Neat local flavor to take a look out…read more It's actually someone's house that they live in, so make sure to be mindful and polite when visiting (because I can't imagine how annoyed the neighbors would be with randos going in and out as well as just thinking this place is an eyesore with how rich and pretentious the neighborhood already seems). There are statues of the saber tooth there and Fred, some dinos. Lots of purple and orange colors. It's not only just Flintstones theme as there are bunnies, aliens, Terracotta warriors and an eclectic mix of decor. Neat, fun and interesting stop if you're nearby and on the way somewhere else.

Flintstones House Hillsborough CA Wed 4/12/23 ©…read moreLet me start by saying, this quirky house is not a tourist destination! For decades, this prominent feature in Hillsborough hills just off the scenic route Hwy 280 brought happy feelings to passers by! Of course it's been a curiosity for decades in existence... but wait! All it is, a wonderful single family residence, with a twist in a story full of intrigue & litigation! And it has its own Wikipedia page! I've told myself, Grey, you live close by, you've got to write about the Flintstones House! It's a curiosity worth noted, yet a source of controversy to its neighbors! A colorful authentically looking residence in the affluent Hillsborough community uniquely affected the inner moods within the neighborhood, while much of the story remained hidden from public eye. The listing wasn't on the Yelp maps until recently, a yelper put it on during the pandemic, the house itself has been gracing the hill for decades in existence. The Flintstones house has been renovated & changed hands some years ago... I believe it used to sport an off white stucco, at some point it got repainted bright orange & purple... sold in 2017 & that's when complaints began. As the storytelling goes, the original Flintstones suburban sprawl developed in real life! Much controversy to it in the recent years due to the current owner coloring it even brighter burnt color resembling the cave & decorating the yard even more...beauty is in the eye of the beholder! Neighbors considered yard decorations an eye sore! So they brought forth the law suits. The installations of dinosaurs became a point of contention. Maybe historic inaccuracies were getting on their nerves? :-) After all, all we know is that Fred & Wilma enjoyed the company of their pet dinosaur Dino, but were there many others in the Stone Age? What about a Giraffe, a woolly mammoth, and a Fred Flintstone himself?! I understand neighbors didn't want any attention in the affluent town they reside in. Well, the owner won the law suit! She gets to keep her dinosaurs! Not only that, but also $125K from the city for originating the architectural review in the first place! And we the public got to enjoy this amazing architectural creation for years to come! *Well, he packed his guitar and his bar-room tan, Gotta get some miles behind him as fast as he can, Another destination, some place else to play. *But as the night approaches, a change is in the air His heart is pumping fast, he's got no cares The music befriends him, it can take him anywhere It's a honky-tonk engagement But there's no better place to play His mind feels like crazy pavement He's getting crazed out every day [ Review #766 w 2 pix on May 2, 2023 ] Flintstones House! Hillsborough CA Wed 4/12/23 Yabba Dabba Doo! @Flintstones House Hillsborough CA Wed 4/19/23

I've lived two streets away from this little creek and park for six years and never realized it,…read morebut this year during quarantine I noticed it on Maps and had to check it out. The first time I came here I was actually a little scared! It's a legit woodsy area right next to a neighborhood, with a small babbling (or maybe trickling) creek. The mallard ducks like to call this place their home, mostly visible in early morning or evening (you can sometimes catch them sleeping!). After you get used to the insular quietness of this park, you come to really appreciate it! It's a very short path (I think my Fitbit logs it as about 200-300 steps across), but it's very peaceful. You can listen to the birds chirp, the squirrels rush about, and the water and gentle rustling of leaves. I also found it funny to catch the squirrels yelling their heads off more than once. It's located between two streets, so you can clearly see houses on both sides, and it's pretty safe. I'd recommend taking a stroll! But not too many so I can keep the quietness to myself :)

Arroyo Park is probably one of the honey's favorite parks in the area due to the mallard ducko…read morefamily that is in residence in the stream. We originally thought it was just the drake and his two ladies, but it turns out there's at least two drakes and three hens, though we don't usually see them all together. The park is open during daylight hours and is usually pretty quiet, surprising for being not that far from the bustling El Camino street. You can hear the brook babbling and birds, and it's really quite a lovely stop.

The 'Dream Fountain' is located on 'The Avenue' which is San Mateo Avenue. Lot's of places to eat…read moreon this street in San Bruno! There is also a Centennial Time Capsule here provided to the city of San Bruno by the Rotary Club of San Bruno on December 23rd, 2014, to be opened on December 23rd, 2064!! So if you're in the area, check out the Dream Fountain and the surrounding area!!

Ric's short attention span review…read more A cool parklet area in downtown San Bruno. Located next to the Health Mart Pharmacy (as of march 2017) it is a nice and relaxing respite when shopping. A Rotary International time capsule is located at this park. ( To be opened 12/23/64) Fountain was dedicated 10/9/2008. Located at the corner of Jenevein and San Mateo avenues ( Main Street downtown San Bruno. A Rotary Centennial clock is located across the street next to the Citibank Branch. Worth a look if you happen to be in the area, pretty interesting shops and places to eat here, this fountain with benches is pretty neat.

It was our 2nd time to Downtown San Mateo. Our last time was in 2023. We found many new restaurants…read moreopened this time even though many are overpriced. Parking was a bit hard to find but it was a great town to go for dining or go to the movies or shopping. FYI, you have to pay for parking in Downtown San Mateo.

I enjoy visiting the area occasionally, for the unique restaurants and businesses, one of my…read morefavorite spots for nightlife being The Swingin' Door. This past weekend my bf and I decided to experience hot tub hydrotherapy at the Water Lounge Spa which was so relaxing, walked along B Street and snacked on some yummy cookies from TinyB Chocolate, sipped on delicious cocktails at the Wunderbar speakeasy, picked up a book (Freakonomics) from B Street Books store, browsed the adorable collection of products from Fanloli gift shop, and checked out a special Valentine's Day event "A Kiss and a Song" on a beautiful Friday late afternoon. We got our lip prints read by Sara James, while listening to the sounds of the accordian by Michael Zampiceni who played mainly french music for passersby. Nothing too extraordinary, an informal but charming event, all for fun and free to engage in on this romantic holiday. I returned to the area two days later with my sister, and we got an amazing massage at Spa Siam Orchid and had a satisfying meal at Pacific Catch for lunch. Parking isn't too difficult to find in the vicinity, but they do charge a small fee in metered spaces and in the Main Street parking garage (free on Sundays). Even with modest entertainment offerings, all the cute shops and eateries, along with string lights decorating and illuminating the trees and buildings at night, make for an alluring setting in downtown San Mateo.

Burlingame feels like the creature out of The Thing: It's trying hard to look like the thing it's…read moreimitating but doesn't quite succeed. It has a main drag but the street is so narrow that a car parallel parking sends the street into paroxysms of a nasty traffic jam. There are parking lots but they're small and tightly packed making people hot tempered and cranky with an over-reliance on car horns. It's high end but overly eclectic, the niche players here (Madewell, L'Occitaine, Trina Turk, Departures) but not the more affluent mainstream stores. It's The Truman Show of suburban towns. It feels artificial like astroturf.

I cannot emphasize enough how much I hate this "city". My…read morelongstanding grudge started with a traffic ticket in the mail. I was driving off the exit on Broadway & crossed the intersection on a yellow light. Imagine my surprise when a ticket arrived in the mail, along with a gazillion dollar fine. Included was a link to the secret camera video proving my crime. I had to watch the video several times before i slowed it frame by frame to see my tires failed to hit the yellow crosswalk line by ONE FRAME. Yes, that's 1/30th of a second! Surely a human would have not have considered this an offense. Burlingame is dead to me. Alas, I made a car detailing appointment & didn't realize it was in Burlingame, so here I am. Having two hours to kill I walked to the 3 block long "downtown ". I was surprised that the fancy pants area had gotten a little shabby. Anyway, there were no empty storefronts, so the local economy is just fine, seeing as the city makes most of its revenue via traffic cams. So, the businesses were all closed at 10 am, sans the Starbucks & a bakery cafe. You know you're in the burbs when the Starbucks still has seating, unlike San Francisco which is terrified of its citizens. I was able to round trip walk the entire downtown Broadway retail strip in 30 minutes. Now what? Hour and a half in Starbucks. I needed something to read, so grabbed a local paper and enjoyed the hilarious ads. My fav was the "Celebrate Martin Luther King Day with an Apple Pie"! Whatever, I've been here all morning and never saw one person of color. Love officially still lost, I speed walk back to my car, being careful to complete crossing the street before the countdown reached zero. Then I cautiously drove back home, with renewed appreciation for my beloved city, hoping to cleanse myself of this dreadful experience. San Francisco is so beautiful.

The food is amazing the ambiance is great and the people are super friendly. Thank you Sapore for…read morealways making my mom's birthday special. I highly recommend this restaurant. Perfect to celebrate your special occasion.

Look, I'll be honest, if you're coming here for seamless, polished service, you might be…read moredisappointed. We went on a slow night and still dealt with a total "slow turnaround" and some classic operational gaffes. They couldn't find the bottle of wine we actually wanted and then spent way too much time trying to sell us on a different bottle we had zero interest in. It was a bit of a circus just to get the basics situated. But then the food arrived, and that's where the magic happened. I've seen reviews complaining about a "lack of flavor," but that was not our experience at all. We started with the beet salad--the honey-lemon notes were nice, though nothing to write home about. But once the mains hit, everything changed. The Carpaccio was spot on, the Ribeye (prepared perfectly to medium) was delicious, and the Branzino special was fantastic. And the Rigatoni Rustica? Believe the hype. It's a classic for a reason. Bottom line: The service is definitely sloppy, but I wouldn't dismiss this place because of it. The food is genuinely good Italian and the prices are reasonable for Burlingame. My advice? Skip the salads, ignore the service "monkey dance," and go straight for the classics. I'd definitely go back just for the steak and the Rigatoni alone. Highly recommended if you actually care about what's on your plate. An A++ local find.

Beautiful City to raise your young family. It has one of the best school system in California…read more The City is clean and safe. It has several Festivals events for the family throughout the year.

Glad to see Millbrae is catching up with technology. EV parking is located on El Camino off…read moreMillbrae Ave. For us PHEV/EV drivers, we now have 4 charging stations (Chargepoint) in the lot where Bambu and Ben Tre are located. Great location as parking here with all the Chinese Dim Sum joints are packed, especially during the weekend. Half a day on Saturday though parking is off limits with the Farmer's Market. I like the divider on Broadway with trees. Keeps all the Asian drivers for making a U in the middle of the block. Haha More stores are also popping up. Good way to get the residence and visitors amused and entertained. I haven't seen mammoth, limousine twin size baby strollers yet, but I may have been visiting during non family days. So here's the gist, if you're looking for a huge dim sum house, wait in line, this could be the city for you. Hong Kong lounge sure has its competition. Last time I was there, it was for a wedding. Incidentally, I've been with my Sweetheart for 10 years this year, celebrating our anniversary. I might just consider proposing. Guess I need to buy a Cracker Jack, and if the prize is a ring, it's a sign. Stay tuned! Cheers!

The Shaggy Dog Statue, located in Central Park in San Mateo!!…read more It's located on the southern end of the park, right when the paved path forms a Y split. He's obviously very sturdy, kids can't walk by him without jumping on him. Even adults can't just walk by without stopping and staring, or taking a picture. He stands upright, as if he's alerted to something. And he seems very well maintained, cool local flavor in San Mateo!!

Central Park has a statue of an exotic animal with it's Leon the Giraffe statue by the Fifth Street…read moreentrance. So why not a statue of one of the planet's most common domesticated and beloved animals? No worries, the park's got that covered too. You'll find it near the 9th Street entrance, near the gazebo and rose garden. The cast-iron dog statue is standing and looks alert, staring straight at you. He is somewhat shaggy and looks a little like a Labrador. The top of his head is worn smooth, the result of thousands of people petting his head. The dog was imported from Italy in the 1870's by William Kohl who once owned the property that is now Central Park. I wonder how many photos of people posing with the dog have been taken over the years?

We came here for Mother's Day this year and it was so much fun! The decorations are super cute and…read morethis place is very baby and dog friendly. We sat outside and got a highchair and a little corner for our dog! We ordered fettuccine with pesto and salmon and spaghetti bolognese with meatballs! The salmon was really tender and delicious. I tried my husband's bolognese and that was also yummy! We were so lucky to get to meet Chef D and he was so sweet with our baby boy! Everyone was so nice here.

Dined at Capri Lasagneria for Mother's Day. We made a reservation for lunch and were surprised when…read morewe were seated outside. It wasn't a huge deal, but we were expecting indoor seating and we felt like the vibe of the meal was different given we were literally eating on the sidewalk. We asked to be moved to an indoor table but were told they were for reservations...which we had. For food, we got their classic gnocchi appetizer, the bolognese lasagna, and their seafood pasta along with a few nonalcoholic drinks. Everything was tasty but relatively high priced. For example, the seafood pasta was $35. The lasagna bolognese was good, but we felt that it actually had too much cheese. Gnocchi was good but not worth $14. Service was friendly, but we didn't appreciate how our waitress tried to push the burrata appetizer on us at least three times.

Geat trails and spectacular views, very historic place great for dogs too!…read moreLots of wildlife here also, we saw Deer, Coyotes, a Bobcat, 2 snakes and many lizards, be careful there is some Poisen Oak around the area.

There isn't much to do here, a small parking lot, a few concrete benches, and views of endless…read morebeautiful land. If you like nature or looking to explore some trails (I don't know where they lead), or just a peaceful atmosphere to get away, this is a cool spot. But otherwise, it's pretty much a rest stop off the 280 freeway (without restrooms, or any structures really).