Restaurants in San Mateo

Once a bootleggers' haven frequented by the sister of Al Capone, today Cameron's Inn & Restaurant celebrates its 100-year history with old-fashioned hospitality and eclectic vintage décor. The restaurant harks back to English pub traditions with Inglenook-style seating crafted from old church pews and a menu that includes bangers and mash, shepherd's pie, and burgers flame-grilled over fragments of Big Ben. Near the bar, which touts 18 beers on tap and more than 60 bottled ales, walls are stacked to the ceiling with more than 2,000 beer cans, which owner Cameron Palmer began collecting at age 10. A functioning fireplace and five big-screen TVs cast a warm glow across the dining room, whose stage hosts occasional live music, karaoke contests, and shadow-puppet beauty pageants. Overnight guests snooze soundly within the rustic timber-lined walls of the inn’s three rooms, or at an RV park and campground near scenic ocean cliffs.

Though it’s been around for 36 years, Piccadilly Catering and Restaurant crafts its mouthwatering cuisine using recipes more than twice its age. Their Cajun dishes include Gulf Coast–original jambalaya and old-fashioned cornbread, and international entrees appear on the menu in the form of chicken fettuccine and prawn stir-fry. In addition to serving guests inside their comfy eatery, Piccadilly’s culinary staff whisk morsels off to a variety of off-site events, such as corporate meetings and noncorporate weddings.

At La Costanera, Peruvian-born Chef Carlos Altamirano adds contemporary twists to traditional South American dishes that earned the restaurant a 2012 Michelin Star. A variety of ceviches whet appetites amidst a dining room that the San Francisco Chronicle called "breathtaking by day and almost mystical at night," filled with the soft sound of the surf. Free-range chicken and slow-cooked pork shoulder thrive beneath what a reviewer for the Pacifica Tribune applauds as "dramatic presentation.” Imported Peruvian beers and pisco cocktails clink to toast potatoes reclaiming exoticness by arriving in shades of purple and green, and even simple favorites take on the gleeful elegance of a solid-teak waterslide with the aid of truffle oil or saffron. La Costanera’s 10,000-square-foot space opens onto an open-air patio and glass-enclosed rooms. Windowpanes soaring from floor to ceiling arch high overhead, admitting cascades of sunlight as diners gaze out and give each rolling wave a name and backstory.

Dinner can be a hectic affair, and some families find that getting a filling, nutritious meal onto the table every night is sometimes exhausting. Knowing that dining out every night can quickly break the budget, entrepreneur Jay Cornwall decided to bridge the gap between takeout and at-home meals with a menu of freshly prepared pasta, ravioli, and sauce that can be fashioned into a full meal in 10 minutes. Every day, his chefs create a selection of 20 pastas, 15 sauces, and a signature entree, as well as mac 'n' cheese and lasagna. Chefs also curate a range of sides, bread, and wine, and even offer pairing advice on complementary flavors.

The traditional Filipino dish of crispy pata is nearly always "pure pork bliss," according to Saveur, but the version at Patio Filipino is a cut above: it's “the best I've found,” writer David Bolosan says. To create the dish, pork foreshanks are simmered, slathered with fish sauce, and then deep-fried for a crispy coating. It's a three-step process perfected by Patio Filipino's head chef, a Manila native with both Spanish and Filipina heritage. It's no wonder, then, that the kitchen incorporates ginger, miso, and other Filipino ingredients into their tapas menu. Diners can wash down these shareable dishes with one of the restaurant's own wines, or clack their empty plates together like castanets to accompany the painting of a flamenco dancer gracing the dining room.

Candles nestled in chandeliers cast a flickering glow upon saffron-colored walls, exposed stonework, and iron accents. The light dimly illuminates the white tablecloths on the main dining floor and the overlooking mezzanine level, helping weave the aura of otherworldliness that Mythos's name suggests. Amid this visual backdrop, the aromas of West Coast and Mediterranean spices and sauces dance, hinting at the local seafood and produce that the chefs use in their menu. Taking advantage of the local bounty, the grill masters turn their eyes toward the culinary aesthetic of Greece as they braise lamb shanks, flame bathe house-ground burgers and 6-ounce skirt steaks, and sauté vegan plates.

Against a wall of windows, bartenders and stewards pair dishes with handpicked Northern Californian and Greek wines as well as 11 ouzos. They also mix cocktails from eclectic ingredients, such as vegetables pickled in-house and imported pomegranate juice, so diners don’t have to add Mediterranean authenticity by sifting their drinks through a Greek flag.