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"This place is fantastic, finally an upscale lounge in Palo Alto!! The staff is super friendly, the decor is lovely, and the drinks and food…" read more »
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4 stars they got snakebites!!!!
bar food, deep fried everything, when your drunk anything fried up here is good,
they got darts bring your A game after a pitcher to yourself the bullseye is the size of a pencil tip and it keeps moving haha
they got several beers on tap i recommend trying all dont do the domestic you can get those anywhere go for the ones you never heard of..
beer *****
price $
ambiance **** looks like an english pub or what I believe an english pub will look like in England haha
Pretty impressive beer selection, basically like Father's Office for you la kids. They probably serve the same amount of beer overall but the rotate some of the taps so you don't have everything everyday.
They get a lot of tough to find euro beers on tap that u can easily get in a bottle but rarely can get draught.
I had a Leffe Bruin, Old Speckled Hen, and some Belgian wheat beer. came out to about 20 bucks, but you gotta pay to play.
I still gotta try their food!
This is my favorite place for beer in the bay area so far. They are a english pub and I totally love the atmosphere there. Darts, beer and 3 tvs for baseball, hockey, soccer and rugby.
This is the only place I have been able to find the Russian River brewery's Pliney the Elder on tap. The staff here is amazing too. They know me by name (maybe thats a problem ;)....anyway, they have a wide variety of belgium ales, pale ales, etc on tap. They have a great trivia night on Tuesday as well. They are difficult to find since they are located kinda in an obscure place, but once you do you wont regret it!!
:)
Authenticity in Palo Alto? Where else you gonna find it? This is the place to enjoy a Trippel in the proper glass or a Pliny the Elder while watching Portugal trounce Turkey. Oops hope the Turks don't come after me. Also the place for trivia night, but you'll be up against Stanford scholars so study up.
It seems like a lot of people come to hang out on the weekends, and everyone seems to know one another... which makes for a nice, friendly atmosphere.
Tasty, fresh fish and chips (we watched them batter and fry everything!). Also really nice selection on tap, and I enjoyed my Lambic Framboise, too!
My co-workers come to the Frozen Clown all the time, but I hadn't been before. They have a really… Read more »
Lively atmosphere on a Saturday night. We celebrated a friend's birthday here by enjoying an assortment beers on tap, and playing darts. Recommended.
I like Trivia Night, but hate having to arrive almost an hour early just to get a table.
Also... they should rename this place to "The Rose And Crown And Takes Half an Hour for the Bartender to Take Your Order."
Uhh so, embarrassing story. We stopped by the Rose & Crown for the first time one night because my friend just wanted to say hi to someone. He ended up taking longer than we thought, and since the rest of us got bored we decided to get a round of shots. ANDDD that's when we found out they only serve beer. Fail.
Anyways, I went back last night with a group to grab some beers, and I had a lot of fun. It's super chill, and you get to try a bunch of beers if everyone orders something different. By the way, Tuesdays are trivia nights! We went too late to get in the game officially, but it was fun to eavesdrop and guess.
I was really happy to find out that they serve Kwak! They even have the cool glasses. They only have the 750 ml bottles, but it was perfect to share between 3 of us.
Great selection of beers, chill atmosphere, and very close proximity to Pizza My Heart for drunk food. That's all we needed for a successful Tuesday night!
My first less than 5 review : (
The beer selection is flawless, plenty of stuff you won't find many other places. However, I must admit that some of the staff can be condescending and the place seems to attract more of the frat boyish crown. As a connoisseur of dive bars, I must say this place is lacking
If it's beer you seek, Rose & Crown is your place to go. Pro Tip: Send a friend to claim a spot outside while you order the first round of beers.
Rose & Crown is great for beers, but sitting outside is best because for some reason, the inside gets pretty dark and can get hot... Not sure what's going on with their AC. The outside areas get taken up pretty quickly so it's best to claim your spot. There's quite a variety of beer here. My favorite is the Franziskaner Hefe-Weiss, I've always been a Hefe gal. :-) But yeah, great selection of beer and a great place for after work drinks.
July 26, 2009 - Palo Alto Bar Crawl details (on Twitter under #pabcrawl)
Stop 1 - http://twitpic.com/br2ii - Rose and Crown Pub (Hoppy Ending)
After walking around for a while and finding that a lot of bars were closed (why? In a University town? Really?), we came to The Rose and Crown which was the first stop on the rather impromptu Sunday afternoon Palo Alto bar crawl with fellow Yelper Michael C. I love dive bars and this one really delivers :)
Parking is adequate around the bar - to the extent Palo Alto parking is adequate, I guess! Bar is not on the main drag and can be missed if you don't know where to go but it's completely worth it!!!
R&C is your classic dive bar - the first thing when you enter is the bathroom LOL - hello! Oh - I did use the bathroom - typical dive bar - avoid if at all possible LOL
Inside looks cluttered but very comfortable - the kind of place you'd enjoy hanging out with buddies. Large screen TVs everywhere - most showing football (the real kind, not the American version ;p) - lots of English Premier League paraphernalia on the walls and ceilings. The back wall of the bar is right in front of their walk-in refrigerator and there's a clever door that hides cold frosty mugs :) - and of course, the wall with the beer taps - quite nice!!!
There was outside seating but we wanted the full-on bar experience so we plopped down at the bar and ordered our drinks - a Hoppy Ending for me and Barely Legal for Mike (pervert!! LOL) - both local Palo Alto brews FTW!
$10 for two beers - beer was good, bartender was friendly and prompt - can't comment on continuing service because we finished this and moved on to the next :)
~ 4 stars overall because I *heart* dive bars in general and this one certainly kicked butt!!!
# 115
Whoa, I've been coming here for a couple years and I have yet to review this place? Let me fix that.
BEER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The end.
PS. The pub grub ain't too shabby here, either.
I checked this place out a couple of weeks ago after recently moving to Palo Alto for the summer. I have to say I have been back a couple of times since and I really like the place.
They definitely have one of the best craft beer selections on the Southern Peninsula. 21 beers on tap and a rotating cask. When I first walked in and saw they had Pliny on tap I knew it was an above average place.
They have a nice selection from Belgian lagers to California IPA's. Once I was in there and a patron asked, "How can an English pub not have Guinness on tap?" The owner was bar tending at the time and said, "Because everyone else does, and we have better stuff anyhow."
The service has always been good, and ready for conversation. It seems they have a nice regular crowd, including a mix of Stanford Grad Students, local professionals and folks who just like good beer or Darts.
Their burgers are good, though they are not cooked to preference. You can choose your cheese, Blue Stilton and mild and sharp cheddars. I hear the Fish and Chips is good but that is what everyone says about any British pub worth its salt. I have tried the fried mushrooms and they are pretty good. Every Monday night is Curry night, cooked by a regular, and I have heard it is good though I havn't been able to partake of it yet.
Darts seem to be a favorite among many of the patrons. So if you can throw, you could probably find a good game.
For the time being, family obligations have me residing in Palo Alto, and I think I will be spending a good part of my time off at the Rose.
This place is a good place to go after finals and unwind, however, around 9pm on Friday and Saturday nights, it gets so unbelievably packed! So I get there early on those days, claim a table and stock up on pitchers because once it's crowded, getting to the bar is near impossible.
My favorite part about the RnCP is that they have my favorite Pear Cider ha ha Yeah I drink hard cider instead of beer whenever I can. But don't tell anyone or I'll beat you up!
Although it sells itself as a British pub, don't come expecting anything close to the British pub experience at The Rose and Crown. It's small, sometimes crowded and you can sit at the bar, unlike at a true British pub. Despite this, I love this bar.
There is a good selection of US and European beers on draft and in bottles, so when you're feeling tired of your standard brew, there are plenty of options to choose from. There is also a good mix of people from Stanford students, professionals and Palo Alto residents.
If you're up for some bar grub, I recommend the burgers. The Rose & Crown makes some of my favorite burgers in the area. They come with the basics (lettuce, tomato and onion), and are served on a really tasty roll. And how can you go wrong with real, British-style chips with malt vinegar? You can't. Make sure, however, if you're looking to try the food to get here before 9 p.m. before the kitchen closes for the night.
The bar staff may seem a little gruff, and the beer selection a little overwhelming, but if you can describe what you like in a beer, then you're sure to sit down with something you'll like.
Perhaps I've been unnecessarily dismissive of the food at Rose and Crown pub. It was pretty long ago that I went in there hungry and found little other than liquid calories to fill me up. Now they have a nice selection of appetizers (including an oh-so-English rarebit), burgers (smelled heavenly), fish in sandwiches and with chips, a daily curry, and even shepherd's pie. Prices are lower than the BBC (the Menlo Park one). I'm going to watch the game there next time, and eat.
The beer exceeded my expectations, too. I went for the two English beers on draft, a Tetley's and Old Speckled Hen. Tetley's was my favorite pint at the little pub just off the back parking lot of the Raj Majal restaurant, which faced the Westbury Park green at the top of Whiteladies Road in Bristol. Regardless of when you had a reservation at Raj Mahal, you had to wait quite a while for your table, so we used that time to our advantage at a little neighborhood watering hole with the best Tetley's ever. (Yes this is the same company that makes tea bags.) It was quite good at Rose and Crown, as was the Old Speckled Hen. What I did not notice until later was the hand-pulled, cask-conditioned ale they were serving. This is a local brew, of course, and offers a much truer taste of Real Ale in the British style than the carbonated, chilled drafts that are everywhere. I'm going back for some of that.
Trivia night is really fun. The only problem is getting a drink takes forever.
I guess the biggest plus about this place is they have lots of "unusual" beers. They have beers brewed locally, internationally and whatevers left in between (I love the raspberry lambic). This is NOT your typical PBR, Bud, Coors type of bar. Tried the fried mushrooms and garlic&cheese fries....they were ok. Nothing to write home about....I mean this is bar not a restaurant. Nice cause there's a place to sit outside. The bartenders are nothing special. If you are downtown Palo Alto and aren't a fan of the trendy (Blue Chalk, Nola, etc), this is the closest you're going to come to a dive bar downtown.
Came in on a Saturday afternoon just trying out different places in Palo Alto, found a winner here.
The bartender ( sounds like Jetta) was kinda cool with me not knowing anything about beer (which I felt I had to quickly admit to before asking for help) I told her "I dont drink beer that often. I know what I do like, and what I don't like" she poured a sample of 2 different types, each in their respective company named glass (something I didnt know happened until that day). Gave us alittle background on beer, herself, the bar.
Our one glass turned into 2, then we had to walk it off for a few hrs before getting in the car (dinner also had to happen). My 11% vol beer was ridiculous, as in, I dont know if I've ever heard of that much alcohol in one bottle of beer, but yes plz I will DRINK it.
She also let us play our Ipod using their sound system, made fun of the usual girls who go in thinking they are too good to drink beer, and taught us a dice game which I kicked ass in the 1st time around then sucked the rest. Two ppl brought in their dogs, its just a comfy chill place =)
Went here for the first time the last week.
The best beer selection I've seen in the South Bay, lots of Belgian imports on tap and other microbrews I've never heard of.
We were sitting at the bar and the place was so busy it was hard to get our glasses refilled. Also they left a ton of dirty glasses on the bar for a long time, I was a little appalled, but I used to work in restaurant/bars so I get a little critical about cleanliness. Seems like they could use a barback to help out.
I ordered fish and chips and it was surprisingly great. Pretty much like you would get in a pub in the UK. I'll go back but hopefully it won't be as crowded next time.
I wasn't in the mood for green beer and rowdy people when my bff dragged me out for a drink in celebration of St. Paddy's Day. We walked in to a very crowded Pub and the first thing I saw was a guy wearing a kilt. Awesome! Looked up and read a sign that said: "You will not be served if...1. Your order a pitcher of anything, 2. You order green beer, 3. You start your order with "Um" and 4. We don't like your face." I was in love. Ordered my usual girlie drink - pear cider. Best I've had so far! From Vermont - low in carbs & sugar w/a very light taste. I could have chugged down a 6 pack if my body allowed!
Friendly atmosphere, cool bartenders, laid back crowd and great selection of beer! Thanks Rose & Crown for proving me wrong & making my night!
Another beer place. But really cool. If I lived in Palo Alto this place would be the reason I could survive. Weird people, weird bar tenders, but knowledgeable as all sin in the selection of beer. A great selection of super rare beers. You'll pay for it too! Most stuff is reasonably priced but rare beer is not cheap!
Have had better nights when visiting this pub over the years. Not sure what is the deal these days as depending on the bartendar's mood.. dictates whether you get served or not.
We stopped in, got looks from the moody guy... no luvv of interest of even taking our order.. we walked out after waiting for him to perk up to even acknowledge a purchase from our end.
Unbelievable!
Good place to hang out after work. Plenty of beers on tap. Prices aren't wallet friendly and I don't think they have happy hour specials, but it's a decent place.
This is a man bar, and if the Man Show was still around, they would shoot an episode here. Nothing flashy or pretty, just a classic traditional bar that smells like sweaty armpits all over. Tons of good beer by the pint to choose from (love the IPA and the featured beers) and they have a pretty good cider as well that hits. Great bar food like Shepperd's pie and, my favorite, fish and chips with cheese and garlic covering the fries; people should get arrested for cooking up stuff like that.
Tuesday night trivia is interesting...I got a kick out of it, I like jeopardy-type stuff because I get really excited when I know the answer. The place isn't huge and it was a little crowded, but you could sit inside or outside, and trivia was more fun with all the people around and beer flowing. It would have been a pretty cool crowd, had it not been a whole bunch of Stanfurd students...grrr...ha ha jk :) Well kind of...but Go Bears!! Trivia's cool, bring a team of friends and try it once, see if you like it...I'd just as soon watch Jeopardy at home though, that way I can shout at my tv!
This is about the only downtown PA establishment that doesn't make me vomit from either its overwhelming pretentiousness or its douchebaggy patrons.
Hence, 4 stars.
Pub quiz every Tuesday, and it's packed with different groups - all ages. I liked the English decor (scarves hanging from the roof, wooden pics of guiness). I haven't eaten here, unless you count beer as liquid food. In that case, the food is excellent.
Came here before w/my gf and we liked it, so we decided to give it a second time around.
The best thing about this place is that they show footie and rugby, have bristle dart boards, and serve dank ass Belgian beers. They serve dubbels and trippels in bottle and on draught too. Their menu is pretty decent for pub food too and the prices aren't that bad either.
I'd probably say that this is the best place in Palo Alto to go and have a decent beer.
You would think that it would be somewhat busy at 7:45 on a Saturday night.....did I miss something? I was really craving some greasy food the other day after a very long school and work week, so the SO and I decided since it's so hot out, let get our grub and beer on down at the ol' R&C. I have been here a few times before during the day, they usually have college students rooting for some game on TV, but this time, we came in, it smelt like reallllllly bad BO. Yuck! We sat down anyways, and the bartender was sitting RIGHT next to us reading a newspaper at the bar, and didn't seem to care we sat down 5 minutes ago, and were ready to order drinks and food. Still didn't get up, menu's down. I said to my SO "Hey lets go somewhere else" at which point he got up and served us. Food was good, beer is great, service.....and smell is baaaaaaaaaaad.
Manly food. Many wood chairs. Manly beer.
What more does a manly man want in life?
The pub is a hole-in-the-wall place in downtown PA which is somewhat refreshing for the so-so coffee shops and average restaurants on the main strip of University.
Service is not too friendly. You have to be proactive in ordering your drinks and food.
Even though the menu says that dinner food is available at 5:30PM, the staff told us that the kitchen did not open until 6PM. WTF.
BUT . . . the beer selection on tap was awesome. I ordered my first Murphy's Stout and it tasted very good, almost like chocolate. The greasy food did not disappoint either. The $13.95 3 piece fish and chips were good-sized and filling. They went well with the Stout beer.
Perhaps I will return here when I am in the mood for another manly beer.
As for now . . I will stick to shiny disco balls and vodka.
People that know me would assume a higher rating from me but not today. I have two +'s and too many -'s.
Let us start with the pluses - a unique selection of beer on tap, and a decent dart set-up. Two things that are very important to me and lacking in Palo Alto.
Normally, I have nothing bad to say about an English pub but...
Stay away on the weekends - it is overcrowded which leads to the small place smelling like a gym locker. It is steamy, hot, and stinky every time I visit on the weekend. It feels like when you walk in to an aerobics room just after the last spin class. Not fun.
The other complaint I have is due to my last experience there. The bartender was jaw dropping rude. Just rude... for no reason. Ordered a few pints, asked a question about one beer selection. She then slammed our change on the counter. While playing darts we overheard another group of people mentioning how rude she was as well. There was no sense in it. I think she just wanted to get back to whatever it was she was doing on her laptop.
Like I said, I love a good pub and this is normally my type of place but they need to drop the attitude and work on the ventilation.
It's hard to find a good beer place sometimes. This place was recommended by friends to try. And I was suprised that they served up so many different types of beers from all over the world. This place isn't just for beer snobs, cause you can still get some joe-schmoe beer and chug a couple down. But it's a good fit for different types of people.
A bit much with the young crowd, but it is next to Stanford. The bartender was cool though and did serve me after he called last call and I missed it. All the exotics are not served always in their preferred glassware, but they at least try.
This place is awesome, if only because they have 8am football during world cup/euro cup (with breakfast!). There are lots of foreigners to watch with and it makes for a great ambiance that is close to being in Europe, drinking songs and all!
There is a good variety of wine and beer and the snacks they serve are pretty good. I like that they don't play loud music and it's a nice place to meet with friends. Only complaint is that the service is a bit lacking, but nothing out of the ordinary.
Palo Alto Pub Crawl Stop #5.
Ever since we got off the train for our pub crawl I had been pushing for the Rose and Crown, as in "We've gotta go to the Rose!" and "Can't forget the Rose & Crown." Unfortunately there was a bit of a bias against it from some of our group, mainly because they had only been during the day, when it can be a little slow.
We finally made it here after a disappointing stop at the Old Pro. Happily, this place did not disappoint. A great, unique beer list (How many places can you get "Old Speckled Hen" on tap?), a bit of a divey feel, good vibe, nice crowd (it was hoppin'), cute women, you name it. We were completely happy and stayed for several rounds. At one point we were able to grab a table on the back patio, enjoy the stogies we had picked up earlier, and just hang out.
When we eventually decided to leave, my friend NW looked me straight in the eye and said "I want to apologize for not trusting you on this place." It was such an unexpectedly sincere moment from my inebriated friend that it made me want to laugh. Instead I said, "Hey, no worries! Now we know for next time."
Minus one star for one of the bartenders being so anal about keeping ALL our newly-poured pints on the bar until I had ordered and paid (I was in charge of the "beer kitty"). Kinda strange not being able to pass my buddies their beer right away.
I have fond memories of the Rose and Crown Pub since I've always gone on Fridays with friends, drank… Read more »
3.5 stars.
The Rose & Crown would get 5 stars, because I love any place that has a cozy, divey feel. I love that Tuesday night is Trivia Night. I love that the only alcohol they serve is beer & wine. I love that it has a great variety of beer and they get seasonal beers, as well as feature new ones every once in awhile.
But [and this is a major but], for the past year or so, I've noticed that there is only ever one person behind the bar. There have been two people behind the bar at 2.00pm on a Wednesday afternoon, but there is always only one person behind the bar in the evenings, even during the weekends that I've gone. And, bless his heart, I understand it can be stressful being the only bartender in a bar that has a faithful clientele. And, I understand that now, in this economy, people don't want to hire employees if they don't need to. But, also, in this kind of economy, people might have a tendency to drink more.
So, he's burnt out. He's tired of doing this. It shows on his face. And, I respect that he's just doing his job. But, I don't like going to a bar, and standing there for 20 minutes, getting passed over for Stanford engineering undergrads. I'm just as much a paying customer as they are. I also don't like being served by someone who seems to feel that it is such a hard chore to pull me an Old Speckled Hen. He's pretty much the only one taking the tips home at night. He really should work the "I want good tips" angle. I'd tip him more if he didn't pass me over for annoyingly obnoxious 22 year old preppies. I'd tip him more if he'd make me feel happy to be at the R&C.
Another thing is the smell. It smells like a run down pub should. Stale beer, days old bar towels soaked in said beer, greasy pub food, and cigar smoke wafting in from the guys sitting outside who made a pitstop at Mac's before coming in. The cigar smoke they can't really avoid. But, the stale beer & greasy fry up smell they can, at least, try to remedy.
Burnt out bartender & smell aside, I love The Rose & Crown. It will definately be my first choice of places to hang out in, alone or with friends.
We're just not smart enough!
Came here with a group of friends for our first ever SOUTHBAY HH to play a game of Trivia...I think I was more excited for the trivia than hh...
Either way - from what I can recall, the place was very much like a worn in bar, kinda homey in my opinion. Reminds me of CHEERS - where everyone knows your name..From what I can recall, the bar food was pretty basic - calamari, fries...The stand outs were their beers! Our group stayed closely to the CHIMAY and the HOEGARDEN (sp?) - ordered a couple of rounds of those.
As for the game of trivia - I wish it didn't start so late (9pm)...but with a group of 15, we thought we got it...more heads are better right?? We didn't win one single game. Those darn Stanford kids! BUT, we sure had a lot of fun arguing with one another! Def bonded over losing. I would come again...maybe they'll learn my name!
Probably my favorite beer bar in the south bay (not difficult, given the lack of them). The taps are rotated fairly regularly and usually always have something new I haven't tried before. Food is ok, appetizers are pretty safe, but it isn't a restaurant either.
The outside patio is nice, but they could probably stand to turn on the AC inside during those warm summer days. Sundays are a nice time to go since its not really ever crowded.
Overall, the beer selection makes this one a winner.
"Beauty is in the eye of the Beer-holder."
I am still unsure if the big bartender fakes an English accent.
Haven't tried the grub here, but I totally dig the atmosphere.
I've been frequenting the Rose & Crown for about three years, and I've grown to appreciate it more over time.
Their selection of beer is unmatched, and I appreciate the rotating beers on tap despite my default preference for consistency. This is definitely less a bar you visit to get trashed with your friends than it is a haven for beer nerds, thankfully, though weekend nights can get a tad obnoxious (never rowdy).
I like that I don't have a TV in my face everywhere I look (sorry, Tied House), but I'm not a sports fan at all anyway.
They have a couple of dart boards, outdoor seating, and decent food as well. I would not recommend the curry fries, but their cheese plates are tasteful and the veggie burger is reasonably priced and fairly tasty!
The bartenders are also generally friendly, and while Al can be kind of gruff he does things right and is knowledgeable about the beers too.
$14 BBQ Buffet (see details)
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Happy Hour Special
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Palo Alto, CA
Category: Dive Bars
Palo Alto, CA
Category: Lounges
Palo Alto, CA
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