Thyme

What can be said for the best dining experience I've ever had for hosting a work event?! From day one, chef Winston was timely, responsive, kind and the most helpful professional I've ever encountered in the service industry. He crafted the appropriate menus that could appeal to our several various dietary restrictions and even provided us a digital survey to make my life easier for collecting all 28 colleagues' appetizer, entree, and dessert selections. Everything was done with such intention to help take any headache off my plate (no pun intended). Cut to the evening dining "experience" because that's truly what it was. We were able to reserve the entire restaurant for just our group. They surprised us with bountiful family style appetizers, the food felt endless, one new beautiful and delicious dish after the next. My entree was the salmon with potato pairings and some accouterments, but I looked at the steak as well as the vegetarian dish and I knew there was no wrong. Each dish was so fresh you could tell they don't freeze or reheat anything. In fact, they consciously purchased and prepped for our group alone that evening. I have nothing but positive things to say about this hidden secret gem. It's very rare these days to find somewhere intimate with such high quality food where the chef is the owner and personally ensures you're enjoying your meal. Well, the secret is officially out, and I hope they don't get an ego about it, because we'll all be sending friends and colleagues Winston's way for a good Thyme!! (Yup, couldn't resist).

Came by for dinner the other night and it was a decent experience. As the restaurant was away from the main University Ave strip, street parking was plentiful.Was able to be seated upon arrival as the restaurant seemed pretty quiet on a weeknight. Service was decent, although there was a slight communication barrier...Started off with the prawn appetizer which was tasty and flavorful. The prawns were on the smaller side. The sauce was perfect for dipping the bread.The lamb chop entree came out medium rare as expected but was a touch bland. The sauce and the side of vegetables were decent.The apple tart was also decent.~$60/head after tax and gratuity for dinner.

The folks here are sooo nice. I brought my mom here for mother's day dinner and we had a great experience. The dining space is very intimate and small, maybe fits 30 people maximum. A reservation is a must; there's no way you can walk in and get seated unless there's a no-show or last minute cancellation. You're served fresh bread with vinegar and olive oil to start. Available menu items depend on what they got from the market that day. According to our server, they don't have a freezer nor a microwave on site. It's purely farm to table.The appetizer selection is fantastic. The scallops and grilled avocado were perfect. Our salmon main plate was a tad salty, but the chiffon cake with vegan chocolates we had for desert made up for it. Highly recommend for small-party occasions. Love that they partner with Yelp Reservations to make reserving a table that much easier!

Went for a birthday dinner with 9 folks (probably took up 1/3 of this intimate space) and really enjoyed our evening.Started off with a bunch of appetizers including the beet salad olives and ham and a really incredible grilled avocado.I had the open face steak sandwich which was really good the kids had a kind of cheesy pasta and a number of folks had salmon and the risotto all to positive comments. We didn't wind up staying for dessert, but it did look like the menu was pretty amazing.Service was overall good if a little mistimed and the restaurant got a bit hot by the end of the evening.Overall, though, a great meal friendly staff and recommend this place.

Found this restaurant thanks to other Yelpers.The experience was awesome.We had early reservation and happened to be the only ones there - which was a perfect way to finish off crazy week and start the weekend off right.Both Kat and the chef (didn't catch his name) spent time with us - talking about the restaurant and the wine selection.Liked the personal touch.Enjoyed the salmon and risotto. Flavors were great and the right portions.As they say - they are Fresh to Table - which just adds to the experience.We had nice conversation while waiting for our food - the music was a perfect complement - smooth jazz and not too loud.This is a great place for quiet conversation and delicious food.If you're looking for a good spot for Date Night in Palo Alto - this would be it!

Intimate and delicious dining experience. Scallops and lamb chops were amazing!! Embarrassed to say we ordered 3 orders of scallops between my husband and I because it was just that good!Family owned restaurant, very understated in the best way. No bullshit/pretentiousness observed. Staff are very friendly and inviting. Felt like we were eating at a relative's place.People need to notice and come to this little hidden gem and give it a try!

The food was great - I like the grilled avocado and the risotto - albeit served slowly probably because the restaurant was still relatively new and thus the kitchen can improve the workflow in the future.The staff was very interesting; the amigo liked to chat with customers while the owner was happily arguing with the chef inside (about cooking operation) whom I presume were a couple. The price was on the high end. I would probably come back to try their crab cakes and desserts.My rating is 3.5, rounded up to 4 for yelp.

Haven't wrote a restaurant review in a while, despite meaning to do so, but this place felt different. Despite commanding a premium-ish price and having a short curated menu, this place is refreshingly devoid of overwrought lighting and decoration. It's well-lit and simple, and you almost feel that you don't need to care a bunch about your attire or your table manners here.Yet the food was high-quality and surprisingly generous in serving size. The seared scallops appetizer paired the lightly flavored scallops well with the sweetness of bell peppers and onion and the richness of (roasted?) cherry tomatoes; it also came with four pieces of scallops. The open-faced ribeye sandwich only topped that with a stupefyingly generous serving of intensely flavored and delightfully tender ribeye steak, atop a good amount of mushroom medley and bread soaked in the flavorful sauce. The food was good, and I could have enough of it.Somehow I feel that this simply joy, of having enough of delicately created food, is getting harder to come by. I went to Bird Dog the previous evening. The food was good, but no better than this, yet the serving size was tiny. I wish I could have more, but more than three dishes for one person seemed ridiculous. I was left dangling, almost, but ended up with a larger bill than this dinner at Thyme.Yet here, I felt totally satisfied.(Yes, the service was on the slow side, but it's a Friday night and the food made up for it.)

a hidden jewel in Palo Alto downtown! A sister & brother owned fine cuisine restaurant on hamilton. Cat, the owner is the nicest lady in town :)the best scallop I've ever had in my life! perfectly cooked, soft & juicy, and melt in my mouth! salmon & lamp are fantastic too.

We were staying about a block away (at the Cowper Inn B&B, also highly recommend) so were happy to find such an amazing restaurant for dinner. The chef happily split the steak dinner in the back for a perfect-portion-sized meal for our kids to share (ages 16 and 12). They cleaned their plates--even the vegetables! Parents agreed it was delicious steak, well seasoned. We also had the grilled avocado appetizer--a little smaller than expected given the price for it, but delicious and fresh. Other entrees include the crab cakes--again, nothing left over, yummy, a lot of crab and not too much filler--and the mushroom and asparagus risotto. The risotto tasted just like spring! Very fresh, lots of flavor, not too much rice. We had house-made pineapple-ginger juice and that was delicious as well. We were stuffed so didn't order desert. Definitely will return!