"Ghost town." That is how LeVant Dessert owner Maya Fezzani described Friday nights in downtown Menlo Park to The Almanac this summer. She also told the paper that the city "used to have so many events before COVID" and had not had anything since.
Three months later, on Oct. 23, Santa Cruz Avenue hosts its fourth and final Fourth Friday of the season. Eight performance spots run from El Camino Real up past Chestnut Street. The people putting Friday nights back together are the shops that were already there, a nonprofit founded last year, and a City Council that has spent 2026 rewriting what can open on the ground floor. The stage at the center of it all sits on the 600 block plaza, and the Council takes up the plaza's future on Oct. 13.
A Friday Night That Had to Be Organized
Before the pandemic, the city ran a summer block party that closed part of Santa Cruz Avenue to cars and filled it with music, according to The Almanac. Fourth Fridays is meant to bring that energy back. The organizer is Downtown Menlo Fund, a nonprofit founded in 2025 to support downtown.
The debut on July 24 drew hundreds of people. Musicians played at several locations from 6 to 9 p.m. Mademoiselle Colette, Feldman's Books, Gallery House and Gitane stayed open late, and balloon artist Steve Koehler worked the sidewalk outside Cheeky Monkey Toys. The cover bands The Members and The Wanderers had the main stage, set up on the pedestrian plaza in the 400 block.
By August the event had spread out. InMenlo's preview of the Aug. 28 edition listed music at the Evelyn Stage, outside Mademoiselle Colette and Roma, at the Wells Fargo entrance, inside Feldman's Books and The Main Gallery, and at the 600 Block Plaza. The Sept. 25 edition went ahead too. InMenlo later posted a photo of kids watching Koehler make balloons that night and called Oct. 23 "the final Fourth Friday of the season."
In three months, the event went from one main stage in the 400 block to a string of small venues, nearly every one an existing business opening its doors or its sidewalk.
The Oct. 23 Map, Walking Up From El Camino
The Downtown Menlo lineup page lists the October edition as 6 to 9 p.m., with bands at the 600 block and Cafe Borrone plazas and more music along Santa Cruz Avenue. Here is the lineup in walking order, starting at El Camino and heading up the avenue:
- Borrone Plaza, 6 to 8 p.m. Clint Baker & The All Stars play the plaza shared by Cafe Borrone and British Bankers Club, at 1010 El Camino Real.
- Feldman's Books, 5 to 6 p.m. Diego Ortiz plays a family-friendly set inside the bookstore at 1075 Curtis St. It is the earliest slot of the night.
- Plaza Stage, 6 to 8 p.m. Pinki Martini plays the center of the 600 block plaza.
- Kids Stage, 6 to 8 p.m. Steven Koehler makes balloons in the corridor near Chase Bank, Aveda, Susie Cakes and Cheeky Monkey.
- Chestnut Stage, 6 to 8 p.m. Riekestra Band plays at the Wells Fargo entrance at Santa Cruz Avenue and Chestnut Street.
- Crane Stage, 6 to 8 p.m. Sean Biggar plays outside Mademoiselle Colette, near Roma.
- Gallery House, 6 to 9 p.m. Rick Sanders plays inside Gallery House at 826 Santa Cruz Ave. His set runs the full evening.
- Gitane, 6 to 9 p.m. A family-friendly set inside the Gitane clothing store at 855 Santa Cruz Ave. runs the full evening, with the performer still to be announced.
Most sets end at 8 p.m., so anyone arriving at 8:30 will find music at Gallery House and Gitane.
The Stage in the Middle Has an Open Question
The Plaza Stage stands on the most debated block of Santa Cruz Avenue. Since 2023, the city has closed the eastbound lane of the 600 block, between Curtis and Doyle, for outdoor dining and shared space, according to the City. For most of that time the setup was temporary picnic tables and planters.
This year the plaza moved toward something more permanent. The Council's July 14 work-plan update says furniture was installed and a soft opening held on May 31. The same update says proposals from architectural consultants for the full build-out were expected in late July. The City's plaza project page still says the furniture "will be installed in spring 2026," a line the July update has overtaken.
On Tuesday, Oct. 13, the Council holds a study session on the plaza. The agenda lists it as item J1, "Provide direction on the 600 Block Plaza configuration or closure." InMenlo reported three options on the table:
- Keep the current plaza, with the vehicle lane closed.
- Shrink the community space and reopen the lane.
- Remove the plaza, reopen the lane and bring back street parking.
The Council is taking public comment at [email protected] and at the meeting. Before the Council last looked at the plaza, in November 2025, the City collected written comments at outreach events, and the feedback was split. Some respondents wanted two-way traffic back and raised circulation and parking concerns. Others supported the plaza or wanted more of the street given to pedestrians. A study session gives direction to staff and does not settle the final design, so the block's long-term layout may still be open after the season's last band packs up.
The block lost a landmark this summer. Left Bank Brasserie at 635 Santa Cruz Ave. closed after service on June 23, after 28 years in downtown Menlo Park, The Almanac reported. Its parent company, Vine Hospitality, closed its other restaurants as well. That leaves Bistro Vida, which also opened in 1998, as the only French restaurant in downtown Menlo Park. No replacement for the 150-seat space had been announced at the time of our research.
What the Ground Floors Are Allowed to Become
On the same June evening Left Bank served its last dinner, the Council voted unanimously to loosen the rules on what can open along Santa Cruz Avenue. The Almanac tied the vote to a long-running vacancy problem, with large storefronts empty and rents beyond what many retailers can pay. The request came from Windy Hill Ventures, owner of 870 Santa Cruz Ave. Councilmember Drew Combs said at the meeting that the 2012 El Camino Real/Downtown Specific Plan "has been almost a complete failure as it relates to actually revitalizing Santa Cruz Avenue."
The changes took effect immediately:
- Salons, spas and similar personal services can now open on the ground floor without a conditional use permit. They had generally been limited to upper floors.
- Gyms and arcades, previously banned on the avenue, can apply for use permits, which the Planning Commission reviews.
- Banks can apply to open, but the street is capped at 30,000 square feet of financial uses in total, with no single business over 5,000 square feet. Existing banks already take up roughly 28,000 square feet.
- Office use is allowed in the back of ground-floor retail spaces, subject to Planning Commission approval and community benefit fees.
Most of these new uses are daytime businesses. That shows how much of the evening work now rests on the existing restaurants and shops, and on a free music series that gives people a reason to come downtown after dark. A bank cap of 30,000 square feet against 28,000 already in place leaves room for very little new bank frontage.
On Oak Grove Avenue, the Lineup Is Complete
A few blocks away, the newer half of downtown has no vacancy story to tell. Springline finished filling its restaurant spaces on June 11, when Burma Food Group opened Alisios, a contemporary Mexican restaurant next to Barebottle Brewing. The Almanac reported that the group opened Springline's first restaurant, Burma Love, and is now its last. Executive chef Carlos Villegas, who grew up in Tijuana, built a menu drawing on Oaxaca and Baja. He told the paper the birria is his grandmother's recipe. The space was originally meant for Mírame before that deal fell through.
Causwells opened at Springline earlier in the spring, per Food Gal. Springline's directory now lists nine food and drink tenants: Alisios Mexican Cocina, Causwells, Che Fico Parco Menlo, Burma Love, Barebottle Brewing Company, Andytown Coffee Roasters, Proper Food, Bubbelah and Robin.
Springline's plaza runs its own calendar. Its next public event is Barks & Boos on Oct. 23, the same night as the final Fourth Friday, followed by its fifth annual Holiday Celebration on Dec. 5. On Oct. 23, both halves of downtown will have something going on at the same time.
The Halloween Week That Follows
Santa Cruz Avenue stays busy the next morning. The City's Halloween Hoopla on Saturday, Oct. 24, runs from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. A parade heads down Santa Cruz Avenue from the Maloney Street lot to a free carnival at Fremont Park, and participating downtown shops offer trick-or-treating. Pumpkin Splash follows on Sunday, Oct. 25, at the Belle Haven and Burgess pools, with tickets listed at $12 and reservations required. Trunk-or-Treat is Wednesday, Oct. 28, from 4:30 to 6 p.m. at the Belle Haven Community Campus. Through Oct. 23, the City's Costumes for Kindness drive is also collecting costumes for K–8 students at the Arrillaga Family Recreation Center, 700 Alma St.
For more on how a downtown weekend fits together, see our guide to weekends in Menlo Park and our Menlo Park neighborhood page.
What happens to the 600 block plaza will shape how the blocks around it look and feel, and that includes how a nearby home is presented when it comes to market. If you own near downtown and want to know how the Council's direction on the plaza could affect timing and presentation, Maria Afzal offers a complimentary luxury marketing consultation built around the street as it actually stands.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
