Do I have my favorites? Of course I do. Here are some of them.

Taverna – This little Greek place across Homer from Whole Foods delivers in all departments: food, wine, service, and ambiance. The staff makes you feel right at home and you can almost imagine a small dock with fishermen mending nets across the street. I find the food inventive and delicious and the Greek wine list outstanding. (The domestic wines tend to be very expensive.) It’s also got high corkage so don’t bring your own; just enjoy the Greek wines. You must reserve in advance.

Rooh – With the demise of Amber Dhara, Rooh really stands out as the most novel, luxurious, exotic, and delicious Indian restaurant in the mid-Peninsula. From the cocktails to the wood-fired oven to the red velour you might think you’re in the Taj West End in Bangalore. Prices are higher than curry houses but we ate like kings for $30/person not including drinks. I have yet to try Ettan, which also takes a modern approach to Indian cuisine and looks great. The best seating at Ettan is outside (it’s located in the alley) so I will venture there on a warm evening.

Tamarine – Sophisticated, scrumptious nouveau Vietnamese food has aromas and flavors that elevate the dining experience. The wine list is a revelation, especially for Asian restaurants. They really know what they are doing. Try a glass of riesling (the most expressive grape on the planet) or grüner veltliner with any dish in the house, or a tank-fermented Chinon (cabernet franc), if they have it, with the shaking beef. Fine stemware as well. Recently at lunch they split two glasses of different wines so my companion and I could each taste some of both. How nice. Service has been spotty for me, and it’s not a place I have ever established any personal rapport. Sophisticated equally describes the decor; it’s a dark theme with careful attention to materials and lighting as well as the artwork. Many of the dishes are meant to be shared, so this does not always work for business. The menu features small plates but not such small prices, so a meal with a nice variety can be costly.

Rangoon Ruby – Finally a Burmese restaurant with an extensive and exclusively Burmese menu. It’s my favorite place for nice lunches and also very enjoyable for dinner. The mango chicken is to die for; recruit or seduce with this one. And they make the best tea-leaf salad I have ever had. Wonderful, exotic flavors in just about every dish, including some you will never have heard of (and fish you will never have heard of but don’t let that stop you from ordering it). Decent beer and wine and a very pleasant interior. The same owners ran Burma Ruby on University Avenue, same menu, different vibe, but it closed during the pandemic and in its place they opened Lima Ruby featuring Peruvian cuisine. I have not yet tried it but I’ll bet it’s good.

Evvia – I have finally moved Evvia up into the favorites category, because I have had enough good experiences there recently to relegate the bad ones from the increasingly distant past into ancient history. It can still be noisy but it’s much more friendly. The food is usually wonderful (especially the Greek specialties – just watch out for overcooked fish) and the wine list is quite delightful. The Greek white wines go so well with the food; give them a try. Prices are generally high, so make this a special-occasion choice.

Il Fornaio – This is another good place to take your kid for pizza. These individual pizzas are the best because this is a real Italian restaurant using top-quality dough, sauce, and cheese. Since the pandemic, they are no longer open for breakfast and are open for lunch only Thursday-Sunday. And if you need only a tiny table, the bar is a great place for an Italian coffee, and almost no one uses the free WiFi. It’s my favorite spot for meetings because the coffee is excellent, you get personal service, there is ample WiFi, and real restaurant bathrooms (none of this standing outside the door at the inadequately-provisioned coffee houses). Dinner, meanwhile, is always reliably good. I try to take advantage of the specialties they offer from a particular region the first half of the month; these specials offer unique insights into different styles of Italian cooking, along with their corresponding wines.

Jing-Jing – We keep going back because it’s most like the restaurants in Chinatown: busy, bustling, families, Chinese and non-Chinese diners, steaming hot food. We also get take-out from here a lot. See what I wrote on the page for kids.

Peninsula Fountain and Grill (colloquially known as The Creamery) – You know, it’s high but it’s always an option, especially with the kids. Go for burgers, fries, waffles, omelets, and milk shakes. Take home a whole pie and bring the glass pie plate back later. All-American daily specials. A few good beers by the bottle. I’ve had breakfast meetings with colleagues, but only the informal ones. Booths I sink into (not good). What’s so difficult about making a booth seat that holds up? Notice the clock above the cash register. Instead of numbers it has the twelve letters E-A-T-A-N-D-G-E-T-O-U-T. Do as they say; there’s a line waiting to get in.

Peninsula Creamery Dairy Store – No longer related to the Fountain, this used to be where they made the ice cream. Though not open evenings or Sundays, it’s a great place to come for sandwiches, hamburgers, and heavenly milk shakes. It’s way over by the hardware store on Channing at High and all sorts go there. Not much room inside.

Coupa Cafe – You gotta check this place out. It’s full of energy, even with all the people hooked into Wi-Fi. Fascinating food (small stuff) from South and North America, and you might even get what you order. Can be loud. Try both locations (Ramona between University and Hamilton and Lytton near Alma).

Other Places – St. Michael’s Alley gets raves but when I finally went – brought a large group, in fact – I was turned off by their attitude and pricing. My wife loves Thaiphoon and I do, too. I really like Vino Locale for lots of reasons and have bought wine at retail there.

Nearby Places – There are a few places worth mentioning that are not quite in Downtown Palo Alto as I have defined it. Douce France, located in the Town and Country (T&C) shopping center on El Camino and Embarcadero, is a delightful place for coffee, pastries, and small lunches, though since Mademoiselle Colette opened up downtown there’s no need to go to T&C. There are two other good places at Town and Country. Teleferic Barcelona offers tapas and full plates. Gott’s Roadside is also in Town and Country; I have liked their place at the Ferry Building in San Francisco: high quality ingredients in their burgers, decent beer and wine, and if you bring your own corkscrew (and wine) there is no corkage charge. Believe me, we have drunk some amazing wines from our cellar with their burgers.

Finally there is Quattro at the Four Seasons Hotel where University Avenue meets highway 101, about a mile east of downtown. Technically it’s East Palo Alto (former murder capital of America) but neither the hotel nor the adjacent law firms like to emphasize that. This is a very sophisticated restaurant in a beautifully designed room with high ceilings and tall windows. It’s also more expensive than perhaps all the places downtown. I’ve only eaten lunch there and the food appears to be excellent though on the precious side. It does attract a lot of local residents, which tells you something. And the former pastry chef, whom I know, is a wizard.

Comments? Write me at PaloAltoRestaurants.