Tal Palo — Restaurant in Los Altos

I recently visited Tal Palo and overall, I had a positive experience. The coffee was fantastic, and the food was delicious. The ambiance was pleasant, and the staff members were friendly and attentive. However, there was one aspect of my visit that left me somewhat dissatisfied.

I understand the importance of tipping and believe in rewarding excellent service. However, I was a bit surprised to find that Tal Palo has a mandatory 20% tipping policy. While I appreciate the intention behind it, I believe customers should have the freedom to choose the percentage of tips based on their individual experiences and satisfaction levels.

The issue I have with the mandatory 20% tips is that it removes the opportunity for customers to assess the service they receive and make an appropriate decision regarding gratuity. Different individuals may have varying expectations or budgets, and the lack of flexibility in this regard might deter some potential customers.

I would like to emphasize that the quality of the coffee and food, as well as the overall experience, was excellent. My intention in leaving this review is simply to offer constructive feedback and suggest that Tal Palo considers offering customers the option to choose their own percentage of tips. This way, patrons can reward outstanding service while still feeling comfortable with their...

Wonderful new restaurant and small shop in downtown Los Altos. They are in soft-launch mode, so be patient and kind with your helpful feedback. They are open from 10-3 on certain days of the week, so call ahead or check the web. Follow them on Insta @tal_palo to get educated about their mission and all the amazing artists and artisans they are introducing to our community. Adriana and her husband Aaron are doing an amazing job of bringing wonderful flavors, beautiful interiors, and sources of Mexican beauty and culture to Los Altos. The food was top notch and made this Mexican-American Los Altos resident proud and very comfortable as I partook in food and conversation with friends. Adriana is ready to answer questions about the food, the art, and their significance to her. Ask away! There is limited seating, so I would call ahead if you are coming from away. We ate a lot of food, so we spent a little more per person than most people would. We did not order liquor. But keep in mind this food is all hand-prepared with many items requiring time-consuming methods, plus the small size of the operation necessarily means higher cost basis for their supplies, so don't expect cheapened fast food pricing here. But the value of our culinary joy was well...

I have to say.

Tal Palo, was the best dining experience I have ever had in the Bay Area.

The food was excellent.

The hospitality was even better. I have never had a conversation with a chef where they were genuinely interested in what we could and couldn’t eat due to food allergies. And they built the menu around that for the day for us.

It was the first time We ever went into a restaurant and had 1 of everything.

The chilaquiles were fried to the write amount of crisp with a sauce that was balanced well with the black beans.

The fried quesadillas were built to perfection with cheese for me and a Yerba Buena for my wife who eats dairy free.

The papas were purple and not too sweet but paired beautifully with this avacado salsa purée.

The salad came late but was a nice break from the bigger foods and had the right amount of leaves with cucumber.

And to top it off. That chicken apricot mole with nopales was the cherry on top to a perfect meal.

I had an iced latte. And my wife had the Jamaica and we left without a single bad thing. To say. And planning our next to trips...