The Rengstorff House

I stopped by Rengstorff House a couple of weeks ago to take a closer look and as I drove up, I was reminded of a day almost 13 years ago when two of my closest friends were married there. On that sunny, August day I remember admiring the lush grounds overlooking the water and an awesome, historic house, and luckily those attributes have not changed.

Rengstorff House, located at Shoreline Park, is Mountain View's oldest house (1864!). It was lovingly restored for years by the Friends of Rengstorff House and moved from its original location in 1991. The Victorian refurbishment of the interior is so beautiful that if you haven't been on one of their free public tours — go now! Gorgeous, really. There is a piano from the original home that is tuned and can be played during an event. So cool!

The Rengstorff House has updated the kitchen since my previous visit, but it is a smaller kitchen so there are some restrictions to having a wedding and reception there. My friend chose the Rengstorff House because it was inexpensive (still is!), beautiful, and located close to where they wanted to have the reception (offsite).

You can also rent the space inside the house for dinner parties or meetings. I would love to attend a dinner party there which is catered and themed. It would be such a cool fundraising item for a school auction. Note to self.

Visit EventCounselor.com if you would like more ideas on how to utilize this amazing location for your next meeting, wedding or dinner party.

Tied House Brewery

This is the side patio event space

The Tied House is a microbrewery in Mountain View that has been brewing beers since 1988. It is the quintessential brew pub in beer, food and atmosphere.

They call their menu "pub grub" and that is exactly what it is. That said, this is a space where you could have a fun company incentive party or a great office Happy Hour or some good old-fashioned team-building. No one will have high expectations about the food in a brew pub, but their beer is pretty darn delicious — and that is the star of an event here!

They have two event spaces and both are conducive to a beer bash. One is slightly more private and covered than the other, but both would be great for this type of event. Their busiest times are during big or local sporting events (think Super Bowl and Sharks games) and when there is a concert at Shoreline. They have an events calendar on their webpage that notes those types of things so check there first if you are thinking about planning something here.

Visit EventCounselor.com for more ideas about where to hold a team building event or company incentive party in Menlo Park, Mountain View, Palo Alto or Redwood City.

Cascal and Tapas and Friends!

I originally stumbled upon Cascal with my bestie in a mad dash on a weeknight away from our regular duties.  We chose the restaurant because the decor was so cute and they were slammed.  

Cascal serves tapas which are Spanish small plates of appetizers and snacks. This style of eating is so fun with groups because you get to try bites of so many different dishes and their tapas menu has a variety of options. If not tapas, their entrees are nicely portioned. Basically you won't leave hungry. They also offer a gluten free menu which always kicks it up a notch for me.

The outdoor patio seating is lovely, under heat lamps for cooler nights.  The inside decor is warm, rich, and lively to match the food.  Nicely done!

Cascal limits the size groups they will serve on Friday and Saturday nights when they also host live music.  Plan your group events on their slower nights when they can accommodate it more easily.

They book small cocktail receptions in their outdoor patio space with limited food and beverage service. On a warm summer evening (remember those?) it would be really fun. One other option for event entertaining with Cascal is offsite catering.  They will send one of their chefs to your party location and he will prepare dishes off of the menu. Very doable and very styley!

Highly recommend a reservation for your next group dinner at Cascal or go to EventCounselor.com for more ideas on great locations for group meals in Menlo Park, Mountain View, Palo Alto and Redwood City.

Passage to India and Public Transportation - Perfect Party!

My son loves all things transportation - trains, buses, trucks, cars, airplanes. Very boyish and very cute.  For his second birthday I planned a Touch a Truck Treasure Hunt via Public Transportation.  The key to this little boy birthday party was advanced planning.  We actually did all of our travel from Menlo Park to Mountain View with a small journey into Sunnyvale so feel free to swipe our path!

The itinerary was built with stops in between and a large group to herd.  I cut it a bit close in the beginning, so my recommendation is going to be adjusted slightly from the schedule we kept that day because the first leg of the trip really required more time.

We biked from The Willows neighborhood to the Menlo Park fire station on Middlefield, through Linfield Oaks to the Menlo Park CalTrain Station.  We took the train to downtown Mountain View and stopped in for Gelato.  It was delicious but not a quick stop.  We then hopped the light rail to the Lockheed Martin Station where we caught a bus which ultimately led us to Passage to India in Mountain View.

I had forgotten how awesome their Indian buffet is on the weekends.  They take reservations for groups, online through their own website, and they do have a "banquet room" off their main dining room to accommodate big parties.  This room was reserved the night that we were there for this party so we were accommodated to the left of their main bar, which meets you upon entrance to the restaurant.  We were split between two tables, which worked for us because we had adults and kids, so we had an instant kids' table!

Their food is really tasty and the variety of the buffet is always amazing. They have mini dosas and a large variety of vegetarian options, and they serve Indian "Chinese" food which is delicious too!  They never seem to mind parties bringing in kids and when they are busy, the turn over tables. The drinks came to the adults in a timely fashion and they kept our dirty plates moving off the table.  Children under 4 ate for free, children 5 - 7 ate at half price, and kids 8 and older at the adult price.

The place is decorated very casually and that is how I would describe the atmosphere as well.  I started to write that had I planned an adult birthday dinner at this restaurant and had our party been split up I wouldn't have liked that, but the truth is that if you are planning to bring a large group to Passage to India on one of their weekend buffet nights, you come knowing the atmosphere is casual and so will be the meal.  My friends would have naturally split between the two tables, only briefly to drop their sweaters and get in line for some serious Indian cuisine.

After dinner, we walked back to the CalTrain at the San Antonio Station and rode back to Menlo Park, where we biked home.  Plan to be at the train station 30 minutes before your train comes...trust me it won't be enough!! We were home by 9 pm and we caught the 3:15 pm train out of Menlo Park. I used the websites of both CalTrain and VTA to figure out or routes and schedules.  It was an awesome adventure, beloved by adults as well as kids, and our group meal at Passage to India was a great fit for this event!

Need more ideas for kid birthday parties or restaurant recommendations? Please visit EventCounselor.com for more information