Burlingame

Welcome to Burlingame

Burlingame has been a desirable address since the 1800s, when wealthy San Franciscans went looking for a country escape and built their weekend homes here. About a century ago, the city absorbed its northern neighbor, the town of Easton. That's why Burlingame still has two distinct downtowns instead of one, each with its own personality.

Broadway, the old Easton side, has kept its small-town character. It's still home to Preston's Candy & Ice Cream, a family-run shop that's been filling candy jars since 1946, along with the Broadway Grill and a rotating cast of neighborhood restaurants. Burlingame Avenue, the city's original downtown, has grown into more of a destination shopping and dining strip. Copenhagen Bakery & Cafe still draws a line for pastries, and the Avenue mixes national retailers with independent boutiques along a genuinely walkable stretch.

Food is a real point of pride here. Rasa, the Michelin-recognized Indian restaurant from the husband-and-wife team behind Saffron in San Carlos, has anchored Burlingame's fine-dining scene for years, and it's part of why Peninsula food writers tend to treat Burlingame as a destination in its own right rather than a stop on the way to San Francisco.

Burlingame's schools are a major reason families choose it. Burlingame High, part of the San Mateo Union High School District, consistently ranks in the top 10% of California high schools, and the rivalry with San Mateo High, decided every fall at the "Little Big Game," is a genuine community event, not just a football game. Add in Coyote Point's waterfront trails, the Burlingame Pet Parade each October, and a downtown you can actually walk to from most neighborhoods, and it's easy to see why turnover here is low. People tend to stay.

I've sold homes across Burlingame for two decades now, and it's one of the few Peninsula cities where I can tell a client "walk to the train, walk to dinner, walk to school" and mean it for a real number of addresses. If you're trying to figure out which side of town fits your life better, or how Burlingame compares to Hillsborough or San Mateo for your budget, I'm happy to talk it through.

- Caroline