Springline Finished Filling Up by Recruiting From Its Own Block

"It's funny because we were the first one, and now we are the last one."

Humberto Galeano, bar director at Burma Food Group, said that in June. His group opened Burma Love in July 2023 as the first restaurant at Springline. On June 11, 2026, the same group opened Alisios Mexican Cocina. The Almanac called it "the final addition to a now full list of restaurant tenants."

The Oak Grove and El Camino block has had restaurants since 2023, so being full isn't the news. The news is how it got full. Over three years, three spaces turned over. One was converted by the restaurant group that already held it. For the other two, the owner, Presidio Bay Ventures, went to a specific operator and asked. Two of the three spaces ended up with restaurant groups that were already Springline tenants. That habit of refilling from within explains why the block reached a complete lineup in 2026, and why it now works as one coordinated place from morning coffee to a late beer.

Three Vacancies, Two Calls From the Owner

This is how each space changed hands, based on local reporting from 2025 and 2026.

Burma Food Group founder Desmond Tan said the Mexican concept came with a challenge he saw coming. "We knew what the public might say about a Burmese food group opening a Mexican restaurant," he told the Almanac. "So we learned a lot about Mexico, Mexico culture and history, and wanted to make sure that the food is authentic."

So Burma Food Group now runs two of Springline's nine food and drink spaces, and Back Home Hospitality runs two more. The official directory, dated July 1, 2026, lists all nine: Alisios, Andytown Coffee Roasters, Barebottle Brewing Company, Bubbelah, Burma Love, Causwells, Che Fico Parco Menlo, Proper Food and Robin.

A few blocks away, Santa Cruz Avenue has been working on the same problem with different tools. In June, facing downtown vacancies, the city changed its zoning so salons, spas and similar personal-service businesses can open on ground floors there without a conditional-use permit. There, the city's tool is to widen what is allowed and see who applies. At Springline, one owner chose the operators for each open space.

What the Two 2026 Arrivals Added

The final two openings filled gaps in the day as well as gaps in the floor plan.

Causwells came south from San Francisco, where the original opened in 2014. Co-owners Adam Rosenblum and Elmer Mejicanos had been looking for a Peninsula location when Springline's owner offered the former Canteen space. The Almanac's opening coverage describes a 50-seat art deco room with peacock-print wallpaper and a garage-style roll-up wall that opens to 60 more seats outdoors.

The menu carries over the original's signatures, including the housemade ricotta with rosemary honey ($15) and the American burger ($24), which Rosenblum says carried the restaurant through the pandemic. About 75% of the cocktail program is new. The Menlo Park location adds a martini cart and nonalcoholic spirits distilled in house. Weekend brunch includes breakfast jambalaya and boudin sausage Benedict, priced from $11 to $19. That brunch is the clearest addition to Springline's schedule, since Causwells listed 10 a.m. Saturday and Sunday openings when it launched.

Alisios is led by executive chef Carlos Villegas, who grew up in Tijuana, and sous chef Renee Gomez. The menu draws on Oaxaca and Baja, and much of it comes from Villegas' family. "The birria is my grandmother's recipe, and most of the stuff, like the salsa macha, is my mom's recipe," he said. The sweet corn cake for dessert ($14.75) is his wife Andrea's recipe.

At opening, his own favorites included a smoked oyster in an edible squid-ink shell ($19.75 for three), duck breast with black mole ($41.75), and dry-aged prime flap steak with roasted cactus salsa ($41.75). At the bar, he named the elote old fashioned, made with grilled corn-infused bourbon ($18).

The Block by Time of Day

Because the lineup was assembled on purpose, the nine spaces rarely compete for the same hour. Below is the day as each business or the Springline directory last published it in 2026. Hours change, so it's worth checking before a specific visit.

1. 7 a.m. Andytown Coffee Roasters opens daily and runs until 5 p.m. It's the first Peninsula café from founders Lauren Crabbe and Michael McCrory, and its signature drink is the Snowy Plover: espresso, sparkling water, brown-sugar syrup and house-made whipped cream.
2. Late morning. Proper Food, owned by Dana and Howard Bloom, is takeaway only, with sandwiches, salads, soups and hot plates made from scratch. Its fall seasonal menu is now posted. Causwells opens at 11 a.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. for weekend brunch.
3. 11:30 a.m. Burma Love opens for lunch every day, according to its current location page, after launching in 2023 with evenings only. Tea-leaf salad, samusa soup and mohinga are signature dishes. Robin offers take-away lunch Tuesday through Thursday.
4. Afternoon. Bubbelah is the counter-service option, offering mezze, khachapuri made with Che Fico's dough, matzo-ball soup and kebab plates, with gelato from a walk-up window. Barebottle opens at noon Tuesday through Saturday. Its outdoor patio welcomes pets.
5. Dinner. Che Fico Parco Menlo, from chef-owners David Nayfeld and Matt Brewer, takes reservations and has an 80-seat weatherized patio for the cooler months. Robin serves menu-less omakase from 5 to 9:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, priced to each diner's preferences and budget.
6. Late. Barebottle pours until 11 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, with rotating beers, natural wines and nonalcoholic options. It closes earlier on Sundays and Mondays.

The overlaps between owners show up in the food. Bubbelah's khachapuri is made with Che Fico's dough. Alisios and Burma Love share an owner, so the group that opened Springline's first restaurant also opened its last.

Parking Sized to a Meal

The garage is where the block's planning is easiest to see. Public parking runs from 7 a.m. to midnight, with entrances on El Camino Real and Garwood Way. The first two hours are free, then it costs $3 per hour, up to $20 a day. Restaurant guests can also get up to two hours of validated parking. Two free hours is about right for a brunch at Causwells, an omakase seating at Robin, or coffee followed by lunch.

The outdoor spaces are designed for staying between meals. Springline's landscape architect, Jett Landscape Architecture + Design, describes a central public plaza, a pedestrian promenade lined with dining, an amphitheater, fountains and a dog park.

Fall Dates on the Plaza

Springline runs a public event calendar alongside events limited to its residents and tenants. These are the public dates for the rest of 2026:

• October 23: Springline's annual Barks & Boos. With a dog park on site and Barebottle's pet-friendly patio, the block is well set up for it.
• October 24, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.: The city's free Halloween Hoopla. It's a costume parade down Santa Cruz Avenue to a carnival at Fremont Park.
• December 5: Springline's 5th Annual Holiday Celebration. The calendar lists the date and title. Last year's version had live music and a seasonal vendor marketplace.

The December celebration will be the first holiday season with every Springline restaurant space open. The last two to fill, Causwells at 550 Oak Grove and Alisios beside Barebottle, will be joining it for the first time.

Our team watches how a block like Springline comes together because it shapes daily life on the streets around it, from the Caltrain platform to Santa Cruz Avenue. If you're weighing what changes like these mean for a Menlo Park home, you can book an appointment with the Kiersten Ligeti & Patricia Karoubi Team and we'll walk through it with you.