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Oasis Amidst Sterility

One in a while the Voice ventures outside of B'game when the occasion merits a trip.  Last night was one of those nights as it very well might have been the last night for the Oasis in Menlo Park–home of burgers, beer, Stanford memorabilia and a few great memories for me and Cathy.  We ventured down for a last burger and an Anchor Steam.  The people's love for the place was palpable and the food line stretched out the door.  It has a long history, both from the building's owners (the Beltramos family whose grandfather built the booths and paneling that bear the carvings of generations of patrons) and the current business owners- the Tougas family.  The Merc has most of the story here.

We went with a sense of sadness not just for the "O" but for the mid-Peninsula in general.  On a weekly basis it feels like the Peninsula is becoming a sterile, glass-encased, boxy expanse of boredom.  I realize it may take awhile, but it feels like death by a thousand cuts.  Voice readers might be slightly interested to learn that I am retiring tomorrow after a 30 year run as a technology industry analyst and leader of analysts.  That is a story for another time, but it will allow me to build a list of the places in the Bay Area that are not sterile, have history and have meaning.  Then we get to go to them either as a visit to a long time friend–as in The Van's, the Dutch Goose or the Swinging Door (formerly the Prince of Wales, but still cool) or as newbies in search a new treasure.  Suggestions welcome!  In the meantime, here is a shot of the guy we had a nice chat with carving his initials into the booth one last time.

IMG_5609

I'll figure out why the photo is sideways later!

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7 responses to “Oasis Amidst Sterility”

  1. JF

    Well put. Those little historical gems are becoming an endangered species here.
    Any idea what will become of the furniture and mementos?

  2. Meeeee

    I agree that the Peninsula is just a collection of Noodle Houses and weird drink places (Tpumps, etc)and is for the hipsters and people much younger than us. Fear not though. You can still take many day trips or weekend trips that are centered around food and there are still many great destinations. A list of my favorites are….
    The Mountain House Woodside
    The Union Hotel in Occidental and stop by the Wild Flour bakery in Freestone for great bread.
    Duartes tavern and Arcangeli’s in Pescadero (Artichoke Bread!!!!!!)
    The San Benito House in HMB for a sammich and a bloody mary in their cute little bar.
    The Olema farmhouse in Olema is a nice drive down Francis Drake Bl.
    A weekend trip down to Avila beach to stop by the Avila Valley Barn for pie.
    Too bad Café Puccini burned down in North Beach. They had great minestrone, cannoli’s and at times pasta with wild boar. Sad to see that one go. Get your car gassed up (or charged) and go!

  3. Joanne

    Buckeye Roadhouse in Mill Valley or Hamburger Ranch in Cloverdale!

  4. resident

    Start with Heinhold’s First and Last Chance saloon in Jack London Square. It’s the bomb.

  5. hollyroller

    This is the first I have heard of the fire at Puccini..
    That figures..
    Everyone-Restaurateur’s needs a “Retirement Package.”
    That place was my “Go To” place, as well as “Mario’s” for all my friends and family that come from, “back east.”
    Dear Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee,
    Your recommendations are the most “WONDER BREAD” restaurants in Nor Cal.
    No complaints from me.
    Just a observation.

  6. Joe

    Here is yet another B’gamer missing the places of olde:
    ou could see the domed roofs on the African-style huts an exit or two away, driving north up Highway 101.
    “Silicon Valley” was a name people were already throwing around in the early 1980s, but there was little visible sign of it yet. No spiking home prices, no buses driving workers in from San Francisco and no office park buildings rising next to the freeways.
    Returning to my hometown of Burlingame from a doctor’s visit at Kaiser in Redwood City, or an errand in Palo Alto, I’d press my nose against the glass as we passed Marine World Parkway, dreaming about the amazing other world they built on reclaimed tidelands.
    The park opened in Redwood Shores in 1968, and from the beginning was locked in a financial struggle. But that thrifty seat-of-the-pants mentality is what fed into the park’s unforgettable character. Combine money troubles with wild animals (including some of the most efficient predators on the planet) and a culture that was less lawsuit-driven, and the result was a park that is mind-boggling to imagine in 2018.
    https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Marine-World-Africa-U-S-A-is-gone-but-the-12739394.php?t=cd09b9ffae

  7. hollyroller

    That was a “Very Cool Place”
    Judy-The water Skiing Elephant.”
    As a Casual Observer, I do not believe Judy, wanted to Water Ski, in that NASTY WATER.
    That “Water Park” did not last long
    either.
    Thank you Joe for having this website.

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