Fourth Fridays Wrapped Its First Season. Will Its Plaza Still Be There for the Second?

On the evening of Oct. 23, the Country Cougars played from the center of the 600 block plaza on Santa Cruz Avenue, with line dancing on the pavement where eastbound cars used to drive. A block and a half away, Clint Baker & The All Stars played the plaza shared by Cafe Borrone and the British Bankers Club. Diego Ortiz had already finished an early family set inside Feldman's Books on Curtis Street. That night closed the first season of Fourth Fridays, the free monthly music series produced by the nonprofit Downtown Menlo Fund. The series opened July 24 and ran again on Aug. 28 and Sept. 25.

Ten days earlier, a majority of the Menlo Park City Council had said it now favored reopening the eastbound lane on that block and keeping a smaller gathering area in the parking spaces. The Almanac reported that the block has been closed to eastbound traffic since 2020. The season ended just as the council began rethinking the space, and the 2027 season will depend on a vote that has no date yet.

Seven stages, and two of them on the 600 block

Fourth Fridays has never been a single-stage event. The October program put performers up and down the avenue and around the corner. It helps to see which stages depend on the block under review.

On paper, five of the seven stages would carry on whatever happens to the lane. The headline acts are another matter. The Fund describes each edition as "bands at the 600 block and Cafe Borrone plazas" plus music along the avenue, so the 600 block is one of only two places built for a full band and a crowd. That is why Downtown Menlo Fund chair Marnie Foody told the council that losing the plaza would limit the Fund's ability to keep hosting the event. The Almanac quoted her: "We are seeing literally hundreds of people coming not just from Menlo Park, but from the surrounding area, to our downtown. We had hoped to build our series to a full schedule of events in 2027."

Local restaurants have their own figures. After the July opener, Ali El Safy, who owns Bistro Vida and Bar Loretta, told The Almanac that his restaurants served 40 to 50 more patrons than on a typical Friday.

What changed at the Oct. 13 study session

The council had been heading the other way. Most members had backed a permanent plaza, pointing to teenagers using the block after school and to its room for large community events. In June 2025, the council voted to keep the block closed, in part because so many residents used it as a gathering spot.

At the October study session, Mayor Betsy Nash said she had done a "complete 180" over the past month. She cited upkeep around the plaza. She also said a closed Santa Cruz Avenue could get in the way of construction on nearby projects, including a proposed six-story residential building at 800 Oak Grove Ave. and the council's effort to get housing built on three downtown parking lots. She added that she would like to see the plaza expanded at some point, just not now.

Councilmember Drew Combs proposed a middle path. He suggested piloting a layout that would open the eastbound lane, remove the bike lane and keep a smaller gathering area in the parking spaces for six months to a year. The pilot would produce data to compare with today's larger plaza and with the block's pre-2020 layout, when both lanes carried traffic. His explanation, as The Almanac reported it:

"What I'm proposing is something that punts this to a new council in a year, but at that point they will have additional data points about how (this option) looks in practice."

Councilmember Jeff Schmidt was the one member who disagreed. According to The Almanac, he wanted to keep going with the permanent plaza and worried that a pilot would unsettle an already concrete proposal, comparing it to "dropping the ball at the 10-yard line."

The money already spent, and the timeline

The permanent plaza is partly paid for. According to city staff at the session:

• About $61,000 has gone to furniture for the plaza.
• About $30,000 went to a consultant to design the permanent plaza.
• About $250,000 remains for the project.
• Construction on the current permanent design was expected to finish by the end of 2027.

City Manager Justin Murphy said the next step is a council vote on reopening the vehicle lane at a future meeting. He did not say how long a shift to the smaller layout would take. That vote has no date yet. The Oct. 27 City Council agenda did not include a Santa Cruz Avenue item. Neither did the city's tentative topics list for Nov. 10 and Nov. 17.

The calendars line up awkwardly. The Fund says Fourth Fridays runs through the warmer months and that next season's dates are still being set. If the council votes this winter and a pilot starts soon after, the 2027 season could open on a block that keeps one lane for traffic and a gathering area in the parking spaces. If the pilot runs a full year, the decision on a permanent layout passes to a new council during or after that season.

Who sits on the block

A smaller plaza changes some storefronts more than others. In June 2025, The Almanac reported that the three restaurants on the block first set up outdoor seating in the closed lane and later moved most of their dining into the parking area. Bistro Vida is at 641 Santa Cruz Ave., with Bar Loretta next door at 639. The shared tables used as a gathering area sit in front of Walgreens, Starbucks and Tilak.

Merchants have disagreed about the closure before. During the 2025 debate, as covered in that same Almanac story, El Safy argued for keeping and improving the public space. He proposed a small stage and the return of his weekly artisanal market. Keith Quiggins, owner of Rococo & Taupe west of the closure, said the year-round closure hurt downtown businesses beyond his own by limiting traffic and access. Fourth Fridays was built on top of a split that already existed among merchants, and the pilot would test both sides of it.

Meanwhile, the next block over

The avenue has kept changing while the 600 block waits. At 712 Santa Cruz Ave., Mrs Khan closed in September. On Oct. 14 the space reopened as Dragon General, led by chef-owner Minjun Li. The Peninsula Foodist at Palo Alto Online reports a large menu that includes Dongbei dishes from Li's home region and Peking duck served whole or half for $48 to $88. It also covers house-made dim sum, Sichuan and Hunan plates, and beer and wine, which Mrs Khan did not serve. As of Oct. 23, it was still in a soft opening with 12% off. It is open Wednesday through Monday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 to 9 p.m., and no grand opening date had been set.

Where the city's winter events are

Until a second season starts, the city's own events are mostly off Santa Cruz Avenue. The 11th Storytelling Festival began Sept. 27 and wraps up in November at Menlo Park Library, 800 Alma St.:

1. Nov. 5: John Weaver's "Pumpkin Tales" at the library.
2. Nov. 12: StoryFest Online, held on Zoom.
3. Nov. 15: the "Once Upon a Time" workshop at the library.
4. Nov. 16: Jeff Gere's "True Supernatural Tales of Hawaii."
5. Nov. 21: the closing "Tellabration!"

After the festival ends, the library's new monthly "4th Tuesday Stories," which started Oct. 27, meets again on Nov. 24 for anyone who wants to tell a story or listen.

On Nov. 30, Cocoa at the Campus brings youth performances, cocoa, mini churros and a small tree lighting to Belle Haven Community Campus, 100 Terminal Ave. On Dec. 4, the city's Light Up the Season tree lighting takes place at Fremont Park, at University Drive and Santa Cruz Avenue. Musicians and volunteers who want to be part of the next Fourth Fridays season can reach the Downtown Menlo Fund at [email protected].

Downtown decisions like this one shape the blocks Menlo Park homeowners walk every week. They also shape how buyers see the area around a home. If you are weighing a move and want to know how changes on Santa Cruz Avenue might show up in your home's value, Stephanie Elkins can walk you through it in confidence. Request a Private Valuation.