Eyeworks of San Mateo

San Mateo, United States

4.3

Open now

20 reviews

Accepts Credit Cards
By Appointment Only

Contacts

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Telephone:
+1 650-343-2080
Website:
www.myeyeworks.com
Address:
214 S B St, San Mateo, CA, 94401
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
920 ftSan Mateo
1.2 miHayward Park
1.5 miBurlingame
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Bussiness info

Accepts Credit Cards
Yes
Accepts Apple Pay
No
Parking
Street
Bike Parking
Yes
Wheelchair Accessible
Yes
By Appointment Only
Yes
Accepts Insurance
Yes

Today

Today 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
Open now
Local time (San Mateo) 10:21 Thursday, 12 June 2025

Business hours

Monday –
Tuesday 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
Wednesday 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
Thursday 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
Friday 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
Saturday 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
Sunday –

Description

Specialties

Comprehensive, personalized eye exams, contact lens fititngs of all types including bifocal, colored, contacts for astigmatism. We have a great selection of designer eyewear including Oliver Peoples, Zero G, Oakley, Paul Smith, Bevel, Prada, and many many more. We also do consultations for laser eye surgery. We accept most vision insurances including VSP, Eyemed, Blue Cross, Anthem, Blue Shield, United Healthcare, Aetna, Cigna, and more. Please call for details. We are open weekdays as well as Saturday for your convenience. Your Vision is our passion at Eyeworks of San Mateo.

History

Established in 2005.

Eyeworks of San Mateo is proud to be one of the newest optometry office in the San Francisco Bay Area’s Peninsula! Centrally located in downtown San Mateo, our eye doctors provide local residents and

residents in surrounding communities with the best eyecare and eyewear anywhere. We strive to provide exceptional customer service and high quality eyewear in a friendly, relaxing, professional atmosphere for your best eyecare experience.

Meet the Business Owner

Gary L.

Business Owner

Gary Lai, O.D. is a San Francisco native. After receiving his undergraduate degree with a B. A in Physiology from University of California Berkeley, he continued on and received his doctorate from the School of Optometry at UC Berkeley. With more than 15 years of experience, he has worked at University of California San Francisco, the Veterans Affairs Hospitals in Sacramento and Oakland, and the Omni Eye Specialists in Denver. Before starting this new practice, he was the full-​time staff doctor in a busy San Mateo group practice for 5 years. Dr. Lai is a member of the California and American Optometric Associations. He enjoys backpacking, mountain biking, snowboarding, and photography. For over 1000 verified reviews, go to (copy & paste): //local.intuit.com/b/myeyeworks

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20 reviews of Eyeworks of San Mateo

No registration required
Place rating: 5
San Mateo, CA
I came here for my eyeglasses and wow, the service was excellent, and I mean excellent. It was fast and the man was friendly and gave useful advice and input about glasses to help me choose. I mean he really takes the time to understand what your looking for, and will pick out pairs of glasses all over their store for you to compare between, all the while informing you about everything from weight to material and durability to style. Definitely recommend coming here. Made the experience of picking out my latest pair fun and exciting. I’ll definitely be returning here.
Place rating: 4
San Francisco, CA
Bought sunglasses here. Not cheap, but good, as much as it would have been anywhere else. The problem is that they make you fill out a «new patient» form, and immediately start spamming you with emails. I really can’t stand that, but I’m giving it 4 stars because the service was very fast and friendly.
Place rating: 5
San Mateo, CA
I went in for an eye exam this morning with Dr. Lai. I talked about my RGP lenses, how old they were (like, really old), and how I really only need contacts when I work out (i.e., rarely). He suggested switching to daily soft lenses. I wasn’t planning on it, but they actually had my prescription in the office and I was able to sit down with Quinn (don’t think I’m spelling that right, sorry!), who taught me how to put them in and take them out. She was very patient with me, especially when I had trouble taking them out at first. I ended up leaving with a sample and plans to order more in the future.
Everyone I interacted with was super nice and friendly. Dr. Lai is very knowledgeable, thorough, and easy to talk to. I’ll definitely be coming back next year!
(If I could give Eyeworks one suggestion, it would be to modernize the website.)
Place rating: 5
Palo Alto, CA
My sister always goes here and if it weren’t for already being attached to my favorite eye place I would too! They’re always really nice when I go with her and talk to me while she’s getting looked at. (She has kind of funky vision so ends up going in a lot. Also she’s always breaking her frames lol!) Too bad they don’t carry my favorite hexomino brand — but then nobody does any more.
Place rating: 5
San Mateo, CA
Dr. Lai is so personable and he gives you all the time it takes to make sure your prescription is just right. His exams always include both vision and eye health, and he has some neat equipment to test them. The whole staff is as nice and helpful as can be. I’ve been seeing him for about five years now, I won’t go to anyone else.
Place rating: 5
San Mateo, CA
I love this place! the staff is so helpful and so efficient! I go here for my eye exams and to get my glasses. I had to reorder a pair of frames due to an incident and they had them in a week later for me.
They have a great selection of glasses/​sunglasses. The location is convenient in downtown San Mateo.
Event when they are busy everyone is vey attentive.
Highly Recommend.
Place rating: 5
Redwood City, CA
Finally found a place that has a good amount of Oakley prescription glasses! I’ve owned a pair for the past 7 years and finally had to retire my old ones. Unfortunately, the place I used to frequent for glasses didn’t have much to choose from and I hastily chose Nike Flexion glasses. They’re alright but since they’re bendable and really hard to break, they also slipped off my face more times than I choose to count on a daily basis. I decided to try this place and everyone from the receptionist, to the optician, to the person assisting with the choosing of your glasses ROCK. I enjoyed someone finally letting me know which frames work for my face and which frames work with my coke bottle lens (not really that thick, but thicker than most).
The best part? My glasses were ready in ONE week. How freaking cool is that?! So happy I found a good optometry place!
Place rating: 5
South San Francisco, CA
Came back for my yearly eye check up and wanted to update my review. Of course it’s going to stay 5 stars! The entire staff is so friendly! I enjoy coming in and seeing Marcia — you can never forget her smile and overall calmness and kindness! I enjoy being a patient of Dr. Lai because he is so kind, knowledgeable, and so easy to talk to! Which I love in a doctor and what everyone needs in their doctor! Dr. Lai said that my eyes haven’t really changed since the last time I saw him, which is a good thing to hear!
I rave about them all the time, that my fiancé’ wants to be a patient in his practice.
Place rating: 5
San Mateo, CA
I can’t say enough about how wonderful Dr. Lai is! He’s always warm and friendly as well as very thorough and professional.
The office has an excellent selection of fashionable frames, and someone on the staff can help you choose flattering frames if you feel overwhelmed.
I’d never, ever go anywhere else!
Place rating: 5
San Mateo, CA
Dr. Lai was the best!!!
I broke my glasses so I stopped by and Dr. Lai welcome and he star the exam he’s very engaging and professional he answers all my question also the type the glasses that should I use he didn’t care if I buy the glass in the store or other places he just doing is job as professional since then THIS IS THE BEST place for eye care so far!
Place rating: 5
Foster City, CA
I became a loyal customer a few years ago when I had an inflammation due to allergies. I called at the end of the day on a Saturday and asked to see the doctor. They said he was booked and I could see him in a week (I wasn’t clear about why I needed to see him). They could hear how upset I was and I explained that my eye was swollen. They immediately booked me since this was more of an emergency rather than a checkup.
Dr. Lai is pleasant and reassuring. He diagnosed me and gave me the proper prescriptions. When my problem went away, I scheduled a checkup and have been seeing him every year since. I also love the staff they hire. They remember you and are great at helping you with picking out frames or sunglasses.
They have a really cool automated system that will schedule your yearly exam for you and send it to you via email. Saves you the hassle of calling!!!
Place rating: 5
San Mateo, CA
I’ve been seeing Dr. Lai for three years now and have been a very happy patient. He is an overall nice guy, super accommodating, and patient. My eyesight is terrible and I have tried every contact lens possible. Throughout it all, Dr. Lai has been incredibly helpful to make sure that I land on something that I am ultimately comfortable with. The staff has also been great to work with on helping me choose frames and explaining insurance terms. It does help to have a great insurance plan though.
Place rating: 3
San Mateo, CA
I am breaking down my 3 star review. Dr. Lai gets 5 stars. He is very kind and has a great demeanor. The office staff gets 1 star. I purchased glasses and they told me 2 weeks. After 2 and a half weeks my wife had an appointment and she asks about my glasses and they told her that my glasses came in but one of my lenses had a scratch and they had to send my frames back. My disappointment is they should have given me a curiosity call to let me know. Finally got my glasses after 3 and a half weeks. My son purchased glasses last year from them and the same thing happened, something wrong with the lenses with no call. My family has purchased 3 glasses in the past and twice had issues. That’s only 33% with no issues. I think it’s time for them to find a new lab. This problem just cost them 2 customers.
Place rating: 5
Belmont, CA
Just went to see Dr. Lai. He is patient and he explains things clearly. Great place! :)
Place rating: 5
San Mateo, CA
I can’t thank Sami enough for helping me choose a pair of eyeglasses. I go to school in Southern Ca and drove back to San Mateo to pick a much needed pair of eyeglasses. My first pair of brand name eyeglasses were from Eyeworks (I had them for 4 years), the glasses were great, however, my service experience wasn’t so great with Mitch. This time my experience was very pleasant thanks to Sami. I walked in with a Rx and she immediately found a pair of eyeglasses that I am in LOVE with! The eyeglasses were shipped to my home within a week. I will be coming back here again and hopefully Sami will be around :)
Place rating: 5
Sunnyvale, CA
So long Mitch! And good luck in your new endeavors. I will really miss your professionalism, knowledge of products and expertise in picking out great frames for me and my family for the last 6 years.
Place rating: 5
Oakland, CA
Since 2009 We use Eyeworks’ service. I have updated 3 glasses and frames over the years, and my wife has updated 2 glasses and frames.
Every time I go there I get awesome greeting from everyone who works there. My eyes does not easily adjust new frames and prescriptions, but the Doctors, Mitch and the whole staff gives extreme patience to get it fixed till the time it works. We used to live in Burlingame and we now live in Oakland but I still prefer going there. They are professionals, they are always available for you. Plus they have a great selection of frames.
I highly recommend them.
Place rating: 1
Palo Alto, CA
Dr. Lai gets 4 – 5 stars, he was very friendly and very patient with my questions.
Unfortunately, the optician who assisted me with getting glasses, the guy with the light brown hair, was terrible. Too much attitude, not enough effort, didn’t explain any of the many charges for my glasses until I demanded it, and when I came to pick up my glasses, ignored me and helped other customers who came in after me. He acted as if he was doing me a huge favor, both during the purchase and afterwards.
If you can, see Dr. Lai but get your glasses/​contacts elsewhere.
Place rating: 1
Hartford, VT
Bad service for appointment.
Called in advance to double check and got a message that I didn’t confirm the appointment within 24 hours.
Also. According to my roommate, who has been here before, this is place is highly overrated!!!
Place rating: 1
San Mateo, CA
Total waste of time and money. Only good in playing games and giving a run around. With us entire staff had an attitude. One full year and our money wasn’t good enough for them to get us the right prescription glasses. We are totally dissatisfied with this eye care.