Tamarine

About Tamarine

Tamarine is a modern Vietnamese restaurant at 546 University Avenue in downtown Palo Alto. It opened in 2002. The restaurant describes its cooking as refined innovation: Vietnamese ingredients and techniques used in new ways to reflect California produce. Vietnamese food itself draws on China, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and France. The menu borrows from that whole range.

The kitchen is led by executive chef and proprietor Tammy Huynh, who runs the restaurant with co-proprietor Tanya Huynh Hartley. Cooking was a second career for Huynh. She studied biochemistry at UC Davis, earned a doctorate in pharmacy from the University of the Pacific and worked as a pharmacist for years. Restaurants run in her family, though. Her mother, Chac Do, opened Vung Tau restaurant in downtown San Jose in 1985, one of the region's early Vietnamese restaurants.

The restaurant notes that Forbes once listed Tamarine among its top 10 power dining spots in the world, a nod to its role as a regular meeting place for Silicon Valley business people.

What is on the menu

Tamarine's menu is built around the Vietnamese tradition of the communal meal, so most entrées are served family style. The summer 2026 menu opens with starters such as fresh rice paper rolls, taro root rolls, banh mi roti with Penang curry sauce, hamachi crudo, salt and pepper calamari, blue crab nori tacos and lamb meatballs. A Tamarine Taste plate combines several starters for two.

The soup and noodle section includes a green papaya salad, a beef pho served at lunch only, Ha Long Bay soup with crab and asparagus wontons and garlic noodles. Entrées range from Tamarine prawns in tamarind sauce and clay pot cod caramelized with black pepper and molasses to lemongrass sea bass, a whole grilled branzino, calamansi chicken and shaking beef made with cubed filet mignon. Lobster garlic noodles and hoisin lamb chops sit at the top of the list. Sides include basil tofu, chili cauliflower, empress rice with a sunny side up egg and coconut rice.

The menu changes with the seasons, so dishes rotate through the year.

Dietary notes

The menu marks vegetarian and vegan dishes and flags those that can be made vegetarian on request. It also marks dishes that contain nuts. Meatless choices include vegan avocado rolls, a red vegan curry with tofu, mushroom "scallops" and a corn and squash soup. For private events, the restaurant says its prix-fixe menus can be adapted for gluten-free, pescatarian, vegan, vegetarian and lactose-intolerant guests.

The room, the bar and the art

Tamarine calls its style casual elegance. The room was designed by a firm the restaurant calls one of America's top restaurant design firms, in a modern, Asian-influenced style with rich colors. The restaurant also works as an art gallery for emerging artists from regions across Vietnam. The art is for sale. The restaurant says 10 percent of the proceeds go to the VA Palo Alto.

The bar is the more casual side of the restaurant. Its cocktails use Vietnamese ingredients and house-made syrups. Happy hour runs every day from 5 to 6 p.m. and is available only at the bar. Communal tables in the bar dining room are set up for walk-in meals and quick bites.

Private dining

Tamarine hosts private and semi-private events for 6 to 120 guests. The Main Dining Room, which looks out on University Avenue through a wall of sliding glass panels, holds up to 60. The more intimate Vung Tau Room takes up to 35. The Bar Dining Room suits cocktail receptions for 30 to 100. For a special occasion, the restaurant offers a five-course dinner hosted by Chef Tammy and the sommelier, with wine pairings. It has limited availability.

Tips for visiting

Reserve through the restaurant's website, especially for weekend dinner. Lunch is served on weekdays only. For takeout, order pickup through ChowNow or delivery through DoorDash, both linked from the home page. Corkage is allowed with a two-bottle limit per visit. Parties of five or more have a gratuity added automatically.

Tamarine is about a 10-minute walk from the Palo Alto Caltrain station. Our Vietnamese food guide covers other options. See our fine dining guide for special-occasion restaurants and our downtown guide for the rest of University Avenue.

Location and getting there

Tamarine is at 546 University Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94301, in the Downtown area of Palo Alto. Our Downtown guide covers what else is around.

The nearest train stop is the Palo Alto Caltrain station, about 0.5 miles away. That is roughly a 13 minute walk.

Parking: street spaces and city garages with posted limits (see parking in Palo Alto).

Hours

Hours from the business's own website, checked October 30, 2026.

What is nearby

• Palo Alto Eyes Optometry, practice, under 0.1 mi
• Joe & The Juice University Avenue, cafe, under 0.1 mi
• Blue Bottle Coffee University Avenue, cafe, under 0.1 mi
• Stanford Federal Credit Union, service business, under 0.1 mi
• AT&T University Avenue, shop, under 0.1 mi
• Johnson Park, 0.3 mi
• Cogswell Plaza, 0.3 mi
• University Avenue, 0.3 mi

Other restaurants nearby: Rooh (under 0.1 mi); Sushirrito (0.1 mi); Taste (0.1 mi); Cafe Venetia (0.1 mi). Browse the full restaurants list.

Before you go

• Popular dinner spots in Palo Alto fill up on Friday and Saturday nights, so book ahead where the restaurant takes reservations.
• Many kitchens close earlier than in big cities. Plan to order by about 9 p.m. on weeknights unless the posted hours say otherwise.
• If you have allergies or dietary needs, call ahead or check the current menu on the restaurant's website.

About this listing

Checked October 30, 2026 against Tamarine official website; Tamarine: About us; Tamarine: Private dining; Tamarine summer 2026 lunch and dinner menu. How our listings work. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Frequently asked questions