It’s easy to overlook a top attraction in Menlo Park, the Allied Arts Guild, hidden in a posh neighborhood near downtown. But it’s worth seeking out during an exploration of this city of 33,000 at the southern end of San Mateo County.
The Art Guild’s three and a half acres are like a mini Filoli, the grand estate up the road in Woodside. Think of it as a Spanish villa in a lush garden full of roses, trees and fountains. San Francisquito Creek, full after winter rains, rushes by on one side. The half-dozen stores seem straight out of Carmel, with merchants selling art, flowers and high-end baby clothes. Visitors also can check out art studios or the Barn Woodshop, a furniture repair and restoration outfit since 1929.
The Allied Arts Guild, at 75 Arbor Road, was created in 1928 by Delight and Garfield Merner, a wealthy art-loving couple from the nearby town of Hillsborough who wanted to establish a center for crafts production. Today, the complex is run by the Allied Arts Guild Auxiliary, which raises funds to support critically ill patients of the nearby Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford.
Ansel Adams was the Guild’s first photographer.
The Arts Guild is a pleasant place to wander on brick and gravel pathways. The restaurant, Cafe Wisteria, is open for lunch, offering indoor and outdoor dining on a lovely patio.
“Things are starting to bloom,” said Tiana Wong, Cafe Wisteria’s manager, noting magnolias are already out, and wisteria, apple and plum blossoms are on the way.
The Arts Guild is only a few blocks from downtown Menlo Park, along Santa Cruz Avenue. Downtown Menlo isn’t as lively as University Avenue in Palo Alto, but it has an interesting mix of independent shops and restaurants. In 2022, the area’s art and design businesses formed a nonprofit to create the Menlo Park Design District.
One block on Santa Cruz Avenue is partially blocked off to accommodate outdoor dining at the French restaurants Left Bank and Bistro Vida. The barricades are covered with historical pictures of Menlo Park; some businesses on the street also have interesting historical photos in their windows.
Around the corner at 949 El Camino Real is the renovated Guild Theatre, which dates from 1926 and is now a live music venue.
Springline, another downtown Menlo Park destination, has been opening in stages. The 200,000-square-foot mixed-used development at the intersection of El Camino Real and Oak Grove Avenue is an easy walk from the city’s Caltrain station.
The six-acre site has offices, rental housing, restaurants and parks. Some the eateries—Che Fico, Burma Love, Barebottle Brewing Company and Andytown Coffee Roasters—have well-known San Francisco affiliates. Che Fico, which refers to this location as “Parco Menlo,” is preparing to open an Italian market called Il Mercato di Che Fico at Springline.