The Burlingame Voice

B'game Dining: Some of the 100 Best?

What to make of the latest Yelp restaurant scores?  In Yelp's opinion we are rocking the free world with two of the top restaurants in......America?  You might ask "Where are they?"  I did.  SFGate is reporting on them: 

The best restaurants in the Bay Area are in Burlingame, according to Yelp. The business review platform released its 10th annual Top 100 Places to Eat in America list, which featured Burlingame businesses Gigi's Cafe and Curry Hyuga as the only Bay Area restaurants mentioned in the ranking.

Gigi's Cafe, which snagged No. 14 on the list, features a selection of specialty items from the Sriracha hot chicken sandwich to a classic BLT. The 6-year-old shop is known for its generously packed sandwiches but also offers soups and salads for those with a smaller appetite.

Back on Broadway--not the esteemed Avenue-- we learn

Less than 2 miles from Gigi's Cafe is Curry Hyuga, a Japanese curry restaurant that ranked 55th on Yelp’s list.

I wanted to try Curry Hyuga early in its existence, but that was Covid-time and they were only doing take-out on a night when I wanted to dine-in.  Looks like a retry is in order.  Who knew?  B'game is a dining destination. My reviews to follow. 

Dine B'game: 3 top-rated choices on Opentable

I don't really know how good the Opentable surveys of diners' ratings are statistically speaking, but from the company our three B'game winners this month are in, it seems valid to me.  Last Sunday's Comicle profiled the 15 best restaurants in Palo Alto.  I doubt we will be seeing a similar piece on B'game restaurants soon, but who knows?  In the interim, the Opentable Top 10 has three from our little town.  Rocca, Cafe Figaro and Velvet 48 made the list.  It carries some cred with me mostly because the out-of-town winners included 888 Ristorante in San Carlos, Evvia in PA, and Pausa in San Mateo.  I've only been to 888 once and liked it a lot with good value for money, but Evvia and Pausa are long-term winners in my book.

Save yourself the trek to Palo Alto by giving these three B'gamers a try.  I'm a little surprised Park & Howard didn't make the list, so perhaps a bit of prodding from their wait staff can boost their results.  And Broadway Grill is on a definite upward trend as well.  Again, not sure about the statistics, but it's important to dine Burlingame when you can.

Active on the Avenew: 2022 Version

Burlingame on the Avenue drew great crowds to Old B'game this past weekend.  It felt a little like old times when it was known as Art on the Avenue except the proportion of vendors selling "art" was way down.  The vendor mix didn't have the feeling of unique products or local flavor and it certainly isn't trying to be a high-end show like next weekend's Kings Mountain Air Fair up on Skyline Blvd., which is a juried affair, but our show was still very fun.  In the shadow of the giant construction crane, I caught Full House on Saturday doing R&B and R&R.  Saturday was warmer than Sunday.

Sunday was downright comfortable and Wolf Jett brought two local Burlingame kids back to town playing "Cosmic Mountain Soul Music".  Frontman Chris Jones highlighted that he and drummer Jon Payne grew up in B'game, went to BIS and graduated from BHS.  He recalled eating at La Pinata, playing videogames at Roundtable and buying music at the Record Exchange.  Lots of fun was had!  Here's Wolf Jett getting cosmic.

Steelhead goes vegan with a new patio

Some developments in Buildingame are better than others.  I'm not a big vegan - not opposed to it, I just like a little meat or fish with my greens - but I like the looks of the new back patio that is being added to the new vegan restaurant going into the old Steelhead brewery space.  You can just see the steel framing for the covered patio going in against the wall on the right.  That is a nice location looking at the sunset on an active block with several restaurants and an excellent wine bar.  Dine B'game.

ADA Lawsuits: Burlingame not immune

I have heard about the stream of ADA access lawsuits targeting small businesses in B'game over the last few months.  Now the SF Chronicle is reporting that two high-profile, big city DA's (who are facing recall elections) are trying to do something about it.  This strikes close to home because the typical settlement is in the range of $10,000 - 11,000.  That's no small change for a small business.  The Chron notes

Accusing a law firm of fleecing small businesses in California with thousands of baseless disability-rights suits, the district attorneys of San Francisco and Los Angeles asked a judge Monday to halt the practice and order the firm to refund millions of dollars the businesses paid to settle the suits.  For years, the firm, Potter Handy of San Diego, has been “bombarding California’s small businesses with abusive, boilerplate lawsuits,” District Attorney Chesa Boudin and his Los Angeles County counterpart, George Gascón, said in a suit in San Francisco Superior Court.

They said the firm sues on behalf of a handful of disabled clients who, in most cases, have never even visited the businesses and claim violations that are typically fabricated.  One of Potter Handy’s clients, Brian Whitaker, has filed approximately 1,700 suits, and another, Orlando Garcia, has filed more than 800, the district attorneys’ lawsuit said. Both live in Los Angeles County but have filed hundreds of cases in the Bay Area.

I spoke with local litigator Mike Liberty, who has represented one local B'game business in one of Mr. Whitaker's 1,700 lawsuits, about the move by Boudin and Gascón.  He estimates there could be as many as 40 such suits just in B'game.  While Mike agrees that the statute is being exploited, he's not confident that the federal law as currently written will give a judge enough room to side with the plaintiffs and the Mom & Pops.  I often complain about judges legislating from the bench and this is no exception.  The answer may be to revise the ADA itself, but in the meantime I would love to see our Burlingame City Attorney, Michael Guina, jump into support the lawsuit via an amicus brief.

It would show that our city council's oft-repeated support for small B'game businesses walks the walk and not just talks the talk.  Check out the photo below of an EssEff business that got sued during Covid when it was only doing take-out!

May 8 Update:  Here is a paragraph from the Daily Post that is B'game specific.  Can you say "refund"?

Parklets are mostly staying; 8 go away

We touched on the parklet initiative that helped many restaurants get thru the tough Covid times.  Parklets are popular and with the arrival of Spring they should see continued high use.  Today is the day restaurants have to start paying for a "cleaning fee" as we noted here in January.  $250 per month.  No April Fooling, today is the day.  So I checked with the city and so far eight establishments have decided to discontinue their parklets.

Back in December we noted staff said "Burlingame is currently home to 43 parklets occupying 88 parking spaces" so eight discontinued is about 20%.  That's not bad--about 80% keeping them even with the new fee.  Now let's hope the fees get put to the use they are intended to provide.  The restaurants are motivated to clean up inside the parklet.  It may even be a health code thing if the code was updated, but walking around town one sees a different story on the outside of the parklets.  Street sweepers cannot get into the nooks and crannies between parklets, curbs and cars so this will have to be a manual job.  Here is one example.

Urban Archeology: The Piccadilly cocktail lounge

As concrete, steel and rebar take over the downtown B'game skyline, we need to take a moment to enjoy little indications of our small town past when they reappear.  On the back side of 1461 Burlingame Ave that is undergoing remodeling, next to the piano shop, work has revealed The Piccadilly cocktail lounge's rear entrance signage:  "Lunches, Dinner and Cocktails".

The 1952 City Directory reveals it was owned and/or operated by one R. H. Willoughby.  It is not listed in the wartime 1941 directory, but perhaps some Old Timer can chime in with a memory or two of the establishment and its libations.

Support your favorite $4,500 parklets

The chickens have come home to roost on fees for parklets as we noted last month here.  The council went with a $250 per month cleaning fee in addition to the $1,500 annual rental fee.  Per the Daily Journal article there was some discussion along the lines of what we noted last month about Broadway perhaps being a lower fee than the Avenue, but that did not come to pass.  It was unanimous.  I was in contact with John Kevranian who heads the Broadway Business Improvement District ("the BID") and I asked if I could publish his whole letter to the Council since I believe it explains very well the state of small businesses on B'way and more generally.  Here's the full letter:

Dear Mr. Mayor, Vice Mayor and City Council members,

I have been asked by my Broadway BID members to convey our position in regards to the parklet owners sidewalk cleaning fee. We on Broadway are Not in support of the recommended city staff report on sidewalk cleaning fee of $250 per month.

Some of you may perceive and have the impression that our restaurants are doing very well. Well, the bottom line is, they are not doing the business they had pre-Covid. The staffing shortages, increased cost of products, and supply chain issues have taken a toll to their bottom-line profit. Also, I would like to remind all of you that the majority of the business landlords did not discount rent the past 22 months during the pandemic.

This year, the increase in minimum wage, sewer rate increases, extra cost of composting, new food-to-go container mandates in March 2022 and other cost increases in the food industry will take a chunk of profit away from our restaurants. Also, not to mention Covid issues and less indoor dining.

The cleaning fee of $250 has to come from somewhere such as reducing the hours of workers or increasing prices on customers. The cost of chicken has tripled and the cost of beef and other products have skyrocketed. How much can you increase on a customer? 

Over the past 2 years, I have convinced my Broadway BID board of directors to waive our assessments (2 years' worth $54,000) to help save our businesses. I approached San Mateo County Supervisor Dave Pine to have the county waive the Environmental Health Department fees county wide for 1 year totaling $5.8 million, and I was successful with my request. I have done everything possible to save these merchants expenses, so they can survive during the pandemic and after. 

Businesses who have Parklets and outside seating are being targeted with federal lawsuits for ADA noncompliance. So far, I have 3 Broadway BID members who have received the lawsuit. The plaintiff's attorney will not settle for less than $10.000 and also the cost to remediate the violation.

I respectfully ask the entire council Not to adopt this program.

Best Regards,

John Kevranian

President

Broadway Burlingame Business Improvement District

John also researched the Covid relief funding that the City has received and reports that it was $371,871 from the CARES Act and is estimated to be $5,814,178 from the American Rescue Plan allocation.  As I noted in the comments to the December post, my surveying of restauranteurs about the additional fees has yielded split views.  Some will pay thinking they have little choice and others will give up the parklet.  John asked that I also publish the joint email address for the Council in case you want to weigh in even after the vote.  It is council@burlingame.org.

Farewell to Sixto's

One of my favorite B'game restaurants is closing to be replaced by another local stalwart moving to bigger space.  I like to commemorate places that created memories so years from now we can easily remember.  Like La Pinata, Chicken Chicken! and Yanni's, Sixto's is one of those places--in fact, it is the second one at the same location; residing in the old Bit of England space.  After "The Bit", it went through changes as the Tavern Grill (with awesome music) and Paragon before it became Sixto's.  I spoke to Teresa Lindhartsen who is one of the Sixto's and Alana's co-owners along with Francesca about Sixto's closing sometime this month.  While they are tiptoeing towards retirement, Alana's will continue as it has for 29 years.  That's a heckuva run.

Stella Alpina Osteria will be moving over from Chapin Ave. after a remodel so the tradition will continue.  As I was taking the photo below, a friend walked by who had not heard the news.  He had his first date with his lady friend at Sixto's and they have been regulars for the margaritas ever since.  Those are the memories I'm talking about.  Personally, I will miss the shrimp fajitas the most.  The good news is that with the current staffing shortages, the Sixto's staff should have no problem finding work.  To everyone involved, I say gracias.  Fare thee well.

Feb. 19 update:  Yesterday was the last day for Sixto's.  I went on Thursday night and it was packed--lots of sentimental thoughts all around.  Here are the much beloved  shrimp fajitas!

 

Parklets are here to stay, if restaurants can afford them. Safety first.

By now our parklet lifelines to local restaurants have the feel of permanence on the streets of B'game.  Back in August 2020, I noted that parklets are far superior to closing the whole darn street and that has played out as expected.  Now comes the question of permanence and payment.  The Daily Journal is reporting that

While businesses thus far have not been charged for use of the public space, the City Council this week voiced favor for establishing cleaning and rental fees likely to cost upwards of $5,100 yearly.  The charges would likely begin at some point next year for a one-year pilot period, after which the city would reassess and make changes as needed. The bulk of the cost, a $300 per month cleaning fee, could be reduced if the city’s expenses for the service were less than expected.

The remaining rental cost was determined based on Mountain View’s permanent parklet program that charges 9% of going rental rates. Given Burlingame commercial rents and the typical 300-square-foot size of parklets, a $1,500 yearly charge was decided on. Additionally, a $769 new application fee and $205 permit renewal fee would be levied.

If that is the algorithm, and I'm not sure it should be, then B'way parklets should be a little cheaper than on the Avenew.  Burlingame is currently home to 43 parklets occupying 88 parking spaces, according to the city.  So we are talking about $220K per year added to the restaurant bills in town.  I'm not fluent in restaurants' P&L's but I will ask a few owners to find out.  They are probably in "what choice do I have?" mode which might explain this:

Councilmember Mike Brownrigg, part of the economic subcommittee tasked with determining appropriate fees and guidelines, noted input from businesses in the process had been limited, though “not for want of trying.”

And then there is the street parking issue for non-restaurants which may come to a head when "permanence" starts filtering out

Also, in some instances where parklets extend into the frontage of a neighboring storefront, the neighboring business could request the parklet be moved or shrunk. Councilmember Donna Colson suggested the neighboring business could be required to pay for part of the rebuilding, or a timeframe could be established in which parklets would not be required to be moved or rebuilt. 

“You have to have some fairness, you can’t build a $40,000 parklet and then your neighbor says ‘you know what, you have to take it down now,’” she said.

Left unsaid was the hubbub from San Francisco where a 60 page rulebook landed on restaurants' doorsteps causing havoc according to the Comicle.

The notices from multiple city agencies cited rules that she’d never seen: The walls needed to be lowered. The roof needed to be removed. It could occupy only one parking space. And if it wasn’t all fixed in 14 days, she’d be fined $100, then $200, then $500 on the third day onward.

Sidewalks less than 10' wide mean Fire Department access to the building would be impeded by having a roof on the parklet and they need to have 3' of buffer (meaning an opening) on each side also for emergency access.  I'm reminded of the Chicken Chicken! fire in 2005.  And SF wants a 20' clearance from any intersection which seems too small to me.  I also worry about being able to see through the parklets to see on-coming traffic.  When I drive north on Laguna at B'way, the Rocca parklet has a takeout sign on the side of the parklet that blocks the visibility of eastbound traffic.  It's very tricky to get through that intersection in any direction.

Bottom Line:  There are some refinements to be made and money to be collected, but parklets are here to stay at least until some climate warrior outlaws propane heaters.  And there are some really nice ones in town.  Maybe Beautification should start a new category-- Best Parklet.