Tender Greens — Restaurant in Palo Alto

The most disgusting place in Palo Alto and probably in the Bay Area. I did not have high expectations, but I thought an American chain restaurant could at least make a decent fried chicken burger and fries. What’s more American than burger and fries? This place utterly failed. One bite into the sandwich and I immediately thought that I should have gone to Chick-fil -A instead. The cook there would be Queen Elizabeth’s private chef compared to here. Me and a bunch of other customers stood at the entrance cluelessly while waiting for somebody to attend to us, it turns out that you have to order in the back of the restaurant. Nobody said anything to us. We finally ordered and took our numbers after dealing with utterly confused employees. When the food arrived, I was served a tiny burger on a giant plate. No fries! Remember when I said burger and fries? Don’t expect that. You will get a tiny burger on a giant plate with a burnt disgusting taste. You better eat quickly because that heat will fade, and that toasted bread will become even more stale than when they first pulled it out from its Costco bag. My hands were covered in sauce and there was no napkins to be found. Disgusting place with horrid service. Any hated American fast food chain...

We came on saturday afternoon to have lunch. The place has a nice and fresh interior - I loved the combination of light wood and green color -, quite spacious with a high ceiling, tables are also available outside on the street. The place was not crowded.

We ordered a salmon bowl and a sandwich plate (each ~18 usd), the service was fast and polite. We sat inside by the window. The table was not particularly clean: no dirty dishes, but some oily stains and bread crumbs; not the end of the world though.

The food arrived soon. The food was served on real plates which is always a bonus in my eyes. The salmon bowl was perfect: very tasty, I loved the combination of various vegetables in the salad; however, everything felt a bit too oily. The sandwich was fine but also oily and a bit empty: at least a couple of leaves of salad could be added inside or on the plate. The plate overall looked quite empty and “unfinished” to me, besides the potatoes didn’t look and taste very fresh. Taking into account that the bowl and the sandwich were of the same price, in my opinion, the bowl is way more worth the money.

Overall, it was a positive experience, this place can definitely be...

They have the best food! If you are at Stanford or even close to it and looking for something to eat, check out Tender Greens. They have daily specials which are always good and always sell out quickly. But everything I've had from Tender Greens is fantastic. Fresh and filling and flavorful! They have nice partially covered outdoor seating as well as some tables inside. Though it can sometimes be hard to grab a table as it is quite often a very busy place. The line can get long but moves fairly quickly. Also you order at the first register and then walk down to a second register to actually pay for your food which sometimes means that you can pick up your food as you pay. Though they do sometimes have servers who will bring you your food and bus the tables. Sometimes they will call your name to pick up your food. I think it depends on how busy they are at the time. They aren't always forthcoming with the whole process, especially when they are slammed, but I still give them a 5 star rating as the food is always outstanding and the service is still overall...