Arrillaga Family Recreation Center

We had our wedding here last month– what a find! It had practically everything we wanted for our DIY wedding. We held our ceremony outdoors, followed by outdoor cocktail hour on the other side of the patio, and an indoor reception. The patio is enormous! And, we comfortably fit 14 tables of 10, a head table, and a dance floor in the hall. The venue has a supply of rectangular tables, as well as standard round tables, and black folding chairs. But, they don’t supply the man power to help you set up. So, choosing the right catering company who would do all of that & more is huge.
Here is why we chose this venue:
1. The price was reasonable! Despite not being Menlo Park residents, the price still fell within our budget.
2. Along with rental of the Sequoia Room, we got the adjacent large patio the entire evening as part of the rental price.
3. The kitchen was right by the room, and was spacious enough to fulfill our catering needs.
4. Free parking! And, lots of it.
5. There was no particular way to set up the place. They provided us with floor plans, but it was up to us & our caterer to figure out a layout. (This can work for or against some people, but it worked for us!) We were able to create what we envisioned.
6. Our guests were able to sit comfortably away from direct sunlight under the canopy the venue had outside.
–1 star for:
1. No dimmers in the Sequoia Room. So, when sunset came (which was during the tail end of dinner), the hall was darker than we expected. Luckily, we had enough uplights surrounding the gigantic room. But I wish I had knew this, so I could’ve gotten more tea lights for the tables.
2. When we were in the middle of open dance, the hall got hot & stuffy. The AC was maxed out, they brought in fans, the sliding doors leading to the patio were open, but they weren’t enough to keep the place cool.
3. They only allowed us to serve beer, wine, & champagne. We were okay with it, since we had our wedding on a Sunday, but it sure would’ve been nice to have actual signature cocktails!
Overall, we had an easy time working with this venue! If you’re a creative bride and/​or enjoy DIY projects, you should definitely consider this place. The hours you can hold your event are flexible, and Ricardo (primarily who we worked with) was nice & helpful.

Good price for a very nice facility. Colin and Noreen are lovely to work with. We used the Sequoia Room and patio for a rehersal dinner. We hired a food truck that was parked right outside the patio gate, lots of fun. The patio is really nice and was enhanced by some nice up lighting done by an outside vendor. Caterers love the full service roomy kitchen. Would definitely host a party there again. Only downside, you can’t turn off or fully dim the interior lighting, even if you bring in your own lighting. I imagine it’s a safety issue, but it means you always have some fluorescent light overhead.

I held my mother’s 80^th birthday celebration in the Elm room at Arrillaga Center on a weekend. The room was comfortable and 40 to45 guest fit comfortably and mingled with 5 – 6′ round tables with chairs (provided by the center at no charge). The caterer had plenty of space for a wine and beer bar as well as 2 – 6′ tables for food.
The staff was quite friendly and helpful from registration all the way to checking out of the facility at the end. There is a professionally equipped kitchen with plenty of counter space, prep table, range with oven, refrigeration, and sink. The caterer was able to operate out of the kitchen with ease. The Elm room had a bricked private patio off it with a nice size oak tree and tall fence, with a gate for guest to come and go from. The bathrooms were well equipped, clean, handicap accessible, and clean.
It was a perfect venue for my mother’s 80^th birthday to accommodate elderly, as well as young guest. There were other rooms at the facility that would meet the needs for many different occasions or business meetings. I felt the price was reasonable for the location and the use of the kitchen, plus all the tables and chairs that were needed.

The new facility (2011) is nice. I especially like the outside area where they have redone the landscaping. They added little bubbling fountains and a cool sun shade. The interior is nice but the main reason I can’t give it 5 stars is due to the fact that the rooms have horrible acoustics. It is very difficult to be in some of the bigger rooms. The other thing I don’t like is that in some rooms the windows do not open, the only way to cool the room is to put on the AC. Menlo Park has very few extremely hot days and it’s a waste to put on the AC all the time. When you are doing exercise activity it would be nice to have some fresh air.

I photographed an event here on Saturday (⁹⁄₂₆), and it was nice place to hold an event. Lots of sliding glass to open the place up, and they had these industrial fans (think NFL sideline fans) to keep people cool inside.
As a photographer, the lighting was a bit muddled, but everything was nice and clean, and if you wanted to hold a nice event in Menlo Park, you should strongly look to have it here.