Palo Alto

Pros: Large quantities of food.
Cons: Not excellent quality food, just plain.

*** Update ***
Harry's Hofbrau is no longer in business in Mountain View as of March 2001. The favorite haunt of the Nasa & Lockheed people is gone... the nearest one is at Saratoga & Kiely in San Jose. We will miss you Harry!
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Pros: Soothing atmosphere, highly trained therapists, gender neutral setting
Cons: Crowded on Fri. and difficult to book by phone if you have a favorite therapist

Stressed, you say? Tense? Overworked? All of the above? Your body is definitely sending you all the signals of an impending shutdown.
My answer to locals - visit the Watercourse Way. For the rest of you passing through the area, you...

Pros: Good food
Cons: Hard to find

Whether you are traveling or you are working, it is important to be able to find good, diverse low carb restaurant food. This is a guide for Palo Alto restaurants, because that is what I know. However, the guide should give you ideas wherever you go -...

Pros: Outdoor Atmosphere
Cons: Outdoor Atmosphere (Rain, Cold, Heat)

Those of you that are native to the bay area know that there are a few spots for your shopping needs, Valley Fair in San Jose, Union Square in San Francisco, and Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto.

Stanford being home to many exclusive...

Pros: History, architecture
Cons: Parking on campus weekdays (9-4) will cost you: you can take the free Marguerite shuttle instead!

I'm in a somewhat privileged position to discuss the various activities which Stanford offers to its visitors. I'm currently a tour guide at Stanford, so I have a good idea of what visitors to the campus enjoy doing. It's a great place for a day trip if...

Pros: Food is fairly tasty, reasonable prices, wonderful atmosphere, friendly service most of the time
Cons: Poorly presented dishes, the hostess, some bad flavor combinations in some dishes

I know this isn't a review of Palo Alto, but I can't write any more reviews under the Bay Area or San Jose category... bear with me.

The Green Papaya, a new restaurant within the ever-changing downtown Los Gatos, has found...

Pros: low cost, fun for kids, great for rainy/windy day
Cons: small, gets crowded quick

Review: The Palo Alto Children's Museum & ZooVisited: 3/21/09The Knitty Gritty:Website - www.friendsjmz.orgAddress: 1451 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto, CA 94301 Telephone: (650) 329-2111Age Group: ...

Pros: Bright and sunny
Cons: A bit boring at night

It is always summer in Palo Alto. That is all you ever have to remember. Palo Alto is nestled in between San Jose and San Francisco. It is a small neighborhood better known as the gateway to club-med Cal (also known as Stanford University) and the...

Pros: great food, busy downtown, great stores
Cons: busy, no parking

I have grown up less than 30 feet from the border of Palo Alto. The weather is (almost) always great. It hasn't snowed in 20+ years, and it has the most diverse set of restaurants and shops I have ever seen. If you are looking for luxury, I would...

Pros: A variety of places and activities are within reach, weather is always great.
Cons: Cost of living is high; visitors will want a car.

The Palo Alto area is to some people, utopia. I grew up in Los Altos, PA's close neighbor to the south, and since attending college in Ohio, have missed the great weather quite sorely, along with the interesting area. Some friends from school will be...

Pros: Everything
Cons: traffic

I can go on and on about San Fran. I went to vist this amazing city once and the next trip (week later) I moved there! This city must be one of the richest in North America! Rent is crazy and I was living in Cupertino which made it more expensive,...

Pros: Pretty
Cons: Not much more than pretty

Palo Alto... don't ask me why but after seeing some of the reviews written about this place, I just had to put in my two cents.
Don't get me wrong; this is really a beautiful looking place. The buildings are pretty, the weather is pretty, the people...

Pros: Some good places to eat and shop
Cons: Too trendy, too expensive

Most colleges have an off-campus hotspot, a place where the college students know where to go, hang out, get good and cheap food, and shop for cool clothes and necessities.
University Avenue tries to be that place.
The only problem is that...

Pros: unique, quaint, old-world
Cons: no bathrooms, no parking

Located in quaint downtown Palo Alto, the Cardinal Hotel should be a historical landmark. If you are looking for a unique experience, and are willing to sacrifice some comfort, I would recommend it. However, a word to the wise...there are some oddities about this old fashioned place. Its old. I mean...real wooden doors with real keys and no elevators old. The oddest point I want to make you aware of is that there are no bathrooms in the rooms. Instead, each floor has a sort of dormitory style eight bathrooms that all guests on that floor share...one shower in each of four rooms, one toilet in each of four rooms. I may be a spoiled American, but I like to be aware of something like "no individual toilets or showers" when I rent a room. That said, the staff was very friendly, the hotel quaint and clean. Oh, there is no parking, which is sort of weird for a down town area. You have to park on the street. This is not a problem unless you will be there during the day when the spaces are metered.