Canteen - Menlo Park, California

Sandra Chang

Food was delish - we were party of 8 and ended getting lots of dishes - most of the snacks and pintxos were smaller we got 2 of each - we also got the Crispy, Twice Cooked Basque Chicken, Roasted Creekstone Hanger Steak, and the Slow Cooked Spanish Octopus entrees and they delicious! We ate them before I could get pictures - Of the pintxos, the croquettas were especially tasty, as well as the Rock Cod + Green Garlic 'Bacalao' Dip!
Service was excellent, and the restaurant was modern, great vibes and I can imagine if I was living in the neighborhood to come by for drinks and snacks!

Marco

The food was disappointing. We tried the Dungeness Crab Salad Rolls, the Slow Cooked Spanish Octopus, and the Petrale Sole. Both the Octopus and the Petrale Sole were overly oily and lacked flavor. The Octopus dish, in particular, was underwhelming, with only three or four tiny pieces of octopus.

AJ F

Delicious good.The basque chicken was but drinks and salad were ?.Ok service.

manjot kalkat

In short, nice variety of tapas with excellent drinks. I would recommend the Royal Exhibition cocktail. Felt the price was high for the portions, however the variety in the menu was nice. Ambiance overall was pleasant, but I did feel we were seated too closely to another table. Also, there is a nice evening dining feel at night, but it also feels like it could be a coffee shop during the day (I’m pretty sure it is on the first floor of an apartment complex). The menu is rotating so I’d go back, but don’t think this is my first choice due to the $.

Emily Moxley

Cool new spot with some hits. We liked the mushrooms and the eggplant. The shrimp and the flan were ok. Drink menu was excellent across wine, cocktails, and beer - including some grapes I wasn’t familiar with.

George Bazlamit

Wow, fabulous on every level. Service Food quality and overall ambiance were fabulous. The tapas/Pinxos were fresh and tasty. The NY strip and the reduction was easily the best I've ever had. And the wine list was well curated. This will be a new "goto" spot for me

Terri Hanson Mead

TLDR:The food and service were fantastic (except for dessert). We will be going back to try more items on the menu.

The ambience is a bit odd. Since it’s located in the lobby of the new apartment complex, it feels like a Hilton Garden Inn restaurant.

The tables are close together which turned out to be a lot of fun. The couple next to us suggested the shrimp (a must try!) and the mussels (good but not fully to my taste). And the gin and tonic which was quite pretty with floating botanicals and mini rose buds.

We suggested the shrimp to the couple on the other side of us and they told us to try a few of the items they ordered. We had a fun convo with them too.

There is a really good Albariño on the wines by the glass list which was as it should be.

Our server and other wait staff were very friendly and helpful. And very engaging. This was a lovely surprise in Menlo Park. Not at all pretentious.

We ordered the non chocolate dessert which was a complete miss. It was like a burnt flan presented as a crème brûlée.

There is couch/comfy chair seating which would be great for a drink but looked difficult for eating anything other than finger food.

We parked on El Camino but the Canteen is on the street one block east and there is street parking.

We love to support new restaurants and look forward to going back again.

Murphy Brasco-Kitchell

Such a wonderful new place! Beautiful small plates (the shrimp were too delicious to stop to photograph) and a delightful selection of Spanish wines. We tried an assortment of tapas and glasses of mostly-unfamiliar wine varietals, and everything was excellent.

Seating was a little limited on a Friday evening, we got in with no trouble but it looked like there was a lot of interest by the time we left. A great opportunity to enjoy Basque food and wine!