Palo Alto (downtown) Pub Crawl

Author's Note: Even though I no longer live in Palo Alto, I am still the 'designated drinker' for Palo Alto, California. This means I'm listed on the alt.drunken.bastards homepage as the contact person for info about where to drink in 'my' town. I am still asked about this quite a bit, especially by web readers (as you probably know, most people in the computer industry 'do time' on the peninsula sooner or later), so I put up this page as a convenient reference... in 1996! Obviously some of the pubs listed may have changed or even disappeared completely in that time. However, I have left this page up both as a 'classic' pub crawl example and in the hopes that it is still largely accurate and helpful to drunken bastards in Palo Alto and world-wide. To all intrepid bastards undertaking this crawl, PLEASE e-mail me with any updates, corrections or comments and I will update this page immediately! ('immediately' in web terms, that is)

'Well, then,' I hear you ask, 'where do you live now?' Nowadays I call Utrecht, the Netherlands home, and yes, a pub crawl page for Utrecht is in the works! Bastards, watch this space for an even more devastating crawl. More stops... bigger beers... higher alcohol content...

As always, choose a designated driver or better yet, take public transportation!

1. WARM UP: Stop in at St. Michael's Alley. This tiny cafe isn't really part of the pub crawl, because they only have one tap (Red Hook), but it's cozy and usually has live music (always free), so it's a pretty convenient place to meet up before the crawl, or you may want to stop in afterwards for a cup of grab-you-by-the-lapels-and-shake-you coffee! They also have a nice selection of ports and sherries. If you don't feel you need a warm-up, start at (2)...
2. What The Empire Tap Room lacks in character and atmosphere, it makes up for with the more than 20 beers on tap. Most of the regional brews are represented, including Anderson Valley, Sierra Nevada, Pete's, and Anchor (and whatever seasonals are avalable at the time); several Pacific Northwest brews, and imports including The Great One. However, the ambiance is so bland that you probably won't want to have more than one here, so choose carefully!
3. Cross Emerson St. and proceed a few doors up to Gordon Biersch. This was one of the first brewpubs in the Bay Area (you will now also find them in San Jose and San Francisco). They usually have three German-style ales that are brewed on the premises (Dunkel, Märzen, and Export). Free bread sticks for bar drinkers, so chow down. However, the atmosphere is similarly lacking as in (2).
4. Go back across Emerson St. and down the alley directly to the left of Empire, which will wind through the block and put you on Ramona. Turn left, and a few doors up you will find The Blue Chalk Cafe. Better known as a decent Tex-Mex restaurant, but they boast five taps including The Great One (at the downstairs bar only, for some reason) and may have some small brewery seasonals. Even if you don't eat you can while away your pint at the bar or play a game of pool here... or that weird shuffleboard-like game thing with all the sawdust...
5. Proceed up Ramona, cross Hamilton and go down the alley in the middle of the block (left of the framing shop), then make the first left down the even smaller alley and through the iron gate on your right. You're now at The Rose and Crown, arguably the best pub in Palo Alto. This is one of those pre-fab English places, so bring darts if you play (I know for a fact they have darts behind the bar, but if you ask to check them out the bar staff will probably tell you that they "don't do that anymore."). They have thirteen taps including Whitbread and Double-Diamond (rarely seen in the US) and a wide selection of bottles, as well as a choice of obscure UK beers in 'draught-flow' cans. Can be loud & oppressively crowded on weekend evenings, but in general the 'craic' is brilliant. (Note: if you can't drink without smoking (yes, there are still some smokers (but I'm not one of them!), and smoking pubs, in Palo Alto), you can get something to smoke at Mac's Smoke Shop across the street.)
6. Back into the parking lot for the Rose and Crown, go towards University but take the alley on you right onto Ramona. Across the street, halfway down the block you will find Nola. I think they meant this to be a New Orleans (durrrrrrrrrrr...) style jazz bar, but it sort of ends up more like an homage toTim Burton's body of work. The inner courtyard is pleasant enough, even in cold weather, and there are numerous side rooms. They have a few taps but are better known for their whacky mixed drinks (their specialty 'Bug Juice' may replace a beer on the crawl here, but I won't be held responsible for the results!).

   In the center of the block (go through the 'Citibank' archway just North of Nola). On the original pub crawl, an Irish bar called O'Connell's was the stop here. Sadly (or not so sadly, because it wasn't that great... although Black 47 once played there), it has long since gone the way of the dinosaur (as did 42nd Street, the bar in that space before it... something about that space I guess). When last checked, a swanky restaurant was in the space. So, lucky you, you get a 'bye' here. Hardcore crawlers may try to get a beer from the restaurant.

7. Go straight out of the late O'Connell's, through the stone archway out onto University. (If you feel like you need coffee at this point, go to Jim's Coffee Shop immediately on your right, one of the oldest businesses in Palo Alto; I advise you not to go to the new Starbuck's next door!) Cross University and then head left back over to Emerson. Round the corner to your right a few doors down you'll find Left at Albequerque. Really a Tex-Mex restaurant, but you may be lucky enough to get one of the seven seats at the bar! Seven taps here, including El Toro Poppy Jasper, so stop here if you're looking to try that one. Otherwise, the place is pretty forgettable.
8. Cross Emerson and continue on past the Aquarius theatre to Fanny & Alexander's Beer Garden. Trying feebly to be a European-style biergarten... not succeeding. Seven good taps here which change frequently.
9. Go through the Aquarius parking lot back to University, cross High St., to the Alma underpass where you will find Rudy's, although you may have to look hard to find the door! Small, cozy, but still somehow yuppified-- nine taps, mostly European imports (including two types of Spaten, Bass, and The Great One), also Blackthorn Dry Cider, Sierra Nevada and Samuel Adams.
10. If you're doing this pub crawl during normal business hours, shame on you! But if you are, the Pete's Wicked Ware Shop may be of interest. It's located in the building with the Pete's Brewing Co. offices at 514 High Street, and you will be able to pick up any and all Pete's merchandise (and even some homebrewing aids) here.
11. Cross the Blockbuster parking lot to your left, out onto Alma. A couple of doors down you'll find the new Q. Here's the latest scoop on this place: they have 12 taps (mostly good, including Wyder Pear Cider and Widmer), so it's hard to argue with that. However the interior is done in vast cavernous brick warehouse, and is about as appealing as that sounds, so the atmosphere is pretty undesireable.
    (Note 5/97: Later research has reavealed that they've just removed half of their pool tables and replaced them with a dance floor and have some DJ come in on weekend nights... the upshot of all this is
    1. You probably won't be able to play pool,
    2. There will be a huge line and probably a cover charge on weekend evenings,
    3. There will probably be loud awful music!

    So basically, if you're looking for a nice quiet pint, eliminate this stop, but if you're going for the full crawl, pound one here.

12. Carefully cross Alma and get on the next train home; you're sloshed!

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