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This week you have two opportunities to help your neighbors in need while enjoying a delicious meal at a number of terrific Bay Area restaurants.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010 dozens of restaurants are participating in the first annual Bay Area Dine Out. This benefits Meals on Wheels which serves meals to over 8,500 seniors throughout the entire region. Simply dine out at any of the restaurants and let them know you’re there for Dine Out, and they’ll donate part of the proceeds from your meal to this worthy cause.

The full list of restaurants grouped by county is on their website: [2] http://dineoutnow.org/. Of course I know you are primarily interested in restaurants on El Camino Real, so I’ve taken the liberty of extracting the establishments that meet your discerning criteria.

• Lizarran Tapas Restaurant | 7400 Monterey Street | Gilroy
• Amici’s East Coast Pizzeria | 225 W. Santa Clara Street | San Jose
• China Stix Restaurant | 2110 El Camino Real | Santa Clara
• Country Inn Cafe | 2008 El Camino Real | Santa Clara
• La Paloma Restaurant | 2280 El Camino Real | Santa Clara
• Pizz’a Chicago Santa Clara | 1576 Halford Avenue | Santa Clara
• Celia’s Mexican Restaurant | 3740 El Camino Real | Palo Alto
• Hobee’s California Restaurants | 4224 El Camino Real | Palo Alto
• Hobee’s California Restaurants | 67 Town & Country Village | Palo Alto
• British Bankers Club | 1090 El Camino Real | Menlo Park
• Cedro Ristorante Italiano | 1010 El Camino Real #140 | Menlo Park
• Celia’s Mexican Restaurant | 1850 El Camino Real | Menlo Park
• Oak City Bar and Grill | 1029 El Camino Real | Menlo Park
• Round Table Pizza | 1225 El Camino Real | Menlo Park
• Chantilly Restaurant | 3001 El Camino Real | Redwood City
• John Bentley’s Restaurant | 2915 El Camino Real | Redwood City
• Max’s of Redwood City | 1001 El Camino Real | Redwood City
• Mountain Mike’s Pizza | 390 El Camino Real | Belmont
• The American Bull Bar & Grill | 1819 El Camino Real | Burlingame
• Celia’s Mexican Restaurant | 201 El Camino Real | San Bruno

If these don’t suit you, do peruse the full list for someplace that does. You can be excused this one time for patronizing eateries not on El Camino. It might be wise to call ahead for reservations.

If you’re in San Francisco, don’t eat too much on Tuesday because on Wednesday, November 10 you have the opportunity to do it again. An organization called Mission Graduates is putting on an event called Food for Thought at various restaurants in the Mission District. Proceeds from your meal will benefit the Mission Graduates program which works with kids from the Mission and prepares them for college. Demographically these kids are disadvantaged so this program provides crucial help for them to reach their goals through higher education. Thanks to the good folks at [3] Stark Insider for alerting me to this event.

Find participating restaurants on Mission Graduates’ web site:[4] http://www.missiongraduates.org/foodforthought/. Again let them know you’re there for Food for Thought.  The restaurants are not all on Mission Street or Dolores or other streets that qualify as El Camino in San Francisco, but they’re close enough that again, I’ll grant you a free pass. Thinking about all these great restaurants has put me in a charitable mood.

Bay Area Dine Out

benefiting Meals on Wheels
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
[5] http://dineoutnow.org/

Food for Thought

benefiting Mission Graduates
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
[6] http://www.missiongraduates.org/foodforthought/