Farm-to-table restaurants in Palo Alto

"Farm to table" is printed on a lot of Palo Alto menus, but it has no legal meaning. Any restaurant can use it. This guide takes a stricter approach. It lists only restaurants that say on their own websites, or on the pages we verified for our business directory, where their food comes from or how they choose suppliers. A menu that says "seasonal" without naming a source did not make the list.

That leaves ten places. They range from a downtown American restaurant that names its farms on the menu to a fish house with a written seafood policy. Each entry below says exactly what the restaurant claims, so you can judge for yourself. Claims change, so check the restaurant's own site before relying on them for a dietary need.

At a glance

Restaurants that name their farms

Local Union 271

Local Union 271 is a family-owned American restaurant at 271 University Avenue. It goes further than most in Palo Alto. Its website describes the restaurant as a circle of local farms, ranches, dairies, hatcheries, bakeries, fisheries, breweries and wineries. It calls those partnerships the core of its mission to serve healthy, sustainable, organic ingredients. Supplier names appear on the menu itself: Happy Boy Farms beets, Kelly rustic bread, Hobbs bacon and Mary's organic chicken in the tacos. It serves brunch, lunch and dinner with a daily happy hour.

Saint Michael's Alley

Saint Michael's Alley on Homer Avenue began as a coffee house in 1959 and now serves seasonal California dinners. Its site describes a highly seasonal, continuously evolving menu made with the freshest ingredients. A recent menu listed ostrich raised locally at Big Chuck's ostrich farm in San Juan Bautista. Big Chuck's also sells at the downtown Saturday farmers market, so you can buy from the same farm the restaurant cooks with.

Bistro Elan

Bistro Elan is a small California French bistro on Birch Street near California Avenue. Its website says the menu is built on fresh, locally sourced ingredients. Recent dishes named a Vande Rose Farms pork schnitzel and local lingcod. It serves lunch Wednesday through Friday and dinner Wednesday through Saturday.

Regional produce, global cooking

Ettan

Ettan on Bryant Street calls its food Cal-Indian: Indian flavors and spices cooked with peak-season produce and ingredients from Bay Area farms, fisheries and ranches. Chef Srijith Gopinathan leads the kitchen. Ettan is listed in the MICHELIN Guide. See our fine dining guide for booking advice.

Rooh

Rooh on University Avenue pairs regional Indian flavors with seasonal California produce. Its seasonal menus change through the year, so dishes on any list are a snapshot. It also runs a cocktail bar. Our Indian food guide covers the wider scene.

Taverna

Taverna sits on a corner of Emerson Street and describes itself as Greek farm to table. It opened in 2018 and serves lunch, dinner and weekend brunch, with a veranda and three private dining rooms. It has a sister restaurant in Portola Valley.

Plant-based and health-focused

Wildseed

Wildseed at Town & Country Village is fully plant-based. It says it works only with Northern California produce and buys organic for the crops with the highest pesticide residue on the Environmental Working Group's list. The bar follows the same idea, with seasonal cocktails built on local spirits, fresh juices and house-made tinctures. The wine list is local, vegan, organic and biodynamic and the beer is local.

True Food Kitchen

True Food Kitchen at Stanford Shopping Center is a national chain. Its website says it partners with each of its growers, ranchers and producers so every ingredient meets its own standards. The menu changes with the season and leans on whole foods and plant-forward dishes. It is a chain rather than a local farm restaurant, but its sourcing claim is explicit.

Seafood with a written policy

Fish is where sourcing claims are easiest to check, because the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch program publishes ratings for most species.

• Pacific Catch, Stanford Shopping Center. The fish house says every species goes through a review of sourcing methods, stock health, environmental impact and supply chain. It follows guidance from Seafood Watch, the Aquaculture Stewardship Council, the Marine Stewardship Council and the BAP aquaculture certification program. It says it serves no seafood rated Red by Seafood Watch, with lobster as the one exception it keeps under review.
• Poké House, Town & Country Village. The poke chain says its wild and farm-raised seafood is rated green or yellow by Seafood Watch or carries third-party eco-certification.

Our seafood guide covers more fish restaurants.

How to read a menu for sourcing

1. Look for names. A farm, ranch or boat named on the menu is the clearest sign. "Local" alone tells you little.
2. Check the dates. Strawberries in January or tomatoes in March did not come from a nearby field.
3. Ask the server. Kitchens that buy direct are usually happy to say where the fish or the greens came from.
4. Read the seafood fine print. Seafood Watch ratings and certifications such as MSC are specific and checkable.
5. Separate organic from local. They are different claims. A local farm may not be certified organic. An organic vegetable may come from far away.

What is in season around Palo Alto

• Spring. Asparagus, peas, fava beans, strawberries and the first cherries.
• Summer. Tomatoes, corn, stone fruit, berries, peppers and squash.
• Fall. Apples, pears, grapes, persimmons, pomegranates and winter squash. Dungeness crab season usually opens in November, though openings are often delayed.
• Winter. Citrus, kale, chard, root vegetables and brassicas.

The two farmers markets are the easiest way to see this calendar in person. The downtown market runs Saturday mornings on Gilman Street and the California Avenue market on Sunday mornings, both year-round. Our farmers markets guide covers both. For a look at small-scale farming on campus, visit the Stanford Educational Farm.

Frequently asked questions