Here’s what happened with that list. The preponderance of low-end east palo alto taco joints has been a turn off. I think I’m going to have to split the list into more of a taco joint list, and more of a “newer places that aren’t taco joints” list, just to get the project going again.
Regarding my local area, the new outdoor seating at Left Bank is very pleasant, with a real floor, and the kitchen seems to be back on track ( they had a rough year or so recently, ingrediant quality especially ). We like the new Black Pepper in Menlo Park, are somewhat confused by the new Chum Ya ( old Su Hong ) because of the very american menu and very chinese staff, and are eagerly awaiting trying the new japanese place ( in the old Tokyo Subway spot ).
For indian, my favorites are still Aapakadi and Himyalian Kitchen ( S MV / N SV ) partially because they’re near the 85 junction, Thai is Tommy Thai. Had a very very pleasant meal at Vesta, we only don’t go there every day because it’s too crowded 
— showing up at about 9pm is the only way to get a table, although the protip is to wait across the street at Mandaloun, which is very very empty given the reasonable prices and quality for drinks and apps. Chinese, I favor the somewhat recent Chef Zhao (shanghai) at Embarcadero, although also still love the other chef zhao (szechuan). In downtown PA we’ve been to Three Seasons more recently, it’s just less crowded, although there’s nothing wrong with Dan Gordon or a few other place — many are simply too crowded. For “special occasion” meals in the last few months we hit Madrone, which was perfect for that crowd, big table, sunset, broad menu, tasty food, and the bar at Village Pub, which had a service hiccup but they were very nice about it. We’ve stopped going to Stein’s in MV because it’s just too freakishly crowded and haunt Refuge more, especially the San Carlos branch where you can sit outside.
In my lunch area, which is San Antonio, I love the taco truck ( Mi Rancho I think ) which inhabits Charleston near the Best Buy / Pet Smart / REI. Across the street at the Michael’s, actually. Crucially, they have an al pastor spit on the truck, and their red salsa is first class. I’ve started eating at Dohatsuan more, and greatly appreciate it. The locals seem to know just how much to pack it for lunch, so sometimes there’s a person or two of wait, but it’s never crazy. The atmosphere is dank, but the ramen is very good.
We do like going out where there is live music on a friday. That usually means a rotation of Smoking Pig Fremont, Poor House ( actual po boys not someone using the name po boy just to sell an average sandwitch ), Stritch, Cafe Barrone, even my very local Cafe Zoe. Savana Jazz, even with take-in from Panda Dumpling, is just often a little claustraphobic.
Our beer week SV hit this week was at Nom Burger in the SV Downtown, which had the generic fixings and poor service you get in SV these days with the prices of everything as they are, but a plausible burger - the first time I’ve had a burger with burrata, although they said the meat was ground in-house I’ve gotten the taste of the meat from my mexican butcher, which is denser and more flavorful . My favorite beer of the batch was Founder’s Doom, but one of the Goose Islands was excellent and typical of the bourbon barrel aged style. Really not terribly happy with this trend of 16 percent beers, so my house beer has moved to Anchor’s Mexican Lager, which is a beer you can just have with dinner and not have it kill you.
