Eating & Nightlife

Palo Alto is home to some of the best restaurants in the Bay Area, in many cases rivaling the best restaurants in San Francisco. It is a favorite dinner spot for locals living throughout Silicon Valley and visiting tourists and business people from around the world.

Most of the best restaurants are relatively small and independent, and without reservations you can expect to wait up to an hour or longer, especially on weekends.

Visitors looking for familiar but quality food will find lots to choose from. Chains including The Cheesecake Factory, California Pizza Kitchen, P.F. Chang's, Max's Opera Cafe, Il Fornaio, Gordon Biersch and Buca di Beppo all have Palo Alto locations.

Restaurants are the focal point for nightlife in Palo Alto, and it's not uncommon for them to still be seating customers at 10 or 11 o'clock on weekends. A popular bar scene consisting of mostly non-local young professionals and some Stanford students keeps downtown Palo Alto going until after 1 a.m. A few restaurants and bars feature live music or DJs.

For live theater, check out TheatreWorks, a nationally-acclaimed group that draws from throughout the Peninsula and Silicon Valley. Palo Alto Players, a popular community theater group that was the Peninsula's first theater group when formed in 1931, offers a regular schedule of plays at the Lucie Stern Community Center in Palo Alto. The much-loved Palo Alto Children's Theatre has it's own dedicated stage at the community center and has ignited the acting passion of many local children. Check the calendar for other theater, music and dance offerings in Palo Alto and at Stanford.

View a PDF of a [https://www.paloaltoonline.com/special_pubs/paloalto/249/section1.pdf useful listing of restaurants published in our printed Visitors Guide.

Looking for a good place for a weekend brunch? These restaurants offer special brunch menus.

Want to limit your search to the places our readers selected as "The Best?" These restaurants, cafes and eateries were the winners in our most recent "Best of Palo Alto" contest.

Restaurant Search

Pastis Best of Winner - Best French restaurant: After a morning of shopping at the Sunday farmers market, take in Pastis ? a French restaurant that makes customers say triple


Location

447 California Ave., Palo Alto
(650) 324-1355

Peet's Town & Country Best of Winner - Best Coffee House (Hall of Fame), Palo Alto Weekly, 2008

As at the other Peet's locations, there's coffee and tea aplenty, along with pastries.


Location

Town & Country Village, Palo Alto
(650) 328-4771

Pluto's Best of Winner - Best Meal Under $20, Palo Alto Weekly, 2008, 2011


Location

482 University Ave., Palo Alto
(650) 853-1556

Rangoon Ruby Best of Winner - 2015


Location

445 Emerson St., Palo Alto
(650) 323-6543

Reposado Best of Winner - 2015

Reposado serves an upscale Mexican menu including ceviche, rotisserie chicken, lamb chops and pollo en mole poblano. Desserts are excellent. The decor is stylish and minimal, yet exudes warmth. Dozens of tequilas, beers and wines. Separate bar area and mezzanine for overflow dining and private parties.


Location

236 Hamilton Ave., Palo Alto
(650) 833-3151

Rick's Ice Cream Best of Winner - Best Ice Cream, Palo Alto Weekly, 2008

Homemade ice cream and sorbet. Featured in July 2002 Gourmet Magazine as one of the 12 best places in America to eat an ice cream cone.


Location

3946 Middlefield Rd., Palo Alto
(650) 493-6553

Rose & Crown, The Best of Winner - 2015

Rose & Crown Pub in downtown Palo Alto specializes in hand-crafted and rare beers from around the globe. Upwards of 125 selections are available on draught, from the cask, or bottle. Food is pub-worthy, albeit mostly fried. Fish and chips, cheeseburgers, English cheeses and rarebit are the bill of fare. Beer and wine.


Location

547 Emerson St., Palo Alto
(650) 327-ROSE (7673)

Featured

Saint Michael's Alley Best of Winner - 2015

The new St. Michael's Alley is just around the corner from the original on Emerson Street. The ambiance is subdued, sophisticated and stylish. The cuisine matches the decorative effort. Appetizers are just that. Not too much, not too expensive, just enough to whet the appetite: vegetable cheese tarts, bruschetta, wild mushroom cake. Main courses include fish and scallops, pasta dishes, meats and risotto. Desserts are equally successful. Full bar, good wine list, fairly priced.


Location

140 Homer Ave., Palo Alto
(650) 326-2530

Siam Royal Best of Winner - Best Thai Restaurant, Palo Alto Weekly, 2011

Siam Royal is a favorite of many Palo Altans that has gotten a little rough around the edges; much of the food falls flat and is missing the traditional Thai interplay of sour, salty, sweet and hot flavors. Still, spicy eggplant with chicken and sticky rice with fresh mango (sweetened with coconut milk) are admirable.


Location

338 University Ave., Palo Alto
(650) 329-8129

St. Michael's Alley Annex Best of Winner - Best Sunday Brunch, Palo Alto Weekly, 2008, 2011


Location

806 Emerson St., Palo Alto
(650) 326-2530

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