Scored tickets to a home game at Stanford this year but not sure what to eat? Sure, you could hold out for a meal at the 50,000-seat Stanford Stadium, which serves up concessions in abundance on both tiers. But why settle for stadium food when Palo Alto’s got some great bites just off campus?
From fast casual and healthy options to juicy burgers, diner fare and pizza, here are a few ideas on where to eat well before or after you root for the Cardinal squad.
When you crave juicy burgers: Gott’s Roadside
Gott’s Roadside double cheeseburger: American cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles & secret sauce on a toasted egg bun $16.99 and sweet potato fries in Palo Alto, Calif., on Tuesday, June 25, 2024. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
With its location in Palo Alto’s Town & Country Shopping Center, Gott’s Roadside is perhaps the most convenient option near the Stanford Stadium, so it’s likely to be packed on game days. But this Bay Area chain, which got its start in St. Helena in 1999 and won a James Beard award as an American classic in 2006, is a well-oiled machine. You won’t wait long.
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It’s hard to go wrong with this menu. The hearty burgers ($11-$19) are adorned with painstakingly paired toppings — gochujang sauce on the Kimchi Burger, for example, and an onion ring and crumbled blue cheese on the Western Bacon Blue. And Gott’s makes what might be the perfect vegetarian burger: The California burger with an Impossible Burger patty substitution ($21), hold the bacon. It’s served on a toasted sesame brioche bun and topped with a fried egg, Cowgirl Creamery’s Wagon Wheel cheese, arugula, balsamic onions and mayo. It’s juicy, satisfying and decadent enough to make one forget they’re not eating a “real” meat burger.
Don’t pass up the fries or cold treats, like one of the hand-spun milkshakes — peanut butter and chocolate, perhaps — or a sorbet freeze.
Details: Opens daily at 10:30 a.m. at 855 El Camino Real #65, Palo Alto; gotts.com.
For the nostalgia factor: Palo Alto Creamery
The Palo Alto Creamery in downtown Palo Alto offers comfort food and diner staples like sweet potato fries and grilled cheese sandwiches. (Courtesy Kali Shiloh)
Spend time in Palo Alto and you’re bound to hear old-timers talking about how much the city has changed in recent years. One place that hasn’t? The Palo Alto Creamery is still here in all its retro glory, from the vintage jukebox to the soda machine, cozy booths and — most importantly — the display case of enormous pies. The burgers run $18-$22, setting aside the Bubbly Burger option, which adds a bottle of Dom Perignon for $448. And those pies are $9 a slice, whether you go apple, chocolate pecan, cherry crumb or blueberry.
This century-old eatery has served up diner fare, milkshakes and pies since 1923, making it a great spot to eat, whether you’re planning a multi-generational family outing or refueling post-tailgate.
Details: Opens daily at 8 a.m. at 566 Emerson St., Palo Alto; paloaltocreamery.com.
When you want to make it special: Pizzeria Delfina
Pizzeria Delfina in Palo Alto is a more formal pre- or post-game dining option. The Italian restaurant has an ivy-lined inner courtyard and dishes like saffron arancini and meatballs with crostini. (Courtesy Stephanie Amberg)
Want to make game day extra-special? Head for Pizzeria Delfina downtown, the Palo Alto offshoot of the famous San Francisco restaurant that serves up Neapolitan-style pies and great-for-sharing appetizers. The restaurant’s ivy-lined inner courtyard is a charming place to down a pre- or post-game spritz or local beer — which pair well with the restaurant’s delectably cheesy saffron arancini ($11).
The pizzas here are theoretically shareable, but you probably won’t want to give away even a slice. You can’t go wrong with a classic Margherita ($18 to $24, and a prosciutto pizza ($21) with arugula, caciocavallo and panna, was a hit on a recent visit. But what stood out even more was the stellar tiramisu ($12).
Details: Opens at 5 p.m. Monday-Wednesday and noon Thursday-Sunday at 651 Emerson St., Palo Alto; pizzeriadelfina.com.
When you can’t agree on what to eat: World Wrapps
The furikake salmon wrap at World Wrapps at the Stanford Shopping Center is made with roasted salmon, sushi rice, avocado, sesame-furikake seasoning, a sesame-soy vinaigrette and garlic aioli plus additional vegetables all tied together in a nori wrap. It’s paired here with the purple ube horchata drink. (Kate Bradshaw/Bay Area News Group)
If you’re running late for the game, the fast-casual World Wrapps offers fusion fare — in wraps and bowls — at its Stanford Shopping Center location. The pioneering fast-casual brand is credited with popularizing the wrap in the Bay Area starting in 1995. It’s now in its 2.0 era, with two of the four founders, Keith Cox and Matt Blair, behind the brand’s revamp.
This rooted-in-the-Bay brand returned to Palo Alto in 2021 and ever since, has been slinging flatbread wraps, burritos, nori wraps and more, drawing on global flavor profiles to season each bite. Think combos like chimichurri steak with salmon ($18), chicken shawarma on flatbread ($14) or ahi tuna poke wrapped in nori ($16). And yes, you can sub in Beyond Meat on that bulgogi wrap.
Details: Opens daily at 11 a.m. at 180 Stanford Shopping Center Unit 240-C, Palo Alto; worldwrapps.com.
When you have good parking lot karma: The Alpine Inn
The parking lot is always, always crowded, but it’s worth doing a few laps to snag a spot at this incredibly popular beer garden. This Portola Valley mainstay reopened under new owners in 2019, but there has been a tavern on the property since 1852. No doubt, the menu has changed a bit — OK, more than a bit — since the days of Casa De Tableta. These days, the menu leans toward wood-fired pizza, including the Heart of Alpine ($21) with artichoke hearts, prosciutto, sun-dried tomatoes and a lemon oil drizzle, and the Besio ($23) which combines spicy fennel sausage with mascarpone, crushed Calabrian chile and a honey drizzle.
They do smashburgers, falafel and four riffs on the hot dog theme, too, including a Zott’s Wurst and a Chili Cheese Wunderdog ($11 each). And the allure of that beer garden cannot be denied.
Details: Opens at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 11 a.m. Friday and 10 a.m. weekends at 3915 Alpine Road in Portola Valley; www.alpineinnpv.com.
