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About this blog: I am a perpetually hungry twenty-something journalist, born and raised in Menlo Park and currently working at the Palo Alto Weekly as education and youth staff writer. I graduated from USC with a major in Spanish and a minor in jo...  (More)

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What restaurants are open on Christmas day?

Uploaded: Dec 23, 2013
For those who don't celebrate Christmas or want to mark it with an impromptu meal out, here's a by-no-means-exhaustive list of local restaurants open on the holiday. Those with a star are doing a special Christmas menu. Many still have openings; make a reservation on Open Table now. Please comment if you know of other fun Christmas day eats!

Palo Alto

Bon Vivant*
Buca di Beppo
Café Pro Bono
Gravity Bistro and Wine Bar
MacArthur Park* (view menu and prices here)
Ming's
Reposado
Restaurant Soleil (Westin Palo Alto)
Spalti
Tai Pan

East Palo Alto

Quattro Restaurant and Bar at the Four Seasons Hotel* (view menu and prices here)

Mountain View

Morrocco's Restaurant
Ristorante Don Giovanni
Sakoon
Scratch
Shivas

Menlo Park

Bistro Vida
Madera at the Rosewood Sandhill* (view menu here)
Trellis Restaurant

Redwood City

Arya Global Cuisine
Bay223
Little India Restaurant

Los Altos

Ristorante Bella Vita
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Comments

 +  Like this comment
Posted by M, a resident of Barron Park,
on Dec 23, 2013 at 11:59 am

How about Christmas Eve?


 +  Like this comment
Posted by Elena Kadvany, a resident of another community,
on Dec 23, 2013 at 12:08 pm
Elena Kadvany is a registered user.

M: There are a few that I know are doing Christmas Eve specials: The Village Pub in Woodside, Mayfield Cafe and Bakery at Town & Country, LB Steak and Left Bank in Menlo Park as well as Quattro and MacArthur Park.

You can browse restaurants with reservation openings on Christmas Eve on Open Table. It's a helpful way to figure out what's open: Web Link


 +  Like this comment
Posted by MenloFood, a resident of Menlo Park: Central Menlo Park,
on Dec 23, 2013 at 5:35 pm

Good list. It would be awesome if you or the Almanac did a story on the truly dismal eating scene here in Menlo Park. New spots generally go to Burlingame or Palo Alto. I think it is interesting to review WHY. Demand and $ are here, but no supply to speak of. Rents? Something else? Dig in!


 +  Like this comment
Posted by whatever, a resident of Menlo Park: Central Menlo Park,
on Dec 24, 2013 at 9:32 am

Quattro Restaurant and Bar at the Four Seasons Hotel is NOT in Palo Alto. It is in EAST Palo Alto.


 +  Like this comment
Posted by Elena Kadvany, a resident of another community,
on Dec 24, 2013 at 9:36 am
Elena Kadvany is a registered user.

whatever: That's my fault; thank you for catching. I've corrected Quattro's location.


 +  Like this comment
Posted by Foodie, a resident of Mountain View,
on Dec 25, 2013 at 3:30 am

Amarin Thai Cuisine, an award-winning Thai restaurant, was open on Christmas Eve until 10:00 p.m. and will be open on Christmas Day from 11:30 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. Very nice atmosphere and delicious food. Not certain if advance reservations are required on holidays. Not sure if it will be easy to find parking on Christmas Day; you may want to allow extra time just in case.

Location: 174 Castro Street, Mountain View, zip code 14041
Phone: 650/988-9323


 +  Like this comment
Posted by Julia, a resident of Woodside,
on Dec 25, 2013 at 1:54 pm

Little India in Redwood City has a message saying they\'re closed Christmas Day but Open Table allowed me to make reservation.


 +  Like this comment
Posted by Rupert of henzau, a resident of Midtown,
on Dec 25, 2013 at 5:18 pm

Most of the places on Castro street are open today ( they tend to be Asian eateries). Some had long lines to get in. Had lunch at a pho place on one of the side streets. Parking not a problem.


 +   1 person likes this
Posted by resident, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood,
on Dec 25, 2013 at 7:48 pm

Went into Starbuck's today on University Ave. Only cafe open. I tried a couple of the new "La Boulange" pastries which are customized for Starbucks. They are totally different and bear no resemblance whatsoever
to what you get at a La Boulange itself which is quite good. That is why this is so surprising. The customer needs to understand this. Perhaps
they should put a sign on the counter to this effect. These were just awful. They are frozen. They put them in a microwave, then a few minutes later hand them to the customer in a paper bag. Starbucks has completely botched this attempt to bring quality pastries into their stores. They should just bring back the old pastry lineup and leave it at that.


 +  Like this comment
Posted by Narlyen, a resident of Mountain View,
on Dec 25, 2013 at 7:51 pm

I wouldn't recommend Little India to anyone, they mix their old food. I was sick for days!


 +  Like this comment
Posted by Sport, a resident of Woodside School,
on Dec 26, 2013 at 1:33 pm

What happened to Station 1, in Woodside.


 +  Like this comment
Posted by MenloFood, a resident of Menlo Park: Central Menlo Park,
on Dec 27, 2013 at 6:12 am

Elena. As you see from these comments, nary a one for Menlo Park. We are, sadly, a restaurant (and shopping, for that matter) wasteland. Save for a few older spots, and the recently opened Refuge, residents have to leave town for a decent meal. I think it would be great to do a piece on why that is. Must be related to rents to some degree.


 +  Like this comment
Posted by Elena Kadvany, a resident of another community,
on Dec 27, 2013 at 8:24 am
Elena Kadvany is a registered user.

MenloFood: I was born and raised in Menlo Park, so I definitely know the pitfalls of the Menlo dining scene well. I'll pass along the story idea to Almanac staff. I agree it would be interesting to look into. I'm not sure that rents are any higher on Santa Cruz Avenue than the surrounding places residents leave town to eat - i.e. University Avenue or Castro Street (and a lot of people in the industry bemoan Palo Alto's high rents as prohibitive, especially on University, but they are also pretty equivalent to San Francisco's.)


 +  Like this comment
Posted by Menlo Food, a resident of Menlo Park: Central Menlo Park,
on Dec 27, 2013 at 9:31 am

Thanks. I just think it is an interesting story that might engage your readers. We all too often hear of an interesting opening in downtown Palo Alto and Burlingame for restaurants that should do very well. For some reason, owners look at us but skip by us. Some have said that the issue is rents but it is probably a bit of lack of traffic, poor parking (i.e. no garage.........), etc. The Bradley Ogden spot is a good step but location is not great. One or two great, open family oriented spots (not steak houses or :fancy" food) would be awesome. Maybe 2014 is the year.


 +  Like this comment
Posted by Elena Kadvany, a resident of another community,
on Dec 27, 2013 at 12:39 pm
Elena Kadvany is a registered user.

Also, sport: Station 1 in Woodside is still operating, as far as I know (though it looks like its website is currently down!).


 +  Like this comment
Posted by Dawna, a resident of Old Palo Alto,
on Dec 17, 2015 at 6:38 pm

I just called Bon Vivant in Palo Alto, and they told me they are not open Christmas Day.


 +  Like this comment
Posted by Elena Kadvany, a resident of another community,
on Dec 18, 2015 at 8:40 am

Dawna: Just a note, this post was from 2013 and has not been updated.


 +  Like this comment
Posted by Roy Thiele-Sardina, a resident of Menlo Park: Central Menlo Park,
on Dec 18, 2015 at 10:01 am

We've done both a Christmas Eve and Christmas Day dinner at Bistro Vida, and it was great. It was Prixe Fixe when we dined. As always very authentic.

Roy Thiele-Sardina


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