Silicon Valley: Cheap Thrills

It's been several years since I was a starving graduate student at Stanford, but the memories linger, and I still frequent many of the same places. The Silicon Valley has a reputation for being incredibly expensive and not much fun compared to San Francisco to the north, but it's an undeserved reputation. While there are many more restaurants in the big city, there are a number of inexpensive places down the peninsula that serve good food to the students. During my student days, I made it a point to try every burrito place within a few mile radius of the campus, and think I've identified the best example of each type of burrito. Mex-To-Go has the best hot sauce and has a tasty grilled chicken burrito. Senor Taco has the best steak burrito, and Taqueria Pancho Villa has a large menu with a fantastic salsa bar. See the individual reviews for more details. People forget that the Silicon Valley is close to some incredible natural scenery. Mountain biking around Palo Alto is one of the least well-known and least-expensive entertainment options in the Valley. A variety of hikes are also availble in the immediate vicinity, some of which allow dogs along for the fun.

Quick Tips:

A quick tip: visit Antonio's Nut House on California Avenue for a beer and free peanuts from the rubber ape after your ride.

Best Way To Get Around:

You can bike around Palo Alto, but you may want a car to carry your bike to some of the nicer spots in the hills.

In business for over 150 years, the Alpine Inn never disappoints. Discovered by thirsty Stanford students soon after the university opened in 1891, it quickly became a local hangout. One of Stanford's presidents disparaged it as having "the reputation of being vile even for a roadhouse" in an effort to get its liquor license withdrawn. Happily, he and other curmudgeons since have failed, and you can still get a fine burger and a beer here. Don't sit inside; there are picnic tables out back under the trees which are much more pleasant. The food isn't fabulous, but the atmosphere more than makes up for it. After all, you wouldn't want to go somewhere nice just after mountain biking, would you?

I have been eating burritos at Mex-To-Go for over 10 years now, and feel like I have a pretty good handle on its place in the Silicon Valley burrito firmament.

The single best thing about Mex-To-Go is the hot sauce they provide in a large earthenware bowl. Add a little of this portable fire to any of their burritos, and be prepared for a flavor experience. I personally favor the grilled chicken burrito, finding that the heat of the chiles combines extremely well with the slight charring of the marinated chicken. My vegetarian friends assure me that the hot sauce goes equally well on their burritos, however.

There aren't a whole lot of things on the menu besides burritos. The black-bean soup is quite tasty, as are the nachos. You can get a chile relleno at times, and there are a few other dishes, but I've never really looked further than the burritos.

If you're visiting on a summer's day, take your food out back to the trellised picnic area and enjoy your little hidden corner of the Silicon Valley.

The easiest and most convenient place to mountain bike in the area is Arastradero Open Space Preserve. Bikes are allowed almost everywhere in the park, and the trails are wide and well maintained for the most part. You won't need a map if you have a reasonable sense of direction, as the park is quite small, and you'll be able to see where you started from several of the hilltops. During most of the year, the grasses on the hillside will have dried to a mustard yellow interspersed with gnarled oak trees. Be careful to avoid the pedestrians, as this is a popular local walking area.

Hang a left from Skyline Boulevard (Highway 35) into the unassuming Fort Funston parking lot, and you might not think much of it. That's the way that local dog lovers would love to have it. If you do park and let your four-legged pal out, watch out, 'cause your pup will never smell the ocean again without starting to squirm excitedly in the backseat. Officially, the park now requires dogs to be on a leash at all times; the huge number of dogs frisking about unfettered puts the lie to that.

First-timers should probably head north from the parking lot and explore the trails on top of the bluffs before heading down to the beach. If the tide is out, you may be able to walk south along the beach, scrambling over a storm drainage system, to a set of stairs back to the parking lot. A few warnings: cliffs a hundred or so feet high are between the upper area and the beach, and dogs have been known to take the plunge, so you need to be able to control your dog off-leash. Furthermore, there will be a hundred or more dogs present on a nice day, so you need to be sure that your dog is able to socialize properly. Finally, Fort Funston can be quite cold and windy in the summer, so bring a coat so Fido can stay as long as he likes.

The Bay to Breakers race is a San Francisco institution--with all that can imply.

In its simplest form, it's a 12k race from one end of San Francisco (the Bay) to the other (the breakers at Ocean Beach) in mid-May. In reality, it's a race for only a few hundred people, with the remaining thousands out for a running, rolling street party from one end of San Francisco to another. Many of the participants run in costume, sporting everything from sequined dresses to nothing but shoes. Others join one of the many groups participating in the costume contests. Most frequently, the group costumes include a keg as well as a wet bar.

Along the course, residents set up their own wacky contributions, ranging from impromptu game shows to a lip-synched dance routine to the Village People's "YMCA." The last portion of the race winds through Golden Gate Park, where local bands entertain the throng. You needn't be a runner to participate in the fun--at least half the crowd simply walks the course.