The Scoop: Coming Soon to San Carlos

This town has a lot going on right now, and it’s hard to keep up with it all. Retail real estate seems to be booming and walking the length of downtown, I only found a couple of storefronts for lease. San Carlos has worked hard, like its neighbor Redwood City, to redevelop the downtown and revitalize business. The Thursday night Farmer’s Market is always hopping, no matter the weather, and mid-day, midweek traffic is a constant stream. I’d call that success.

I’m not sure what happened, but in the last 35 years, San Carlos has chewed up and spit out a lot of grocery stores, which is a great revenue loss for the city. When I was growing up there was a grocery at Laurel and Eaton, one where the current Rite Aid store is located, one across from the post office, Foodville at the end of San Carlos, with another mom-and-pop store almost directly across the street (where Chocolate Mousse now resides). And at one point a Safeway was located where the current Longs Drug Store is on San Carlos Avenue. Foodville is the lone survivor from that crowd, and the oldest market in downtown. (Trader Joes being the only other market, located off Belmont and El Camino.) Owned by the Bianchini’s, who also have a market in Portola Valley, Foodville is slated to move into the old Bell/Lunardis spot across from the post office. The move will mean larger quarters, more shelf space, and a new name. Foodville will join its sister store in becoming Bianchini’s Market. While I am sure that many will miss the old store for its convenience, that building was badly in need of repair and updating and my guess is that the renovation would have cost too much, in money and in lost revenue. I’m looking forward to seeing them in their new spot (below).

Also on the horizon are three new eating establishments (like San Carlos really needs more!). On the west side of Laurel between Cherry and Olive, a new wine bar is being created. The Cask, located next to Cowabunga Creamery at 782 Laurel, will be a sister to Spasso, just across the street. Spasso features some great tapas and probably one of the best lavender crème brulees that I have ever had. The owners are diversifying and trying their hand at offering something for the after-dinner crowd. On the east side of Laurel, in the same block, the former crepe restaurant is being completely transformed into something very Asian. The design, bamboo plantings, and serving dishes sitting in plain sight gave away its intention, but no sign tells us what exactly it will be. Guess we’ll just have to wait and see. Finally, Red Mango is opening up a storefront by Starbucks, on Laurel between Olive and Arroyo (see photo right). This frozen yogurt chain offers all-natural yogurt, with no artificial anything. This will make the 5th NorCal store on the map, beating out its rival Pinkberry, which has not strayed out of SoCal as yet. Unfortunately, there is already an independently owned organic fro-yo store around the corner on Arroyo, Harmony Frozen Yogurt. Serving Strauss Creamery yogurt, it has gotten rave reviews and has quite a following. I hope readers will continue to frequent this establishment so it can remain in business.

The other “big” project is at Morse and Laurel; dubbed 1001 Laurel, this project will house 90 luxury condominiums as well as professional and retail space, further extending downtown. Look for a full post on this project in the near future.

For those of you with children, you’ll be happy to know that the Burton Park Playground renovation, initially scheduled to be completed last August, is now set to open on October 25th, assuming that the landscaping is established enough and the final touches are complete. What has been done so far looks fun and safe for the city’s youngest residents: bright colors adorn the climbing structures and slides, a water-spray feature has been added, there are modern swings, soft and safe ground covers, new benches/seating, and low knee-high walls with children’s artwork. Shades for the school-age area, picnic tables and final landscaping is all that is left to do.