Menlo Ave, Downtown Menlo Park

Menlo Avenue, while not as busy as the neighboring Santa Cruz Avenue, is basically an extension of Ravenswood Avenue in Menlo Park. There is some shopping, most prominent of which is Trader Joe's, although most of the restaurants and cafes are located one block over. The street is fairly short and dead ends quickly, in a slightly more residential area.

While short and sweet, Menlo Avenue is at the center of everything and happens to be a great side street for parking and walking to the abundance of nearby restaurants. Home to the town's only Trader Joe's, this street sees a lot of traffic that is only exacerbated by the fact that it intersects with the ever-populous El Camino Real. For those looking to get here without vehicles, the area is adjacent to the Caltrain station.

The nice thing about Menlo Park is that there is no massive interstate running through it, unlike the neighboring Redwood City, East Palo Alto, Palo Alto, Mountain View, etc. The trade-off is that El Camino Real is the closest that you will get, and it also includes a number of retail shops, office buildings, and shopping centers.

Adjacent to Stanford, many of the small hotels on this street are catered to those visiting the university. Many of the shops are large retail stores - this is not where you go for a lovely Saturday afternoon stroll, but it is where you buy your groceries. Parking can be variable and traffic is generally pretty congested, especially within several hours on either end of rush hour. To be fair, this is characteristic of most of the area.

Overall, it's just another main drag in the bustling Silicon Valley.