Peninsula Eats: New Standouts, Part One
From modern Turkish or Indian to Italian x2 (including alpine Germanic-Italian), where to eat in San Mateo County now
For 24 years, I’ve been exploring and writing about the Bay Area’s Peninsula — including but not minimized to Silicon Valley. Yes, San Mateo County suffers from suburban malaise and mediocrity when it comes to its overall restaurant standards, especially compared to the dense, world-class glories of nearby San Francisco. But this is also one of the most diverse regions in the world and blessedly the food reflects that with hyper-regional eateries representing many regions of India, Mexico, the Philippines and beyond in this huge county. It takes more digging than in SF, but with heavy research, the Peninsula is packed with gems.
In this two-part series, I dig into ten spots (five each article) you should know about, half of them brand new, the other half openings of 2023-2024 with notable elements.