Bistro Elan on BIRCH ST.

+ Great food
+ Great service
- Cramped space

Had the prix fixe menu for Valentine's Day. Consisted of oysters, blood orange salad, steak and fries, scallops and noodles, chocolate cake, and blood orange ice cream. Overall the meal was great. Steak was especially tender. Scallops were very good. Chocolate cake was great. Only problem was that nothing was absolutely amazing. Restaurant space was cramped and limited

My wife and I enjoyed a nice evening out on 01/19/19 at this delightfully cozy enclave slightly off the main stretch of restaurants of California St. in Palo Alto. Our waitress was excellent in her service as well as our wait staff. We were wonderfully fortunate to get the patio seating area all to ourselves on account of a slow spurt on Sat night most likely attributable to MLK weekend; the seating area was cozy and well heated with overhead heating lamps, but not so warm as to make either of us too hot. I chuckled at our wait staff's attentiveness toward my wife's "slow picking" off her plate -- they came to and fro several times catching a glimpse of us from inside just behind the curtains and coming out here and again only to find my wife reach again for a small dribble on our plates - in which case they quickly doubled-back and reversed course inside. Only at the perfect moment did they tactfully come out and remove our dinner plates. :-) Our waitress also offered several tastes of wine before we selected our Pinot Noir selections (nice touch). We ordered the oysters and the salmon/potato waffle appetizers. We also had the maison olive oil with our bread and it was simply delicious. Oysters were pretty well balanced and the smoked salmon and potato appetizer was great with the garnish and cream/celery. For dinner we ordered the scallops and the New York steak with fries. I really enjoyed the scallops and the potato gratin-like side that came with them -- would get this again if we went back. The steak was medium-rare, but it was a bit of a tough cut and the fries, while tasty, were nothing short of typical fare. Unfortunately we had no room for desert. This place is an excellent spot for a fancy dinner and if you are into French-American cuisine. We prefer more complex flavors and a wider variety of spices and textures in our food (more typical of Asian cuisine), but for what we ordered here, it was good.

I love this restaurant. Attention to detail, excellent service and delicious food. Small venue, menu and plates. I recommend it for a nice dinner.

Small but excellent. This was a pleasant surprise. Food was well prepared and presented. Menu changes frequently. The wait staff have spent their cares at this place and it shows. Many regulars show up to catch up and new diners are made to feel welcome. Small amount of outside seating with pleasant Street views.

Quaint. Intimate. Like being in Paris. A new favorite for us in Palo Alto. The California St area has a few nice spots and is away from the University area congestion.