Nepalese and Himalayan food in Palo Alto

Nepalese food arrived in Palo Alto late. When Rara opened on California Avenue in the fall of 2023, a local food news site billed it as the city's first Nepalese restaurant. Since then it has become the place locals send friends for momo. In February 2026 a family from Milpitas opened a second Nepalese kitchen a few miles south in downtown Los Altos. Farther up the Peninsula, San Mateo and Burlingame add two more.

This page covers those four, how Nepalese food differs from the Indian food it is often grouped with and how to order a first meal. Each restaurant was confirmed in 2026 through its own site, a news report from this year or a booking page with recent activity. Menus change, so treat dishes as examples.

What Nepalese and Himalayan food is

Nepal sits between India and Tibet and its cooking borrows from both. From the Indian plains come lentils, rice, curries and spices such as cumin and turmeric. From the Tibetan plateau come dumplings, noodle soups and a taste for meat cooked simply. The Newar people of the Kathmandu Valley add their own dishes, such as spiced grilled meats and beaten rice. Many Nepalese restaurants in the Bay Area also cook Indo-Chinese dishes, the chilli and fried rice style popular across South Asia.

A few words help with any menu:

• Momo. Dumplings filled with vegetables, chicken, pork or buffalo and served with a tomato-based dipping sauce. They can be steamed, fried or served in a soup.
• Dal bhat. The everyday meal: lentil soup and rice with vegetables, pickles and chutney.
• Chhoila. Grilled or spiced meat tossed with garlic, ginger, green chili and mustard oil, a Newar specialty.
• Sukuti. Dried, spiced meat, often buffalo, served as a snack with drinks.
• Timur. A Himalayan pepper related to Sichuan pepper that makes the lips tingle.
• Chiya. Milky spiced tea, Nepal's version of masala chai.
• Thali or set. A full meal served on one plate or tray with several small bowls.

Rara, 201 California Avenue

Rara takes its name from Rara Lake in western Nepal, which it calls the inspiration for its cooking. It describes its food as authentic Nepalese cuisine with a modern touch, made with locally sourced ingredients. A 2023 report from WhatNow named co-owner Sabin Basyal and described a casual room with a wet bar and indoor and outdoor seating.

Momo come 10 to a plate, filled with vegetables, minced chicken or minced buffalo and seasoned with Himalayan spices, then served with a tomato and sesame sauce. A momo sizzler adds noodles and vegetables on a hot plate. Chhoila comes with chicken, buffalo, fish, mushroom or paneer. The dal bhat khana sets are full meals of lentil soup, rice, cooked greens, fried potatoes, radish pickle, tomato chutney and ghee, served with papad, dessert and buttermilk. Snacks include goat taas with puffed rice, buff sukuti, Mustang aalu and Chicken 8848, named for the height of Mount Everest in meters.

Drinks include Himalayan masala tea, single-origin pour-over coffee, California wines and draft beer. There is a kids menu and a private room for up to 20. Rara's website lists lunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and dinner from 5 to 10 p.m., Tuesday to Sunday, closed Monday. Its OpenTable listing shows different hours, so call before a Monday or mid-afternoon visit. Our California Avenue guide covers parking and the car-free blocks.

Kathmandu Cuisine, Los Altos

Kathmandu Cuisine opened on Valentine's Day 2026 at 376 First Street in downtown Los Altos, according to the Los Altos Town Crier. It is the second restaurant for Santosh and Mameeta Giri, a husband and wife team whose first Kathmandu Cuisine is in Milpitas. The paper described a menu of handmade momos, curries that draw on Indian flavors and Indo-Chinese dishes. Its booking page shows a steady run of diners through October 2026.

Downtown Los Altos is about 10 minutes from south Palo Alto by car and is easy to pair with a walk along Main Street. Our Los Altos food guide covers the rest of the village.

Farther up the Peninsula

Urban Momo, San Mateo

Urban Momo is at 254 South B Street in downtown San Mateo, at the corner of Third Avenue. Its booking page describes casual dining with recipes refined over years of cooking in Nepal, the Himalaya and abroad. It lists Indian and fusion dishes alongside Nepalese ones and a dog-friendly patio. The listing shows long hours, from noon to midnight daily, but late hours change often, so call before a late visit. The same name appears in other Bay Area cities. We could not confirm the Palo Alto address some travel sites show for an Urban Momo, so do not plan around it.

Himali Bistro, Burlingame

Himali Bistro in Burlingame is a Nepalese restaurant whose OpenTable page showed steady bookings and diners as recently as October 2026. Look up the address and current hours on its booking page before you go. Burlingame is about 25 minutes north of Palo Alto by car or a short Caltrain ride.

OpenTable also lists a newer Nepali Momo & Tandoori Kitchen in San Carlos that describes handmade momos, clay-oven tandoori dishes and Nepali thali platters. It had no reviews yet when we checked, so treat it as one to watch.

How to order a first Nepalese meal

1. Share a plate of momo. Try one steamed order and one fried or in a sizzler if the menu offers it.
2. Add a chhoila for the table. Ask for medium heat if you are new to timur.
3. Let one person order a dal bhat set to see a full Nepali meal.
4. Finish with chiya or a mango lassi.

Nepalese restaurants often serve Indian dishes too. If someone at the table wants butter chicken or naan, it is usually there. Our Indian food guide covers the Indian and Pakistani kitchens in town.

Vegetarian and dietary notes

Nepalese food suits vegetarians well. Lentils, beans, potatoes and greens are everyday staples rather than side dishes. Rara marks vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free dishes on its menu. Vegan dishes include mushroom chhoila, tofu chilli, roasted Himalayan soybeans, peanuts sadheko, crispy cauliflower called cauli 8848 and kwati soup, made with nine kinds of sprouted beans. The vegetarian dal bhat set uses paneer curry.

Momo wrappers contain wheat. Dal bhat and many curries are naturally free of gluten, but ask about shared fryers. Buffalo appears on several menus. If you avoid red meat, ask which fillings are available that day. Our vegetarian and vegan guide lists more meat-free restaurants.

Festivals and celebrations

The biggest Nepali holidays fall in autumn. Dashain runs for about two weeks in September or October and Tihar, the festival of lights, overlaps with Diwali. Rara and other kitchens may run specials around these dates, though none had posted 2026 holiday menus when we checked. Our Diwali guide covers the South Asian festival season around Palo Alto. If friends or family are flying in for a celebration, you can compare hotels near California Avenue within walking distance of Rara.

Frequently asked questions