Restaurants

French bakery, patisserie, some savories, coffee, drinks; entrance is on Ramona, probably 50 yards south of University Ave., near Citibank & De Novo jewelers

Japanese Mochi doughnuts plus boba tea

So many varieties of baklava

The rooftop bar of the Graduate Hotel; seasonal bites, craft cocktails

Hidden inside Curry Pizza House; beer, wine, cocktails

What a nice bar; good food, drink, furnishings, conviviality

Interesting and delectable dishes that could come only from Burma; lovely room; see Rants+Raves

Young crowd; in/outdoor; mucho boozing; see Rants+Raves

Hard to classify with California, Japanese, & French influences & the experience of Michelin-starred chef Scott Nishiyama

Farm to table with focus on locally procured foods; breakfast, lunch, dinner, coffee, smoothies

Located in the Graduate Hotel but hardly just a hotel restaurant; all-day dining, shared plates at night

Fabulous Julia Morgan building (ex-WWI USO); southernesque menu; get beef rib chop for two

Devoted local following; some say best in town; I am not one of them

Farm-to-table ambitions; limited casual menu; closed during the pandemic, private parties now

Michelin-starred chef Scott Nishiyama; fusion in the best sense plus his mother’s recipes

Hukilau Hawaiian-style Caribbean food (and drink!)

Rice noodle soup in the Yunnan style & other dishes

Dumplings, soup, good & hot; less-wet food, too

Chinese hot pot (related to Happy Lamb Hot Pot) but also specializing in Chinese teas & fruit drinks

Taiwanese fusion cuisine in cute little bento boxes

Hong Kong and dim sum, mostly steamed; see Rants+Raves

Pure Hong Kong; half the kitchen for dim sum

The usual Szechuan, incl. pork tripe, sea cucumber, and griddled bullfrog; see Rants+Raves

Hot pot cooked as well as you can do it yourself

Both truffles and bars, they grow and make their own; see Rants+Raves

Bars from elsewhere and a lot of education; open only Wed. eves & Sat. mornings; see Rants+Raves

Artisanal chocolates made in front of your very eyes

Good coffee & light food in the new Hanahaus/SAP incubator

Bubble tea & mochi donuts

Choose your beans, your roast, your blend; it’s a lot of work; see Rants+Raves; they have also expanded their wine list

Panini, arepas, eggs, wine; ‘til 11 pm; full of surprises; see Favorites

Taiwanese bubble tea, highly customizable

Fine Chinese teas & fruit drinks, not to mention hot pot food dishes (like Happy Lamb)

These people know how to make coffee (and bread, pizza, etc.); bar on left as you enter; meet there!

All the way from Denmark with coffee, tea, music, vibe, attitude; loved in LA; living large here

Coffee, smoothies, 3 meals, locally procured ingredients

Japanese specialties (and special teas) from Kyoto; getcha matcha

Handcrafted boba tea (whatever that means)

Bay Area’s (obviously superior) answer to Starbucks

Every cup brewed to order; a nice place to hang out; see Rants&Raves for the rules of engagement

Not just juices but juice cleanses, like Comet, only liquid; $9.25 & up for juice (already bottled), cleanses $65

Bubble tea, fruit tea, black tea, milk tea, ice tea – choose ice level

Where Lemonade was; such a better venue

Taiwan-style bubble tea; try the jellied fig, or something unexpected

Teas, tea sandwiches, pastries; are we in the Cotswolds, Dear?

Locavore coffee, baked goods, & a small food menu; I’ve been in Tokyo

Fine Taiwanese tea in a large selection of boba drinks

Sweet & savory crêpes; coffee, wine; very French; 7am-10pm

Way more than crêpes, and friendly staff and no corkage fee

Like the original Rudy’s except you’re less likely to get beat up or shot, plus nice hidden terrace in back

Italian sandwiches, some salads, and 48 flavors of gelato

On Floor A of City Hall; breakfast & lunch

Banh Mi sandwiches, pho, & pearl tea, which is what a deli is today

Big sandwiches with kitschy names; $9-13 + extras; takeout only

Location #30, offering craft beer and “local” wines, hopefully including the wonderful wines of Mendocino County & Anderson Valley

NY deli food: hummus & falafel? bagels yes tongue no; minuscule

Sandwiches, burgers; housemade ice cream; no evenings or Sundays yet; see Favorites

Salads, sandwiches, pastries, coffee; in the Avenidas senior center; M-F 8 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Healthy salad/sandwich factory; get the chipotle chicken!!!

Bowls, salads, even a small amount of chicken (but don’t mention it)

Quite an array of prepared foods and salads, all made by pierced people

Menu might be “seasonal French” but nothing else is; see Rants+Raves

From the Republic of Georgia; combo of Middle Eastern and Russian

Gourmet Greek; high class; loud; fine Greek wines

A very large chain but plenty of enthusiasm, hopefully fun

Evvia, Kokkari, & Dio Deka alumni deliver great things at (slightly) sub-Evvia prices; charming; loud (or convivial); see Rants+Raves (twice)

Poké and sushi, mainly

Located in the Graduate Hotel but hardly just a hotel restaurant; all-day dining, shared plates at night

American; very nice for guests; not a townie destination

Mediterranean; expensive without the ambiance and limited wine without the vintages listed; closed for pandemic

Acai berries with super-natural additions from cacao to kale for $12 & up; neither ice cream nor fro-yo

The dairy’s own outlet; sandwiches, burgers; no evenings or Sundays yet; see Favorites

All meals; burgers, meatloaf, BIG shakes, great shakes, beer, and save room for pie! see Favorites

A “microcreamery”, making small batches with pure ingredients

Seasonal, gourmet, chef-created flavors, straight down from Portland

Korean Ah-Boong, a fish-shaped waffle cone with your choice of filling and topped with soft serve

48 flavors of gelato, perfect for before, during, & after the movie across the street; Italian sandwiches, too

I like pizza and I like curry but I’m not sure it makes sense to mix them

Indian street food; originally only a truck

Popular; heavy on the butter

Modern Indian, celebrity chef, individual & family style

Modern Indian, traditional meets fusion

Progressive Indian, not your typical curry house; cocktail bar, wood-fired grill; reservations essential

Kitchy; family-style plates; crowded; loud; good for large parties

Monthly regional specials; delicious pizza, too; fine food & wine; good coffee; meet there; see Favorites

Long-time local favorite; no longer underpriced; no more laminated menus; wine list on an iPad – damn

Yet another name change; I’m not sure they kept the ginger jars on the table

5-course set menu; $195 pp, plus 20% service

Specializing in sushi, almost all à la carte; good, not great

Highest-end Japanese restaurant ever to lodge in downtown Palo Alto; why go to Las Vegas? or London? or Kichijoji?

Gourmet brown-rice balls, your choice of fillings, wrapped in seaweed; see Rants+Raves

Revered Tokyo-based chain with 50 locations in Asia; this is first U.S. one; see Rants+Raves

Izakaya style but all vegan, fine decor, beautiful food

Teishoku style of dining; think set meal or bento box; order by iPad

Sushi inside burritos; lunch only

Good Persian food plus $$$$ expensive steaks; halal meat

Casual Greek & Mediterranean; free Wi-Fi; be under 30

Turkish specialties, both familiar and new sorts; live music sometimes

Full menu with grills and many sides, beer and wine, devoted to hummus; always a line; see Rants+Raves

Should be simple, tasty, & cozy

Modern Mexican, and gorgeous

Mexico City street foods with a focus on cocktails.

Peninsula’s best fish tacos; veggie burritos good, too

Not like Mexico, but that’s OK for most Americans; think upscale tacos and other nouveau-trendy accents

Burritos filled with sushi; open lunches only (perhaps a good thing)

I like pizza and I like curry but generally at separate meals

Incredible pizza plus full Italian meals; see Favorites

Pizza by the slice or the pie, NY style (fold and eat with only hands)

Tasty slices or whole pies; salads; decent atmosphere, considering

The San Francisco success expands to Palo Alto where Empire Tap Room used to be; a bit artisan, a bit precious; nice thin crust, though

English “food”; hidden in parking lot; trivia Tuesdays; see Rants+Raves

Fresh air, at least (out back)

More Georgian than Russian but still mostly meat & potatoes

Fine Spanish comfort food, including tapas, paella, & amazing cheesecake

Finally a working steakhouse in downtown Palo Alto; this one is Persian, so the meat is Halal

Amazingly, competent pan-Asian; in/outdoor

Turkish specialties, both familiar and new sorts

Tiny Uzbek menu inside the Georgian restaurant Bevri

Just a sandwich shop, but a Vietnamese one, with Banh Mi, Pho, and other goodies

Pretty fancy pho along with rice plates and Vietnamese steaks

Fabulous food; heavenly wine list; Riedel stemware; sophisticated atmosphere; see Favorites

48 wines, all from Italy, including 19 by the glass

Only local wines; tea, light fare (chèvre, crostini, frisée) and real dinners plus art, music, stuff

Quiet, comfortable adult drinking spot; some sofas; cozy; light, cold food thus far

Here is the list of restaurants, all in contiguous Downtown Palo Alto. They are organized alphabetically by Type, and by Restaurant (name) within Type. A few appear more than once because they fit in different type categories. If you know the name of a restaurant but can’t guess what category I have put it in, you can use the Search function in your browser. I apologize for alignment errors that might appear in some browsers. If you see any, please email me immediately with details.

When a restaurant has its own website you can find the hyperlink behind the restaurant’s name. I urge you to reserve your table in advance at the better restaurants, so I have also indicated those restaurants at which you can reserve a table online using opentable.com (abbreviated as OTC), which I use regularly and recommend; just click on the OTC in the third column if so. At the opentable.com page you might have to select Palo Alto in the center pulldown menu that says “All Peninsula Neighborhoods”. For Google Maps for this area, click here.

The remarks are my own. Some are purely descriptive, others evaluative. No offense is intended, but humor is. The remarks reflect my own sensibilities and preferences for local ownership, attention to quality in all respects, price reflective of quality, and inventiveness. You will also find others’ opinions on yelp.com and you should post your reviews there – I do (though I don’t have time to do so very often). In any case, I encourage you to form your own opinions.

KEY TO SYMBOLS

OTC = opentable.com for online reservations; just click on the “OTC” in the column next to the name

$$$$ = top of the price range

$$$ = some entrées or typical meals over $30

$$ = entrées $15-29

$ = entrées under $15

All phone numbers are in area code 650 unless indicated otherwise

All zip codes are 94301; for Google Maps type in “<street address>, 94301”; you don’t need “Palo Alto”

Comments? Write me at PaloAltoRestaurants.