Loved the art on the walls of the old Mikes.

Only 10 more seats. Wow, I would have expected more.

Still hope it as good as it was and look forward to visiting. Any link to the menu?

Now I know I'm getting old. My wife and I started going there as soon as it opened the first time. His dad, Bill, greeted people at the door. And now there won't be a service station type restroom, a big improvement. That was always a detractor, except you didn't have to ask for the key.

Reread the article - the original 40 seats are still there - he ADDED 50 in the new space.

I'll still be looking for lightbulbs and faucet washers.

Mike's closed about Jan. 1, 2018 for renovations. It's now about 18 months later. Why does a reasonably simple renovation project take so long in Palo Alto. This project should have taken only a few months. Far too much red tape in this town.

so glad Mike's is back in business, can't wait to see the old gang enjoying food and friendship.

Yay! Can't wait to try the new Mike's!

Great news and happy to hear it!

yay!
see you on sunday :)

and to musical thanks for the laugh :)

Looking forward to restrooms you don't have to go outside to use!! :-)

What happened to all the people who previously worked there?
How many of the current workers worked there previously?

@Joe, let's hear from Mike on all the reasons why it took so long.

@musical, that is funny, but sadly that is all many of us shopped for at Gary's store once Home Depot and Orchard Supply came to town. Human nature and maybe our own individual financial situations drove us to look for the cheapest paint, hardware, tools, etc. That's the sad history of family owned retail stores in PA.

@CrescentParkAnon, that's a good question. I have a hunch they found jobs elsewhere, maybe even out of the area/state, and I would be surprised to see any of them back. There were some good ones and I was generous with my tips for them. He had good cooks also, I could look over my left shoulder and watch them in the kitchen. Occasionally a special would show up on the menu. The one I remember that my wife and I enjoyed the most was the strawberry rhubarb pie. Yummm!

Yes,yes,yes!, back to our LOCAL wonderful restaurant and it’s lovely owners. FNS will be able to have their retired teachers , monthly meetings there again. And my husband and I delicious dinners!,,,so happy!!!!

Am I the only one who thinks the prices are very high?

I was hoping that this could become our neighborhood restaurant, where our family could enjoy dinner once in a while. But with the steep prices, we’ll sadly have to pass.

Rejoice? Did you get a lot of those prices? Check it out - Web Link

Seem like any place with a Palo Alto address assumes it has a few Michelin stars and takes full advantage of the Palo Alto mark-up. There are some good places in Palo Alto that warrant higher prices, let's hope this rises to be one of them. From the way this place used to be run before just call me skeptical. Good luck! Midtown and fine dining just seem to be at odds.

I just remember how fast the Palo Alto Breakfast Kitchen went out of business.

@MoneyBurner - those prices are very disappointing. Definitely not family friendly, at least for my family.

It seems like the new Mike's is 3 times more expensive than the old Mike's. It should fit perfectly into the new Palo Alto dining scene: The more overpriced the restaurant, the more lousy the food.

"Why does a reasonably simple renovation project take so long in Palo Alto."

Mike's does not sell Mercedeses, so no fast track for them.

Oh dear!, we have been waiting with bated breath. This morning we went there.....what a disappointment!. Honestly there was nothing on the menu I wanted to eat, I settled for a beet salad.. and got a pile of arugula, eight 1/2 " pieces of beets, 6 pistachios nuts, and three 1/2 " peices of goat cheese.It was $17.00. The bread was dry and just served as is...no oil no butter . I doapplaud their inclusion of Peroni on tap. They seated us in the old part of the restaurant. It was so loud, my husband took out his hearing aids. The kitchen was clatterering, and occasionally sending off bad smells. there is no baffling so it was loud, I could not hear my husband but could hear every word from the guy on the other side of the room who never learned that not all people are interested in what he wants to share. The decor was uninteresting, and the view out the window was of a gas main, a dirty street, and a parking lot.
Oh please give me my mushroom melt, the scampi with linguini, and those exquisite soups. We can't afford to eat here...and really don't want to.

So happy to see this open! We will be there soon!!

" This project should have taken only a few months. Far too much red tape in this town."

Far too many arm-chair designers, contractors, cops, doctors, etc. in this town. Everybody knows exactly how long anything should take.

I am not hearing anything about lunch. Are they open for lunch and have a lunch menu?

The food is good, the service is good, but the noise level is so bad that in the back part it is impossible to have a conversation with the person sitting opposite.

Can Mike do anything about making the noise level better?

High prices, mediocre food, and way too loud. I will not return.

Moneyburner
> I just remember how fast the Palo Alto Breakfast Kitchen went out of business.

Palo Alto Breakfast kitchen was a great success until they lost their best service people and their quality control. We used to eat there almost every week until it just became too irritating. And talk about loud .... they never did anything about the noise. They started out really great, and then downhill.

I used to periodically try Mike's before. I never thought Mike's was all that, but it was OK in a pinch, even if expensive. From what I read here if the prices have gone up and the quality has gone down, I don't think I am going to waste my time.

I tend to blame the landlords who even if they have owned a property for decades and WRONGLY benefit from Prop. 13, they still want to squeeze the life out of everyone else who does the real work in this town. Maybe the city itself needs to leverage some real estate and buy up some land to rent it out to good businesses at a reasonable cost as some competition to these greedy landlords.

Every nice business in town is gone or leaving, replaced with national chains who hire people who cannot possible live on what they make, while they funnel money up to landlords.

To restore Palo Alto to a liveable city we must recognize that residents are stakeholders in the decisions that get made and start to address the loss of the human element, instead of only respecting money, profit and power.