Menlo Tavern — Restaurant in Menlo Park

ALMOST DIED ON CHRISTMAS.

I waited 2 months to post this review because I wanted to give them a fair chance to fix things. But alas, there was no accountability from Menlo Tavern.

I have a lifelong anaphylactic allergy to peanuts and tree nuts. I told the waiter this multiple times, to the point where he started to get visibly annoyed at me for inconveniencing him with my questions. Every time he brought out a dish, I asked him if it contained nuts/peanuts, and he begrudgingly went to check with the kitchen staff (2/3 times he didn't even bother to return and tell me). Finally, he assured me that the brussels sprouts contained no nuts, and so I took a couple of bites until I bit down on what felt like a pine nut. I immediately spit it out and went to the bathroom to rinse my mouth but the reaction, as anyone with serious food allergies knows, is INSTANT. I used my Epipen and went to the ER immediately.

As we were leaving, my family went to confront the manager and waiter, and they proceeded to DENY everything and gaslight me into believing that what I had eaten was actually a pumpkin seed. As all my doctors, allergists, and most importantly, I, can attest, I am not in fact allergic to pumpkin seeds. I literally ate them the other day. So I spent the entire night on Christmas hooked up to an IV as my throat was closing, felt severe pain, nausea, vomited, and prayed that I would not die that night. At least Menlo Tavern comped our meal, but unfortunately, I still was responsible for my hefty ER bill (thanks I guess).

Following the incident, management left my dad a voicemail to talk it over. My dad has tried to call them back a few times, but no one answered the phone.

All this to say, 1 star. Do not eat here if you...

Average hotel restaurant trying really hard to transcend an awkward dining room design and so-so kitchen. It fell way short of the mark at our lunch. Calamari had a nice crunch but was fishy and tough. Flatbread chicken sandwich was just okay. Good fries, though. Salmon was a star but pricey at $30. Okay wine list. A very small flute of Schramsburg bubbly was $16, which seems excessive.

Our poor experience was compounded by the poor seating. If you go there for the first time, my strong advice would be to decline sitting in the bar area. That may be hard, though, because bar seating is easily a third of the restaurant. We were seated on the banquettes at the back looking out on the patio, which is about as uncomfortable a spot as you could pick for a meal. Avoid that area for sure. The main feature is a ton of hotel foot traffic passing by. The patio looked lovely, but it was not good weather for us to be sitting outside, and the main dining room, which also looks appealing, wasn't open. That seemed to be very odd for a crowded Sunday lunch.

Top it off with exceedingly slow service, and you have an experience that I probably won't try a...

Service was very good. Food was good (except for the fish and chips which were terrible). Prices are reasonable. Serving portions are generous. Ambience is very much old school Menlo Park (in an updated sort of way).

The charcuterie / cheese tray was huge. Four of us split it and there was plenty. It was a nice selection and the brioche toast was a nice touch and very tasty.

The Tavern burger and fries were delicious. Next time we will split the butter lettuce salad and the burger. The portions are so generous that we wouldn't need much more.

Unfortunately, the fish and chips were not good. I asked for malt vinegar and was told that they didn't have any and it was basically built into the batter. I couldn't eat the fish because of the batter. The fish itself was nicely cooked.

I asked if they could make an east side and was told they could make any cocktail. The east side was very good.

We didn't have dessert because we were all so full.

We look forward to going back to sit at the bar and enjoy the burger/salad and a more relaxed experience.

Additional note: for a hotel restaurant/bar, this is...