The Top 100 Places to Eat and Drink Near Macarena
-
Rank 1. Ettan
Upscale Indian
Srijith Gopinathan's upscale Indian restaurant occupies an airy, skylit bi-level space in Palo Alto where indigo fabrics and floral wallpaper set a refined stage. Kulchas stuffed with seasonal peas and ricotta arrive alongside bright green kale chutney, while crisp branzino meets green garlic and chili—each plate built around local ingredients and a cook's genuine conviction.
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Nominee · Outstanding Restaurateur · Srijith Gopinathan and Ayesha Thapar
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: California · Srijith Gopinathan
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
-
Rank 2. Evvia Estiatorio
Greek
A wood-fired hearth and copper vessels warm this central Palo Alto dining room, where grilled vegetables emerge smoky and tender, lamb souvlaki stays impossibly moist, and pumpkin cheesecake balances sweetness with poached fruit. The scene runs formal and prices follow accordingly, though lunch offers a lighter touch.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- San Francisco Chronicle Top Palo Alto Restaurants
- Eater The 17 Best Restaurants in Palo Alto
-
Rank 3. Macarena
Spanish
-
Rank 4. Zola
French
Zola trades pure formality for the ease of a French bistro steeped in California light. Mussels swim in vermouth cream; a soft egg breaks over Parisian gnocchi thick with mushrooms; filet mignon arrives with pommes purées and sauce Périgueux. The room splits between intimate dining and a livelier bar where cocktails and a wine list balancing Bordeaux with Napa feel equally at home.
-
Rank 5. Bevri
Georgian Eastern European
-
Rank 6. Ramen Nagi
Japanese Noodles
-
Rank 7. Oklava
Turkish
-
Rank 8. Coconuts
Caribbean
-
Rank 9. Ethel's Fancy
Californian New American
Chef Scott Nishiyama trades fine dining for casual California cooking, crafting a small shared menu where swordfish katsu meets spiced kumquats with understated grace. Rustic-elegant rooms and desserts like hojicha tapioca pudding with rice cracker bark make this Palo Alto spot feel like a refined dinner at a friend's table.
-
Rank 10. Rooh
Progressive Indian
-
-
Rank 12. Eylan
Contemporary Indian
Chef Srijith Gopinathan's Menlo Park dining room marries regional Indian technique with California ingredients—a flatbread of Dungeness crab and fennel-poppy sauce announces the approach immediately. Wood-fired cooking lends char and smoke throughout, whether to gulf shrimp or whole sea bream, each plate balanced enough to stand alone.
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Nominee · Outstanding Restaurateur · Srijith Gopinathan and Ayesha Thapar
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- San Francisco Chronicle 2026 · #70 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
-
Rank 13. Meyhouse
Turkish
-
Rank 14. President's Terrace
Californian
-
Rank 15. Tamarine Restaurant
Modern Vietnamese
-
Rank 16. Saint Michael's Alley
Californian
-
Rank 17. Wildseed
Californian
-
Rank 18. Telefèric Barcelona
Spanish
-
- US Coffee Championships 2025 · #3 · U.S. Barista Championship · Jason Yeo
- San Francisco Chronicle The Best Coffee in the Bay Area
-
Rank 20. Vina Enoteca
Italian
An Italian owner's passion project in an industrial-chic space with soaring ceilings and soft leather chairs. House-made pastas—particularly spinach tagliatelle wound with local pork and beef ragù—anchor a kitchen that sources heavily from Stanford Education Farm and crafts its own breads and pizzas. Friendly, efficient service whether you're at the bar or the table.
-
-
Rank 22. Mrs Khan Uyghur Cuisine
Uyghur Middle Eastern
- San Francisco Chronicle 2026 · #94 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
- San Francisco Chronicle Top Peninsula and South Bay Restaurants
-
Rank 23. Quattro Restaurant and Bar
Modern Italian
-
Rank 24. Yeobo, Darling
Korean Contemporary
In a Menlo Park storefront, Meichih and Michael Kim channel Korean and Taiwanese influences through small plates designed for sharing: a crisp potato jeon crowned with uni and prosciutto, lasagna layered with soy-braised pork, wagyu kalbi with house-made banchan. The cooking is precise and playful, comfort and technique in constant conversation, finishing with creamy soft serve and seasonal fruit.
-
Rank 25. Camper
Californian New American
Corner windows flood this Menlo Park kitchen with light while it pursues Californian cooking with real depth—a ten-hour ragù, potato soup with green garlic pesto, buttermilk fried chicken. The caramelized milk jam pudding finishes what the buzzing room and open kitchen promise.
-
Rank 26. Zareen's
Indian
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: California · Zareen Khan
- San Francisco Chronicle Top Palo Alto Restaurants
- Eater The 17 Best Restaurants in Palo Alto
-
Rank 27. Protégé
Contemporary New American
Chef Anthony Secviar, a French Laundry alum, pairs refined but unfussy cooking—think sablefish with sweet onion dashi, morel lasagna—with a sommelier's wine list in a relaxed modern room. The lounge's à la carte and trolley desserts balance the tasting menu's ambition without pretension.
-
-
Rank 29. The Sea by Alexander's Steakhouse
Modern Seafood
-
Rank 30. Naschmarkt
Austrian/German
-
Rank 31. Sekoya
Mediterranean
-
Rank 32. Madera
Contemporary
Madera's vaulted dining room overlooks the Santa Cruz Mountains while an almond wood-fired grill lends restrained smoke to ingredient-driven pastas and steaks. Silicon Valley's power brokers come here less for ostentation than for quietly confident cooking and the hotel's tranquil, mountain-lodge sophistication.
-
Rank 33. Sun of Wolf
Mexican
-
Rank 34. Terún
Neopolitan
-
Rank 35. Selby's
Classic New American
A wood-paneled room where old Hollywood lingers: Selby's conducts its modern American menu with genuine ease, from a butter-poached Maine lobster crowned with golden gnocchi to steaks of austere perfection. The kitchen draws from its own ranch, and even the popovers arrive warm from the oven, as if hospitality were still the point of dining out.
-
Rank 36. Mediterranean Wraps
Mediterranean
-
Rank 37. The Village Pub
Contemporary New American
Behind a modest roadside name lies a polished dining room where the kitchen works with precision: a raviolo bursts with runny yolk and potato; duck breast arrives seared and austere. The wine list tilts toward serious French bottles, but the meal's true anchor is warmth—those Parker House rolls, buttered and golden, arriving at every table.
-
Rank 38. Mazra
Jordanian
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: California · Jordan Makableh and Saif Makableh
- San Francisco Chronicle 2025 · #81 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
- San Francisco Chronicle Top Peninsula and South Bay Restaurants
-
Rank 39. Flea St. Cafe
Farm-to-table New American
A converted house in Menlo Park where chef Jesse Dunford Wales sources vegetables from nearby farms for unfussy, ingredient-driven cooking. The small rooms and eclectic artwork preserve the intimate feeling that has defined the place since 1980.
-
Rank 40. INDO Restaurant & Lounge
Indonesian
-
-
Rank 42. Little Blue Door
Cal-Indian
-
Rank 43. El Paisa By Los Alegres
Mexican
-
Rank 44. La Viga Seafood & Cocina Mexicana
Seafood Mexican
A cheerful room wedged between industrial Redwood City and downtown serves seafood with the urgency of a market stall. Fried snapper tacos arrive with chipotle crema; tallarines con mariscos pile al dente noodles, pristine shellfish, and spicy tomato into something generous and cheap. The kitchen trades precision for volume and heat—a philosophy that works.
-
-
Rank 46. Sushi Shin
Omakase Sushi
Chef Jason Zhan works the counter at this understated Redwood City spot with the focused grace of someone who knows exactly what he's doing. His omakase unfolds through carefully sourced seasonal fish—tempura greeneye dusted with matcha, soy-marinated snail, pristine nigiri—each piece a small argument for restraint and precision over spectacle.
-
Rank 47. Aurum
Contemporary Indian
Aurum wraps diners in jewel tones and eclectic glass, a sleek Indian dining room where Chef Manish Tyagi resurrects forgotten regional recipes with precise, varied seasoning. Lamb skewers perfumed with roasted spices and tapioca kheer that transcends its humble origins mark a kitchen uninterested in the expected.
-
-
Rank 49. Annachikadai
Chettinad-Style
-
Rank 50. Saffron
Indian
The dining room opens like a familiar refuge—all breezy ease and quiet style—while the kitchen draws from across India's regions with dishes both rooted and restless. A slow-braised lamb curry spiked with two dozen spices, or kale pakoras in chickpea batter with chutneys, suggest cooks who respect tradition while reaching for texture and surprise.
-
Rank 51. Navio
Contemporary
Inside the Ritz-Carlton's clifftop perch, Chef Francisco Simón crafts polished coastal fare—Dungeness crab with apple and sourdough, duck with radicchio and pear—that balances classical precision with an unhurried sense of luxury. The room lives up to its setting: ocean views that flare gold at sunset, a dining experience that feels as much about ease as refinement.
-
-
Rank 53. Plumed Horse
Californian New American
An elegant room in a seventies-modern cottage on the peninsula, where Chef Peter Armellino builds his California cuisine around house-made pastas and the occasional flourish—a black pepper soufflé gilded with uni and crab, vegetables treated with the same conviction as beef cheek ragu. The wine program, visible through glass behind the bar, suggests a proprietor unafraid of depth.
-
Rank 54. Alexander's Steakhouse
American/Japanese
-
Rank 55. 10 Butchers Korean BBQ
Korean Barbecue
- San Francisco Chronicle 2025 · #74 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
- San Francisco Chronicle Top Peninsula and South Bay Restaurants
-
Rank 56. Wakuriya
Japanese
Katsuhiro Yamasaki commands the counter at this eight-seat temple of kaiseki, where each monthly menu threads classical technique with California's seasonal bounty—a silver spoon might cradle lobster in dashi gelée, soft-boiled egg, crisp kombu. The steamed black cod arrives flawless, the sashimi course assured, each plate a studied conversation between tradition and the chef's singular vision.
-
Rank 57. Kajiken
Japanese Noodles
A Nagoya import serving abura soba—noodles without broth, alive instead with housemade oil and sauce—where the springy strands taste compelling on their own, though nine topping varieties invite endless tweaking. Watch the noodles being pulled through the window while you adjust your bowl with house vinegars and hot sauces, the kind of small control that makes eating here feel like collaboration.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- San Francisco Chronicle 2025 · #35 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
- San Francisco Chronicle Top Peninsula and South Bay Restaurants
-
Rank 58. Mingala Restaurant
Burmese/Malaysian
- San Francisco Chronicle 2025 · #58 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
- San Francisco Chronicle Top East Bay Restaurants
-
- San Francisco Chronicle The Best Coffee in the Bay Area
- San Francisco Chronicle Top Bakeries of the Bay Area
-
Rank 60. LeYou Ethiopian
Ethiopian
The dining room at LeYou breathes with tall plants and coffee-bag tables under glass, a contemporary setting for chef Aida Taye's lighter take on Ethiopian cooking. Her tuna kifto and crisp, chili-dusted kategna suggest a kitchen intent on reimagining tradition rather than merely preserving it.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- San Francisco Chronicle 2025 · #46 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
- San Francisco Chronicle Top Peninsula and South Bay Restaurants
-
Rank 61. Sushi Yoshizumi
Edomae Sushi
Eight cypress-lined seats, a silent chef, and the methodical construction of Edomae sushi—each piece a small argument for restraint. Chef Akira Yoshizumi's nigiri arrives barely dressed, the fish doing the talking: tender bluefin, creamy ankimo, seasonal buri finished with a brightness of green onion. This is sushi for people who've thought about sushi.
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: California · Akira Yoshizumi
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · The 101 Best Restaurants in California
-
Rank 62. Mi Rinconcito Oaxaqueño
Oaxacan Mexican
- The Infatuation The Best Restaurants In San Jose
- San Francisco Chronicle Top San Jose Restaurants
- San Francisco Chronicle Top Peninsula and South Bay Restaurants
-
Rank 63. Kunjip
Korean
- San Francisco Chronicle 2026 · #67 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
- San Francisco Chronicle Top Peninsula and South Bay Restaurants
-
- Sprudge The Sprudge Guide To Coffee In San Jose, California
- San Francisco Chronicle The Best Coffee in the Bay Area
-
- San Francisco Chronicle 2026 · #87 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
- San Francisco Chronicle Top Peninsula and South Bay Restaurants
- San Francisco Chronicle Top San Jose Restaurants
-
-
Rank 67. Le Papillon
European
-
Rank 68. Pausa
Venetian Italian
A bright, late-lit room overlooks the charcuterie aging behind glass while Chef Andrea Giuliani's Venetian cooking—porchetta pizza with gorgonzola, house-cured guanciale in the amatriciana—arrives with the confidence of someone who knows his region inside out. The salumi boards and wood-fired pizzas suggest a place built on a few things done very well, without pretense.
-
-
Rank 70. Petiscos
Portuguese Mediterranean
At a corner bar alive with the hum of Portuguese conversation, small plates arrive meant for sharing—broa, octopus salad, grilled sardines—each one a study in restraint and imported authenticity. The braised pig ears, dressed in citrus and herbs, taste like home cooking elevated just enough to matter.
-
Rank 71. A Slice of New York
NY-Style
-
Rank 72. First Born Los Gatos
Fusion Vietnamese
-
Rank 73. Los Carnalitos Restaurant
Mexico City Mexican
Two brothers transformed their food truck into a Mexico City outpost, where house-made tortillas wrap squash blossoms and huitlacoche, and a guajillo-soaked pambazo arrives seared to gilded perfection. Bright Aztec murals frame the dining room as $2 tacos of suadero and al pastor arrive with the quiet confidence of people who know exactly what they're doing.
-
Rank 74. Sifu Wong Kitchen
Chinese
-
Rank 75. Duc Huong
Vietnamese
- San Francisco Chronicle Top Peninsula and South Bay Restaurants
- The Infatuation The Best Restaurants In San Jose
-
-
Rank 77. Pizzeria Delfina
Neapolitan Pizza
-
Rank 78. All Spice
International
All Spice strings together colorful dining rooms and seasonal tasting menus with theatrical flair, favoring polished technique over novelty. A strip loin arrives surrounded by confit mushrooms and smoked kale, the kind of assured execution that justifies the prix-fixe format.
-
-
Rank 80. Bun Appétit
French
-
- San Francisco Chronicle Top San Jose Restaurants
- San Francisco Chronicle Top Peninsula and South Bay Restaurants
-
Rank 82. The Yellow Chilli
Indian
-
-
Rank 84. LUNA Mexican Kitchen
Mexican
The moon rises over San Jose in the form of a kitchen where owner Jo Lerma-Lopez sources Rancho Gordo beans and Mary's chicken, then presses fresh tortillas by hand for crisp fish tacos and sizzling parrilladas that taste of real conviction. The cantina hums with the ease of a place built on principle rather than trend.
-
-
Rank 86. MoDo
Hawaiian
-
Rank 87. Bo Ne Phu Yen
Vietnamese
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · The 101 Best Restaurants in California
- San Francisco Chronicle 2025 · #42 · Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area
- San Francisco Chronicle Top San Jose Restaurants
-
Rank 88. Orchard City Kitchen
International
A shopping-center outpost where Jeffrey Stout orchestrates a roving menu of global small plates meant for shared eating. Hamachi arrives with avocado-dill purée and sunomono's bright vinegar; shrimp-and-pork dumplings carry a dusting of peanuts and chili oil heat. The room—polished bar, sprawling patio—rewards the kind of crowd willing to order wide.
-
-
Rank 90. Dosa Express
Southern Indian
-
-
-
-
Rank 94. Keeku da Dhaba
Indian
-
Rank 95. Shugetsu
Japanese
-
-
-
Rank 98. Pasta Moon
Italian
A lively room with vaulted ceilings and views of creek and garden, Pasta Moon trades pretense for the straightforward pleasures of house-made pasta, crisp thin-crust pizza, and layered eggplant Parmesan that knows exactly what it is. The kitchen's commitment to artisanal products shows in its soppressata pie and in desserts finished with restraint—vanilla affogato crowned with candied peel.
-
Rank 99. Tutuli
Sonoran
-
Rank 100. Tai Zhan
Hong Kong-Style