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Mike Wallau stood in his restaurant Mike’s Diner Bar last night and scanned the room.
“All I felt was gratitude,” he said.
For 30 years, the Midtown Palo Alto institution has been whipping up classics with a twist, like crab cake benedicts, pear salads and bruschetta pomodoro.
Coined a “neighborhood jewel,” the restaurant has survived its fair share of battles from employee embezzlement to a near-eviction after turning in rent one day late and a 17-month closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Wednesday, Wallau, who grew up blocks from his restaurant, announced that the neighborhood staple will close its doors on Sunday.
“This has been the most difficult decision of my long restaurant career,” Wallau wrote in a statement. “But after 30 years running various Mike’s eateries, it’s time for me to change direction, focus on my family, and grow my restaurant consulting business.”
Wallau has built, owned and operated Mike’s Diner Bar, Portola Kitchen and Mike’s Café Menlo Park. Now, with three decades of restaurant experience under his belt, he hopes to help others manage their own establishments through restaurant consulting.
Currently he’s working on a couple of projects, but hopes to do more with his newfound freetime.
For years, Midtown Palo Alto has struggled to sustain local businesses, and COVID didn’t help, Wallau said.
“The model for full-service restaurants, specifically, is just different,” he said. “There’s so many things that are working against you to profit, and I just didn’t see any of that changing.”
So, he said, it might be time to take a deep breath and step back.
But Wallau didn’t want to leave his newly-renovated diner vacant – he is a neighbor after all. Instead, he’s handing the baton to Kirk’s SteakBurgers, which has served Palo Alto signature charcoal-grilled patties since 1948.
The restaurant, owned by brothers Maurice Carrubba and Giuseppe Carrubba, is home to second- and third-generation employees who cook beef from the same butcher used since the restaurant’s inception.
“I love Palo Alto and our Midtown community,” Wallau wrote. “And I’m delighted that my replacement is a family restaurant dedicated to Palo Alto and run by restaurateurs who really know and care about our city and our neighborhoods.”
It’s been so rewarding, Wallau said, watching his past employees, who once attended Palo Alto High School, dine at the restaurant with their families.
“I want to thank all my customers, supporters, staff, friends and family for their patronage, loyalty and all the great times we’ve shared,” Wallau said. “The sun may be setting on Mike’s Diner Bar, but it’s a fresh start for a new Midtown restaurant and a new dawn for me.”
“Johnny Come Lately”, ALERT !!!…it was a BETTER Hardware Store !!!…yup, My Family has been in PA since 1926…
Yes, started shopping there in ’80. The owner knew his stuff and had all sorts of you-cant-find-it-anywhere-else items. I loved wandering the isles to see what I could find. There was a Coop Market across the street, and a Bergman’s Department Store, if you can imagine!
As to Kirk’s, we used to take our kids to the old (original?) one on California Ave with the garden patio next door to eat and let the kids run around in. I remember the size of those patties that they threw on the grill. Plain, w/cheese, or pineapple – and doubles, even! Ahhh…
I will miss Mike’s Cafe, and I hope Kirk’s will have a broader menu than burgers – please!!
Me too!
We first met Mauricio Carrubba and Giuseppe Carrubba when their family opened Caffe Riace in 1997. Their homemade gelato and Sicilian specialties won us over first. The Carrubba family has been involved in many local restaurant success stories for decades…Osteria, Just Catering, Kirk’s, and now Mike’s Diner Bar reimagined, among others. They are winners.
We have known Mike Wallau and his dad as wonderful neighbors and community supporters for even more decades. Happy that Mike is moving on to consulting with a less demanding schedule. He deserves good things.
What a shame. I have been there even more often in the past year or so. I enjoy their menu. I don’t want burgers.
So sorry to hear this. Mike’s is one of the last remaining mid-priced restaurants where you can go for a causal lunch or dinner with friends and get a delicious meal. I will miss it.
Yes, Mike deserves good things.
I wonder if Kirk’s will be leaving Town & Country now. Anyone know?
Hearty congratulations to all those who rallied to save Mike’s: former Mayor Lydia Kou, the Midtown Business Assn and many concerned residents
I have pleasant memories of my father taking me to Mike’s restaurants. My father being in sales was quite observant and noticed immediately the resemblance of the young women clearing our table to the owner. Sure enough she confirmed that Mike was her father. Sounds as if she got her fill of the restaurant trade during school breaks, doesn’t it!
For those who spoke about the taking of their properties at Monday’s council meeting:
The only way to prevent eminent domain is to promote the viaduct plan which requires no property takings. Please speak at next Monday’s council meeting and stress the following in favor of the viaduct:
No taking of properties by eminent domain
Minimizing construction time, disruption and closure of roadways
Leaving all roads the same as they now are for continued use of bikes and autos during viaduct construction
Having a beautiful and more quiet system
Ending up with open space which could be attractive and usable
Not having to worry about complicated engineering and cost overruns
Easily the best solution for a city to look smart 100 years into the future even though it may cost a little more
etc, etc.
Tom, no reason to hijack this article for another (albeit important) topic. Perhaps it was a mistake?
I have been going to Mike’s since they opened at that location and was there for dinner last Sunday evening with my family. Change is part of the evolution but I will miss the steady reliable meals from Mike’s.
Kirk’s has a nice menu variety but hope they add more meals to it. Mike’s burgers are excellent so will see on the transitions.
I wonder when Kirk’s will be open? Will Mike keep the Portola Cottage open as I enjoy that also.
Full service, dine in with food service wait staff is disappearing fast. It’s all becoming fast food, counter service — seat your self. And all the plastic throw away crap for waste pile.
I dined at Pensins Creamery. The table service and food was so bad it might as well been fast food drive through. There is no ambiance, style, rhythm to eating out any more. It’s all sausage making. Why? Because the so said staff come from many miles away, can’t live here, don’t know the community and are making a buck to pay the high rents elsewhere. There is so little connection to anything anymore. “Outdoor dining”? Worse. As if that’s natural atmosphere. Food lands on tables cold from distance of kitchen to tables. Waitstaff & bussers doing twice the tables in same amount of time. Unionized restaurants and workers. It would really lift up the industry. Everything rushed beyond reason. The celebration of eating a meal out is lost to nothingness. Then expected to tip big. Absolutely zero customer service anymore. So impersonal no love of food or what is done or served. Very sad. Concept of “Outdoor dining” is a sloppy mess. It’s failing.
Following on from this, can we get update about Bills/Philz? The state of affairs in Midtown overall should be investigated by PAW. There is a new coffee shop so there is something positive. The golf place seems to be doing reasonable business. The yoga studio is also part of Midtown. Locals want to support walkable businesses.
Do they offer veggie burgers? We don’t eat meat hamburgers.