Salads and bowls in Palo Alto

Palo Alto eats a lot of lunch at a desk. The salad and bowl counter has become the default. Downtown, California Avenue and the two big shopping centers each have several. Some are national chains with apps and rewards. Others are Bay Area brands or single local cafes. The formats overlap, but each place has its own angle: halal proteins, a fully gluten-free menu, house-made nut milks or a chef who trained in sushi.

This guide sorts them by type of bowl and explains how the build-your-own counters work. Every place below was confirmed through its own website or a verified page in our business directory in October 2026.

How a build-your-own counter works

Most of these shops use the same four-step system. Knowing it speeds up ordering at the counter or in the app.

1. Base. Greens, grains, rice, noodles or a mix. Half greens and half grains is a common middle ground.
2. Protein. Chicken, steak, salmon, tofu, falafel or raw fish at poke shops. Many places let you double it.
3. Toppings. Usually a set number included, with extras for a small charge.
4. Dressing or sauce. Ask for it on the side if you are eating later, so the greens stay crisp.

Set recipes on the menu are a good first order. They are designed to balance flavors and textures, which is harder to get right when building from scratch.

Salad shops

Sweetgreen, Ramona Street

Sweetgreen is on the 500 block of Ramona Street downtown. The menu splits into salads, bowls, wraps, warm plates and a custom section, with set recipes that change with the season. Ordering through the app or website for pickup skips the lunchtime line. The block is car-free, so you can eat at the street tables.

Sprout, University Avenue

Sprout is a local cafe for full or half build-your-own salads, house salads such as a Tuna Nicoise and a falafel salad, sandwiches and plated entrees with two sides. Many choices are vegan, vegetarian or gluten-free. It opens for brunch on Saturday and caters office meetings.

The Good Salad, El Camino Real

The Good Salad is a small chain founded in Santa Clara in 2021. Salads come in a 48-ounce bowl and the chicken and steak are halal. Signature recipes include the Blazing Bird with Cajun chicken and the Steak Supreme with grass-fed flank steak. It is open Monday through Friday only. Catering covers boxed salads, trays and full salad bars. Another branch is a stall in the State Street Market food hall in Los Altos.

Mendocino Farms, Hamilton Avenue

Mendocino Farms is a California sandwich and salad chain that opened downtown in 2019. Salads share the menu with sandwiches. Local beer and wine make it workable for an early dinner.

Chef plates and grain bowls

• Tender Greens, Stanford Shopping Center. The signature format is a plate: one protein, one green and one side, such as salt and pepper chicken with baby greens and a farro salad. Bowls, salads and sandwiches are also on the menu, with tags for gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free and vegan.
• True Food Kitchen, Stanford Shopping Center. A sit-down, health-focused chain with seasonal plates and grain bowls such as an Ancient Grain Bowl with organic grains. It takes reservations, which helps with groups.
• World Wrapps, Stanford Shopping Center. Global-flavored wraps, rice paper wraps, protein bowls and salads such as a Chinese chopped salad and a peanut noodle salad. Tofu and Beyond Meat are protein choices.
• Fambrini's Cafe, 2500 El Camino Real. A daytime cafe near California Avenue with big salads, all-day breakfast and a dog-friendly garden patio.

Poke and rice bowls

Go Fish Poke Bar, Stanford Shopping Center

Go Fish is led by co-founder Jerome Ito, a sushi chef who trained under Andy Matsuda. The build-your-own poke bowl comes in regular or large size on sushi rice, brown rice, mixed local greens or chilled yam noodles. Hand rolls and mochi ice cream round out the menu.

Poké House, Town & Country Village

Poké House is a Bay Area chain founded in San Jose in 2016. The menu has signature bowls and build-your-own bowls, with seasonal specials. The company says its seafood carries a green or yellow rating from the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch program or is certified by a third party.

Asian Box, Town & Country Village

Asian Box serves Vietnamese street food in a box. Choose a base of brown rice, jasmine rice, Asian salad or chilled rice noodles, then a protein such as organic coconut curry tofu, chicken, steak or salmon. The company says the whole menu is gluten-free.

Acai and smoothie bowls

Acai is the purple berry of a Brazilian palm, frozen and blended into a thick base that is eaten with a spoon. Three Palo Alto shops build their menus around it.

• Bare Bowls, 530 Emerson St. Blends unsweetened acai pulp with nut milks made in house every day. No sorbet, juice or artificial sweetener goes into the base. Toppings include local granola, fresh fruit and honey.
• Vitality Bowls, 209 California Ave. A franchise cafe open since 2015, with dine-in and outdoor seating and a second menu called Harvest Kitchen.
• Palmetto Superfoods, Town & Country Village. A Bay Area chain that started on Clement Street in San Francisco, with build-your-own acai bowls and superfood smoothies.

Dietary needs

Our gluten-free guide and vegetarian and vegan guide go further.

By area

• Downtown. Sweetgreen, Sprout, Mendocino Farms and Bare Bowls, all within a few blocks of University Avenue. See our downtown guide.
• California Avenue. Vitality Bowls on the avenue, The Good Salad and Fambrini's on El Camino Real nearby.
• Stanford Shopping Center. Tender Greens, True Food Kitchen, World Wrapps and Go Fish.
• Town & Country Village. Poké House, Asian Box and Palmetto Superfoods.

Tips

• Order ahead at noon. Downtown salad lines peak from noon to 1 p.m. on weekdays. Most of these shops take app or online orders.
• Check weekend hours. The Good Salad is closed Saturday and Sunday.
• Eat poke soon. Raw fish bowls should be eaten within an hour or kept cold.
• Take it outside. A bowl travels well to a park. Our picnic spots guide has ideas.

Frequently asked questions