Cupertino: Cupertino Village Shopping Center; restaurant review

101 South

Cupertino Village Shopping Center  

10765-11111 N. Wolfe Rd./Homestead Rd., (408) 252-8084.  This spread-out complex is filled with Asian restaurants and shops, plus a Starbucks.

●99 Ranch Market  

This supermarket has a vast selection of Asian grocery items.  More description.

●Fantasia Coffee & Tea  

#10933.  Daily 10-10.  

Many people think Fantasia Coffee & Tea makes the best boba (pearl tea) in the Bay Area.  There is plenty of seating indoors, plus a spacious shady outdoor courtyard that is nice on sunny days.

patio at Fantasia Coffee & Tea in Cupertino, California

●Joy Luck Palace  

#10911, (408) 255-6988.  L-D daily.  

Delicious dim sum lunches combine with a Cantonese menu for great options at Joy Luck Palace.  Though “palace” is a bit of a stretch, it is a popular spot.

A separate dining room is known for serving excellent Cantonese-style won ton noodles--a skinny crunchy Hong Kong-style noodle.  Excellent Cantonese-style congee porridge is also available.

dining room at Joy Luck Palace in Cupertino, California

diners by fish tanks at Joy Luck Palace in Cupertino, California

cutting fried taro dumplings at Joy Luck Palace in Cupertino, California

steamed barbecue pork buns at Joy Luck Palace in Cupertino, California

●Shanghai Restaurant  

#10877, (408) 873-4813.  

Shanghai Restaurant has the usual Chinese dishes along with traditional Shanghai dishes not served in most restaurants.  The signature dish Xiao Long Bao is particularly good.  These dumplings are made fresh when you place your order.  The Green Onion Pancake, crispy fish fillet with (fried with seaweed), crispy duck, pork fried rice, and giant meatballs in a thick sauce are also popular.

●Sheng Kee Bakery  

#10961.  More description.

●Ten Ren Tea  

#10881, (408) 873-2038.  

Come to Ten Ren Tea for boba milk tea with pearls--a mix of green tea and flavored milk with black tapioca balls on the bottom.  I enjoyed the Mango Milk Green Tea.  Order it to your specs—mine are coconut milk boba with less tea and more milk.  The tapioca is satisfyingly chewy.  Seating is limited to two small tree-trunk tables.

interior of Ten Ren Tea in Cupertino, California

More things to do in Cupertino.

Things to do in nearby San Jose.

More ideas for exploring Northern California.

images ©2018 Carole Terwilliger Meyers

Cupertino: Apple Park Visitor Center

101 South

Apple Park Visitor Center  

10600 N. Tantau Ave.  M-F 9am-7pm, Sat 10am-6pm, Sun 11am-6pm. 

Located across the street from the spectacular new mother ship (known as the Ring Building), which houses Apple employees in a groundbreaking new circular glass building, the new Apple Park Visitor Center attempts to bring non-Applers some of the glitz and excitement.  The center features the all-glass walls of the main campus and consists of an Apple store, an exhibition hall with a 11,000-pound programmed scale model of the new campus along with iPads that allow you to view it in augmented reality, an upscale cafe with Illy espresso drinks and fine chocolates (the limited menu is on an iPad Mini), and a rooftop observation deck that looks out to the campus.  The visitor center--which is the only place where you can buy Apple-branded paraphernalia like T-shirts and notebooks--is fronted by a mature olive grove.

iPads allow viewing augmented reality at Apple Park Visitor Center
in Cupertino, California

cafe at Apple Park Visitor Center in Cupertino, California

Apple store at Apple Park Visitor Center in Cupertino, California

The 2.8 million-square-foot Apple Park campus itself is bounded by N. Wolfe Road, E. Homestead Road, N. Tantau Avenue, and Highway 280.  It has the largest footprint of any building in the world.  It houses 13,000 employees, and walls are 45-foot-tall curved safety glass.  The outdoors center of the circle features 175-acres of woodlands, drought-tolerant plants, and fruit trees (including 13 varieties of apple trees) and is described by an employee as “everywhere you look is greenery.”  And it really does have an other-worldly presence resembling a space ship.

Apple Park campus seen from Apple Park Visitor Center in Cupertino, California

More things to do in Cupertino.

More things to do in Silicon Valley.

Things to do in nearby San Jose.

More ideas for exploring Northern California.

images ©2018 Carole Terwilliger Meyers