At The Old Post Office in Burlingame, Jonathan Granada, executive chef of Bacchus Management Group, carves a duck tableside under 25-foot ceilings. The room still has its original terrazzo floors, marble walls, brass teller windows and post boxes. The building opened as a post office in 1941. As of this month, it's the newest fine-dining room in town.
October across the county follows the same pattern. Most of the calendar is made up of 53rd, 54th and 100th editions. Nearly every one of those long-running events added something for the first time in 2026. If you've lived here a while, the dates may look familiar, but what happens on them has changed.
A 1941 Building With a 2026 Menu
Bacchus Management Group already runs two restaurants with one Michelin star each, The Village Pub and Selby's. The Old Post Office became the 10th restaurant in its group when it opened Oct. 1 at 222 Park Road. The 90-seat dining room runs the length of one long hallway and serves a $120 three-course prix-fixe dinner. The old postmaster's office is now the Postmaster's Bar, which offers an à la carte menu in a smaller, cozier room. The food takes its cue from the building's age, with modern versions of dishes from 1940s restaurants and hotels.
Lunch will be a $50 two-course prix fixe and brunch a $70 three-course prix fixe. The Almanac reported that lunch starts Oct. 12 and weekend brunch Oct. 17. Owner Tim Stannard described his goal this way:
"My hope is The Old Post Office becomes for Burlingame and Hillsborough what The Village Pub is for Woodside, or Selby's is for Atherton."
That's a goal measured in decades, not opening weeks. It's also the clearest example of what's happening around the county this fall. The new places mostly move into spaces and calendars that people here already know.
Half Moon Bay Adds a Night Before the Pumpkins
Half Moon Bay's pumpkin season has run long enough that its editions are numbered in the fifties. The 53rd Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off is Monday, Oct. 12, from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the IDES Grounds, 735 Main St. First place pays $9 per pound, and a new world record earns a $30,000 prize package. The 54th annual Half Moon Bay Art & Pumpkin Festival follows on Oct. 17–18, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Main Street. Admission is free, and pets aren't allowed.
The addition this year comes first on the schedule. On Saturday, Oct. 10, the festival hosts its first annual Moonlight Movie Night, showing Grow at John L. Carter Memorial Park, 10 Stone Pine Road, with the evening starting at 6 p.m. Organizers call it "a new community tradition." Local restaurant partners are taking advance orders so families can pick up dinner on the way to the park.
Lab & Hound Wine Bar & Tasting Room at 315 Main St. is one of those partners. Back in July, owner Kara Baker was targeting an early August opening with a focus on wines from small producers. A few doors up Main Street, Half Moon Bay Brewing on Main has taken over the former Sacrilege space at 730 Main St. CEO and president Craig Carroll says the menu leans away from seafood and toward local ranches and farms. So the oldest festival in the county now opens with a first-year event built partly around Main Street's newest kitchens.
The Pattern, Event by Event
| Event or place | How long it has run | What's new in 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Half Moon Bay Art & Pumpkin Festival | 54th annual | First Moonlight Movie Night, Oct. 10 |
| Burlingame post office building | Opened 1941 | The Old Post Office restaurant, opened Oct. 1 |
| Menlo Park Halloween Hoopla | Annual parade | "Howl-o-ween Walkers" section for costumed dogs |
| Menlo Park Storytelling Festival | 11th festival | Monthly "4th Tuesday Stories" meetup |
| City of Belmont | 100 years incorporated | One-time Centennial Fest, time capsule and drone show |
The Storytelling Festival runs through Nov. 21 and ends with the Tellabration finale that day. Before that come a workshop on Nov. 15 and a 4th Tuesday Stories session on Oct. 27.
Belmont's 100th Lands on the County's Busiest Saturday
Belmont is the one milestone on the list that won't come around again. The city is celebrating 100 years since incorporation. Leading up to it, there's been a "100 Years of Belmont Memories" podcast, along with calls for artists to paint fire hydrants and utility boxes. The big day is Saturday, Oct. 24, which is also when Menlo Park and Redwood City hold their annual Halloween events. Here's how the day lines up for anyone trying to catch more than one:
- 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Menlo Park's Halloween Hoopla parade runs from downtown Santa Cruz Avenue to Fremont Park, with the new dog section included.
- Noon to 3 p.m. Redwood City's Halloween Spooktacular takes place at Red Morton Community Center, 1120 Roosevelt Ave. Tickets are $10 per child, and parents or guardians get in free.
- 1:30 p.m. Belmont's car parade leaves Chula Vista Drive and Alameda de las Pulgas, heads north on the Alameda, turns east on Ralston Avenue and finishes with a car show on Sixth Avenue near City Hall. Expect street closures on and off from noon to 3 p.m.
- 3:30 p.m. A time capsule ceremony takes place in front of the Twin Pines Senior Center and Parks and Recreation Office. A festival in Twin Pines Park follows, with live music, food trucks, Alpha Acid and games.
- 7:30 p.m. A drone show closes out Belmont's day.
The parade itself is invite-only and limited to 50 cars, carrying city staff, elected officials and community partners. The city has asked owners of convertibles and vintage cars to sign up to carry dignitaries. For everyone else, the best spots are along the route and in Twin Pines Park. With the Hoopla wrapping up at 2 p.m., a family could plausibly do Menlo Park in the morning and still make the Belmont time capsule ceremony in the afternoon.
Downtown Burlingame's Fall Fest picks up the next day, Sunday, Oct. 25, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. It has a petting zoo, a train, arts and crafts, music and a family costume contest. Oct. 25 is also the last day of Downtown San Mateo's Dine & Discover passport promotion, which has been extended. Earlier in the month, the San Carlos Art & Wine Faire brings more than 200 artists to San Carlos Avenue at Laurel Street on Oct. 10–11, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The 45-Year Run That Ended in September
One long-running place didn't make it to October. Lutticken's Deli & After 5 Restaurant had been at the corner of Alameda de las Pulgas and Gordon Avenue in West Menlo Park since 1981 and was set to close at the end of September. Its satellite locations at Stanford and on Sand Hill Road were also scheduled to close in September.
Bob Lutticken founded the deli, and it was known for sandwiches on Dutch crunch bread. In 2011 it added evenings as Lutticken's After 5, serving dinner and drinks and hosting live music, karaoke and open mic nights. State Sen. Josh Becker named it District 13 Small Business of the Year in 2024. During the early months of the pandemic, it raised more than $6,000 to help local residents. Manager Judy Congdon, who has worked there since it opened, explained the decision plainly. "It's just not sustainable anymore," she told The Almanac. "Since COVID shut everything down, our business hasn't come back."
Lutticken's had already done what this October's events are doing. Thirty years in, it added evenings, music and a second identity. For 15 years, that addition helped keep the corner busy.
Smaller Openings Filling In Around the Edges
The newer openings outside the big events also come from people with deep local roots. The Sandwich Guy at 2070 Broadway in Redwood City has been open about two months as of late September, serving daily from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Owner Louay Obeidi's family also runs Falafel Tazah. In Millbrae, Maria Davalos plans to open her first coffee shop, Millbrae's Cafe, at 1663 El Camino Real in late October, with hours from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. In downtown San Mateo, the team behind Roma Antica had targeted a late-September opening at 172 E. Third Ave. It's worth checking before you go.
The calendar keeps going after Halloween. Redwood City's free Boo Bash is Tuesday, Oct. 27, from 4 to 8 p.m. at 801 Jefferson Ave., Suite 100. Space is limited and registration is required. Courthouse Square hosts Día de los Muertos on Nov. 8, with Tlaxcala as this year's theme and the lineup still to be announced. On Nov. 21, the 11th annual ART on the Square Holiday Show brings more than 25 artists to the San Mateo County History Museum at 2200 Broadway, with free admission from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Belmont's time capsule goes into the ground on Oct. 24. If you've been in your own home long enough to have a few milestones behind you, and you'd like an honest look at what it has gained in value over the years, Cj Salazar can walk you through it with no pressure and no rush. Schedule a free consultation.
