If you’re bored on the weekends, try these fun places for food and fancy footwork

Dotcom business club by day, entertainment hotspot by night. A local Menlo Park bar, Café Borrone is a European style cafe that is not high priced and very delicious. Ranging from best coffees and deserts to breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner, people go there for local meetings, rendezvous and romantic gatherings. In the tradition of the relaxed outdoor Italian piazza and the art inspired Parisian coffee house, family owned and operated Cafe Borrone serves up superb coffee, delectable food and an unbeatable atmosphere.

Less than a mile from Stanford University in the heart of Silicon Valley, Café Borrone is the place to be. With a diverse menu and live music on most Friday nights, there is never a time of day when this restaurant is not busy.

The plaza in front of the restaurant is dotted with small tables overflowing with people. Borrone is a casual, order-at-the-counter kind of place that still manages to turn out sophisticated sandwiches, salads and nibbles.

The atmosphere at Café Borrone’s patio on a sunny day is unbeatable. Choose from three daily soups ($2.50/cup, $4.75/bowl) served in colorful dishes. Although it is hard to decide between minestrone, vegetable and black bean soup, I went for corn chowder. The tasty, velvety sweet corn soup was filled with fresh tomato chunks, green pepper and corn kernels. Pieces of muenster cheese melted into a gooey stringiness, which made the soup even yummier. The food at this cafe isn’t the only thing that people rave about. Their music selections vary from Chopin, to country, to local artists from the Bay Area. The art assortment is soothing, fitting and cultural, which attracts all the more customers in turn.

Anyone looking to spice up his or her night should try dinner and dancing with Varsity Dance Club, a monthly dance party featuring live vintage music from Paul Price’s Society Orchestra. One can find this lively crowd on the third Sunday of every month from 4 to 6:30 p.m at either one of two locations—the Masonic Center in downtown Palo Alto or Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church on Colorado Avenue.

Founded in 1982, the club has been attracting potential dancers and exposing vintage music around the community for quite some time. “Our purpose is to help people discover this era of music,” violinist of the Paul Price’s Society Orchestra Tyane Boye said. The music featured is from 1895 to 1935, which includes ragtime and the Roaring 20s. “This era of music is very energetic and lively,” she said.

A typical dance night includes an instructional period of the history of the specific dance as well a how-to session with instructor Don Isaac, a break with refreshments and, of course, an opportunity to spread those dancing wings. These monthly dance nights are open to everyone. “We have high school students, college students and older folks,” Boye said. “Everyone is welcome, you don’t need to be a great athlete or a coordinated person to join.” In addition, the ambiance of every dance night varies from month to month depending on the people that attend. “Whoever comes determines the environment,” she said.

Admission for students is $15, and while vintage dress is appreciated it is not required. “I guess you can call our services educational,” Boye said. “We are preserving tradition, and in times like these, sometimes people just need somewhere to be carefree and remember the days that were full of positive energy.”