Alpine Inn

As you drive by mega mansions to enjoy a breath of fresh air with a walk in the woods, far away from the congestion of Silicon Valley; The Alpine Inn seems to remind us that the .001% of California fell head first into a pot of gold and left us their better end on the side of the road. Yes, they left us Rizotti’s, lovingly known as Zots (The place you thought you saw that Stanford Grad student get drunk for the first time or somebody else’s kid almost fall into a dirty river). Come on inside that backside they left you, and enjoy some USDA government quality food. It’s not as cheap as it used to be, but it’s good enough when you’ve been given the privilege of driving to Portola Valley. The only thing that separates the food from bad is that it resembles a government school lunch. I’m proud to have eaten my fair share of government hamburgers. For this reason, the smell of grease at Zot’s warmed my heart. Instead of a fresh vegetable, ketchup will have to do. And that’s fine by me, because ketchup continues to be my #1 vegetable. The Alpine Inn is comfortable and casual. It’s a relaxing place, as people say. That said, it can do a lot better, without becoming one more overly priced precious persnickety uppity whatever.

My husband and I’s go-​to stopover if the traffic on the 280 N is ridiculous after work.
A great place to eat, drink, and chill. Tasty food for cheap and a decent selection of draft beer. We usually get a pitcher of Sculpin as we wait out the traffic.

It’s a 3.5 stars.
Bikers friends introduced me to that small bar, partially hidden on Alpine Rd, near the intersection with Arastradero rd. (a lovely road for riding bicycle or motorcycle by the way).
Alpine is an *old* looking traditional american bar and restaurant featuring cheap food at cheap price (don’t expect anything fancy here, but burgers, BLTs, sausages, chips, onion rings…), cheap drinks (beer and wines only), including beers on tap.
The inside is dingy but made me feel very comfortable. The type of place I could spend time in with friends and family for a relaxing moment.
Whats’ really great about Alpine Inn is their outdoor ‘patio’. I am not sure we can call this a patio, it’s more like a large field (2 acres?) with lots and lots of tables, benches and chairs. There is a river running in the back of the field.
It’s a lovely place to enjoy a cold beer and a sandwich after a ride with friends.
4 starts for the atmosphere. 3 for the bar and food.

The food is very basic, but cheap and tasty (I don’t recommend the tacos). They have a good variety of beers on tap. This place is a perfect post-​hike stopover. Sitting out back and basking in the sunshine is pure sunshine.
Also, my vegetarian friend really liked the veggie burger.
The storied Alpine Inn has a long history of people stopping by for a beer. Why not continue the tradition?

Their menu has shrunk and their prices have gone up. But it’s still pretty darn cheap. The ambience is divey to say the least, but that’s part of the charm. I had the chicken teriyaki sandwich because it was the only non-​burger sandwich option available. It came out to $ 8 even. The portion of marinated chicken was generous, but the bread was blah, it came with a single leaf of green lettuce, and a single tomato that didn’t even cover half of the sandwich. Luckily, a friend volunteered his tomato because he wasn’t a fan. They really seem to skimp on the toppings. I would have gone with their special «Alpine» burger if they had a turkey burger option because it comes with grilled onions, cheese, and bacon. The addition of grilled mushrooms would be welcome too. The basket of fries is $ 5 for which you get a generous portion of crinkle cut fries, but their flavor is mostly bland. Their ranch dipping sauce is made from the most watery base of mayo I have ever seen, or maybe it just started to separate. I would dip a fry, and all of the sauce would just drip right off. It was pretty gross.
Would I return? Probably, as it’s the only reasonably priced meal to be found in Portola Valley after an appetite-​inducing hike. It’s obviously popular not because of the food but because of the history. Also, I recommend the people watching. Lots of old men getting hammered at 1pm, sitting by themselves. There was also one guy who was nursing a couple of 40s (did he buy them or bring them? unclear) who was feeding the local birds right out of his hand. He would shell peanuts and crush them, then place them in his palm. Then the birds would fly right up to him to get some. He was like a Bird Whisperer.

Best burger/​bar experience you can get!
The burger is really good here! Ok, it’s probably not the most healthy option out there, but if you’re concern with health issues, probably skipping any burger is your best option.
Why do I like it?
You don’t get that table service as in other restaurants. You just pick your burger and go seat somewhere without the typical boring «table service».
The burger is pretty fast to be made and for me it’s pretty good! Beer is also pretty good!
Then the whole bar is just amazing, the atmosphere here is different from other places. In the middle of trees, kinda of hidden and the old feeling to it makes it my best burger experience so far.
And it’s a cheap option!

I’m a fan because of how old the building is. Dates back to the era of the Gold Rush, 1850s. Wow right? It is dingy inside and not top notch, but more reason to like it. Gives the place some charm. The Bay Area hasn’t always been this state of the art tech destination. Some of the fellow Unilocalers were a little harsh in criticizing this location. I didn’t come to the Alpine Inn expecting gourmet food, I went for the novelty of stepping foot in a building that isn’t a museum and still an operational business.
The outdoor area is my all time favorite. It’s so simple and chill. Lots of space and picnic benches to eat on. There are families to bikers and people like us, enjoying the outdoors. I saw people playing board games at one table. The ground is covered in tanbark, takes me back to grade school. People brought their cute dogs for me to oggle at. I had a special experience with this little bird who had the nerve haha to kick it on my purse, just sitting on my purse strap, inches away from where I was sitting. So cute!!!
The food & beer. I ordered the Veggie Burger with cheese $ 6’ish? It was really good. I’m not always a fan of veggie burgers, but this one was one I’d go back for. My husband had a regular burger, he said it was just «Okay.» We ordered a side of fries. Along the wall are all the condiments, Ketchup, Mayo, Mustard, etc… We drank a beer each from plastic cups, caught me off guard. The kind you get at concerts.
Check it out if you are a laid back person. If you are the fancy Vegas type, this isn’t your place. You may find some horses stationed outside? Wouldn’t shock me. Yeehaw!!!

Had to do an updated review since they’ve gone ahead and changed the menu (about 70−80% of items are now gone). Kind of heartbroken to see some of the lesser known items gone.
What the hell happened to the French Fries? Are you kidding me? Ya’ll went from the best crunchy krinkle cut fries to a bland Burger King type. Bring back the old fries!!!
However, with that being said, I am thanking Jesus that they kept the Portuguese Sausage Sandwich (I left a tip on here about this item quite a while ago) on the menu. That’s a blessing.
As long the place stays open it will have its followers. We all know it as a place of togetherness and awesome vibes. It’ll always have the support of the local community. All hail ye ol’ Alpine Inn.

(Cue the sad trombone) The Alpine Inn has replaced their signature, old school krinkle fries with standard, soggy, diner style french fries. :(
I’m still a huge fan, but PLEASE, at least crisp up the fries. No one wants a basket of soggy, oily potatoes.

This is a great hidden place. Huge burgers and great fries. I just wish they had milkshakes.

This place is so cool! It’s a little misleading when you walk in but apparently if you keep going you’re lead to a beautiful big back patio with more than 15 picnic tables! I ordered the alpine burger and had some onion rings and fries. Not disappointed! Will definitely be back and oh did I mention the pitchers of beer that keep on coming? Yessssss!

Ch-​ch-​ch-​changes: food upgraded. Burgers are no longer the square patties on rectangular bread. Now we’re talking 100% Angus beef on a round bun, with grilled onions. Most everything else is the same, although there are some additions and subtractions to the menu.
Beer comes with a chilled glass, rather than the paper cup of old.
Prices have gone up, as you might expect. The cheeseburger is now $ 6.25, up from $ 5.75, and a pitcher of Anchor is now $ 14, up from $ 10.
New flat-​panel LED TVs replace the old tube TVs. It looks like they’ve gotten HD service, judging by the picture of a recent Giants game.
They now have good wi-​fi coverage inside and out.
Biggest news: now they take plastic, Reversing the old policy of cash-​only!

Come here if
1) You want cheap and greasy food and a pitcher of beer. if you want to wait for service. You can ask for the buns to be not buttered, which is less grease.
2) You want to sit outside, you can with your dogs if you have one.
3) You can pay in cash, but they now take credit cards.
4) You try to avoid the toilets (dirty and usually broken)
5) You don’t want to pay as one big group!
I’ve been here hundreds of times and it usually is a good experience. That is, it is fun if you are coming with a group of people who know what to expect and just want to sit and drink. The last time I came was with a group of people who hadn’t been there before and wanted to grab lunch (and get reimbursed). From my list above you can imagine the problems we had and in the end we didn’t quite end up with the right food.
The fries need to be ordered extra crispy or they sit in a wimpy pile of oil. Ask for napkins under the fries to soak up oil.
Warning: basically no fresh or healthy food except salads or garden burgers. If you want anything other than a grilled piece or pile of meat, you will end up hungry.

Still the round burger so I just had a couple of cold beers to drink out back and ate somewhere else.
Bring back the traditional rectangular burger on the French roll that made Zott’s what it is and I will buy food there again.

The food is okay, beer is good, and staff is alright. My family and I enjoy going to lunch and sitting outside when the weather is nice. The management just changed and with that the quality of food decreased. They do accept credit cards now which is a plus.

Food here is really basic. To be honest, I don’t think I would ever come here for the food. Lots of frozen products here. But what makes this place special is the really large outdoor area. There are a lot of picnic tables and it’s a nice place to chill. Weather is generally pretty good here so it’s a fairly good bet. Combine that with a decent selection of beers and you’ve got the makings of a nice afternoon. There’s not much service here, so expect to go back inside any time you need anything.
Oh, bring cash. Cuz they don’t take plastic though there is an ATM on site.

Alpine Inn is a pretty quirky place — reminds me of a cabin up in Tahoe or something. They’ve pretty good beers on tap — a little pricey, but not too bad. Only got to try their fries, which were good, but wish they were a bit crunchier, but I mean. It’s bar food, so didn’t have super high expectations. I believe they’re cash only, so be prepared!

A ‘standard’ that has survived the test of time in Silicon Valley. The Alpine Inn has been a stop for bikers, college kids, and families for generations.
Food is basic (you can’t go wrong with the burgers), the beer is cold, the outdoor patio is awesome!
A great place to get away for an hour on a sunny day!

It’s a dive, but a loveable dive. If you’re working in Palo Alto, this is a great location to take the team for burgers and beer in an indoor or outdoor location to get away from it all by only driving a few minutes away.

Food is okay.
Atmosphere is awesome
*Beer garden* style backyard is nice.
Came here on a weekday afternoon. Hot a hot god. It was okay. Bread was toasted and yummy. Fries were good.
Had a couple Angry Orchards, and enjoyed the quiet of the outside.