A food and wine week in Palo Alto

Palo Alto is a small city with a serious appetite. It has a Michelin-starred tasting menu, a cluster of guide-listed restaurants, two year-round farmers markets and a bakery that mills its own flour. The ridge on the western skyline is the Santa Cruz Mountains wine region, where Ridge has made some of California's most famous Cabernet for decades. Over the hills are goat dairies, artichoke fields and fishing boats. A week lets you taste all of it without a single rushed meal.

This plan runs Thursday to Wednesday. It builds on our foodie weekend, which covers the markets, bakeries and downtown lunch counters in detail. This week adds the wine country, the coast and the towns next door. Restaurants and wineries named here were confirmed open by our guides in late October 2026. Hours change, so check each one's own site.

Book these first

• Protégé. Tables are released on Tock at midnight, 30 days ahead. Service runs Tuesday to Saturday. Set a reminder.
• Ridge Monte Bello. The estate tasting is by reservation only, $35 per person in fall 2026, for groups of six or fewer. Everyone must be 21 or older.
• Saturday dinner in Woodside. The Village Pub lists dinner from 5 to 9 p.m. and books up on weekends.
• A driver. Decide now who is not tasting on Friday, Saturday and Tuesday, or book a tour.
• A hotel. Stay downtown so you can walk home from dinner on the town nights. Compare downtown hotels for seven nights.

The week at a glance

Thursday: arrive and settle in

Walk downtown before dinner. For the first night, choose one of the restaurants the MICHELIN Guide lists without a star. Ettan on Bryant Street serves Cal-Indian cooking from chef Srijith Gopinathan. Evvia on Emerson Street is a long-running Greek restaurant built around a wood-fired grill. Afterward, The Wine Room at 520 Ramona Street is a wine-only lounge open from 4 p.m. to midnight every day. Vino Locale on Kipling Street has been a wine bar with flights and a garden since 2005. Our fine dining guide compares the downtown options.

Friday: the ridge above town

Start with a morning walk at Monte Bello Open Space Preserve, whose lot is at 4301 Page Mill Road. Hike first and taste second, never the reverse. Have lunch in town before you go up, since Ridge allows no outside food.

Ridge Monte Bello at 17100 Montebello Road, Cupertino, pours a seated flight of five single-vineyard wines in a hilltop barn among its historic vineyards. The estate lists daily hours of 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. A non-tasting driver can book with the code DD at no charge. Reserve on the Monte Bello visit page. Picchetti Winery sits lower on the same road inside a Midpen preserve, with peacocks on the grounds and walk-in flights for $30. Montebello Road is steep and narrow with blind curves, so take it slowly. Our wine tasting guide lists every experience and fee.

Friday night is the big dinner. Protégé at 250 California Avenue holds the only Michelin star in Palo Alto in the 2026 guide. The Dining Room serves a seven-course tasting menu. The Lounge has a 10-seat bar and an à la carte menu that is easier to book at short notice.

Saturday: market morning, mountain afternoon

The downtown farmers market runs from 8 a.m. to noon on Gilman Street. Buy cheese and fruit for a picnic, then walk to Mademoiselle Colette on Lytton Avenue for a croissant. Timothy Adams Chocolates on Bryant Street makes small-batch truffles and runs hands-on workshops on Saturday afternoons for small groups, so book ahead if you want one.

In the afternoon, drive up Page Mill Road or Woodside Road to Thomas Fogarty Winery at 19501 Skyline Boulevard. A three-wine splash at the bar is $20 and seated tastings with views over the bay start at $45. The winery farms its estate vineyards organically and its mountain weather turns cold fast, so bring a layer. It warns that rideshare cars will not pick up there. See its tasting room page for bookings.

Come down to Woodside for dinner at The Village Pub at 2967 Woodside Road. It says it has held a Michelin star every year since 2009 and that its list of more than 3,500 wines has won Wine Spectator's Grand Award every year since 2016.

Sunday: California Avenue and the bakeries

Take Caltrain one stop to California Avenue for the Sunday market, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the car-free blocks. Vin Vino Wine at 437 South California Avenue pours daily tastings and a themed flight. Our wine bars guide covers it alongside the downtown bars. Then head to Town & Country Village on El Camino Real for Boichik Bagels and Manresa Bread, which mills its own organic flour.

Sunday dinner is the hard night. Protégé and Zola are closed. Saint Michael's Alley on Homer Avenue and Tamarine on University Avenue both list Sunday dinner. Book ahead.

Monday: the coast's farm food

Drive over Highway 84 or 92 to Pescadero, about an hour. Harley Farms Goat Dairy at 205 North Street makes fresh goat cheese on site and lists hours of 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily, with tours booked online. Arcangeli Grocery bakes garlic and herb artichoke bread that sells out by afternoon on busy days. Duarte's Tavern has served cream of artichoke soup, cioppino and fruit pie since 1894. It closes on Tuesdays, which is why the coast falls on Monday. Farm stands along Pescadero Road sell squash, berries and artichokes in season, some self-serve, so carry small bills. Our Pescadero guide has the full route.

Tuesday: Livermore Valley

For a full day among dozens of wineries, the Livermore Valley is the nearest big region, about 40 miles away via Highway 84 and Interstate 680. It has more than 50 wineries. Wente Vineyards and Concannon Vineyard were both founded in 1883 and are counted among the oldest continuously operating family wineries in the country. Wente is credited with the Chardonnay cuttings behind much of California's Chardonnay. Concannon is tied to Petite Sirah. Pick three or four wineries at most and check which take walk-ins. Lunch on First Street downtown.

Prefer not to drive? A guided tour handles the driving and often the bookings. You can compare wine tours with transport, most of them to Napa and Sonoma from San Francisco, an easy Caltrain ride north. If you drive yourself, compare rental cars and settle on the sober driver before you leave.

For dinner, stop in downtown Los Altos on the way home. Hiroshi on Main Street serves a Japanese omakase menu with limited seats, so book ahead.

Wednesday: Menlo Park and the last bottles

Spend the last day in Menlo Park, one stop north on Caltrain. Draeger's Market just off Santa Cruz Avenue is an upscale grocery with a bakery and deli. Lunch at Café Wisteria in the Allied Arts Guild gardens, open Tuesday to Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., with reservations recommended. Our Menlo Park food guide lists dinner choices, including Yeobo, Darling downtown.

Before you pack, pick up wine to take home. Our wine and spirits shops guide covers where to buy local bottles. Most of the wineries above will also ship. Ask about the rules for your state or country.

Frequently asked questions