Insider Pages Reviews for Flea Street Cafe

5 Stars: Organic, healthy decadence (by vwestelle)

vwestelle — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 02:00:00 GMT

Dinner was really good. The bread was delicious. The friend green tomatoes weren't too heavy. The assortment of vegatables were each perfectly cooked. The steak, although it was a filet mignon, actually had flavor, was a large portion, and was perfectly cooked. The desert was tasty. Although we ate a fair amount and left sated, we didn't feel bloated. I highly recommend this little treasure.

5 Stars: Outstanding Organic restaurant; Quiet Setting (by Eric P.)

Eric P. — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 19:26:00 GMT

Updating my review after going to Flea St. Cafe again last night. Spectacular! Amuse was fresh cherry tomatoes from their garden and super sweet fresh plums. "Summery soup" (carrot and ginger) was out of this world. Fried Greeen tomatoes with corn, bacon mix was delicious. The short ribs entre was super tender and flavorful. Only required a fork - no knife because braised for so long. Even had a nice table side visit with Jesse Cool - the owner and long time proponent of organic food. This place is continuing to raise the bar. Not a surprise that the Clintons dined there when Chelsea went to Stanford.

Flea St. Cafe is a nice spot for a quiet dinner - off the beaten path from the Menlo Park downtown. The all organic menu definitely has different fare than you'll find anywhere else on the peninsula. They're devout - serving even the sparkling water in old-fashioned, recycled pressure bottles. A nice alternative to the normal options.

3 Stars: Resting on its laurels... (by tigerfood)

tigerfood — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 02:00:00 GMT

After all the hype and wanting to go for years I finally made it last night and all I can say is--what's the big deal? Our dinner was rather mediocre given our expectations and the cost.

The ingredients were good and each dish had an interesting point but not enough to make up for faults elsewhere. The vegetable fritto misto was tasty and the cornmeal batter was nice but several of the vegetables were far too fibrous and others were overcooked. The 'stacked' beet and goat cheese was also tasty and the citrus zest was a nice touch--not a lot to find fault with here except that it wasn't really a stack so much as three thin presentations of beet-cheese-beet. I had the halibut cheeks. Very interesting texture and good flavor but I could barely taste many of the ingredients for the overpowering and very salty kalamata olives. My friend had the portobello wellington with a beet reduction. Also good, but hardly original (probably stolen from Michel Richard--that's not very 'cool'). Wines were totally unremarkable. The ginger creme brulee was an absolute disaster--it was barely bruleed and full of air bubbles, giving it a texture more like porridge. Yuck.

I won't be returning.

5 Stars: Wonderful local restaurant with excellent cuisine (by Anne R.)

Anne R. — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 14:25:00 GMT

Flea St. Cafe features a lovely menu of dishes made from local, organic and sustainable ingredients. The restaurant is very elegant and warm - great for a date, dinner with friends, or a nice business dinner. The chef came by our table several times to make sure everything was to our satisfaction, which it definitely was. The short ribs and halibut were both delicious, and we splurged on dessert (bread pudding and an oatmeal cookie ice cream sandwich) which was worth it. Service was delightful -- I highly recommend Flea St. and will be sure to go there again myself.

4 Stars: Cozy Cafe (by t_girl_dining)

t_girl_dining — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 01:00:00 GMT

Had a wonderful tasting brunch, the complimentary biscuits are warm and delicious and the o.j. refreshing. I have to agree that service is a bit slow and there was a delay in our order due to a mix-up in the kitchen, but they comp'ed us more o.j. I had the Niman Ranch scramble with ham and it was excellent. They have a good menu with interesting pairings of flavors - food for thought. My friend said his cuppa reg coffee was excellent. I would go again. It has a wonderful setting for a more special brunch occassion (e.g., Mother's Day).

3 Stars: Interprative Breakfast (by artfulbe)

artfulbe — Sun, 19 Jan 2003 01:00:00 GMT

We visited Flea St. Cafe at approximately 10:30 on a Sunday morning. The restaurant was essentially empty at that point, but it still took quite some time for our food to arrive. We found the decor to be dark, the lighting dim and the music a bit too loud.

The food was plentiful, and while it wasn't quite what we anticipated (intreprative corned beef hash... brocolli & caulifower for breakfast?) it was basically tasty.

Service was slow and it was slightly disconcerting to have one of the waiters hovering in the doorway directly behind our table while we were eating.