Menlo Park

Welcome to Menlo Park

Vibrant Silicon Valley hub of tech and venture capital firms

Menlo Park is a Silicon Valley hub of tech and venture capitalists with an inviting small-town feel. There is a strong sense of community in Menlo Park, with quiet residential streets located within walking distance of its vibrant Downtown. Sand Hill Road is famous for its concentration of influential venture capital firms. Menlo Park is also home to the headquarters of Facebook.

Real estate in Menlo Park is an eclectic mix of old and new. Calm streets and cul-de-sacs are lined with spacious contemporary and mid-century single-family homes, along with downtown bungalows and condos and a few properties dating back to the 1910s.

What to Love

Hub of tech and VC firms
Facebook HQ
Walkable downtown
Parks and green space

People & Lifestyle

Tech and venture capital are the cornerstones of Menlo Park’s thriving economy. Aside from Facebook and Sand Hill VC firms, other major local employers include the non-profit SRI Research Institute. The vibe is calm, suburban, and family-friendly. Nearby trails for cycling and running are plentiful, and many residents cycle to work or while running errands.

Dining, Entertainment & Shopping

Downtown Menlo Park covers several blocks surrounding Santa Cruz Avenue running south from El Camino Real. This tree-lined commercial strip’s unique businesses include children’s favorite Cheeky Monkey Toys, custom painted canvases and stitching workshops at Old World Designs, and Flegals Furnishings providing high-end furnishing and design. Goodwill Boutique offers a fantastic selection of lightly-worn and new designer goods with hefty discounts. Kepler’s Books has been in business since 1955, carrying a wide-ranging literary selection and hosting regular special evenings and events. Feldman’s Books is a treasure trove of obscure titles, with more than 50,000 volumes stacked within a converted 1880 home.

Bistro Vida and Left Bank Brasserie transport diners to Paris’ Champs-Elysees with its old-world ambiance and sublime French cooking. Café Borrone is a chic spot for European-style drinks and dining, with gourmet coffee and extensive breakfast and salad menus during the day and Belgian beers, seasonal dishes, and live music in the evenings. Michelin Guide featured Camper combines handmade pasta with fresh seasonal ingredients to create refined and creative California-style dishes. The signature Camper Chicken is a must-try. Other hip dining spots include renowned restaurateur Jesse Ziff Cool’s Zagat-rated organic offerings at Flea Street Café, sublime pastrami sandwiches at The Refuge, and contemporary twists on classic American cuisine at refined Menlo Tavern. The Dutch G oose is a lively neighborhood gastropub that’s been a community hub since the 1960s.

The many shopping and dining options of Palo Alto’s Stanford Shopping Center are located just beyond Menlo Park’s southeastern Sand Hill Road boundary.

Things to Do

Sharon Park is a picturesque green space surrounding a lake just off Sand Hill Road. The park sprawls over close to 10 acres, with wooded areas, picnic spots, and a children’s playground. Bedwell Bayfront Park covers 160 acres on Menlo Park’s waterfront. Bedwell’s rolling hills provide captivating views over the Bay and the surrounding Don Edwards Natural Wildlife Refuge, a 21-acre Flood Park that features a baseball field, tennis courts, and picnic areas beneath the shade of towering native Oak and Bay trees.

Other Menlo Park green spaces host popular events throughout the year, with a Summer Concert Series at Fremont Park. The vintage 1926 Guild Theater on El Camino Real screens foreign and independent films, along with cult classics like The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Shops and studios of working artists are located in the beautiful 1920s Spanish Colonial Allied Arts Guild building, with gorgeous garden throughout.

Schools