Business lunch spots

A good business lunch in Palo Alto needs three things: a kitchen that is actually open at noon on a weekday, a room quiet enough to talk and parking close by. Many of the city's well-known restaurants serve dinner only, so the list of real lunch options is shorter than it looks on a map. This guide sorts the restaurants that publish weekday lunch hours into three areas where most meetings happen: downtown, California Avenue and the edge of Stanford Research Park.

Hours come from each restaurant's own site as summarized in our business directory, checked in October 2026. Lunch hours change more often than dinner hours, so confirm on the restaurant's site the week of your meeting.

Weekday lunch at a glance

Downtown and University Avenue

Downtown has the most choice and the most offices within walking distance. Venture firms, startups and law firms fill the blocks around University Avenue and the Caltrain station. See our downtown guide for the street layout.

Sit-down rooms for a client lunch

• Tamarine, 546 University Avenue. Modern Vietnamese food served family style, in a room that doubles as a Vietnamese art gallery. Lunch runs on weekdays only and a beef pho is served at lunch alone. The restaurant points to its long history as a meeting place for Silicon Valley business people. Communal tables in the bar room suit a quicker walk-in meal.
• Meyhouse, 640 Emerson Street. Contemporary Turkish cooking with a separate lunch menu and a lunch prix fixe, which keeps the bill and the timing predictable. The restaurant says weekdays and lunch are the easiest times to get a table.
• Rooh, 473 University Avenue. Modern Indian food and cocktails. Its website lists lunch every day from 11:30 a.m. Online reservations cover parties of up to eight.
• Reposado, 236 Hamilton Avenue. Upscale Mexican food with weekday lunch, a short walk from the Hamilton Avenue offices.

Open straight through the afternoon

Some meetings run long or start late. These downtown restaurants do not close between lunch and dinner on weekdays.

• Taverna, 800 Emerson Street. Greek farm to table cooking on a corner near the south end of downtown, with weekday lunch from 11:30 a.m. and dinner after.
• Arya Steakhouse, 140 University Avenue. A Persian steakhouse with an all-halal menu, open from 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. every day. It sits at the Caltrain end of University Avenue, handy for a visitor arriving by train.
• Tai Pan, 560 Waverley Street. Hong Kong-style Cantonese cooking and more than 80 kinds of dim sum. Lunch runs daily from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., so it does close in the afternoon, but dim sum makes it easy to order a fast, shared meal. Its website has not been updated recently, so call ahead to confirm hours, or book Taverna or Arya instead.

California Avenue

California Avenue is quieter than downtown and closer to the Research Park and the offices along Page Mill Road. The street itself is car-free between El Camino Real and Birch Street, so patio tables sit in the roadway. See our California Avenue guide.

• Terún, 448 South California Avenue. Southern Italian food and pizza with lunch every day from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. The kitchen closes from 2 to 5 p.m., so do not plan a late lunch here.
• Naschmarkt, 2323 Birch Street. An Austrian restaurant around the corner from Cal Ave, serving schnitzel and goulash at lunch Tuesday through Saturday.
• La Boheme, 415 California Avenue. A French bistro with weekday lunch Tuesday through Friday. Our French food guide has more on the menu.
• Cafe Pro Bono, 2437 Birch Street. A long-running Italian restaurant that opens at 11:30 a.m. on weekdays and stays open through dinner. Its lunch menu adds panini with salad and it has three event rooms for a larger working lunch.
• Bistro Elan, 2363A Birch Street. A small California French bistro with lunch Wednesday through Friday only. Book through OpenTable.

Near Stanford Research Park

Stanford Research Park covers a large area off Page Mill Road, Hanover Street and Hillview Avenue. Most of its food is in company cafeterias that are closed to visitors. For a lunch with someone based in the park, the practical answer is a short drive to El Camino Real or California Avenue.

• Sundance the Steakhouse, 1921 El Camino Real. A family-run steakhouse that has served Palo Alto since 1974. Lunch runs Monday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. with its own menu. Three semi-private rooms are available for larger groups. It is one of the few classic sit-down lunch rooms on this stretch of El Camino.
• Fambrini's Cafe, 2500 El Camino Real. A daytime cafe near the Page Mill Road corner that serves breakfast all day and lunch daily. The cafe pitches itself to business meetings and lunch breaks from nearby offices. It has garden seating.
• The Good Salad, 2051 El Camino Real. A build-your-own salad shop open on weekdays only. It suits a quick working lunch rather than a client meal. Order ahead around noon.

Timing and booking

1. Book a table at 11:45 or 1:15. Office crowds peak from noon to 1 p.m. on weekdays. Shifting a booking by 15 minutes often gets a quieter table.
2. Watch the afternoon break. Many kitchens close at 2 or 2:30 p.m. and reopen for dinner around 5. A lunch that starts at 1:30 needs a restaurant with continuous hours.
3. Mention the purpose. When you book, ask for a quieter table or a booth. Patios on Cal Ave are pleasant but noisy when the street is busy.
4. Know the Monday problem. La Boheme, Bistro Elan and Naschmarkt do not serve lunch on Monday. Downtown has more Monday options.
5. Ask about dietary needs ahead. Our gluten-free guide lists restaurants that label their menus.

Parking and getting there

Palo Alto uses free time limits rather than meters in its downtown and Cal Ave districts. Street spaces and surface lots allow two hours free. City garages allow three hours free outside permit areas. A long lunch followed by an office visit can run past those limits, so buy a daily permit if you are staying all afternoon. Our parking guide lists the garages.

Both Caltrain stations sit near lunch districts. The Palo Alto station is at the foot of University Avenue, close to Arya and Tamarine. The California Avenue station is a few minutes' walk from Terún, La Boheme and Naschmarkt. Visitors from San Francisco or San Jose can come by train and skip parking entirely.

Team lunches and catering

For a team lunch of 10 or more, a private room avoids the noise of a busy dining room. Sundance, Cafe Pro Bono and several downtown restaurants publish room sizes, covered in our private dining rooms guide. If the meeting has to stay in the office, see our catering guide for restaurants that publish catering menus and lead times.

Visitors in town for meetings sometimes add a day to see the area. If that is you, browse Bay Area food tours for an afternoon in San Francisco.

Frequently asked questions