Post #53779 by hanford_lemoore on Sat, Oct 4, 2003 1:11 PM

My Trader Vic's Palo Alto trip report:

I went to Trader Vic's last night (October 3, 2003) and was pleasantly suprised. The lights in the bar were darker than normal and they had Hawaiian music playing. Every seat/table in the bar area was taken, but no one was standing. One of the big New Guinea Tikis was missing from it's usual spot.

The drinks were great, as always. I ordered a Gun Club punch and the bartender said they "used to" serve them in the shotgun shell glass, but not any more. I thought that was odd. However, he was able to find one to serve me the drink in.

The quantity of bar food served has gone up for the price paid. They had changed the menu around a little bit, most notibly adding "Dinah's spicy wings" and "garic, brie, and bread". It's interesting to see the Dinah's wings added to the menu, since this Trader Vic's in on the property of the Dinah's Shack hotel, so there's a little cross-branding going on. We ordered a pizza and the cheese, and both were great. The cheese was 9 dollars, and it came with a clove of garlic and a half circle of brie -- it was a lot! And they brought more bread upon request.

They also had a sign promoting 4 dollar Mai Tais on Wednesday and Thursday nights, and an announcement of reinstating lunch during the weekdays (which had disappeared for a while).

Overall, I'd say this was the best visit to Trader Vic's Palo Alto I've had. The bar was more atmospheric than normal with the music and lights; bigger portions of food; the crowds were down from it's grand-opening days but the place was not dead; and the drink quality was up from my last visit (where they served me a mis-made Hot Buttered Rum).