As high school students, stress inevitably piles up quickly between homework, tests and extracurriculars, and that hard work and determination deserves a reward. To celebrate locking in for the first two months of this semester, we decided to visit Mainstreet Cupertino to see if it lives up to its reputation for being a great hangout place.
Upon entering the plaza, we encountered a large grass yard and outdoor tables around clusters of restaurants and shops, offering places to relax compared to other typical busy plazas. The fact that Mainstreet Cupertino is outdoors made it very refreshing to wander around and explore different buildings to go into.
Our first stop took us to Lazy Dog, a restaurant known for its rustic atmosphere and delectable American foods. The interior of the restaurant reminded us of an old frontier cabin, with huge metal wire horns hanging from the walls. TVs streamed sports in the background while groups of people chitchatted, adding a lively, but enjoyable vibe to the place.
Ethan ordered a Fettuccine Alfredo with Chicken ($18.25) while Enzo selected the Chili Crunch Ahi Tuna ($23.50).
Although the dishes looked appealing at first glance, our impression of the food changed after tasting it. The pasta tasted creamy and rich, but the two crunchy cheese crackers didn’t blend well with the flavor.
The tuna bowl looked perfect, but the meat tasted slightly spoiled and had a bitter seasoning (TMI: After mixing the entire bowl, Enzo discovered that he had a mild dislike of radish and edamames, which led him to pick them out of the dish one by one).
After the heavy meal, we decided to walk around Mainstreet Cupertino and look for the next shop, hoping to pair the entreés with light soft drinks. One of the best parts about the area was walking on the grassy yard and walkways while heading to our next destination, which made it a wonderful place to visit.
The trendy architecture and design of Mainstreet felt more casual and inviting, giving us the freedom to wander, sit and explore the various stores for the younger generation. This was a stark contrast to downtown Saratoga, which the stores mostly consisted of antique and traditional shops and restaurants with a lot less people visiting compared to Mainstreet.
We ended up at Meet Fresh for drinks. Compared to Lazy Dog’s cozy atmosphere, Meet Fresh had a more modern look with a gray color scheme and a rectangular building.
Enzo decided to order Fresh Milk & Grass Jelly Herbal Tea ($8.50) while Ethan decided to get a Passion Fruit Green Tea with honey boba ($7.50). Once we received the drinks, we were confused by the eco-friendly paper cups, so we couldn’t tell which drink was which.
The drinks themselves tasted quite disappointing. Maybe it was because we chose lower sugar levels, but the grass jelly and the passion fruit tasted very bitter and muted, not contributing any flavors to the teas. According to Enzo, the grass jelly tea tasted like a bland tiramisu with no flavor — there was a dark chocolate flavor but no sweetness to bring out its earthy tones.
Even so, the stop to Meet Fresh still served its purpose — we grabbed our drinks, sat down at one of the many outdoor tables and talked about random topics, completely forgetting about the stressful school activities.
With time left to spare before we ended our day at Mainstreet, we visited Photoism, a small, trendy photo shop that opened last summer. The four-cut photo strips are $8, and you can have two copies of them.
Photoism is a self-service photo booth shop where friends can take quick, studio-style photo strips using props and timed shots. We were excited about our visit to Photoism as we figured out while visiting Main Street wasn’t just a place to eat and drink; it also offered activities for young people like us to enjoy and relax during our time there.
Right at the entrance of the store, there was a huge array of accessories to try on for the photos, including hats, sunglasses and animal headbands that people could use for their pictures.
Entering the photo booth, we didn’t realize the photos had a 10-second countdown limit; we figured out later that we needed to prepare the accessories beforehand prior to taking the photo. With only 10 seconds to pose for each shot, Enzo (not Ethan, who prepared the accessories beforehand) scrambled to grab and jumped into the photo frame.
Out of eight attempts, we selected our four favorites. Once selecting it, we had the option to customize our photo strip.
We decided to go with a cartoon cat-themed border that matched our animal headbands. The final photo strip was a cute souvenir for the day, as well as a nice reminder that the best way to deal with stress from school is to simply laugh with friends.
By the end of the hangout, it became clear to us that Mainstreet Cupertino offers a refreshing, exciting spot to hang out with friends over the weekend. The open space, variety of restaurants as well as various activities made it a great way for us to unwind.
Compared to downtown Saratoga, Mainstreet’s restaurants and activities were all popular chain stores that we’ve heard of. The stores quickly grabbed our attention, motivating us to visit again opposed to Saratoga downtown’s locally owned businesses that typically interest mainly older generations.
Whether you’re grabbing food, trying a photo booth or simply walking around the plaza, Mainstreet Cupertino is the go-to place that provides a refreshing release from the constant stress of school and extracurriculars.
