Inside The Old Post Office: What Became of Burlingame's Historic Park Road Lobby

The brass teller windows are still there. So are the terrazzo floors, the marble walls, the rows of post office boxes and the 25-foot ceilings. The difference is that the lobby at 222 Park Road now serves dry-aged duck and Tipsy Cake. Since October 1, 2026, the old Burlingame post office has been home to The Old Post Office, a French-Californian restaurant from Bacchus Management Group.

The opening ends more than a decade of the building sitting empty. The most public room in downtown Burlingame is open to the public again because a private office tower was built around it. Next door, the Town Square was laid out so the old building faces it. To see how a stamp counter became a dinner reservation, it helps to start with the years the building sat empty.

A decade with the lights off

The San Francisco Standard describes the post office as a 1941 New Deal building in a Spanish and Art Deco hybrid style that "was at the nexus of downtown for more than 75 years." Accounts of its start and finish vary a little. The Mercury News says it was built in 1939 and opened as a post office in 1941. The City's 2020 historic preservation analysis dates construction to 1941 and 1942. The Mercury News says the building had been vacant since 2014. The Standard puts the closing in 2015 and says the building "sat empty for nearly a decade."

Whichever year you use, the result is the same. For close to ten years, one of the most recognizable facades on Park Road had nothing behind it.

Homes were pitched first, and an office tower got it built

The first plan for the site was housing. According to the San Mateo Daily Journal, Sares Regis, a home builder, took over the redevelopment after another party's exclusive negotiating agreement expired. Its plan put condominiums over commercial space, with parking underground. Dave Hopkins of Sares Regis Group of Northern California told the Standard that when homes stopped making financial sense, the firm switched to office and called partner Mollie Ricker at Dostart Development.

The City's 2020 preservation review set the terms. The rear sorting room and the Lorton Avenue facade could come down. The main Park Road facade and the lobby had to stay. Keeping them took real engineering. The Standard reports that crews cut the foundation, slid giant beams underneath and rolled the building 120 feet away so a two-level underground garage could be built. Then they moved it back to its original spot.

The office complex, 220 Park, opened in 2025. It has 185,000 square feet and six stories, which makes it the tallest structure in Burlingame by a wide margin. By March 2026 it was fully leased. The tower's tenants work above the old building. The 1941 lobby at street level went to a restaurant anyone can walk into.

What the restaurant kept, and what each part does now

Bacchus Management Group also runs The Village Pub, Selby's, Augustine and Spruce. At The Old Post Office it chose to use the old rooms rather than cover them up. Here's how the original spaces map to the restaurant:

The City's preservation document also lists original ceiling lights, service desks and lobby furniture among the features to keep. If you mailed packages here years ago, you'll probably recognize the room before you recognize the menu.

The kitchen fits the period too. The Mercury News reports that executive chef Jonathan Granada, who has worked at The French Laundry in Yountville and Otium in Los Angeles, takes inspiration from the great American hotels and restaurants of the 1930s and 1940s. Niño Maraon, his chef de cuisine, runs the kitchen day to day. That puts the food in the same era the building was designed in.

Three ways to use the room

Because a local landmark now has several menus, how you plan a visit depends on what kind of evening you want. These prices and formats were reported in October 2026:

• The prix fixe. Lunch is $55 per person, dinner is $120 and weekend brunch is $70. Menu highlights include polenta tortellini with matsutake mushrooms, grilled Maine lobster tail and the Tipsy Cake, which is a brioche base with brandy cream and roasted vanilla bean gelato.
• The Postmaster's Bar. This is the casual option, with an à la carte menu in the old postmaster's office. The San Francisco Chronicle lists a $27 burger and $45 steak frites.
• The whiskey bar. It seats up to five people and takes reservations only.

The signature dish needs some planning. The Peking duck is dry-aged for 10 days, cooked in a custom-built rotisserie oven and carved at the table, and you have to order it in advance. Eater SF reports that the duck is limited to six orders a night. The Chronicle priced it at $80 for two. If you're hosting visiting family or celebrating something, reserve the duck when you book the table. Don't wait until you're seated.

Hours are weekday lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., weekend brunch from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., and dinner every night from 5 to 10 p.m. Tables can be booked through OpenTable. New restaurants often adjust menus and hours in their first months, so check the restaurant's website before you go.

The square out the back door

The restaurant is half of what changed on this block. Right next to the building, the old city-owned Parking Lot E is now the Burlingame Town Square, which runs from Park Road on the west to Lorton Avenue on the east. The City lists its address as 265 Lorton Ave.

The square took longer than planned. The City picked contractor Azul Works in late 2024, and its January 2025 eNews said demolition had just started and gave "late 2025" as the expected finish. The square opened on April 2, 2026, with a ribbon-cutting, Champagne, face painting and a silent disco. Mayor Michael Brownrigg told the crowd that the idea goes back to 2008. As the Daily Journal reported, he said, "When I ran for council in 2009, it was in my campaign document, 'let's build a town square.' Sixteen years later, I finally delivered."

The design is what ties it to the post office. The Daily Journal's groundbreaking coverage described a tree grove, seating, a water wall, a small stage for performances, a public restroom, and terraces along the side of the former post office. So the old building doesn't just sit next to the square. Its side wall forms one edge of it. The City books live music there, and its calendar is the place to check what's coming up after you've eaten.

Planning an evening on Park Road

Losing Lot E took parking out of this corner of downtown. One large option nearby is the Lot N garage at 161 Highland Avenue. The Downtown Burlingame parking page lists it as open with 368 spaces. Taken together, the block works as one evening out:

1. Book a table or a Postmaster's Bar seat, and order the duck when you reserve if you want it.
2. Park in the Lot N garage on Highland Avenue.
3. Stop in front of the Park Road facade and find "The Letter" relief before you go in.
4. After dinner, walk out to the Town Square terraces along the building's side.

Dinner is served from 5 to 10 p.m. every night, and the Town Square terraces start right outside the building's side wall.

Do you have a story about mailing letters at the old Park Road counter, or a favorite spot downtown that's worth a visit? We'd love to hear it, and we're always glad to talk about how Burlingame keeps changing. Read more on our Burlingame neighborhood page or reach out to Pri & Juan Ruan. Contact Us any time.