Customer Reviews
What You'll Get
Hunger, unlike ambulance sirens, meningitis, and restraining orders, is not something you can safely ignore. Answer the mighty call of a bellowing belly with today's Groupon: for $20, you get $40 worth of casual American dining and drinks at Maltby's Restaurant in Los Altos.
Maltby's Restaurant is a laid-back American eatery known for its fresh seafood creations and gourmet fries. The dinner menu kicks off on a high note with creative crab nachos ($10). An authentic bouillabaisse ($14) is fantastically fishy, but terra firma fanatics can stay grounded with a well-seasoned bistro steak ($17) instead. The succulent grilled lamb sandwich comes layered with roasted red peppers, onions, olive tapenade, dense symbolism, and a goat cheese spread ($14). And no order will feel spiritually complete without some of Maltby's gourmet fries. Try the Thai fries—which arrive topped with ginger sea salt, red chilies, green onions, and toasted coconut ($5)—or the extra-special black truffle fries ($10). Gonzo gourmands can get even crazier by dipping fries in flavorful sauces such as sweet chili ketchup, wasabi ranch, and lemon aioli (one sauce included with fries, extra sauces $1 each).
Maltby's spacious open-air patio and cozy interior stuffed with homey wooden tables and booths provide a seldom-suspected setting for an espionage rendezvous, as well as an informal night out. A bevy of beers on tap and finely fermented wines stand ready to irrigate innards, while a dessert menu of treats such as chocolate-cherry bread pudding with vanilla ice cream and homemade caramel sauce ($7.95) will defuse your sweet tooth before its timer reaches zero. Call ahead to make reservations.
Reviews
The San Francisco Chronicle and Palo Alto Online featured Maltby’s. Yelpers give Maltby’s an average of three stars, while five Yahoo! Locals give it an average of 3.5 stars, and five Insider Pagers give it an average of four stars:
- The staff, including owner James Maltby, is warm and casual, unperturbed by the irrational exuberance of children. The menu has the something-for-everyone expansiveness that equally accommodates a hankering for linguini with clams, burgers or crab cakes. – Laura Reiley, San Francisco Chronicle
- For almost a decade now, Maltby's has been welcoming diners with tidy, attractive surroundings, an interesting variety of foods, and an unrushed atmosphere. – Elaine M. Rowland, Palo Alto Online
The Fine Print
Promotional value expires Mar 22, 2011. Amount paid never expires. Limit 1 per person. Limit 1 per table. Valid for dinner menu only. Dine-in only. Not valid with other offers. Tax and gratuity not included. Must use in 1 visit, no cash back. Merchant is solely responsible to purchasers for the care and quality of the advertised goods and services.
About Maltby's Restaurant
Sunlight pours through the large windows of Maltby's Restaurant, illuminating the wood accents and English-pub-inspired decor that populates the restaurant’s spacious bar and dining room. But, even as the interior screams "authentic pub," the menu slyly mouths "eclectic cuisine." While traditional pub dishes such as fish 'n' chips and beer-battered onion rings comfort tongues with familiar flavors, other dishes work with less predictable tastes. Beds of fries welcome dashes of gourmet ingredients, including grilled jalapeños, sun-dried tomatoes, feta cheese, and sea salt infused with chipotle and truffle oil. All-natural Niman Ranch beef patties cozy up to buns in each of the pub’s burgers, and large salads sport only locally sourced, organic leafy greens. The restaurant's tavern specials mix it up by serving steaming plates of barbecue baby back ribs and spicy risotto jambalaya, whereas the weekend brunch menu pairs classic English and American breakfast platters with tequila sunrises, bloody marys, and Pimm’s Cups.