thank you all. That's good food for thought.

Another vote for Hong Kong -- seriously good Chinese food, in a spectacular, over-the-top setting, very lively vibes, predominantly Asian clientele. Only advice: don't let the waiters order for you, unless you're reallllllly adventuresome. Absolutely one of our favorite restaurants.

also, if you're considering a "possible short stroll northward to San Bruno" -- skip that, and take a "possible short stroll southward" to Burlingame, where there are lots of good little restaurants and shopping.

Also#2: if you're Asian food fans...Broadway Avenue (in Millbrae -- not the one in Burlingame, which is entirely different) has a number of small, funky, homestyle Asian restaurants. Just walk down the street and take your pick. It's a cute little street, too -- not as nice as Burlingame, but in some ways more "authentic."

Also #3, there's also a Peet's on Broadway in Millbrae ...if you're cappuccino-for-breakfast people, you can't do better!

More food for thought. Thanks.

<i>also, if you're considering a &quot;possible short stroll northward to San Bruno&quot; -- skip that, and take a &quot;possible short stroll southward&quot; to Burlingame, where there are lots of good little restaurants and shopping.</i>

You should also know (and I completely agree with LucieV about the direction to take) that neither San Bruno nor Burlingame is a &quot;short stroll&quot; from Millbrae. Downtown Millbrae to Burlingame Ave. is probably 4 miles.

dmlove is correct. However, being a walker, I assumed that perhaps the OP is also a walker. :)

That said, I should say that walking from Millbrae Avenue to Burlingame Avenue takes me 45 minutes -- and that's not walking leisurely!

Another vote for Shanghai Dumpling Shop in Millbrae. There aren't a lot of restaurants in San Bruno that I'd recommend, but Burlingame has a few, and much nicer shopping besides.

Here's a list of recommended Millbrae restaurants via Yelp.com:
http://tinyurl.com/4b3lur

There are lots of buses that run from Millbrae up &amp; down El Camino Real - if you don't want to walk. I always seem to get behind them when driving on ECR.

Stu Dudley

Every 20 minutes, Stu, until almost 11pm, I think! (I take buses at least once a month, for one thing or another.)

ip, if you do decide to bus it, all you have to do is call Samtrans 1-800-660-4287 from wherever you are, and you can get a real live human being to provide you up-to-the-minute info.

Thanks for all this good info.

I do know about the bus. The reason we're in Millbrae is we're going to the Maker Faire in San Mateo on our way to New Zealand. Millbrae seemed like a convenient place to stay because there were a few shops, including Trader Joe's, restaurants etc. and it was on the bus line so we could get the bus to San Mateo. Also, it was near the airport for an easy departure.

We've built in that one extra day with nothing to do but stroll about, laze about the motel and eat lunch because of the vagaries of air travel from the Caribbean, where we live. There is no Trader Joe's here, of course, and we also need to go to Mervyn's for socks and other basics we can't buy here.

Thanks all.

Sounds like you've done your research, but just wanted to let you know that Mervyn's and Trader Joe's (as well as a Starbucks, Walgreens, Safeway, and some other stores) are all located in the same &quot;strip&quot;.

Many more thanks. Looking forward to browsing the &quot;strip.&quot;

I live outside of Philadelphia but there is a restuarant in San Bruno that is one of my favorite places to eat. My husband used to travel for business and he discovered a Mexican restaurant that we've returned to time and time again. It is called Don Picos and is at 461 El Camino Real. There is a great family atmosphere and wonderful food. The last time I was there I got this braised shortrib dish that was outstanding, but he also does great things with seafood.

Yeah, Trader Joe's and Mervyn's are right next to each other. There's also a Starbucks, Safeway, Quizno's (sandwiches) and other stores right in that same block.

If you walk south a couple of blocks, there's a Peet's (better coffee than Starbucks in my opinion), and quite a few restaurants (including the Shanghai Dumpling Shop). Stay away from the 16 Mile House - it's under new ownership and not very good any more. My family also likes Lai Lai for &quot;Chinese American&quot; food.

We have friends who love Lai Lai, but I'm not a big fan. Although I haven't been, I've heard excellent things about don Pico's.

I'm so glad you started this thread!

We will be relocating to Burlingame in a month or so and I am delighted to have all of these local restaurant recs.

Any recs for Burlingame itself?

Sorry, islandpaddler, but I have to ask an OT question. Lise, you finally made a decision? Did you buy a house in Burlingame? Which neighborhood? You can email me at [email protected] (my &quot;public&quot; email address)

We did! In the Easton addition. I would e-mail you, but big brother doesn't let me access personal e-mail at work!

Where is the Easton addition???

Stu Dudley

Easton is an east-west street off El Camino (at First Presbyterian Church). The area around it west of El Camino is the Easton Addition. Very nice area.

I see it - a few blocks north of Broadway - excellent location.

Stu Dudley

I have attended and also hosted family get-togethers at Fook Yuen. You'll love the dim sum for lunch!

lisettemac, I have lived in Burlingame for most of my life. I grew up here, then lived elsewhere for 10+ years. I convinced my husband that this was the best place in the world to live, so we returned here in the early 80s, right after we became parents.

As much as we love to travel, and as much as we appreciate different lifestyles, geographic differences, cultural differences, etc., we are <i>always</i> happy to return to this village.

Burlingame has changed a lot over the years. While many bemoan those changes, I am okay with it, because it remains essentially the same in feeling -- and always will, simply by virtue of its layout: it's a one-street town, very much like a New England village.

&quot;The City of Trees&quot; -- you will love it here, I think!

Do they still hang dead pigs in the parking lot, on the left side of Fook Yuen? That always turned my stomach. Especially after thinking about the pigs being exposed to the exhaust of cars. :-S

I've lived here a lonnnnnnng time, and I have never seen any dead pigs in the parking lot of Fook Yuen! (Btw, we familiarly refer to that restaurant as F***You...which is not meant as an insult, just an easy referential for a non-Chinese-speaking couple!)

<i>it's a one-street town, very much like a New England village. </i>

Well, it's actually a two-street town (but Lucie and I both live within walking distance of Burlingame Ave., so I'm sure she's referring to that). The atmosphere on the two streets is very different, but Broadway has changed a lot (for the better, I guess) over the last few years --- islandpaddler, there are some very nice restaurants on Broadway now, and Broadway is a mile closer to Millbrae! (Way to get this back on topic LOL!)

I'm excited about the move, but also daunted about how hard it is to pick up and move across the country.

I guess I'm scratching my head at the analogy to a New England village, Lucie. We live in New England now .... and just about nothng about Burlingame reminds me of New England!

lisettemac, I have spent a bit of time in New England, and I always felt very at home. But being a native, I'm sure nothing will feel like &quot;the real thing&quot; to you! Do keep in mind that Burlingame Avenue (where I live) and Broadway Burlingame (where the Easton addition is) are two very, very different animals, though!

Burlingame - New England Village? Nah...I don't see it, either. It's very much a California town.

TTess, certainly not like historically-preserved New England villages! :D

But are you familiar with downtown Burlingame? I.e., Burlingame Avenue, NOT Broadway Burlingame (which, though it has its own attributes, has always been considered basically a freeway entrance!)

Burlingame -- the town that centers on one street, Burlingame Avenue -- is a unique place ... and very different from, e.g., Menlo Park, Palo Alto, and Mill Valley, other &quot;small towns&quot; in the Bay Area.

I certainly don't pretend to be a NE native, but I have spent a good deal of time there, and the towns with which I am most familiar (particularly Hanover, NH and a few other Vermont and Connecticut small towns) definitely have a similar feeling. Of course, we don't get snow, and of course we don't all have mud rooms or basements; but we also don't have a lot of ranch houses, Mexican tile roofs, palm trees, etc. And there is, thankfully, not a single strip mall within at least a mile of my house! ;)

I wish the Electric Avenue store was still on Burlingame Ave. Same with Puckihuddle. Replaced by Gap, Banana Republic, Ann Taylor, anymallstoreUSA, etc.

Stu Dudley

I hear you, Stu, believe me. However, since Electric Avenue replaced one of my father's businesses (a small retail clothing store, nothing famous!), I have mixed feelings about the demise of EA, whose owner was kind of a jerk. ;) But I miss the hardware store, Jurgensen's, Burlingame Drug, Levy Bros., Towles, and the Garden Center, among others. And I hate what the new owner of the smoke shop has done to that historically significant place. I wish he would just disappear.

Nevertheless, I still love this place -- and as I said, I've witnessed over a half century of changes. Another thing I appreciate: our library is, imo, one of the best little libraries I've ever known!

I loved EA, or at least the stuff they sold!

When BabyGap replaced the old stationery store, the owner told me he could make more money renting the building than selling stationery.