Contra Costa Blvd, Pleasant Hill

Contra Costa Boulevard is the main avenue going north-south through Pleasant Hill. This busy boulavard has just about everything that you could ask for as far as commercial delights are concerned. Right from the moment you get off the 680 boulevard at the southern end, you come across one of the best spots in Contra Costa County. You have the Century Pleasant Hill Cinema with its 16 movie screens—you will find just about every new release there, so long as it is main-stream and made to appeal to the masses. The whole shopping area is dominated by a Borders Bookstore, right on the corner of Monument. There are also two hotels there.

Beyond this, the rest of Contra Costa Boulevard is a series of slightly run down looking strip malls that have just about every variety of store you can imagine, from florists to supermarkets, to fast food places, to hardware stores.

At the corner with Willow Pass you reach the Sun Valley Mall, one of those sprawling giants seemingly modeled on the mall from Fast Times At Ridgemont High. It has all of the sorts of stores you might expect of such a giant complex—a perennial Mecca for bored local teens.

Just before Contra Costa Boulevard turns into Pacheco Boulevard at the border with Martinez, you get another solid strip mall that has a Toys-r-Us, a Target, a GameStop and a Barnes and Noble. All in all, you have all the sorts of commercial and food activities that you could ask for in a suburban setting.

Here are just three highlights. First, there is a Chipotle Mexican Restaurant right in the Pleasant Hill Shopping Center (where the Centry 16 Pleasant Hill is). (You can also find a Michaels and Boston market at this location, so before you go to the movies or after you get the latest John Grisham, you can grab a bite to eat.)

In the middle of more run-down section of Contra Costa, you will find a really good florist just past the Starbucks. It is a great place to get flowers at not too much of a cost. (Nearby you will also find a Salvation Army, some fast food places, and places to get hardware and paints.)

The final highlight worth mentioning is the Mrs. Fields. It is across the street at Willow Pass. I probably don’t need to tell you that it has the best cookies. (In the same parking lot you will find a Blondies and a Rasputin Records—a little touch of Telegraph avenue right here in the boring old suburbs.)