Detailed reviews of individual establishments
For about 25 years, 1163 San Carlos Avenue was the home of Sneakers Restaurant, a mainstay of the San Carlos restaurant scene and a normally buzzing family restaurant and sports bar. Last year, Sneakers moved to 650 Laurel Street, leaving vacant it’s fairly large space around the corner and leaving San Carlans wondering what would take it’s place in a still prime downtown location. There was a very curious — and very brief — appearance of a restaurant called Tacos…
In the spring we reported that the former Shellie’s Miniature Mania location at 732 Laurel Street had a sign announcing that Nick the Greek, a Bay Area “Souvlaki and Gyro House” would be opening soon. The casual eatery had its grand opening at the beginning of August, and so far seems to be fairly popular among San Carlans. Although not as falafel-saturated as ten years ago, San Carlos does have three other Greek/Mediterranean places with similar food, including Santorini right across the…
For a while now, San Carlans were able to brag that for a town of only 30,000 residents, it boasted both a brewery (Devil’s Canyon) and a winery (Domenico), both of which are excellent. Well, success breeds success, and now the City of Good Living (and Eating) is the home of no less than three breweries and five wineries. So, although a trip to California’s wine country is always fun, one can avoid the 75 mile drive and follow the…
Although we still miss Vic’s, it’s remarkable to note that its successor at 1125 San Carlos Avenue, Red Hot Chilli Pepper, has become a mainstay of downtown with an almost decade tenure in the City of Good Eating. As its name implies, this restaurant is all about the spice, with a large menu with decent prices all served in a good sized space. The restaurant describes itself as “Indo-Chinese” or “Indo-Asian,” which are culinarily vague terms. Historically and politically, “Indochina”…
The newest entry on Laurel Street, Stamp Bar & Grill, only opened a few weeks ago, but it is has had a strong start judging by the fairly consistent crowds both inside and outside (and, at least as of this writing, has gotten some good buzz on Yelp). In a city filled with its share of Italian, Mexican, Mediterranean, Japanese, and all other kinds of cuisine, Stamp is clearly looking for a different niche. It’s hard to categorize the cuisine…
Aloha! Not many small towns have a Hawaiian restaurant, but it’s just par for the course in San Carlos. This instantiation of our cuisine diversity is Noelani’s Island Grill, located on Laurel Street just north of Brittan Avenue. Open for lunch and dinner Tuesday-Saturday as well as Sunday brunch, Noelani’s is a trip to the islands with great tasting food in a casual, fun atmosphere. The restaurant has a few distinct spaces — an outside lounge area (with a few tables)…
I haven’t spent a lot of time in France, but one would imagine that there are (or at least should be) a lot of country bistros like Cuisinett that serve solid comfort food in an intimate and neighborly atmosphere. One doesn’t find a lot of French food in the Bay Area, so it’s pretty special to have one in San Carlos that has become a go-to place for many people (we have two French restaurants if you include Crepe Stop, but that…
Most Americans can’t find Afghanistan on a map, but most San Carlans know they need to head to a strip mall on El Camino to find amazing Afghan cuisine at long-time San Carlos restaurant Kabul. Despite its less-than-ideal location, Kabul has been a pillar of the local restaurant scene for 30 years for its high-quality unique cuisine with ample portions and reasonable prices. We often find ourselves taking home food! It’s a fairly large restaurant, but usually draws a big…
Pazzo may mean crazy in Italian, but other than its odd cubist logo, there’s not much too crazy about Pazzo, except that the food is crazy good! It has become a South Laurel favorite over the last few years, perhaps only helped by its appearance on Food Network’s Diners, Drive-In and Dives (like many of the restaurants on that show, Pazzo is none of those three – but it was good publicity nonetheless). It’s a mid-sized place, with about a dozen…
San Carlos has six — yes, six — pizza places (not counting the three Italian restaurants where you can also order Neapolitan-style pizza or the many places where there is some sort of “flatbread” on the menu). Among this group, San Carlos is blessed to have two deep-dish pizzerias in Blue Line and Patxi’s, approximately 500 feet away from each other on Laurel Street. They both also serve thin-crust pizza, and we have many friends who go to each specifically…