The Rose & Crown — Restaurant in Palo Alto

I'd been here a couple of times for quick pre-dinner drinks, and had always been intrigued by the fish and chips I'd seen on their menu - F&C being a staple part of my Australian diet that I'd been unable to satisfactorily locate in the bay area. So after about a year of cajoling, I finally convinced my partner to come here for dinner.

Oh man, it was SO BAD. "Icelandic Cod" or whatever it was, deserves to be shot out of a cannon into little exploded ashy bits. Which, coincidentally, was exactly what the chips tasted like.

I love pubs though, and the Rose and Crown does well on all other counts, especially considering the lack of competition in the area - a wide variety of beer and casual atmosphere mean that I'll hopefully be coming back regularly, but perhaps next time I'll stick to wholesome...

I came in with 4 people around 10pm on a Friday. Immediately, 3 people with no uniforms surrounded us and demanded IDs (one person was in a car next to the bar!). They claimed to be bouncers, but this was incredibly sketchy, so we quickly left.

To clarify, the supposed bouncers had no uniform, no fornal clothes (t shirt and shorts) and would not let us call the waitress to confirm that they actually worked there. They were also being very aggressive and telling us to 'not come back' and to 'get outta here'.

Later, we called the bar and confirmed that these people do actually work for the restaurant. To the owners, this is incredibly dangerous and frankly a reason why we did not come in and...

Fun spot for trivia, but the crowd management could use serious improvement. We’ve had a table reserved each week, yet the same group keeps trying to crowd in—even after being told no multiple times. Last time, they claimed to be a party of 2, then showed up 7 deep and forced us into the corner. It’s frustrating, and it happens often. People also don’t hesitate to sneak looks at other teams’ answers, which takes the fun out of it.

The venue would really benefit from more small tables to accommodate the turnout and avoid these situations.

That said, the service is excellent—Marco is always friendly and on top of everything. The deviled eggs and masala tots are especially...