Nopa’s Neighborhood Bar Graduates to Palo Alto | Eater SF
"Opening June 27 in Town & Country Village across from the Stanford campus, this new outpost brings the convivial, hospitality-forward bar experience from its San Francisco original to a suburban Palo Alto crowd. The larger footprint allows a design that blends Arts & Crafts echoes with Brutalist and Frank Lloyd Wright touches—vintage glass details, an angular wood-paneled back bar, a Brutalist mural, and a flexible wood-paneled private dining room with its own TV and sound system—so the space has more intentional "moments" and a true PDR that the narrow San Francisco shot-gun layout lacked. Many of the original hits arrive at opening, including a stacked double cheeseburger, crisp duck-fat fries topped with "duck fat snow," fried chicken and waffles, and Korean crispy wings, with plans to add lunch and weekend brunch later and to adapt the menu to local tastes. The cocktail list expands to 18 drinks with new approachable originals—highlighted by a Showpony riff on a whiskey mule dressed with ginger syrup, sarsaparilla, and salted barley—and a thoughtful nonalcoholic program exemplified by the Shorebird, which layers Aplós Calme with salted green apple cordial, verjus, and ginger-scallion oil for savory texture. Management frames the move as scalable growth rather than franchising, aiming to serve a wider demographic—from families with strollers to people coming after shows—while retaining high-level service at accessible price points." - Dianne de Guzman
