Frozen in Time, But Thawing

San Mateo Ave. in San Bruno

San Francisco bears the brunt of it, but cities up and down the Peninsula also have sizable homeless populations....not just the working poor but also those most difficult to help, i.e., substance abusers and the mentally ill. The strapped cities issue fines at the drop of the hat--quick-to-trigger red-light cameras, ticky-tacky tickets for tail lights, etc.--but that's a story for another day.

San Mateo Ave.: few chain stores present

After dropping off the car in San Bruno, I hoofed south along San Mateo Avenue, parallel to El Camino Real. San Mateo Avenue's anchors are the San Bruno Caltrain station, the beneficiary of a $155 million construction project, and Artichoke Joe's, whose brightly lit interior is a welcome contrast to other California casinos.

Enjoying the 1970's ambience of the street, I only stopped once--at the Starbucks, naturally--to pick up a coffee with an added shot of espresso. Starbucks had by far the most traffic of any of the store fronts, portending an area ripe for development.

Given the proximity to both Caltrain and BART stations, it's only a matter of time before the whole street is demolished in favor of high-density housing. Many of the businesses and the land under them are family-owned, so there's a good chance tradition and nostalgia will slow the wrecker's ball. But development won't be stopped, so a word of advice: experience old San Bruno while you can.

One venerable business is the popular Millbrae Pancake House, which employs third-generation family members and has staff which rarely turns over. The restaurant makes few concessions to modern cuisine (no explicit vegan, gluten-free offerings) and has multiple breakfast meats and styles of pancakes that are problematic for diners who worry about cholesterol. After a two-mile stroll in the heat and humidity, it was the perfect way to end the morning.

On my 5th visit I took a flier on the chicken and waffles. It was OK, but I'm going back to bacon and eggs.