My company is flying me down to Pleasanton for vendor meetings and training. I’ll be there a few weekdays (no weekend stay), and I don’t know anything about the city.
I’ll have a couple of evenings free, so if anybody knows anything, I’d like recommendations:[ul][li]restaurants, especially ethnic[/li]
[li]movie theaters (which are the nice ones?)[/li]
[li]bookstores[/li]
[li]other activities, e.g. a nice state park with a pretty hiking trail?[/li]
[li]anything else worth knowing about[/ul]I’m not anticipating I’ll have the opportunity to go very far outside Pleasanton (i.e., no trips to Oakland or San Francisco), so I’m focusing on the city proper and the immediate area. Whatever anybody can tell me will be useful, and much appreciated.[/li] –gets note pad ready–
As pointed out, it really isn’t too difficult to get out of Pleasanton, but here’s what I can help you with:
I don’t know that much about the city itself, other than that it’s a (slightly upscale) suburb, the sort of place that prides itself on good schools and low crime. There is a mall (Stoneridge), and the Alameda county fairgrounds are there as well (though the fair’s over).
I can tell you about good local parks. The East Bay Regional Parks District will give you plenty of information. (detailed maps, and a regional map at the bottom showing where you can go.)
The closest one to go is Pleasanton Ridge, in the hills just west of the town.
One I like a lot better is the Sunol Regional Wilderness, just a few miles south. It’s a little more secluded, with a number of good trails, mostly in and out of the hills and some great little creeks here and there.
Those two are actually your best options - you’ll get some really nice views and they’re both very close. It will still be very hot and dry; bring plenty of water.
A bit further away is Del Valle, a reservoir with some decent trails at the southern end. A fairly popular weekend swimming place.
If you have more time, there’s Mt. Diablo, with its incredible view (one of the farthest-reaching in the world). It’s about an hour drive to get into the park, though (not too long of a distance, just a windy road getting up it.)
Make sure to tour the “oldtown” portion of Main Street in Pleasanton. It is a glimpse into the past of what nearly every small burg in California used to look like.
I’ll ask Camster for some recommendations. She lives there.
I’ve stopped in Pleasanton a few times, and its name seems appropriate. There was a very nice cafe/cake store there last time I visited. It is worth getting down to the city at least once during your stay, but I am sure a pleasant time can be had in Pleasanton itself. If you have any specific questions that you can’t get an answer too off of the web, I have a colleague at work who lives there and may be able to help.
I work near Pleasanton, and have been there a few times. It has a nice little downtown area, as Zenster mentioned, with several nice little restaurants and cafes. I’ve only eaten at the Blue Agave (upscale Mexican), which was very good. I don’t know about weekdays, but I was there on a Friday and they had live music in their large outdoor patio, which was really nice.
There’s a big retail complex right off of 580 with the usual Barnes and Noble, Best Buy, Bed, Bath & Beyond, Black Angus, Applebee’s, etc. which also has a big movie theatre.
That’s pretty much the limit of my Pleasanton knowledge.
I’ve been to San Francisco a couple of times. I’m a big fan of the city, for sure. I’m just not sure I want to deal with the traffic.
The BART option sounds promising, though. Thanks, RTA.
And thanks for the other suggestions, folks. The historical district could be fun. And a nice bakery? <Greg Behrendt> “Mmm, cake.” </gb> Do you remember the name, Bippy?
I live in Fremont, not that far south, but I agree with the others - Pleasanton is a nice little town. There is a really nice ice cream place downtown - I forget the name, but it has drive-thru ice cream.
Look for the Western store downtown - you’ll know it by the big bull outside. Haven’t been to restaurants there, except Ring’s Superburger in a small shopping center just past the fairgrounds, on the way to 680. The library, near the police station, is also very good.
In Stoneridge Mall the most interesting place to eat is Todai, an all you can eat Japanese buffet. It is definitely not as good as a high class Japanese restaurant, but it has a pretty good selection, including lobster some times.
I also recommend taking the BART into San Francisco - it puts you not far from Union Square.
I used to live in Fremont. I recommend Mt. Diablo - that hour’s drive shouldn’t put you off, because most of the way up you have a tremendous view that keeps getting better and better. From the top, on a clear day you can see Mt. Whitney, which is like 400 miles away. Even on a not-perfect day you can see from the Pacific to the Sierras. Just remember to give yourself time to get up and down before dark, because there’s a gate that closes half an hour before dusk or something like that.
Pleasanton is lovely. Stoneridge mall is VERY nice, and has several bookstores, as well as a Godiva shop (heaven) with chocolate covered strawberries. The restaraunts here in the east bay aren’t as good as in SF, but there’s good sushi. It’s a very pretty area.
Where’s Wyatt? He’s there.
Oh, yeah!! Goldilocks bakery has UNBELIEVABLE raspberry cheesecake.
Or you can get off BART in Berkeley (closer than San Francisco). University town: book stores, ethnic food, gourmet food, movie theatres, museums, people-watching. I’m unable to make specific recommendations, maybe someone else can.
I think pleasanton is near walnut creek as well… walnut creek has a lot of shopping/restaurants… but I’d go up mt. diablo, thats nice, lots of deer to see.
Le Cheval in Oakland at 11th and Clay is the best Vietnamese food and service ever.
I would avoid Berkeley–unless you know where you want to go and have a high tolerance for being asked for spare change/money for pot every thirty seconds–it’s like Haight/Ashbury on a Saturday, if that gives you any frame of reference.
Step off at the Rockridge Bart station and check out the cute bedroom community, there are yummy little restaurants (pasta pomodoro: inexpensive, good food, but a local chain-a fun crepe shop–mexican food–high class american cuiine on the corner across from Cactus [can’t remember its name but it always smells delicious]) and if you have dogs, check out the doggie boutique Redhound, very boutique-y, but with stuff the dogs love, like the Solid Gold Tiny Tots and the Orbees–you have to buy one of the Redhound red balls, my dogs love them.
Sorry, no Pleasanton specific info, but the BART is really a great way to get around the Bay area.
Although spectacular, I don’t think you can see Whitney. I think you mean Half Dome. Perhaps the most impressive aspect is that the area of land that you can see is second only to Kilimanjaro:
Regarding Mt. Whitney, from what I remember, the interpretive center at the top of Diablo says something like “you could theoretically see the very top of Mt. Whitney on a perfectly clear day, except for the atmospheric distortion” So that may have been a slight exaggeration. This guy says you can see it.
As for restaurants: you won’t want to miss Fellini O in Fremont, 3900 Newpark Mall, 17.7 miles and 30 minutes to the southwest of Pleasanton according to Yahoo maps. Get the “chicken portafoglio” or the orechiette with sausage and greens. Better yet, get both.
I spent a week there for PeopleSoft training. We stayed right across from Stoneridge Mall. I’m sorry but it just seemed like a big mall to me. Nothing particularly noteworthy about it.
You should definitely go to the original downtown area. There are many good places to eat there. We ate at a very nice steak place that I can’t remember the name of. It was just off of the main street and I see to remember a horse on the sign. Sorry I don’t have anymore information. It’s been a couple of years ago.
Cervaise, are you up for an evening’s dinner or the like? I would be happy to come out and visit you while you’re here.
If you have the time to do Mount Diablo, I strongly recommend it. The views are smashing. When I was a child, our family would drive to the peak for sunrise. Out in the east were these tiny little clouds that never seemed to move and that’s because they didn’t. Those “clouds” were the snow capped Sierra Nevada mountains, over 200 miles distant. Sadly, air pollution rarely permits such extreme visibility anymore. Still, the entire area is quite beautiful and you can see San Francisco from the summit.
Out in Sunol is a splendid little architectural folly by John Bernard Maybeck called, The Water Temple. It is a small Romanesque temple erected over the confluence of water pipelines coming from Hetch Hetchy in the Sierras. There is also the Niles Canyon Railway with live steam engines (if they are operating this late in the year). They have laid all their own track and run wildflower and Santa trains for the holidays.
Please email me if you are interested. I’ve got Camster on IM right now and am picking her brain for good spots to visit. You’ve already gotten some good suggestions here.