After months of delays, Bill's Cafe has opened in Midtown Palo Alto, serving breakfast and lunch seven days a week.
MIDTOWN BILL'S CAFE OPENS ... A walk through Midtown Palo Alto's newest restaurant shows a remarkable transformation. Bill's Cafe, 3163 Middlefield Road, had its unannounced opening on Nov. 18 in the former site of Pommard Deli/Fandango Pizza. More than $500,000 was spent to modernize the 3,000-square-foot space. "We're thrilled to be open," said owner Nick Taptelis. "This is our seventh Bill's Cafe, and there are no more in the works." The family-owned restaurant started in the 1970s in San Jose. There are now five Bill's Cafes in San Jose and a sixth in Pleasanton. The Palo Alto restaurant is the last -- at least for now. "We want to focus on what we have," Taptelis said. Originally scheduled to open in June, the restaurant experienced several delays, but it was worth the wait, according to Taptelis: "Every single restaurant we build gets better and better." Bill's Cafe has a homey, old-fashioned feel, including a counter with swiveling chairs. "What we have concentrated on here is serving good, fresh food in a comfortable setting. And everything is cooked fresh daily," Taptelis said. Open seven days a week for breakfast and lunch, Bill's will have its grand opening this weekend. "There will be lots of balloons, lots of fun, lots of families and lots of orange juice and mimosas," he said. The mimosas, which cost $7, are served in giant 17.5-ounce bowls. If the popularity of the other six Bill's Cafes is any indication, an estimated 9 gallons of orange juice will be served daily at the Palo Alto restaurant during the week, and 30 gallons of juice will be served over the weekend. "We'll be going through five cases of oranges every weekend day," Taptelis said. The menu fare is fairly typical of a daytime restaurant, although the number of choices is surprising. For example, the restaurant offers 10 types of eggs Benedict, 17 different omelets, 13 pancake varieties and seven different kinds of French toast. Seating capacity has been expanded to hold more than 100 diners, including patio seating. Pets are welcome in the outdoor area, where the restaurant plans to have a bucket of dog biscuits available on the patio. Woof.
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