Santa Cruz Ave, Central Menlo Park

It seems as if Silicon Valley is full of cute downtown areas filled with neighborhood restaurants and high-end eateries. Santa Cruz Avenue is certainly no exception. The road encompasses both high-end restaurants and commercial retail shops, like Bank of America and Walgreen's.

Santa Cruz Avenue is not nearly as extensive as Mountain View's Castro Street, nor is it as bustling as Palo Alto's University Avenue (the two most comparable nearby neighborhoods that I know of, although I am sure there are more. I haven't had trouble finding parking the few times I have been here (a plus), although this is an indicator that this is not quite as vibrant of a spot as some of the other downtown areas (a minus).

But if you need to run in and out and grab a few supplies, and want to avoid the proverbial shopping plaza, this is not a bad spot. I do look forward to sampling more of the restaurants here as well!

Santa cruz is a great street for shopping. Pete's coffe on Santa Cruz is the best coffee shop in Silicon Valley.