[San Francisco Bay Area] Great playground and good eats

This thread is for sharing good eats near playgrounds worth travelling to.

I will start:

Koret Playground & Carousel, Golden Gate Park [SF}:
Arizmendi
Lavash
Nopalito

Helen Diller Playground, Dolores Park [SF]:
Bi-Rite Creamery
Tartine
Namu Gaji
and the gazillion other eateries in the Mission

Magical Bridge Playground, Mitchell Park [Palo Alto]:
Noodle Talk, Mountain View
Napoletana Pizzeria, Mountain View

Happy Hollow & Zoo [San Jose]:
Bun Bo Hue An Nam
Grand Century Shopping Mall- any recs here?
Is the Com Tam Thien Huong on Story the same as that on Senter?

Oakland Zoo:
Kendejah, San Leandro

San Francisco Zoo:
Old Mandarin
Dumpling Kitchen

CuriOdyssey, San Mateo:
KitchenTown, San Mateo
Pizzeria Delfina, Burlingame
Ramen Dojo, San Mateo

Bay Area Discovery Museum:
?

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Glen Canyon Park
Canyon Market (deli + salad bar)
La Corneta

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Oh nice. I had no idea about the park nor the eateries. They would be good places to go to when the kids are a little older to do more serious walking. (and wildflower viewing too)

There’s a very nice playground in Glen Canyon Park as well. The park is very large. It feels almost like you’re getting away from the city.

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Yes, the recently gentrified playground is very nice.

Exploratorium
All the stuff at the Ferry Building
La Mar

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If you are into carting your kid around in a bicycle, the loop around GG park has multiple playgrounds and good eats at various places (some might be a short bike ride away for one adult to go grab food). the loop we used to do included: (using lincoln and fulton since i get confused by mlk and jfk)

  • playground at 8th and fulton (clement st is close enough)
  • playground at 19th and lincoln (irving has a ton of options from 19th - 23rd)
  • playground at 45th and lincoln (the boat there is quite fun for young ones), coffee shops on judah, andy’s on lawton, good pastries
  • vicente st has goto at least three playgrounds between 19th and 48th. there are a couple of andy’s on taraval and some decent eats on taraval

oh and in berkeley, our favorite playground of all time: the adventure playground in the marina (check hours on website). vik’s is fairly close along with the 4th st corridor

lobo

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This is awesome! I had no idea! And I lived in Berkeley for a number of years too… Its time to reacquaint ourselves with all the 4th street and other Berkeley eateries.

Children’s Fairyland/ Lake Merritt:
Pal’s Takeaway
Bay Fung Tong
The entire Old Oakland- Miss Ollie’s, B-Dama
The entire Oakland Chinatown

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San Francisco Zoo:
Old Mandarin
Dumpling Kitchen
Win’s Restaurant
Andytown Coffee

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Children’s Fairyland/ Lake Merritt:
Bay Fung Tong
dosa By DOSA
Moroccan Palace Restaurant
The entire Old Oakland- Miss Ollie’s, B-Dama
The entire Oakland Chinatown

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Dumpling Kitchen closed!

Great thread—-plenty of parks I didn’t know about will come into rotation!

After spending time at the Bay Area Discovery Museum, the thought of driving and parking in Sausalito is horrifying. Murray Circle/Cavallo Point has a good brunch, but too costly to bring kids to. The museum’s restaurant, Beansprouts, has a “remixed from Costco products” kind of vibe, but is healthier, tastier, and not as pricey as most museums.

Heather Farm Park (Walnut Creek)

  • Sichuan House (big sesame pancake!)
  • Genova’s Deli

Caledonia street in sausalito is less touristy and has got at least a couple of good eating joints. We typically goto sartaj indian cuisine, a small mom and pop place which has been there forever (though there was a bit of break with some ownership ping-pong a year ago). Their aloo paratha and scrambled eggs (egg burji) are great. Closest to home style indian cooking, IMO

there is a also a fast casual french place next door which our kids have been to and liked

the playground near the library further down the street is not bad for the kids to let out steam (and learn to ride bikes, kick the ball etc)

lobo

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Too bad! Did anything new open at this space?

Ensarro (Ethiopian) is within walking distance to Children’s Fairyland. There’s also a Bacheesos (Mediterranean buffet) across the street— I’ve not been to this location, but always thought their San Pablo location had fresh and decent food.

The concession stand at Fairyland is glacially slow. and has pretty bad food. Would be quicker to drive to the Whole Foods and return (or go beforehand)if a picnic is desired.

Fairyland is within quick driving and walking distance to uptown, Chinatown and Grand Ave eateries. there is no reason to eat bad food inside. When we had the membership, we ate well in Oakland.

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Nealon Park in Menlo Park. Never heard about it until recently. But they have a pretty epic structure.

Santa Cruz Ave is around there- The Refuge, Mademoiselle Colette, etc are around. Country Corner a little farther on Alameda de las Pulgas.

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In Emeryville, there is a playground adjacent to the food hall. The food hall has got quite a few options including minnie bells (though open only for dinner on weekdays, much to my disappointment, since I was hoping to snag lunch from there before getting on Amtrak)

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I will add this link to a list of good playgrounds here for those who want to research food after settling on a playground.

I will add that Adventure Playground at the Berkeley Marina is very close to all the restaurants on 4th Street/ San Pablo.