sancho's taqueria

palo alto, ca

website

derek loves this place. his favorite is the chimichanga, a giant deep-fried burrito. i'm less than thrilled about the cuisine. the salsas are out of this world fantastic, but i don't think a place should have to rely on condiments for flavor. the tortilla soup is a giant bowl of thick tomato sauce. the enchiladas are covered in a bland red sauce with bland refried beans.

it's incongruous that a place with a moustached skeleton in a sombrero as its logo has bland food. sigh. but it's close by, quick, not too expensive, and derek loves, so we've gone here a few times. i'm sure you're sensing a theme in my blog posts lately. geographical limitations. time constraints. going to the places with just decent food because of convenience. toto, we're not in manhattan anymore.

renzo

palo alto, ca

website

i love linguine con vongole. i don't normally eat clams, but for some reason i love the scent of the sea that the clams add to this pasta dish. being doused in wine and butter probably doesn't hurt either. i don't make this dish at home. i'm not ready to confront live seafood or acknowledge the amount of butter that is required in this dish, so i prefer to order it from restaurants. one of my favorite things about renzo is the atmosphere. its not crowded, but the chatter from the bar keeps the dining room buzzing with a quiet energy. service is a little odd (a little over-the-top with the random italian words - bella, really?) and they can be a little pushy about getting the bill up to increase their tips. but i find that being polite and friendly when refusing can go a long way.

we've been here so many times already, i've figured out the tricks to getting a great meal. first of all, order alcohol. it makes you happy, it makes the waiter happy, which will improve the quality of the service. there's some strong drinks from the bar and that's always a lot of fun. second - get fresh dinner rolls. when the rolls are cold, they get a little mealy. when the rolls are overbaked, they're hard as rocks. (derek actually tried to crack one open by banging it against the table). but once when we got a fresh batch of steaming dinner rolls and they were perfect. third - know what to order. get the calamari. get the salads. get the pasta. linguine con vongole is great, but inconsistent. some days amazing, some days just good. both better than me cooking at home, though. solid food, easygoing atmosphere, reasonable prices. walking distance from the apartment. i think we're going to become regulars here.

cafe brioche

palo alto, ca

website

derek and i were still in the process of getting adjusted to normal restaurant schedules. in nyc, restaurants are usually open for brunch until 4 pm. in palo alto, not so much. we were attempting to go to joanie's (mmm, hash browns), but it was closing just as we got there. we managed to sneak into cafe brioche next door just before they flipped their sign to closed.

cafe brioche is no joanie's. egg scramble was great, loved the quality of the veggies in it, but the home fries were blah. if they could get their hash browns on par with joanie's, then i would consider heading here next time the wait at joanie's is ridiculous. but until then, derek and i just need to get out of the apartment earlier.

vero

palo alto, ca

website

oh vero. the first time i walked by your white table-clothed, dimly lit restaurant, you reminded me of the amazing italian restaurants that i used to frequent in manhattan. i dragged derek through your doors, desperate for a bowl of classic linguine con vongole. and you dazzled with freshly steamed clams, in a winey buttery sauce, perfectly al dente pasta, and an unexpected hint of fire from calabrese chili peppers. service left much to be desired, but that only heightened the manhattan-like experience. i was thrilled and convinced that you would be a frequent destination.

i similarly dragged my dear friends vanita and tina on a second occasion, expecting them to be similarly dazzled. oh vero. how disappointed we were. tina and i ordered the linguine con vongole. clams were filled with sand. the sauce was okay, but the calabrese peppers (which really made the dish) were missing. we vacillated over whether or not to complain, but i had such high hopes i wanted to give you a chance to redeem yourself. we discussed whether or not the peppers were supposed to be there. you insisted that they weren't. we insisted they did. you finally checked the menu and realized they were and apologized for the "new" chef, handing me a pepper on a plate. sigh.

patxi's pizza

palo alto, ca

website

i miss new york city pizza. not only are there fantastic sit-down pizza joints like batali's otto, angelo's, or lombardi's, but nearly any slice joint is going to have a good slice of thin crust, great sauce, perfect cheesiness. i have yet to find to a good new york style spot in palo alto, but i have found a great spot for chicago style pizza. i mean, it's no giordano's, but i have to work with certain geographical limitations.

patxi's does do chicago-style well, good cheese, good sauce, nice buttery crust. one of my favorite things about patxi's (and one benefit to my geographical limitations) is that the wine list is fantastic. i usually have a soda with my pizza, but i'm starting to get used to the amazing wines that you find in every restaurant in the bay area. patxi's wine menu has descriptions of flavors, notes, etc. so a vino novice like me can find something i'll like. wine with pizza -- try it!

joanie's cafe

palo alto, ca

website

new favorite brunch spot. in fact, it's our new sunday tradition. joanie's is located on california avenue, another main street in palo alto. on sunday's, is the site of a massive farmer's market. sunday morning - wake up, head to california ave, put our names down on the clipboard at joanie's (it can be up to a half hour wait), and walk around the farmer's market to buy some fruit and veggies. they have pomelo that's the size of your head for a $1 each (smaller ones would cost you $5 in manhattan).

we try not to snack on too many of the fruit samples at the market, to save room for joanie's fantastic breakfast plates. pictured is derek's breakfast burrito and the amazing hash browns. perfectly crispy and crunchy, not too greasy. the omelettes and other egg dishes at joanie's are also awesome, but they almost seem like accompaniments to the main course of hash browns.

joya

palo alto, ca

website

one problem with living in the south bay is trying to convince your SF friends to drive an hour down to meet you for dinner. lennon and april graciously made the trek to meet derek and i for dinner at a spanish tapas place a few blocks from our apartment. i loved the vibe of this restaurant - modern interior, fun atmosphere, interesting menu items, and lots of great drinks.

the food itself was just okay. guacamole with taro chips was alright, but i've had better guac (i.e., jinny's homemade guacamole which is amazing). paella was kind of soggy, missing the crispy rice edges that should be a paella requirement. but i loved their homemade white sangria with fruit - delicious. the sangria and the fact that it's walking distance from the apartment (which means we can drink as much sangria as we want without worrying about the drive home) will probably be sufficient for me to come back here, but i'll try something different from the menu.

luu noodle

mountain view, ca

link to yelp

life's been busy, involving a lot of travel lately, but i'm going to try to catch up with some entries this morning. derek and i discovered this awesome noodle spot close to target in mountain view. it's perfect -- start with a big bowl of cheap noodles to carbo-load before a major target shopping trip.

i get the combo noodles with wontons and meatballs. vietnamese/chinese style noodles. good, clear broth. perfectly dense and chewy noodles. when derek and first went here, they included fried pork skin as a garnish - yum. last time we went, no more fried pork. not sure if it's a permanent change or if we were just unlucky. service is non-existent, you pay at the counter by telling them your table number, booths are kind of uncomfortable, and i would avoid the shrimp. but for $5 a bowl, i'm not going to complain.

los altos grill

los altos, ca

website

we were at the at&t store in mountain view, buying derek a new iphone (hey, he's in the valley now - no more blackberry for him). while i waited for his iphone to get set-up, i decided to find a nearby spot for dinner with non-asian food. using one of the sample ipad's yelp app, i searched for "american" food near mountain view, california. nothing. the closest spot was in los altos, so we decided to drive out there and check it out.

turns out it's a hillstone restaurant! derek and i frequently visited houston's, another hillstone restaurant, in manhattan, so it was a little piece of home here in the south bay. very similar menu. with one big difference. their "famous cornbread in a skillet." sounds simple, but it's amazing. moist, crunchy, buttery, and spicy goodness. derek, not normally a cornbread eater, devoured half of the massive skillet of cornbread. delicious. everything else was standard houston's fare - great ribs, burgers, french fries. if only it wasn't all the way in los altos ...

hangen szechuan

mountain view, ca

link to yelp

every little town in silicon valley has a "downtown" area. having recently moved from manhattan, using the term "downtown" with respect to the south bay definitely requires quotes. mountain view's "downtown" is called castro street. one street, several blocks, lined with restaurants, small grocery stores, and random bookstores. there's tons of chinese food on this street. i suspect that derek and i will be familiar with every restaurant very soon.

first stop was hangen szechuan. huge restaurant. empty. which is usually not a good sign, but the food was surprisingly good and the service extremely attentive. we ordered some spicy animal innards, spicy chicken, and not-too-spicy noodles. pictured is the spicy chicken, which only derek could eat because it was too spicy for me. he ate the whole plate - it was that good. we'll definitely be back here.