Best Family Style Restaurants in Los Altos

We're longtime residents of the area but only discovered Cafe Riace last night. What a delightful experience. The menu is not fancy, but the selections we had (dishes of eggplant, caprese, canneloni and salmon) were all delicious. Fine professional service. We met the owners, who own four other respected restaurants, including the better known and much loved Osteria Toscana in downtown Palo Alto. Cafe Riace's location a few blocks south of the busy restaurant district on California Ave. is off the beaten track, but that makes parking super easy. It's also a spacious restaurant (but still with a cozy feel), including a lovely outdoor eating area (replete with statues of Roman gods and goddesses) which means a quieter atmosphere .

We recently dined at this wonderful gem in Palo Alto and had an unforgettable experience! As a party of two, we kicked off our evening with the Xinomavro wine and a refreshing Kickstarter cocktail. To our delight, the chef sent out a small corn soup as a complimentary starter, which was absolutely delightful. For appetizers, we ordered the tarama and keftedakia. Each bite was perfect, and we were happily enjoying them alongside our drinks. We also had the Greek salad and saganaki, the latter of which was flamed right at our table — a fun and impressive touch! The staff was friendly, professional, and very meticulous, taking the time to explain the ingredients of each dish. Our server, Andres, took exceptional care of us and ensured our experience was nothing short of perfect. A big thank you to him for making our evening special! For the main course, I opted for the Psaraki whole fish, and my guest had the Mousakka. Both dishes were exceptional and absolutely worth trying! The portion sizes are thoughtfully designed so you can enjoy a variety of flavors from the menu. This restaurant provides a top-tier dining experience that suits any budget. It’s truly a hidden gem in Palo Alto, and we can’t recommend it enough. We will definitely be back!

We always have the best meal when we come here. Which isn’t that often only because we live far away. But highly recommended to anyone looking for a great meal and an even better experience

We were thrilled to find that the food was just as good as we remembered it from the “old” days of F, J, & L. The pizza was perfection-delicious crust. Generous and fresh salads, yummy cheese bread, very nice minestrone with tortellini in it. Can’t wait to go back and try some other menu items.

Tried Rara for the first time with my family. I’ve had Nepali food before, they have not. All of us enjoyed Rara. Service is casual, so it can take a bit of time to flag down a waiter, but it’s on par with other similar restaurants. Cozy ambience. Some of the food is very spicy, and not always clearly marked as such, so definitely ask before you commit. Standouts for us were the gorkhali lamb shank (fell off the bone and the rice was great too), the momos (we didn’t think there was a need to get the sizzler, so we just got the regular momos), and the very spicy mushroom chhoila. We also enjoyed the goat taas (also pretty spicy) and the paratha. The lassi was also good (and helpful with the spicier food). We didn’t try the curries but they also looked very good; it seems like they do a really good job with slow cooked meats or really anything that has to braise/simmer. Definitely a good place to order family style so that you can try everything (they don’t make it obvious that you can do it that way). Flavors were rich and deep, but the food wasn’t overly heavy either - really well-cooked. Will definitely go back!