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Cash only and Beer n Wine only
I decided to take my plus one to this quaint lil hole in the wall before going to the Ugly Sweater YEE and found it to be lacking in both location and selection of liquors (they only serve wine and beer - no hard alcohol) though excelled in atmosphere and choice of limited stock (love the chimay).
Though I did not have the opportunity to try their heartier pub fare that came on a plate or where I would chew as opposed to sip I have to say that it did smell great. I suppose next time... and yes, there will be a next time. I hear they have a great trivia night.
One thing to keep in mind when you look for this place.... you may have some what of a hard time locating it by their address. What you will need to do basically is first to look for a parking lot where you think the place should be. Enter the said parking lot and it should be on your right hand side next to what appears to be a small alley way but in reality is their patio area. Now while I still have your imagination, imagine if you will how that patio would be enjoyed with a tall, cold pint of something during the warmer season.
Oh boy!
;D
I'm torn. Since my previous review, I've been here another six or seven times, each of which have made me like the place more and more. I learned to excuse the over-priced beer since the Rose and Crown is the only south bay bar to serve some rare beers. I learned to deal with the spaced out bar tenders. I really started liking the place. The other night though killed my growing enthusiasm.
When we walked in, the entire bar went silent. Everyone stared at us as we walked across the room to find a seat. Weird. I then proceeded to buy a couple pints of my favorite beer, Pliny the Elder, previously impossible to get on tap in the south bay. The bartender asked to see my ID, I showed it. He then gave me my beers and asked for my ID again. Weird. He then asked for $13 (!!!). Wow, actually I just realized that with tip, I payed FIFTEEN bucks for two pints of Pliny the Elder. Anyway.
My friend decided to order some food. He asked to order a sandwich. Bartender told him he couldn't order that one. Friend asked to order another sandwich and bartender told him he couldn't order that one either. Friend asks about yet another sandwich. Bartender responds rudely, WE DON'T HAVE ANY BREAD! Hmm, I guess my friend was a dummy and couldn't make that connection.
We each drink our respective (overpriced) pints, and decide to leave early. Upon leaving not twenty minutes later, we noticed something strange. I guy was eating a sandwich at the bar!!! Weird.
All of us left feeling strange and unwelcome. Maybe it was an off night, I don't think we will be returning. What a double edged sword though, good beer, downright outrageous pricing and weird vibes. Take your money elsewhere.
Meh. That one simple sentence pretty much sums up my opinion of this establishment. They do actually… Read more »
Went here with the boy Jon P. before a friend's going away dinner at Miyakes since it's only a block away.
Place is a hole in the wall pub that you'd probably never know was there at night, or at least from where we walked in at from the University Ave side.
Place was a chill spot where you'd be likely to just grab a couple good beers and have some good conversations with whoever you came in here with.
4 stars for their beautiful list of Belgium Beers. They got a bunch of other beers from Germany and all over Europe and some domestic beers too on tap and by the bottle.
Got a TV and a dart board away from the bar too.
Only bar in downtown palo alto that I like.
GREAT beer selection. If you don't like beer, this place doesn't have much for you.
Pretty laid back and divey.
This reminds me of a run down Euro theme park pub somewhere in rural Iowa. Now, if you've ever been to Iowa, then you'll know what I'm talking about. It's kind of like someone from the 70s immigrated from England started a pub, then died and forgot to tell anyone. Looks nothing like the pubs I'm used to in Nottinghamshire, but then again this is not Nottiinghamshire. If you're drunk on LITs and stuffed full of deep fried pub grub then I guess you won't notice. Hard to notice anything though because it gets so crowded at times.
Beware the greasy floors.
I'll preface this by saying I've only ever been for Brainstormer Pub Trivia on Tuesday night. And I've never eaten anything. So, yeah, here's what I got.
It's small and even though it's cold outside, it's stuffy as hell inside. Accordingly, I choose to sit outside at the picnic tables. Well, now I do it by choice anyway; the first time I went I was too late to get an inside table. And bear in mind, should you decide to partake in Tue night trivia at Rose & Crown, "too late to get an inside table" means 7:45, which is over an hour before trivia actually starts.
The beer selection is admirable enough. But the bartenders, in my experience, are not helpful. Even when it's early and not crowded. Even if you ask specific, no I'm not stupid about beers but I want some guidance from someone who knows these particular beers, questions. Once it does get crowded, screw getting beer. They're overwhelmed and there's not exactly a lot of room for maneuvering to place your order. Bad news and perhaps why I never seem to make it through all the trivia rounds before taking off or heading somewhere else.
It gets 3 stars because it's a chill little pub that has its merits, but if they didn't host trivia, I don't think I'd bother.
You know the first time I came here I came on trivia night. It is super crowded (you are always standing pressed between two random people, not in a good way :) ) However I have been coming here on other nights and it's well ... awesome. It's a pub with a pretty good beer selection and an awesome weekly rotating tap. I love beer so this is much appreciated to keep it fresh while still offering the safe favorites. The bar tender is really cool and friendly. It sounds sort of geeky in words, but my best memories of this place happen to be when my friends and I come to just sit, grab some drinks and play some board games :) It's good clean fun and it's entertaining. It's a chill place so check it out. Also the bangers and mash is really good :) and the fish and chips are huge
My buddy grew up in the area and wanted to stop in here for a quick drink before we continued with the rest of our night. Long story short - we never got our drinks and that was primarily because the service was soooo slow. The best part about the entire episode was that it was an empty thursday night - and we were in there with maybe 7 other people. After asking the bartender for a drink I waited 10 minutes at the bar to watch him carry on convo's, dance, and ignore me as he passed back and forth. No clue where they found this guy, it looked like he barely knew how to dress himself, so I shouldn't have been surprised when I asked for a beer and he acted as if I was speaking Mandarin.
The good thing about this place is its out of the way. You guys shouldn't worry about accidentally stumbling into it - it has a sign on the outside, but you have to go searching for the entrance. Regardless, we left just in time to watch the bartender cough into a cup he was pouring for someone. Yikes. My buddy told me that they serve food there.. After what I just told you - Good luck, I'd imagine the food to be sub par even for bar standards.
Ultimately, So many places to drink in PA and eat decent food without having to deal with BS - I won't be going back. And I'm giving it 2 stars instead of one, because it WAS my first time, and it may have just been a bad exp., but it was enough to make me not want to walk in there again.
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!!
:)
The Rose & Crown was a 4 star establishment when Tony Babb owned I introduced it to my friends & we were frequent customers from 2001-2007 usually for Comedy Night on Monday's.With that said, we liked it because it was so un Palo Alto had great beer selections & a relaxed atmosphere not a place to pick up someone if u don't know The Rose & Crown u wouldn't see it...The food @ The Crown is average @ best I've had the Hamburger & Fish & Chips .We've boycotted The Rose & Crown since the short bartender with curly hair bought it because he's a jerk & doesn't know how to run the establishment & started charging the Comedians & Customers for Comedy Night just ridiculous... The final straw was he made a sarcastic remark to my friend "since people like u haven't been coming business has been slow." What an asshole! " Well, every dog has his day!" I wouldn't try it if I was u...
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!
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 »
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!
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
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
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
the beer selection is excellent - decor of an english pub. Not much more to say than that ;).
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.
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!
Good beer selection. They have outside seating, darts, and trivia on Tuesdays. My favorite watering hole in Palo Alto.
This is my favorite local bar in Palo Alto for meeting up with friends to grab a beer after work or before I go out. The beer selection is very diverse - there's something for everyone. There's seating outside which is great during the summer. If you have a tame dog, they are tolerant of you letting him/her in the courtyard. The English pub food is consistently good. The only complaint I have is that the service can sometime be a bit slow. That being said, the bartenders are pretty knowledge about the beer they serve. Lastly, the used to serve Anchor Steam Liberty Ale and they have stopped from some reason - wish they would bring that back
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.
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 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!
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!
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 =)
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 »
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!
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!
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.
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.
New menu items at The Counter!
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