Word on the street is that after several stunted attempts by the city to lease the old Sam’s Sandwich space in the old Greyhound Depot, a tenant has secured the lease. It’s a small space but having it sit empty for several years has been depressing. Anything we can do to keep our small-town feel is progress.
About 300 community members came together under a clear blue sky last week for the ribbon-cutting at our new Town Square. It’s a long story which you can revisit via the Post Office category here from the groundbreaking in 2021 all the way back to 2012. I thought Mayor Michael Brownrigg delivered an outstanding speech and Michael kindly gave me his detailed notes to excerpt here. Here are some very lightly edited highlights of that speech.
The history of Burlingame last 50 years is history of parking lots: buying and leveling our bowling alley, the old City Hall, and others to build parking lots to compete with malls. 15 years ago, with our downtown sagging, we realized it was not parking, it was vitality and activity that mattered. And those parking lots – bought as a way to enhance Burlingame — now looked a lot like underutilized assets.
In 2008/9, in the heart of the Great Recession, our city leaders challenged our community, let’s reimagine our downtown. Over the course of a couple of years and many, many meetings, a vision arose. It was the product of robust input from groups like Citizens for a Better Burlingame and the downtown BID, Planning Commission, community leaders, etc.
We now see so many fruits from that 2010 Downtown Plan: affordable housing, creative and efficient parking, expanding energy and retail over to Howard, enhancing Burlingame Avenue with wide sidewalks and more pedestrian amenities. And today, the cherry on top, our new Town Square.
There are so many people to thank. Neighbors like the Salmas and the Karps and the owners of Yves De Lorme, who have consistently leaned in. Other business owners like Janet and Carl Martin who worked hard to make Safeway a better project way back when and who care deeply about the entire fabric of our downtown. Safeway was the first salvo by Burlingame in terms of imagining a more pedestrian friendly, community oriented and vital downtown. And a shout out to Stanley Lo, who helped control the Post Office site after it was put on the market and then helped sell the site to a group of people who could honor the history and imagine the future, and to Dave Hopkins, a co-conspirator at Sares Regis without whose courage this project might never have materialized.
Michael Brownrigg
Burlingame Mayor (2026)
On the occasion of the opening of the Town Square, April 2, 2026
As I said, this is just an excerpt, and he thanked many more people before turning the podium over several other speakers. Hopefully this Instagram video will load properly for a taste of the proceedings. The story about moving the Post Office over the downtown culvert and then back is one for the ages and I can’t wait for the restaurant that is the last remaining bit of the project.
Michael told me last week that he would use last night’s city council meeting to publicly affirm what we have been hearing for a sometime–that he would not seek re-election this time around. He leaves quite a service legacy having been appointed to the Planning Commission in 2001 and joining the city council in 2009. As we have seen with other long-serving commissioners and council members, their institutional knowledge is incredibly valuable in subsequent projects. And they still get button-holed in the grocery aisle long after they are out of office. Congrats, sir.
This year we get some advance notice of the BHS Panther baseball team playing on the Big Field again. A sharp-eyed reader remembered the post from last April and alerted me to this year’s extravaganza at Oracle. Here’s how the deal works. You buy a ticket to any of ten select Giants game listed here and you get a ticket to the high school game. The Panthers got the top of the card slot at 6pm. From the team:
Our very own Burlingame HS Varsity Baseball is playing at the Giants stadium! Our baseball program has worked hard to prove we deserve the opportunity to play on the big-league field. We need to sell 1,000 tickets and need your help. Buy your tickets NOW… Here are the details:
BHS v. Capuchino When: April 11, 2026 at 6PM at Oracle Park
The corresponding Giants games are sprinkled in May, June and July. The team has a headstart since BYBA has bought tickets for each of their players, so the goal is about 600 more. Again, the link is San Francisco Giants (same as above). Play ball!
In another Only-On-The Voice moment, my sleuthing has uncovered rare pieces of Burlingamia that merit being shared with the old timers in town. At the current site of Stella on the Avenew was a local pub called the Bit of England. Very English. Real English ales on tap (I seem to recall it had my favorite, John Courage, and Watney’s). It was far from upscale and that’s what we loved about it.
It closed about 30 years ago (looking for fact checking help here, old timers. Sir Paul? Mark Lucchesi?) Our buddies Jeff and Barbara Moore were long time B’gamers who eventually decamped for Maui. Jeff had managed to procure the original Bit bar stools and used them with his Tiki Bars in B’game and on Maui. They slipped through his fingers during a move, but he has reacquired them. At his recently completed Tiki bar he and I enjoyed a tipple and a seat on the original Naugahyde Bit of England stools. Anyone with memories of the Bit, please weigh in here. I’ll be chatting with the Historical Society to get a photo or two to add to the Tiki bar.
If you were paying even a little attention to city council and various commission meetings over the last twenty-plus years, you would recognize Pat Giorni by her gravelly voice, fluorescent vest and informed comments made to one and all. Pat passed away on December 7th after being bedridden for several years. That had to be hard for her since she was a ball of energy hosting parties, biking around town and button-holing people to offer her opinion(s).
I often find council and commission meetings to be like watching paint dry, but Pat had the patience to sit through them and offer public comment that was always very much on point even if it was ignored. She was a true activist and a motivation for many others to get involved to one extent or another. Count me among them. And if I wasn’t too involved, I trusted her take on things.
It wasn’t just B’game stuff either–Pat had an equal amount of insight on county issues. For all I know, she might have been a regular at county supervisor meetings as well. Transit, planning, parking, public funding, local businesses and helping them (she was a chef for years and it showed at her massive house parties) were all in her wheelhouse.
If she liked you, you knew it. And if she didn’t you could probably figure it out pretty quickly. She liked my wife and hosted her campaign kick-off party in 2009 (shown here with Jerry Deal in the background). It was something as being around Pat always was. RIP, dear.
Although I am a huge music fan I don’t listen to much choral music outside of church. Upon hearing that there would be an interfaith choir concert at St. Catherine’s on Sunday, I was intrigued and had nothing else to do during our second rainfall of the Fall. What a pleasant surprise the concert proved to be! It was a delight from the opening, somewhat atonal (in a good way) organ solo emanating from the big pipes in St. Cat’s choir loft to the four-choir rendition of Oh Happy Days as the closer.
I learned that this was the 16th annual concert by the North Peninsula Interfaith Choir. They underestimated how many people would show up such that they were out of programs when I entered so pardon the inexact names of the choirs. St. Paul’s Episcopal church and St. Catherine’s Catholic church represented B’game. San Mateo was represented by the Congregationalist church and the Church of Latter-Day Saints’ choirs. Here’s what it looked like when they all combined for the closer.
Broadway was buzzing today with the announcement that the long-time, tireless BID president is stepping down. John’s letter notes:
After deep reflection, I am formally resigning from my position as volunteer President of the Broadway Burlingame Business Improvement District, effective November 30, 2025. For 25 years, I have proudly served on the Board — including the past 11 years as President.
Unfortunately, I can no longer continue in this role in good conscience due to a series of troubling developments that have significantly undermined Broadway’s future and my ability to serve with integrity.
He notes three reasons that I will include here verbatim, so you get the full impact:
First, the City of Burlingame’s decision to terminate the Broadway Specific Plan — which was intended to guide development and investment over the next 5, 10, and 20 years — reflects a concerning lack of vision and long-term commitment to Broadway’s prosperity.
Second, the City Council’s continued refusal to support the reopening of weekday Caltrain service at the Broadway station further demonstrates a lack of understanding of the essential role of transit in our district’s history and future. The station, opened in 1910 as Easton Station in what was then known as Buri Buri, was the very reason the Broadway business district and surrounding apartments were built. When weekday service was removed over 20 years ago, the negative impact was immediate and profound. Restoring service should be a priority — not a political inconvenience.
Third, in late 2023, I opposed efforts by a City Council member and a Beautification Commissioner to weaken Burlingame’s flavored tobacco laws to benefit a personal associate. In retaliation, on October 8, 2023, both individuals called the Burlingame Police Department and falsely claimed I had threatened the commissioner. These fabricated allegations were clearly intended to intimidate and silence me. This misuse of public authority and law enforcement was not only inappropriate — it crossed a line, both legally and ethically.
I’m hoping BPD did the minimum perfunctory “investigation” of that last item. Item 1 reminds me of the sentiment on B’way that it is the poor stepchild of the Avenue. John has been a leading advocate for said refresh. I like Broadway a lot and actually spend more time there than on the Ave, but it could use a refresh and that takes help from the city. You have to wonder if moving to tiny district elections has narrowed the focus of city councilmembers.
It’s a shame John is stepping down, but he will always have a prominent voice in all things B’way. You can listen to Mark Lucchesi interview John here as well.
Yesterday was the second of four consecutive days of music on the Avenue with three bands each day. I stumbled upon the stage yesterday morning and that lead me to figure out what was happening later in the day. I wasn’t alone in my serendipitous listening as I watched Sheryl and the Pretenders and Red Hot and the Saltines perform. About a dozen friends stopped by to say hi and most of them also stumbled into the event either that day or the prior day. So here’s your PSA about today and tomorrow. The event is hosted by the City and the Chamber of Commerce whose Event calendar is here.
In chatting with Mayor Peter Stevenson, we agreed that by next year the “town square” should be complete and we can move the stage off the street and get better acoustics than the solid wall of the Apple store. Both bands were very good. Red Hot is a female singer from Millbrae and she and the Saltines covered everything from Seals & Croft to The Who. Here’s them near the end of their set as dusk set in.
It was fun seeing the half page spread in the SF Examiner about local luxury clothier Malouf's adding a San Francisco location on Sacramento Street focussed on womenswear. The journalist asked a nice set of personal questions that are enlightening even to locals who know Sam and Gloria. Just one example: at seven years old, Gloria wanted to be a doctor and Sam wasn't thinking about any profession, but knew he loved clothes even before he knew is dad owned a clothing store.
From Texas to B'game to EssEff. Congrats. It takes some grit and confidence to expand brick and mortar retail these days and we wish them the best. You can download this photo and zoom in for more insights.
Our annual summer event which a regular reader and I both still call the Art & Wine Festival but is officially Burlingame on the Avenue was another great success. The crowds both days were just right–enough to have energy and not too many to feel cramped. As usual my focus was on the bands. Mike Annuzzi Band was good and Santana tribute band Caravan was outstanding. Emcee extraordinaire who handled the duties at the Main Stage, Jeff Tateosian, thought it was the best band we've ever brought in for the festival–and he would know. Terrie Odabi got everyone dancing to a soul-blues mix and the local parents' band, Edgehill California, made the best of a shorter set than their usual.
The lobster roll truck appeared to do the most business although I never did find the paella booth that is usually my fav. The Old Post Office space that will eventually be an upscale restaurant is just sitting empty, but people made ample use of the steps and the nice new lawn to watch the bands. Here's Jeff T. introducing Caravan.
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