A power outage in downtown San Mateo affected numerous businesses, many that expected busy afternoons the day before Thanksgiving.
According to the outage map by Pacific Gas and Electric, the area between El Camino Real and B Street — between Second and Fifth avenues — as well as parts of South Claremont Street were impacted starting around 12:30 p.m. Nov. 26. Parts of the Sunnybrae area were also affected.
Tamar Sarkissian, PG&E spokesperson, said the outage was caused by a broken cross arm on Roberta Drive and Norfolk Street.
James Alkan, co-owner of Hummus Mediterranean on East Fourth Avenue, said they anticipated a busy day before the holiday but had to abruptly stop service early afternoon.
“It’s very overwhelming,” Alkan said. “We’re losing lots of money because of this.”
The restaurant, located on East Fourth Avenue is one of many local businesses dealing with the outage. Alkan said other nearby businesses, including Pizza My Heart and FedEx, have also been affected. One resident said a FedEx employee told her they could only take package drop-offs.
Alkan said this isn’t the first time an outage has occurred, and it tends to happen at random.
“There is nobody we can complain to,” he said. “There is no place we can go to talk to anyone about this.”
The outage doesn’t just affect the business financially, he added. It also affects restaurants’ reputations, as customers ordering delivery don’t know about the outage and don’t understand why they haven’t received their food or can’t get in touch with anyone.
“We’re still subject to bad reviews,” he said.
About 2,600 customers were impacted total, and as of about 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 26, about 475 were still without power. To report outages or receive information call (800) 743-5000.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Only subscribers can view and post comments on articles.
Already a subscriber? Login Here
We're excited to announce our India Community Travel in Spring 2026! Join this virtual Zoom … Read moreTravel to India Information Session (Online)
“A dazzling delight for all ages” Read moreRodger's & Hammerstein's Cinderella
Dirk van Ulden said:
LadyofShalott said:
Love Mr. Stanford!! Wonderful professor, nice guy
Mike Harris said:
You are correct. Right on!
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.