Posted by D Evans, a resident of the Barron Park neighborhood, on Dec 10, 2012 at 5:15 pm

I love spice kit. Excellent tofu!! Disagree with the "generic" comment. You won't find tofu prepared with this texture and flavor in most restaurants.

Posted by Ducatigirl, a resident of the Old Palo Alto neighborhood, on Dec 10, 2012 at 6:43 pm

Spice Kit is better by a mile than Asian Box. Not just in food, but also in service. Also, the parking is usually better, most of the time, around California Ave than at Town and Country.

Posted by Anon., a resident of the Crescent Park neighborhood, on Dec 11, 2012 at 7:30 pm

I've been to both Spice Kit and Asian Box ... I thought they were run by the same people, but if not they are both very similar. I have not been back to either place ... the food has the taste of those premake packets from Whole Foods or Piazzis ... one step up from a frozen dinner, but not flavorful and delicious like fresh food ought to taste. I cannot account for why these places are not better ... they should be great, but the food ends up bland and forgettable.

The one "box-like" industrial restaurant I do like is Cafe Sprouts for Salad.

A long time ago there was a really wonderful place one University called Macheesmo Mouse that was a bit like this, more self serve though. It was like the precursor to Chipotle.

I hope these new little places figure out how to impart some flavor to these assembly line productions, so far they have been very disappointing.

Posted by Hmmm, a resident of East Palo Alto, on Dec 11, 2012 at 8:49 pm

We really enjoy Spice Kit. Great counter service, good food. The menu is too limited for our taste, but we like the sandwiches. It's nice for vegetarian food, too. Overall, on a budget, super hungry or not so much, you can get something tasty. It's a nice offering on Calif. Ave. It rounds out some of the special things we like over there - the funky thrift store, Know Knew Books, the gnocchi at Cafe Pro Bono, Cho's, of course, and Mediterranean Wraps. I'm glad to see this article.

Posted by Paguy, a resident of the Barron Park neighborhood, on Dec 13, 2012 at 12:38 pm

A hamburger, which you can can anywhere, could be "generic." But not sure how a pork bun could be classified as that... The author appears to be more concerned about the state of the industry or marketing rather than talking knowledgably about food. That being said, I like Spice Kit and I find it a welcome addition to our neighborhood.