It’s not uncommon for customers of Alice’s Restaurant in Woodside to plan a quick stop for a quick meal on their way to the beach, only to be waylaid by a 45-minute wait for a table and a 20-minute wait to be served. To address this very real concern, the restaurant’s owners are asking the town for permission to offer quicker service on weekends.
A proposal for a food-to-go kitchen and counter in a building behind the restaurant and open only on Saturdays and Sundays comes before the town’s Planning Commission on Wednesday, April 19.
Restaurant owners Jamie and Andy Kerr say they would convert a 423-square-foot former office space into something akin to a short-order grill, with nowhere to eat but in the vehicles in which the customers arrived — or later, at the beach.
The Planning Commission meets at 6 p.m. in Independence Hall at 2955 Woodside Road in Woodside. The restaurant proposal is the third item on the agenda.
Parking is another problem that a to-go service might alleviate, Andy Kerr told the Almanac. The parking lots at Alice’s and across the street at the Skywood Trading Post are typically jammed on weekends. The intersection of state highways 84 and 35, surrounded by forests, has long been a scene for cyclists, motorcyclists and owners of exotic cars, as well as a way point for weekend travelers.
Mr. Kerr said he wouldn’t expect the to-go service to increase business, but it could work in the interests of customers who are on their way to somewhere else and stopping for a quick bite. They may complain about long waits and trouble of finding parking, but they also end up staying, he said — and accepting a change in their plans. The same problems affect restaurants in Half Moon Bay and Pescadero, not to mention Bucks of Woodside, Mr. Kerr said.
The to-go concept at Alice’s, he said, would be to say: “We’d love to serve you. Here’s another option.” The menu would include burgers and sandwiches, salads, breakfast foods and cold drinks. If it’s ordered over the phone or the net, “by the time they get there, they can grab it and go,” Mr. Kerr said.
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