Lemon Tree

Dear Lemon Tree Team,
Your place is great! I love the idea of an open space play area and a great sitting area for parent. BUT — your clients a ruining your lovely place, and you don’t seem to care.
I came here with my toddler (almost 3 YO) a few times. Each time I see parents allowing their kids to eat and drink at the play area, allowing babies to chew and munch wooden toys that belong to the train table, and allowing toddlers to smash and break valuable toys.
If only your crew would supervise a little, your place would be almost perfect.
This place is fairly new and already the train table is broken, there are lots of missing parts, the play kitchen doors don’t have handles, and both dollhouses are empty, and their parts are nowhere to be found due to kids throwing toys all over the place.
I think you better go and take a look at the train table at the Almaden Barnes and Noble Store. They glued all the tracks and the bridges to the table. This way parents don’t have to start assembling the tracks, and kids can Choo Choo for hours of fun with Thomas and Friends.
I really hope you read Unilocal reviews. There are lots of great play spaces in this area, and so far your place is the last on my list, due to all of the above.

I’m in the process of planning my kids’ birthday party here. I often drive by this place and thought I’d give this place a try since it’s conveniently located. I’ve had several emails and phone conversations with the party planner and she is so wonderful! Most of all, she is extremely patient. Comparing my experiences with other vendors in the past, Lemon Tree is accomodating which makes my life so much easier planning a party for two kids! I have a good feeling about this place and cannot wait to see the final touches on the day of the birthday party.

Great place to come during rainy days or even just a more relaxing playtime for mom/​dad. The fee is $ 10 for up to 3 hours and for $ 2 you have access to their coffee/​tea bar which right now consist of a kruerig. The play area is brightly lit and fairly organized and clean. The decorations are super cute. We arrived at 10am right when they opened and we were the only ones there so it was very calm. Towards 11 it got very chaotic but still manageable. We ordered bento boxes from the counter which is ordered from the restaurant next door. It does take awhile so like the sign says order about 30 min ahead of time. There’s high chairs to use and a changing table in one of the bathrooms. The price is a bit steep but its clean and fun for the tots so I think its worth it. Maybe once a month kind of thing not an every week.

I could see our family being regulars here. A place you can meet a friend for coffee and bring your kids without having to worry that they will get restless! A place where I can get away for a bit and do some computer work while the kids play! You can even have Japanese bento box lunch with choice of 2 or 3 items ordered from next door-​yay sashimi! We met our friend here for New Year’s Eve to our holiday exchange and playdate!
They offer coffee, tea and water as well as snacks and juice for purchase.
The pros:
They accept card. Busy moms may not always have a chance to stop for cash!
Their hours seem consistent and are open daily.
Bathrooms are clean and there is a changing table.
The cautions:
Parking maybe limited, and it is right before the car wash and adult store if you’re heading north. My friend and I both missed the drive way to turn in.
If the teepee is by the front window, and it is sunny, it can get quite warm and stuffy so you may want to admonish your little one to take a break. Shades or blinds would be a great addition even though the large windows that let the sunlight in are such a nice feature.
In conclusion, this is a great play place for both mom/​dad/​grandparent/​nanny/​caretaker and kid to break from the monotony. It is relaxing and clean with the pottery barn/​ikea/​land of nod furniture and childhood storybook mural on the wall. Dolphin grey paint and cushions in the reading area.

OK, so not really worth 4 full stars (yet), but I really want to support this place as I have been wanting to see more of this type of establishment for a long time. It does deserve 3.5 stars though.
The good:
. I love the concept. Relaxed, clean and open space to sit and drink coffee with friends while the little ones play safely close by.
. Space is light and airy, and although it was cold when I first got there, staff quickly put the heating on in response to their customers needs.
. Clean and new.
. Shoes off before you enter. Yes, even the grown ups :)
. food and beverages available
. parking out front and behind
. friendly, helpful staff
The not-​so-​good
. costs $ 10 for you and one child for 2hrs. For that price he/​she can play and you can sip complementary tea or coffee. The big negative here for me is the coffee was awful. Keurig type thing which I tried, but frankly it was gross and I tossed it. So $ 10 for my kid to play with some toys is a bit steep.
. Although the space is nice, it’s not vast. We didn’t last the full 2hrs and I don’t think we ever will as there isn’t really enough here to keep most kids entertained for that long.
. parking is available, but it is limited. And whatever you do — do NOT park in front of the next door stores; apparently they will get you clamped!
. I love the idea of chatting with my friends over coffee while our children play, but in reality this means large groups of other women, all deeply engrossed in their conversations and not paying any attention to their kids, who continue to push/​shove/​hit your child, and you are forced to settle all arguments without ‘crossing the line’ because the other child’s mother is too busy laughing with her friends or deeply engrossed on her smart phone.
. food and drinks are available for purchase, but menu is limited and prices are a little too high.
As I said, I have been wanting to see this kind of place in the area for a long time, so I am happy that Lemon Tree exists. However, I think I’ll wait a while before I return, in the hope that things improve a little. They’re still new after all, but do give them a try!

I love this place! Came here with a friend and 3 toddlers for 2 hours of play and food. $ 10 cover charge for 1 adult and 1 child, no shoes allowed and you can also order yummy bento food for a very reasonable price. As soon as I walked in, I knew my kid would love the place. I love how all the toys are new and diverse with chic decorations and seating. The kids have tons of room to run around with lots of natural lighting throughout the whole venue. Wish I did my baby’s 1 year birthday event here! Also wish I was a SAHM so I can bring my kid here all the time on the weekdays! This place is located right next to the closed down Morning Glory korean stationary shop I frequented when I was in middle/​high school.
Only thing to note though: you need to keep an eye on your child, as well as on other kids to make sure everyone’s playing nice. Within the 2 hours I was there, the following incidences happened:
— my 13 month old child pulled down another 11 month old child cuz she wanted to move past her to the toys and the child hit her head onto the bottom of a table leg (the child cried loudly)
— a 3 year old used his wooden car to hit my child’s head right in front of his mom cuz he didn’t want to share the 5 wooden cars he was hogging (my child did not cry)
— another 3 – 4 year old ran up to my child from behind, and totally just pushed her down right in front of his mom, in which my child smacked her face onto the hardwood floor by the water dispenser (my child cried loudly)

Clean, cozy and affordable. My kids loved it. Will definitely visit again.
I liked the no-​shoes area because of the less dusts. I recommend this place!

Such an awesome space for moms and kids, especially if kids are under 2.5 years old! What a great place to arch up with a friend or even with your spouse (lol) while the kids play for a bit. The owner was super nice when I went in with my two girls dyeing the soft opening. I would bump this up
To five stars when they can create some morning classes for the 3 – 5 age group and add some better food to their menu. Also knocked one star because I feel the price is a lite high. It’s ten dollars to
Go in but I don’t know if that’s worth it. If it were five dollars, I’d be more likely to go more often. All in all a great addition to the area!

This place is adorable, such a great concept, and very warm and welcoming staff. We loved this space and will definitely be back, but I did want to leave a few pieces of feedback for this new business though:
1) Was surprised when about 20 minutes into our visit we noticed we were suddenly being filmed– which continues for about 20 minutes. We were not asked, were not informed, and were not asked to sign a release. This made me very uncomfortable since we paid entrance and it not only impacted our comfort level but also made me worried that video of our babies would be used somewhere without our knowledge or permission.
2) Would love to have the café element developed further– espresso bar + more snack for parents would be AMAZING! :)

First time here with my girl who is 2 and a half. I really love this place, very clean, very cozy ! Staffs are very nice and warm. $ 10 cover one adult and one kid and include drinks. Love the coffee/​tea there! It’s not cheap instant one! It’s the capsule kind (not Nespresso okay? but still a good one) very impressive when I see the capsule drink machine !
I can tell they wanna market high end, and keep the price can’t be beat anymore. You can see their toys are good brand, high quality. Kids kitchen is wood kind, tent is canvas kind. Even the disposable water cup and the durable crystal plastic kind. For moms like me love fancy cozy stuff definitely would love to come here. And I am going to bring more friends to here now! Love this place !

My review is for the café side, not the photography section nor any special events stuff that they do also.
There are many good things about this place, and a few things I hope that improve as time goes on and they settle into their wings! This is a new business, and I think a new type of business in the South Bay. Personally, I have been waiting for something like this forever it feels like, and its definitely a new favorite place for me when I don’t want to go to a park.
In a quick summary:
This is a «Mom’s Café» (dads welcome too). Meaning, for an entry fee of $ 10 +1 child (extra siblings $ 5, not sure about other «guests» ie aunt/​grandma), you can hang out with your baby/​toddler/​child and enjoy a cup of coffee or tea, and let your kids run around in their playroom area. At this time, there is no posted time limit on your stay.
Its not a playground, its not a daycare and its not a billybee’s or whatever that place is. I found it to be more of an intimate communal play space for the kids — and its not a formal café. Someone mentioned in one of the mom’s groups I am in, that it reminds them of the «Moms Café’s» in South Korea, which are very popular there for mom’s to come and just relax with their babies.
More Details:
Parking is very limited to in front of their building (not the other buildings in the strip mall), behind their building though its best to try to park ON El Camino
This is a shoes off café. They have a nice shelving area and guest slippers if you want to use a pair, and a good stroller parking area too.
Café items are limited: no outside food or beverages allowed, except food for your kids (baby food). They have a selection of sandwiches, cookies, cheese, chips and drinks available but its very limited (only PBJ sandwich for vegetarians at the time I went). Good prices but some items are CASH ONLY. They do have some high chairs that are good.
The playroom is a work in progress. I talked with one of the women running the business and she said many more items are ordered but haven’t arrived, including some mirrors, which the kids will love. They have an assortment of plush animals, balls, puzzles, little faux kitchen, teepee, big drawing table with coloring pages (more crayons less markers would be awesome), books, duploo blocks and other misc toys.
The playroom is a great size for kids, but gets very small very fast if hovering moms feel the need to be right next to their kids. If the moms could sit just outside the playroom, then it would be more spacious. I think a missed opportunity is in this room with establishing benches around or near the windows for the moms to sit on. Some mom’s do have babies that need assistance in the big kids play area, so things just get full fast.
They have a TV but it will never be on for week days, its for use for the special events parties that they have where people want to show pictures of their children (such as a 1yr old party and you want to show from birth to one year etc).
They have a very sweet small newborn or tummy time area for kids who aren’t moving quite yet. The rug is a nice thick one, with cute floor cushions for you to be with your baby. Its away from the busy and noisy kids playroom, but with a window for you to view the playroom — so if you have two kids and you need to line of sight one or the other, you have it covered.
The bathroom is very sweet with a changing table for kids, and a small footstool for little ones to wash their hands.
The mornings are much busier than the afternoons, but don’t let that stop you from stopping by!
Things I’d love to see:
* sanitizing of the toys after the morning crowd leaves and the afternoon comes
* more vegetarian food offerings, particularly sandwiches (or a sandwich)
* black ice tea, plain instead of flavored ones if possible for non-​coffee moms
* some limited musical toys like rattlers or shakers, that are fun but not distracting
* bench in the playroom so hovering moms sit away from rug and let their kids play instead of taking up space in the room with the kids
Overall, this is a great space with a sweet energy. I am very excited to see how they blossom and I hope they stay in business for many years to come and we see other play spaces like this pop up in our area. As a new mom, its incredibly difficult to find indoor spaces like this where I can relax so its on the top of my list of places to go now!

I have legitimate PTSD from my older son’s dol. I tried to DIY everything and still woke up in cold sweats thinking about my 2am nights covered in hot glue in a wrestling match with my cricut machine (RIP).
Much older and wiser this time around, I launched in a search for the best dol (1^st Korean birthday) party planner I could find in the bay area. Unilocal search yielded few results (this is clearly not LA, people). My search results directed me to Jiin, the undisputed dol planning champion of south bay. I was sold immediately.
To further answer my prayers, Jiin even told me that she was opening a brand new event space in Santa Clara as a one-​stop shop. She was patient, responsive and accommodating during the entire planning process. I ended up booking *everything* through her– event space, décor package — and used her recommended suppliers for catering, cake, and photography. Heck, if she tried to upsell me on a house, a car, and a grandma, I’d probably have thrown that in, too!
She delivered.
Decorations were unreal, food was flowing, the space was perfect to hold 8 rambunctious kids and keep them out of our hair, toys were brand new, cake and photographer on point. I literally showed up when the guests arrived with nothing except baby in hand and even got to enjoy the party.
Highly, highly recommend this as your one-​stop dol shop. I would not hesitate to book another event here in the future!