Palo Alto Creamery at Stanford

Name: Palo Alto Creamery at Stanford
Address: Pear Lane at Stanford Shopping Center, Palo Alto, California 94301
Phone: 650-327-3141
Web site: none; Google Local info page
Date & Time visited: Saturday, February 11, 2006, 3:00 PM
Guests: Jen and me
What we had: BBQ bacon burger (turkey patty) (me), "Turkey Terrific" (Jen).

My BBQ bacon burger with a turkey patty was delicious and very messy. The BBQ sauce was tasty and the bacon slices were perfectly done. The "Turkey Terrific" is, as our waitress described it, "Thanksgiving on a sandwich". Roast turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and cranberry sauce all on sandwich bread. Jen enjoyed it very much.

Service: Average. Our waitress was very friendly, but took a break while we were there and there wasn't anyone else covering the table. That wouldn't have been so bad, but she was taking her break two tables over.

The music at one point became painfully loud, but it was lowered after we asked the busser to check on it.

Would we go back: Yes.

Max's Opera Cafe

Name: Max's Opera Cafe
[see below for location & Web site]
Date & Time visited: Tuesday, November 15, 2005, 8:40 PM
Guests: Jennifer and me
What we had: Cobb Salad [Jen], Chicken Cheesesteak Sandwich [me]

Jen loves Max's Cobb salad and orders it probably one of every three or four visits. She says they've changed from using marinated mushrooms to just lightly seasoned mushrooms. A tip on this dish is to request the avocado be diced, otherwise it will arrive in two or three large slices.

The Chicken cheesesteak is pretty much what it sounds; a cheesesteak sandwich made with chicken instead of beef. It was very good, though the chicken was a touch dry. I made up for that with Beaver creamy horseradish, served along with other Beaver brand condiments with every deli sandwich at Max's. The sandwich was served with tasty seasoned fries and I requested a dill pickle as well.

Service: Very good. We were seated immediately, our orders were taken as soon as we folded the menus on the table, and food arrived within minutes. We both had fresh-brewed iced tea and the glasses were kept full.

Would we go back: Yes, and often.

Max's Opera Cafe

Name: Max's Opera Cafe
Address: 711 Stanford Shopping Center, Palo Alto, CA 94304
Phone: 650-323-MAXS (6297)
Web site: www.maxsworld.com
Date & Time visited: Friday, July 8, 9:45 PM
Guests: Jennifer and me
What we had: Fresh Salmon broiled with lemon dijon and crispy capers with Yukon Gold potatoes with onion butter and fresh vegetables (Jen), Max's Famous Reuben [turkey pastrami] (me)

Service: Good. Max's closes at 10:30 on Friday nights, so we caught them at the end of their shifts. This meant that the wait staff were mostly preoccupied with setting up tables, folding napkins, stocking condiment bins, etc, and were not particularly attentive. There was a bit of a wait between sitting down and ordering--we were ready fairly quickly but it was at least ten minutes before our order was taken--though the food arrived fairly quickly. I don't hold this against Max's; we've been to this location many times and almost always received excellent service.

Max's Famous Reuben is the best I've ever had and compares favorably to that from Jerry's Famous Deli (though I don't recall if Jerry's offers turkey pastrami). Jennifer enjoyed her broiled salmon and said that the dijon/caper sauce was excellent.

Would we go back: Absolutely.