Franklin Square

Nice little food retail area with a great farmer’s market on Saturday mornings! My only regret is not finding this place earlier in my Santa Clara University career! You can find thai food, a barbershop, a haircut training spot ($ 5 haircuts), and a couple bars all close to each other!

I always treated this as a food retail area. I know there’s a bar and random other businesses but i go for eats. Italian, Japanese, Thai… it’s all over. Parking usually isnt bad and it’s a fairly quiet neighborhood. Go Hatcho for Omakase one night and get a dining experience that you dont a lot in the bay area

The highlights of this shopping area are the blue-​tiled fountain and the Saturday morning farmers market– anyone referring to this collection of shops as a «mall» is delusional. There are about four restaurants, a boutique, and a few other small businesses clustered behind the post office. Lots of parking available on the street and in nearby lots, safe area of town with the college nearby.

A cute square with many different shops, including reliable dry-​cleaners, a phở place, and a post office. Better yet they have the Santa Clara Farmer’s Market here every Saturday. A few months ago I saw a pair of ducks in the fountain near the post office entrance, but sad to see they’re gone now. Maybe they’ll return!

Decent sized farmers market but a variety of vendors. Among things sold here include flowers, hummus, cookies, clam chowder, pastries, spices, honey, kettle popcorn, fruits, and vegetables. Hot food items include Indian, Mexican, Mediterranean, and Vietnamese cuisines. Spicy green chicken and pork tamales were equally as good. I enjoyed the strawberry fresca as well. Don’t forget to buy a bag of kettle popcorn!

also known as «the franklin mall», this is a shopping center with a lot of history. located in «downtown» santa clara, the older district of the city, among many victorian houses, near santa clara university.
there’s a little green square in the back area, in front of the post office, with some benches and a tiled fountain. it’s a calm spot to sit and relax.
there is a small farmer’s market on saturday mornings next to the post office, one block is blocked off. they usually have local musicians playing.
many of the buses that come thru santa clara stop here, but businesses complained, so several were rerouted to the santa clara train station on el camino/​the alameda as a central hub for the area.
the anchor store on the corner was wilson’s bakery, which shut down suddenly a few years back, much to the chagrin of regulars. it’s still empty.
there is a post office here, but it’s easy to miss. they have a sign out front right now pleading with customers to petition for saving it, it’s slated to be shut down for budget cuts. pity, because i like the self-​service machine in the lobby, but understandable. the best nearby alternate post office is on kiely and benton, they are open on saturdays.
other businesses include a beauty supply store and a beauty school, a liquor store that seems mainly to be frequented by the bus riders. a tiny watch shop, a fantastic italian place (mio vicino). a crappy thai place (jasmine), a usually empty japanese spot (hatcho), a relatively new vietnamese restaurant. an old school barber shop, and a boutique targeted to the younger crowd. all of the spots have character.
i used to work in the stamp store here as a kid, and my middle school is just a few blocks away, so i’ve spent a lot of time in this shopping center over the years.
there are two divey bars here, dasilva’s broncos, which caters more to students, and occasionally has good bands, but sometimes has horrendous music (i think the nights are themed, like techno, etc). the other bar is «blinky’s can’t say», which is more of a hangout for the older, beat down by life crowd. stale beer smell, but people are friendly.

Franklin Square is only minutes from Santa Clara University and contains a mix of restaurants, bars, and clothing stores.
Highlights:
Hatcho Japanese: Definitely the best restaurant in Franklin Square. If you are looking for a place to grab some sushi near SCU, this is the place.
Jasmine Thai: Although this restaurant has gone hill over the past year, it still one of the better Thai restaurants in the area.
Shine Dry Cleaners: An excellent dry cleaner with a very friendly and helpful staff.
Da Silva’s Broncos: One of my all time favorite dive bars. They have two pool tables, two dart boards, and great bartenders. The owner and his son are the best, they always treat you like family.
One nice aspect of Franklin Square is that there is always plenty of parking. With the exception of Saturday mornings (during the Farmer’s Market) you will be able to park in the large lot in the center of the Square.

This is a quaint little square that offers restaurants, shopping, bars and more.
Parking is never an issue in Franklin Square. There is a very large lot where you can always find a place to park.
The square is a great place to spend any time of day.
MORNING: Every Saturday morning there is a great farmers market with live music that is right next to the square. There is always great food to buy and excellent fresh produce. They close down the whole block for this weekly event so it is definitely worth going to.
AFTERNOON: This is a great place to go for lunch. The square offers Japanese (Hatch0), Thai (Jasmine) and Italian food (Mio Vicino). There is also a little boutique (IBISS) that you can go shopping at when you are done with your delicious meal. It’s also a great place to go run errands. You can go to the post office or get your dry cleaning done.
NIGHT: The same restaurants where you can have lunch are also open for dinner. After dinner if you don’t feel like going home just yet you have a choice of two dive bars that can be pretty fun (DaSilva’s Bronco’s, formerly and still lovingly referred to as «The Claran,» and Blinky’s). Both offer different events on different nights. You might stumble upon a karaōke night, DJ or a live band. The bars also offer pool, darts and other fun bar games. On most nights the bars will be pretty empty except for a few locals or possible some weary law students searching for a brief respite away from their dreary law books (me included). On other nights the bars may be completely full of SCU undergrads. It all depends on the day, time and the event that night.
All in all this is a great place to spend some time.

This is a very nice little area of both shops, restaurants, etc. Also, the main post office is also located here.
Used to frequent many of the local businesses located at the square., such as Thai Pepper and Wong’s Kitchen.