San Mateo, CA Road Trips

Central Park is off of El Camino Real between 5th Ave and 9th Ave. Inside the park is a beautiful 1 Japanese Tea Garden. There is also a 2 miniature railway for children that runs daily in summer and at weekends all year. During the winter, there is an outside ice rink that is open to the public daily (including holidays). North of the park, downtown San Mateo runs along 3rd Avenue and 4th Avenue (spilling somewhat onto 2nd Avenue) between El Camino Real and the Caltrain train tracks; it's one of the more successful urban downtowns left on the Peninsula. The streets with the most restaurants and other establishments are B Street, 3rd Avenue, 4th Avenue and 2nd Avenue. San Mateo used to be home to Bay Meadows, the only horse racing track on the San Francisco Peninsula. It's being redeveloped. The grounds are also home to the San Mateo County Events Center, where the annual county fair is held and various other events (including the 2010 Bay Area stop of Maker Faire. Take the Delaware Street exit off of Highway 92 and head south; the Event Center parking lot is directly off Delaware. What part of Bay Meadows remains visible are best viewed on foot from this area. For fans of the local mid-century modern architecture, San Mateo is home to two Eichler neighborhoods - 19th Avenue park is a very early tract group of Eichlers, and The Highlands is a later neighborhood of custom Eichlers. Coyote Point is a park in the north-east corner of San Mateo off of Highway 101 at Peninsula Avenue. A small boat harbor is there as well as a natural history museum.

Along with shopping and dining, there is a medium-size movie theater (12 screens, none of them huge) just off B-street between 3rd and 2nd Avenues. 1 CuriOdyssey, 1651 Coyote Point Dr, ☏ +1 650-342-7755, [email protected]. Small family–oriented science museum and zoo, featuring rescued local animals. (updated Sep 2023)

1 Yumi Yogurt, 3955 S El Camino Real, ☏ +1 650 341-0939. Amazing flavors of soft serve frozen yogurt and a huge topping bar. Also serve hand scooped ice cream. 2 Little Shanghai, 17 E. 25th Ave, ☏ +1 650 573-7161. Cheap, authentic Shanghainese place. Always seems to be filled with local Chinese families getting their fill. San Mateo has a large Japanese community, and has a number of Japanese restaurants. A few that stand out are: 3 Santa Ramen, 1944 S El Camino Real. 4 Ramen Dojo, 805 South B St. A restaurant by the same owner as Santa Ramen, and these days more popular than the original one. Much smaller than Santa Ramen and harder to get into (people start lining up half an hour before opening time), no reservations taken. 5 Ramen Parlor, 901 South B St. Another restaurant by the same owner as Santa Ramen and Ramen Dojo. A block away from Ramen Dojo, and easier to get into. 6 Himawari, 202 2nd Ave. Another popular ramen shop in San Mateo. 8 Sushi Sam's, 218 East 3rd Ave. Probably the most highly regarded sushi restaurant in San Mateo. The other candidate is 7 Yuzu (54 37th Avenue). 9 Hotaru, 33 E 3rd Ave, ☏ +1 650 343-1152. Authentic Japanese with an excellent all-around menu including sushi and cooked favorites. Very busy for weekday lunches, quieter at other times. Good value for lunch; prices go up on the dinner menu. 10 Shabuway, 145 E 3rd Ave, ☏ +1 650 548-2483. One of only a few shabu-shabu restaurants on the Peninsula. 11 Kaz Teriyaki Grill, 71 East 4th Ave. Very popular corner takeout Japanese food restaurant in Downtown, fairly authentic.

Many of the restaurants in downtown have full bars - good for a pre- or post-movie drink, but many close relatively early and there is no urban nightlife scene to speak of. There are a few local bars (1 The Swinging Door on 25th, another on Pacific a few blocks south of Hillsdale) and a small nightclub at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in neighboring Foster City.

1 Hampton Inn & Suites San Mateo-San Francisco Airport, 2940 S Norfolk St, ☏ +1 650 341-3300, fax: +1 650 341-9999. 2 Holiday Inn, 330 Bayshore Blvd, ☏ +1 650 344-3219. 3 Residence Inn San Francisco Airport/San Mateo, 2000 Winward Way, ☏ +1 650 574-4700, fax: +1 650 572-9084.

San Mateo is near 1 San Francisco International Airport (SFO IATA). The Bay Area's other airports, 2 Oakland (OAK IATA) and 3 San Jose (SJC IATA), are less convenient. The CalTrain calls at three stations in San Mateo: 4 San Mateo, 5 Hayward Park, and 6 Hillsdale. US-101 and I-280 run through the city. It is also connected to the East Bay via the San Mateo–Hayward Bay Bridge ($7 toll as of 2022).

The most convenient way is by car. If you're using public transit, check out the trip planner on http://www.511.org. Cycling and walking are also popular ways of getting around. There are two downtown shopping areas: the primary downtown is between 2nd and 5th streets, bordered by El Camino Real and the train tracks. The big, new San Mateo Public Library is also downtown. The "other" downtown is south about 15 blocks, at 25th ave on the West side of El Camino Real. Continuing south on El Camino Real is the Hillsdale Mall.