Photo : PxHere

Hack Your City Each Friday we ask you for your best city tips: driving tips, restaurant recs, things to do, and any other advice for visitors and locals. Sometimes the weekly topic is a specific city; other times it's an aspect of all cities, so everyone can participate. Prev Next View All

If you’re bored in Silicon Valley, you’re doing it wrong, judging by the comments on this week’s Hack Your City. We asked for your Silicon Valley tips, and we got some meticulous guides, listing restaurants, parks, museums, and more for cities all throughout the lower Bay Area. You can read all the best tips in the “Staff” section of the comments, or just check out highlights below.




Each Monday on Hack Your City, we ask readers for your best tips on a city: driving tips, restaurant recs, things to do, and any other advice for visitors and locals. Then on Thursday, we present the best comments. We’re working our way around the U.S. and around the globe.

Interstate 280. Sorry, Phantom Planet. Photo : David Monniaux


Getting Around

Tryg K The_Hero_We_Deserve

E=MC Hammered

A summary of the culture: “Silicon Valley is the home of the nicest suburban ‘downtowns’ in the US. Pick a town—Los Gatos, Burlingame, Willow Glen, Redwood City, and Mountain View all come to mind—and the high street areas are all like ridiculously wealthy Stars Hollows. Cafes and bookshops and restaurants and ice cream stores and boutiques. They’re all nice places to walk with a cup of overpriced latte or boba and window shop.” — Joey

“Before you rent from Enterprise, check Turo. (It’s like AirBnB but for cars.) There tend to be a lot of interesting cars for reasonable rates on there in Silicon Valley. I seem to remember seeing a lot of Teslas and even a Porsche 911 that you could rent for the day that were in the ballpark of what you’d pay for something like a Charger at one of the national car rental places.”— bluepu4u

Deep fried oyster dumpling at Orenchi Ramen Photo : City Foodsters

Eating

“If you’re gearing toward international cuisines, seems like the better spots are concentrated in areas where the demographics align (Indian in Mountain View, Korean in Sunnyvale, Filipino in Daly City, Mexican in Redwood City).”— MisterMJ

“Go-to lunch spot: Señor Jalapeño near the San Jose Airport. Their breakfast is outstanding, too.”— Lagom14

“Dishdash, Sunnyvale (great Mediterranean food)”— QADude

“Hom Korean Kitchen: best <$10 meal I’ve found anywhere in San Jose.”— E=MC Hammered

“Special shout-out to Shana Thai in Mountain View.”— The_Hero_We_Deserve



“Take 280 to 17 and head over to Sam’s Chowder House in Half Moon Bay for lunch or dinner. Downtown Palo Alto has tons of spots for food and drinks. I suggest Joya (Tapas) and/or Nolas(Creole/Cajun).”— centimo

“Orenchi (Santa Clara): Ramen noodles. Gets crazy crowded. Only a set number of tables available.”— MikePenceNoneTheRicherNowVP

“Psycho Donuts (Campbell, Santa Clara): Funky donut flavors with creative names (Fung Shui with green tea drizzle and dark chocolate chips).”—M.P.N.T.R.N.V.P.

“ La Vic IcyKettle

Paper Plane, San Jose Photo : Fastily


Drinking

“Paper Plane: best craft cocktails in downtown.”— E=MC Hammered

“I’m always drawn to Firehouse No. 1 in the San Pedro Square area. I’m a big fan of their Old Fashioned, and they have a pretty good food menu and a constantly changing beer menu heavy on local brews.”— Alan

“Duke of Edinburgh pub on Wolfe in Cupertino. Used to be a great little known watering hole. Now with the new Apple campus going in across the street, who knows?”— Earl_Grey


Winchester Mystery House Photo : Gentgeen

Things to Do

Thomas suggests some hikes:

I suggest a hike or a mountain bike ride in Alum Rock Park. Both the North and South Rim Trails have amazing views of the entire valley, from South San Jose up to Moffet Field and beyond on a really clear day. But if you’re looking for something a bit more challenging, give the Boccrado Loop Trail a go. And if you’re a bit more hardcore, you could give the Sierra Vista Trail a go as well (Boccrado and Sierra Vista join up in the park.)﻿




Bluepu4u suggests some local theater:


“Filoli Gardens is west of 280, along Canada Road in Woodside. It’s a really beautiful place to visit and they change the flowers all the time. There are also orchards and often wildlife running around too. You can see bobcats and deer.”— QADude

“The Lick Observatory on Mt Hamilton is a great drive and has incredible views along with the telescopes.”— Joe

“Mt. Umunhum Open Space Preserve (Mt. Umunhum Rd.): A recently opened peak that once housed the Almaden Air Force Station radar emplacement. Before that, it was a sacred Ohlone tribal peak. It has been restored partly for both histories, and has a great view of the valley from the South. Bring water and dress in layers.”— i, Podius

“Facebook HQ. If you know someone, get them to invite you in. You can see how the people who run the beast live. It’s Disneyland’s Main St but cloistered inside an office complex on a swamp next to a poor, segregated neighborhood that is now rapidly gentrifying. Good cultural experience.”— APG

“You need to experience Fry’s Electronics at least once. There is one off of Lawrence Expressway in Sunnyvale and one on E. Brokaw, near the airport (intersection of 101 and 280) shaped like a Mayan temple.”— Earl_Grey

“Classic films at young Mr Packard’s magnificently restored cinema.”— Flash

Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum Photo : Zarathustra


Museums

Tech Museum of Innovation, San Jose

Computer History Museum, Mountain View

Children’s Discovery Museum, San Jose

Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum, San Jose: “A surprisingly good collection of Egyptian antiquities. The Rosicrucians are a kinda Masons-like strange mystical club that made money selling people ‘esoteric knowledge’ from ads in the backs of magazines, but at least a museum came out of it.”— Ysabella

Winchester Mystery House: Flashlight tours every Friday the 13th, says Ysabella

San Jose History Museum: “An outdoor park that has historic buildings and vehicles. There’s a train garage with a bunch of locomotives and cars, and they sometimes run the electric trolley around the park. There’s also the San Jose Japanese Friendship Garden next door also at Kelley Park.”— i, Podius

“If you’re here in early June, [San Jose’s] SubZero Festival is like a street-sized Burning Man + Maker Faire minus any kind of corporate sponsorship whatsoever. And, all the little museums like Museum of Quilts & Textiles and the MACLA Museum are free and open.”— pragmatica

San Jose Museum of Art: “Small enough that you can see everything without developing museum fatigue, and big enough that they get some very interesting exhibits.”—pragmatica

Hiller Aviation Museum, San Carlos

Cantor Center for Visual Arts and Rodin Sculpture Garden at Stanford University

Moffett Field Historical Society: “Small, and a bit dingy, but they have a bunch of very cool aviation artifacts, and the docents are always incredibly passionate and informative. It also gives you the chance to see Moffett Field itself, including the massive airship hangar.”— Kevin Baker


That’s it! If you want more, read all the comments. Leave your own suggestions below. And come back Monday for a desert pleasure palace.