Post #270091 by tikipedia on Sat, Dec 2, 2006 2:30 PM

Trader Vic's has made a name for itself with flavorful, high-end cocktails, rather than straight out strong drinks. TV is the place if you are looking for quality. If you want quantity (i.e. potent drinks), you may want to go elsewhere, although I usually found TV drinks to be sufficiently strong (see paragraph below).

I used to go up to the Palo Alto and Emeryville locations fairly often, and found that the food and drink in both locations were approximately the same in overall taste. However, there was certainly some degree of variation, depending on the bartender. But this is pretty much true for any chain restaurant.

TV in Palo Alto used to have selected 1/2 price drinks during happy hour, but the potency of those drinks were inferior compared to their full priced brethren. So in that respect, you can get good or less good (I wouldn't say bad) drinks at TV.

So, from my limited experience at Trader Vic's:

Palo Alto - Good to excellent drinks, very good food, mediocre decor
Emeryville - Excellent drinks, excellent food, excellent decor
Beverly Hills - Very good drinks, good food, excellent decor.

Hope this helps!