SFO - Millbrae

The Travelodge San Francisco Airport South in this area was pretty cold at night/morning. The heater/cooler works quickly with a thermostat control. The room was very decent and clean, clock radio, mini-coffee maker, iron and board, in room safe for an additional $1/day, free local calls, a very comfortable bed. There was a shower, but no bathtub, the shower door opens out to the bathroom floor rather than into the shower floor after taking a shower - water dripped onto the bathroom floor; free Wi-Fi Internet, the Simmons mattress beds provides a very comfortable sleep. The upgraded room for an additional $10-25/day came with a mini fridge, microwave, nicer room, balcony in our room overlooked the BART and Caltrain stations. There's a fitness facility and restaurants nearby. The hotel provides a continental breakfast of cereal, yogurt, fresh fruit, bagels, toast, danish, muffins, juice, and freshly brewed cappuccinos, espressos, lattes in both regular and decaf from 6am to 10am in the lobby near the front desk.

Peter's Cafe is nearby and 24 hours. Take a 10-minute walk over to Neal's Coffee Shop (listed as Ben's Coffee Shop on the Internet) at 1845 El Camino Real. Walk out in front of the reception area to the sidewalk, left to the next traffic light, and cross over to opposite side in the Burlingame Shopping Center.

In the opposite direction going past Peter's Cafe, the Millbrae neighborhood area has businesses, shops, restaurants to browse. Hong Kong Flower Lounge, Fook Yuen, Osho, Thai Stick restaurants are all a short 10 minute walk or less away.

The hotel's location is sort of out of the way to San Francisco, but it's a five minute walk to a Caltrain station and BART has service to Millbrae, so the city will be just a BART ride away. There's a 24 hour complimentary shuttle provided by the motel that takes you to and from the airport with a phone call. There is also SamTrans public transit. 511.org can help you plan your trip. But public transit seems to all turn into a pumpkin by midnight, if not earlier. This wouldn't be a good choice if you want to be on the town after midnight, but a good choice if you are back before the last BART train leaves or you're driving.

There are lower cost places elsewhere, including two other Travelodges nearby if your goal is to save money. If you'd like to have things to do, a farmer's market on Saturdays from 8am to 1pm, Trader Joe's, including a real walkable neighborhood right nearby without having to use a car or go into San Francisco, this place is pretty hard to beat with it's nearby infrastructure without the traffic hassles of the city. It's the best choice of places to stay close to the airport, even if this cost a little more. Check-in 1pm, check-out 12pm.

BART Millbrae station, Caltrain Millbrae station, SamTrans bus route # 391.

From its very modest-looking exterior, Fook Yuen, located in Millbrae, offers some very good dim sum, as well as lunch or dinner for your taste buds. Don't go too fast selecting items, as the selections come quickly from the women carrying dishes to offer. Upon selecting a dish, a stamp is placed on your bill, along with a thank you from the woman serving. Selecting dishes is a personal preference. I like to stay away from the buns and noodles dishes in this type of setting, as those represent fillers. I'd prefer to leave room for other types of dishes to try and taste. I've never seen chicken siu mai before here, and it tasted quite good. Usually it's only beef or pork and quite salty. The roast duck with the dipping sauce was very good. The seaweed dish and the Chinese broccoli were both good, and the deep-fried shrimp and scallops, pot stickers, and baked Chinese BBQ pork buns were just alright, not great. If a particular dish you'd like hasn't been brought around, ask if they have it. The roast pig dish will set you back $15 if you choose it. One annoying thing I find about these types of billing is that we don't know what dishes cost till the bill is tallied by the staff. Credit cards are accepted and there is street parking.

Dim sum hours Monday-Friday 11am-2:30pm, weekends 10am-2:30pm, Monday-Friday 11am-9pm, weekends 10am-9pm.

BART Millbrae station, Caltrain Millbrae station, SamTrans bus route no. 391.

Hong Kong Flower Lounge in Millbrae has some good Chinese cuisine, offering dim sum, lunch, dinner, and cocktails. We were offered hot towels before our dinner, a nice touch. Keep the towel, as I found it useful to clean my sticky fingers with during the meal.

We ordered steamed bass at $20/lb; won ton soup, $11, a disappointment and not recommended; the mixed vegetables, $10, bok choy, American broccoli, and baby corn, was done quite nicely; and steamed rice at $1.70/bowl. The wonton-soup filling seemed like it had ground-up generic meat, lacking a distinct taste and with only bits of green onion in the soup base. There were no other vegetables, there was no distinctive pork, mushroom, nor shrimp taste, and it was a bit on the bland side. We were both quite disappointed by this dish. I'd recommend New Gold Medal Restaurant in Oakland, CA, for their wor wonton or even their basic wonton, as both taste much better and are less money than this place. The mixed vegetables fared better. Finally, the steamed bass arrived, and our waiter removed the large part of the bone structure from the fish, but there were still smaller fish bones to take out on our own. The taste was excellent and subtle, not overcooked.

Credit cards are accepted. The disappointing wonton soup brought this down to a Somewhat Recommended.

Lunch Monday-Friday 11am-2:30pm, weekends and holidays 10:30am-2:30pm; dinner daily 5pm-9:30pm.

BART Millbrae station, Caltrain Millbrae station, SamTrans bus route no. 391.

Anabelle's, in Millbrae, is a place to come to if you don't mind the extremely slow service. The atmosphere is pleasant, and the food quality is good. We placed our order and saw other customers come in after us and get their food before us. The chicken teriyaki, on the menu's recommended by the chef list $7.95, was actually quite good once it finally arrived. Their shakes are tasty too. But their very poor and slow service turns the overall experience into a do not recommend. Open for breakfast and lunch.

BART Millbrae station

It was after midnight and we wanted to get something to eat, but we were unfamiliar with the area. Millbrae's Peter's Café sign was brightly lit. Like flies in the dark, we wandered over to their restaurant. We both chose our food off their white-board menu and were served by a Korean waitress with a heavy accent, but understandable English. The food was good, and for late-night dining when you're on foot and unfamiliar with the area, this is it. Judging from its decor, this café looks like it's been around since the 1960s.

BART Millbrae station, Caltrain Millbrae station, SamTrans route # 391.