Restaurants in Stanford

Bonjour Crepe Company sates Francophile palates with its menu of savory and sweet crêpes—forged daily from house-made white or organic buckwheat batter—headlining a repertoire of sandwiches and authentic desserts. A tasty triumvirate of avocado, mozzarella, and basil pesto comprise the chicken-pesto crêpe, whereas other fillings range from salmon to the classic ham and cheese. Fresh panera-bread sandwiches include the Tuscan panini, an amalgam of chicken, swiss, tomato pesto, and rays imported from an Italian sunset. Each crêpe or sandwich arrives with fresh-made fries, and diners can drown the digestible duo with pours of drinks ranging from Heineken beer to the citrus ambrosia of Orangina.

The dinner menu is a savory spread of fresh starters, salads, and entrees. Appetites can dip their toothed toes in the edible waters of baked brie puff pastries ($9) or Dungeness crab cakes with avocado mousse and mango salsa ($9.50) before a hearty wedge salad with prosciutto and feta ($6). Larger plates support a wealth of robust entrees; braised short ribs are matched with onion strings and garlic mashed potatoes ($19.50), while the rack of lamb chooses the friendship of rosemary roasted taters, grilled zucchini, and a mint-scented lamb reduction ($24). Seaside cravings extend toward the mesquite-grilled salmon over cherry-walnut rice ($18.50) and the smorgasbord offerings of cioppino, a celebration of mussels, clams, shrimp, white fish, potatoes, and a sea of spicy tomato sauce ($16.50).

Shuffle up a deck of carbs stacked with premium meats and veggies on fresh-baked breads from Boudin Bakery in San Francisco. Lettuce Sandwich Shop's menu provides classic cold cuts such as ham or salami served on your choice of sourdough, sliced wheat, marble rye, and more. Likewise, expand your acronymic understanding with a B.L.A.T sandwich, composed of bacon, lettuce, avocado, and tomato on triple-decker toast. Vegetarians can opt for the Haight Ashbury, with cucumbers, avocado, and a choice of cheese. All sandwiches come with a slathering of special garlic sauce, but each creation can be customized to taste. Have a friendly sandwich wizard hold the sauce, or request the less popular—hold the sandwich.

Firmly anchored by the tranquil waters of Shoreline Lake, Lakeside Café offers refreshing café fare to refuel fatigued beachgoers after a rousing sail or lake-monster search. Breakfast offerings such as three-egg omelettes (starting at $7.75) and eggs benedict ($8.50) are served with roasted new potatoes and toast, while pancakes ($7.75) and bagels ($2.25) keep things classic and classy. For lunch, ravenous aquanauts can fork into crisp bistro salads or hot and cold sandwiches, which are served with potato salad or fries. Leafy plates such as the Mediterranean spinach salad with feta, kalamata olives, red onions, cucumbers, and mint vinaigrette ($7.95) comfortably coexist alsongside sandwiches, like the fresh mozzarella, tomato, and basil on herb focaccia ($7.95), and classic fish and chips ($8.95).

The expert dough crafters behind Pizza Party have perfected their menu of signature pies since beginning their storied pizza-making journey in 1962. All those years of experience and experimentation have yielded such creations as the Backwoods BBQ pizza, which they outfit with barbecue sauce, traditional and canadian bacon, mushrooms, and other vegetables. They keep pushing the topping boundaries with the bacon chicken pizza, which they cover with ranch dressing, fresh tomatoes, grilled chicken, and crumbled bacon. To appease the hungriest customers, they whip up a 20-inch Belly Buster pizza with 36 slices that feed up to 10 people or one teenaged turtle. They also accommodate diets of all kinds with gluten-free pizza crusts, vegan cheese, and other substitute ingredients.

Two big-screen TVs play above the dining room, which also contains an aquarium, a children's playroom, and a video-game room that once housed an antique Wurlitzer organ back in the days when Pac-Man was a silent game.

A musician strums a ukulele onstage as hips sway around him in a hula dance. Laughing heartily with his friends at a nearby table, one man pinches seaweed-wrapped squares of sushi rice—authentic Hawaiian musubi—from shared plates as he talks up his latest adventures. At another table, the diners sing along with the ukulele player, eyes twinkling as the melody calls up memories of home.

This feeling of camaraderie, the spirit of aloha, is what owner Peter Be and his wife, Rena, wanted to capture when they opened Da Kine Cafe in 2010. When Rena, who was born in the Kalihi Valley on the island of Oahu, craved true Hawaiian eats, her choices were limited to lackluster mainland-style interpretations, such as lau lau wrapped in a tortilla instead of taro leaves. She put together a menu of authentic Hawaiian cuisine, with 10 variations of the hot noodle soup called saimin and 10 types of poke, which the head chef of the mainland's most famous Hawaiian restaurant dubbed the best in town. Classics such as the gravy-soaked beef patty of the loco moco fill the menu, waiting to be washed down with fresh-fruit smoothies and on-tap ales from the islands or local microbreweries. Gluten-free options are also available.

The décor reproduces the laid-back Hawaiian feel that Rena and Peter remember, so that even the restaurant’s stage wears a grass skirt. On Ohana Saturdays, visiting musicians take the stage, many of them winners of the Hawaiian islands' most prestigious music accolades, the Na Hoku Hanohano awards. Performers include slack-key-guitar player LT Smooth as well as the singer Mailani, accompanied by esteemed ukulele player Dr. Trey. Starting in the springtime, weekly festivals celebrate Hawaii's music, its dance styles, and its excessive number of festivals.