Worst experience, no exaggeration. The food was horrible. The coconut rice was more like a a mush of over boiled rice. The noodles were undercooked and soaked in sauce but somehow had an over cooked egg. When we noted the food quality to the waiter, he said he can't do anything, he doesn't want to have this conversation and just left. It was absurd. Only come here if you want to experience absurdity or over pay for your food or taste eggs that somehow taste like cured fish. read more

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This is my first review here, but I have been here about 4x. Every time I've been here the experience has been great. The food is great, especially the tea leaf salad....can't ever go wrong with that! Perfect tasting. I have also tried the palata, similar to roti, and it was yum! I've tried the chicken kebat, basil swai (delicious and flavorful), Garlic shrimp and eggplant and they're all really great. I usually order the Burmese-Indian rice because it's so different and great tasting. Amazing flavor, could be a little strong for some though...IMO. It has whole cardamom in it. But their coconut rice, IS coconut rice! Loved it. I've had some that didn't have the coconut flavor, but Burma does. Absolute perfection. But most importantly in this review is about the service. I was there once before last night and the general manager, John, had recommended great dishes to us and had also boxed our food when we were done. Guess he was busy and forgot to give us our leftovers and we had a lot left, but we didn't say anything and left. Last night, John, recognized me and apologize that he had forgotten to give us our food. He did try to catch us, but we were gone already. But for him to remember me after almost 3 or 4 weeks of dining there, that's impressive. So he offered me a complimentary dish if we wanted another one and dessert, but the girls and I had more than enough food already, so I didn't bother saying anything. But we wouldn't skip the complimentary dessert! As we were looking at the menu, John had dropped off a take out bag for me. He ordered me my Basil Swai and coconut rice! That was super sweet and professional of him. And top of that, he already put in the order of a dessert for us with sparklers! Amazing amazing service. I didn't need the complimentary dishes or dessert, but I just love the customer service here. That is what hospitality is. This is how and why you get repeating customers. Thank you John! read more

Burma Ruby - My complimentary dish from the GM bc he forgot my food last time. Great customer service without even asking for it. :) - Burmese Near Me - Palo Alto, California

Pros: - Very very polite server - Food is very flavorful, large portions - Good cocktail selection, which includes sake Room for improvement: - Need to be aware of water refills and providing enough utensils Tips: - The eggplant and garlic dish is a MUST - Family style (e.g. 5 entries for 4 people and more than enough was left over) - Quite busy on weekends, so expect a 30-45 minute wait Vibe: - COVID-19: outdoor dining set up for you on University Ave in downtown Palo Alto - Local restaurant read more

Decided to take a chance even though it's 3.5 stars - as we all know, yelp can be a bit uneven when it comes to Asian restaurants. But ugh, instantly regretted it. Coconut rice - flavorless, over cooked and mushy. No actual flavoring of the rice. Tea leaf salad - in no way is this even in the same league as Burma Superstar. I guess it's inevitable that all Burmese restaurants are compared to the gold standard, but let's be real, it just doesn't come close. Pork curry - medium to subpar ingredients, watery curry and lackluster flavoring. The final kicker is the price - $17 for curry?! Would be worth it for prime ingredients and if it was tasty. I have been to Rangoon Ruby and thought it was decent and am pretty disappointed by this establishment. Hard pass. read more

I was looking for an early dinner after checking out Stanford's campus. I hadn't ever had Burmese food before, so I thought I'd roll the dice. I thought my pork curry was great! Plenty of tender pork in a slightly spicy/tangy sauce that reminded me of an Indonesian rendang. My mom had the Rangoon noodles, which was almost overwhelmingly garlicky, in a tasty sort of way. The interior was swanky and the service was attentive. Prices were marginally higher than what equivalent Thai dishes would have come out to. I would love to eat here again and discover more of what Burmese food has to offer. read more

Burma Ruby - Rangoon Noodle - Burmese Near Me - Palo Alto, California

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The waiter did not offer us water for the first 10 minutes after seated. There were these VOSS water on the table. We assumed that it was tap water on the house. No one had said anything while we were being seated. The waiter only explained to us that they charges these sparking water AFTER we have opened it. We were told that 'these were for decoration'. Turned out they charge $9 per bottle, with tax and tip close to 12 bucks ' for a bottle of premium sparkling water'! What daylight robbery. It almost as if they are waiting people to open it and then "gotcha"! Not impressed. read more

Burma Ruby was fairly busy on the random Wednesday night we visited. The host said the wait would be about five minutes and asked us for a contact number, which was a tad silly. We were seated in less time than that, even. The specialty tea leaf salad is yummy with lots of different components and textures; my only critique was that it was very oily. And if you like me were wondering, ingesting tea leaves does give you the same if not stronger caffeine kick as does drinking it (I learned the hard way)! Our waiter was friendly and helpful in recommending some main dishes. Among the other entrees we ordered I remember the fiery pork tofu being most flavorful and tasty; the meat was tender and cooked well. The portions are pretty generous, and we had a lot of leftovers of our three-ish entrees between the two of us. Overall a satisfying dinner, but it is on the pricey side and I've had better tea leaf salads elsewhere. I can see how it'd be a popular spot though given the large menu and good service. read more

Stop accepting Grubhub orders if you're closed. I was looking through the restaurants in the area I had ordered from (through yelp/Grubhub) and was allowed to order. I was told when it would be ready and even alerted that it was ready... as I drove by your closed location. There was no indication that you were closed when I put in the order. read more

4 stars, would return and recommend: * Good food with some standouts. The Burmese rice and walnut shrimp will leave you scraping your plate and and wiping your fork clean * Great outdoor atmosphere and comfortable seating (between two heaters - what a luxury on chilly evenings!) * Excellent service - errors in the order were acknowledged graciously and corrected at once. Special shout out to Randy, who did an exceptional job managing every table in sight with even-keeled efficiency and a winning personality read more

Another Amazing meal!! And they got a new blender do the Pina Colada's are back !!! Yummy read more

The Gist: I wasn't impressed. My friends and I did restaurant hopping, so all we ordered were samosas, garlic noodles, and tea salad between the four of us. The tea salad was good, though it might be because of the salt and the different textures and flavors. The garlic noodles reminded me of cup noodle. The samosas never came. We didn't have a problem with the bill after explaining that we never received the samosas to a lady who was not our waiter, since it was hard to get his attention. The weird thing was that she said to us they did not have samosas - which we definitely noticed. It was weird to see someone not familiar with the menu, especially something like samosas. My friend felt uncomfortable because the waiter always asked her, as if he didn't believe what she was saying...which was weird. I didn't like how crowded the tables were. We were not seated as far inside, but I felt bad having to walk through tables, since I hate it when people hit my elbows. Service: it was nice that they seated us in someone else's reserved table when we didn't have a reservation. So I guess if you're late for your reservation, you can be sure it won't be reserved. :) read more

Burma Ruby - The bar - Burmese Near Me - Palo Alto, California

I visited on a Friday night in late Nov so enjoyed the bustling Palo Alto downtown scene and Christmas lights surrounding Burma Ruby. The restaurant was packed with mostly southeast Asians which I took to be a good sign. Service was a little slow but I found the food to be high quality which for me is the most important criteria. The somosa I had were not greasy and had a light crispy coating-- sign of a good somosa imo. The mango shrimp entree was a nice blend of savory and spice, reflecting the multi country influence on Burma cuisine . Prices were a little high, including that you have to order rice separately. read more

Food is great. Tea lead salad has gotten a little smallish since my last visit. Samosas are still great. Monk Hingar soup wonderful. Wait staff is hit or miss. I've had great folks (you can order with your phone) who are friendly and others that really push the Voss. Just get that off the table. Stop the bamboozle. - 2 stars for the Voss and the press/deception from some (not all) wait staff. read more

Decent Burmese food. You're in Palo Alto so anything you eat will be pricey. The quality was on par; the quantity not so much but again, paying for the atmosphere. The favorite of my night was the mango chicken. Delicious!! Very flavorful, didn't get enough. The tea leaf was decent, the fish soup had no fish (maybe it was in the broth?), the lamb was decent, the garlic noodles were different (used flat Chinese like noodle instead), the veggie plates (not suggested, not anything interesting)... All in all, good dining experience but not something I'd crave. Not quite the ruby in the rough. read more

Great experiences both dining and ordering takeout. While dining in I've always enjoyed the prompt service here and love the food. I recently ordered takeout from here and was pleased with the experience as well. We got a tea leaf salad (a must if you are going to a Burmese restaurant and also my personal favorite), the mango chicken, and basil chili beef. Everything was so flavorful, so fresh, and our leftovers even tasted great the next day!! I would not order the mango chicken again because it was too sweet for my taste but while eating it I still liked it because I just imagined it was more of my dessert (who doesn't like a little onion in their sundae? :p). Picking up the order was a breeze as they got our order right(not always a guarantee with takeout!!) so I was really happy. I recommend checking this place out and will definitely continue to come here myself. read more

I have been there many times with my family but the last visit our experience was horrible. This was a while ago and I was grappling with writing a bad review for a restaurant in a troubled time. However, I think it is important to relay my account as the restaurant staff, especially the chef was borderline threatening and intimidating. He was a white guy and we are brown Asians and I think he thought it was his duty to set us 'right'. So here is how the events turned out to be. We went over to this restaurant for a lunch on a weekend. We ordered a lot of vegetarian food including the mango curry. All was good and the food was good. And then, I encountered a metallic nut in the mango curry. My first thought was that it came from one of the cooking pots/pans. I was not even mad and I was not even expecting a complementary dish to compensate for it. I just called your waitress and showed her that nut. She was very courteous and apologized. We said it was ok and the matter would have ended in a very civil manner. But now, this white savior comes in. He is wearing the chef's apron. He comes and sits right next to me and start asking questions on where I found that nut. I directed him to the curry. He then goes on to tell me that this does not belong to the kitchen. He points out that look it does not even have food particles on it. I showed him that the food particles can be seen embedded in the thread of the nuts. He kept hinting that we have brought this nut from outside. My kids (10, 4 at the time) were getting uneasy. I told him I am not looking for any complimentary stuff nor am I trying to get free food. All I am doing is pointing out that a non edible object was found on my food. Convinced that we are not trying to wiggle our way in to find free food, he left us alone. So not only did he not apologize for the miss, he made a snap judgement about us(I am not sure why except for the way we looked). I did leave my remarks on the bill and left. It has been 2 years since and I am never setting foot in that restaurant again. read more

Oof, this place got expensive recently. Friendly staff. Delicious food. Vegetarian and vegan friendly. Recommend the Burmese Pad Thai, which is nice and sweet, and the Tea Leaf Salad. During the pandemic, Palo Alto closed down the street to cars, so they had a lot of outdoor seating available. Recommended! read more

My coworkers and I came here for a team lunch today. We had the calamari and lettuce wraps for appetizers while waiting for everyone to arrive. One of my coworkers complained to the owner that the calamari tasted funny. He responded that it tasted fine and she should just drink some water. I had thought it was fine too and continued eating the appetizers. My coworker left before we got our check because she wasn't feeling well. I had the Burmese Pad Thai and took two bites before I started feeling nauseous. I felt the noodles were over cooked and brought this up to staff. Their Director of Operations took the calamari and my pad thai off our tab and let me take a tea salad to go. He said they just got the calamari in that morning and assured us that it was seemingly fine. He also said the pad thai was cooked as intended. Now, I'm at home curled up in a ball after throwing everything up in the toilet. The only thing I ate today was at this restaurant. If 2 of the 6 people who ate the appetizers are sick, it doesn't exactly give me confidence that this place serves quality dining...especially at its price tag. I wish they took their customers' concerns more seriously and that no one else suffered food poisoning from today. read more

2.7 STARS I love a good Burmese meal but have found that San Francisco has much better Burmese restaurants than the Peninsula. I tried Rangoon Ruby and didn't care for it. So, in trying Burma Ruby, I had hoped for something better. But I was disappointed to find out that Burma Ruby and Rangoon Ruby are owned by the same people and use the same menu. Had I known, I wouldn't have bothered. I feel like I am writing a review of Rangoon Ruby all over again by saying that the ambience is nice, the service is very good, but the food is mediocre. Among the dishes we tried and had much better success with in San Francisco were: - Tea Leaf Salad that uses lots of Romaine lettuce as a cheap filler that dilutes the taste - Catfish chowder that was watery and lacking flavor - Pumpkin chicken stew that was also watery and tasteless - Lentil fried rice that lacked flavor but was oversalted - Garlic noodles that were bland (you can see the recurring theme here) After we finished our dinner, our server told us that one other dish we ordered would be coming out shortly. We told her we were finished and wanted to cancel our order. She offered to pack it for us to go... but given that we were 0 for 5, we didn't see the point. There was nothing bad about the food we ate... but nothing that we would want to experience again. read more

The quality of service has gone down very noticeably. We've been regulars at this restaurant for many years, but the dining experience during the last 2 visits was miserable. The place seems to be run by teenagers with no food service experience or any apparent adult supervision to mentor them or do quality control of the service. No one came to check on us after the food was served. When I asked for boxes for the leftovers, I was given the smallest boxes available, although 2 of our plates were more than half full. I had to ask for more boxes until another server noticed that they needed to get us plastic containers that have more capacity for the amount of food left. The mood at the restaurant is also very somber as if everyone had to be there but wishing to be somewhere else. Michael: Do something to restore the good ol'days festive ambiance!! read more

I have never been to a restaurant that made me leave the food and just head out. The ambiance is decent and on a workday it is pretty crowded during the happy hours. Seating however is really crowded. We ordered the tea leaf salad and the samosa soup. The tea leaf salad was super salty and the server did not bother to mix it properly. The samosa soup was pretty bad too. Looked and tasted weird. The server spilled some out it in our glasses of water and did not bother to replace them. So, overall, bad food, bad service. Not coming back here again when there are tonnes of options in the area read more

Burma ruby was my first introduction to Burmese cuisine. I don't even know where to begin about the food. It's flavorful, it's got an entire range of dishes to choose from. Over a couple of visits, I have tried different things and they have all hit the mark. If this is your first introduction to the cuisine, I would strongly urge you to try the Tea leaves salad. It is a salad like none other. I also tried a particular noodle dish that is best hd lukewarm. I wish I remembered the name but it was phenomenal. Your server might help. In appetizers, I like the paratha. If you are visiting the bay area, give this place and the cuisine a try; if you live here, there is no excuse for not trying it out :) read more

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Great food, AMAZING DRINKS, but what really makes this place above all else is John D. There aren't very many people in the food industry that take that extra touch to provide you with a personalized experience. John is that!!! He is personable--makes you feel important and is willing to go above and beyond to meet your needs. This guy is special. Being a part of the restaurant industry for many years, i recognize people like this. He keeps us coming back, and continue to do so!! read more

Pros: + Hostess was friendly and seated us quickly + Street parking was easy to find on Sunday @7:45pm + Good amount of seating (Includes outdoor dining but the tables are out front facing University Ave which didnt like great seats..I wouldnt care to be outside) + Full bar. Good selection of wines, sake, cocktails, draft beers. Cons: - Ingredients not that fresh (None of the dishes wowed me or my friend. - Slow service. After being seated we had zero attention, water, etc for 12mins. I had to flag down the hostess to ask if we had a server--apparently the server didnt know our table was assigned to him! The server did apologize but the 12min wait should have followed up with a way to make it up to us (and not by giving us quick food?), a free appetizer or beverage, or 10% off the bill, etc. Food came out quick, first 2 dishes within 5 mins, the last after another 2 mins. But we immediately saw why--dishes are mass produced ready-to-go, and not made fresh :-( Dishes: - Lettuce wraps (shrimp): Very mediocre, disappointing! Do not get this. Romaine lettuce could have been more crisp; ingredients were definitely "sitting" there for a while. - Tea Leaf Salad: alright. Not a fan of the latger slices of lettuce. Although the server mixed the ingredients together, the flavors were just not at the right balance. Really wish we had a better experience here. But alas, wont be coming back. - Chicken Sabat: decent. Chicken was tender but on the salty side. read more

Burma Ruby - Chicken Sambat (ok) and Shrimp Lettuce Wraps (dont recommend) - Burmese Near Me - Palo Alto, California

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Very average . One salad came tossed not the other one . The waiter was great . Should be the other way around

This is a solid restaurant with a wide variety of options. I'm not very familiar with Burmese cuisine, but this restaurant seems like a pretty solid place. I visited here because their other location nearby, Rangoon Ruby was full to capacity. The service was solid, with our waiter being able to answer any questions about the menu. The mango rice is really good. I had some of the Burmese Pork Curry, which is good, but it came I a lot smaller portion that. I expected. The coconut rice is amazing!! For dessert, I had the coconut rice with mango ice cream. It didn't look like anything I expected, but it was actually very good. Their ginger beer is solid as well. Overall, it's a solid place to come with a group. They have options for everyone. read more

Burma Ruby - Coconut pudding fam - Burmese Near Me - Palo Alto, California

This was the first restaurant that my fiance and I decided to go to and eat at since the beginning of the pandemic. We felt very safe, as the tables outside were spaced very nicely apart. We had. great. service all night. The Tea Leaf Salad is to DIE FOR! So good! And we are allergic to nuts, and the kitchen was super helpful in making sure that we felt safe with every item on the menu. The carafe of Sangria was SO GOOD! Im just sad that I had to drive home, so I couldn't enjoy more of it. All the other menu items we ordered were delicious. Even though we live in the City of San Francisco, this restaurant and food is 100% worth the trip. We will be coming back with our friends soon. read more

Amazing Food. The Vegan Pad Thai was incredible as well as the Vegan Tea Leaf Salad. The service was amazing. I love this place and will be back. read more

We had the Tea Leaf Salad, the Sesame Beef and the Minted Jalapeño Chicken among other dishes. They were all very delicious. I especially liked the tea leaf salad a lot more than I thought I would. It was really good. My second favorite was the minted jalapeño chicken. Most of my friends didn't seem to like it as much, though. The waiter was very friendly and engaged in giving useful suggestions on the menu. I was there with a party of 5 under a reservation. The table was ready when we got there and the rest of the staff was very friendly. The ambience would work for both a friendly dinner or a romantic dinner. One draw back was that they had the door opened (probably to make it easier to take food to the people dining outside) but it was pretty cold for those sitting close to the door. Other than that, I enjoyed my dinner and I'd probably dine there again! read more

This is one of my favorite Burmese restaurants, but recently I had a bad experience. I was eating the BEST tea leaf salad when I felt something sharp and hard crack between my teeth. I quickly discovered it was a small rock. The waiter was very kind and quickly offered to comp the salad and give us free ice cream, but it definitely made me a bit weary to go back to one of my favorite spots. read more

This is one of the nicer restaurants on University, with white table cloths and a nice, clean interior. I think that inside can get a little on the noisy side, but not too much so that you can't hear each other. We decided to sit outside (sidewalk) so we could watch the people go by. Raquel was our server and she was great, as were all of the service staff. Very attentive and sweet. Started with the tea leaf salad, as we always do at a Burmese restaurant. This was excellent, and very fresh. Next was the Rangoon chicken curry, beef kabat, and some jasmine rice. Everything was fresh and flavorful. We liked the beef kabat the most, as it was spicier than the curry chicken, but I don't want to downplay the curry chicken as it was great as well. The manager made it a point to ask how the meal and service were, which I appreciate very much. It means a lot when owners/managers are noticeably involved. He was standing at the kitchen counter checking all the dishes as they were coming up. Nice! read more

It's a quaint space on University Ave. It's my current go-to spot for Burmese cuisine. The mango shrimp, eggplant, coconut rice, tea-leaf salad, and sangria's are all my favorite items to order here. There is a bit of consistency issues with their noodle dishes, so I stay away from the garlic noodles and what not. I'm sure if you don't like it, they'd be happy to remake it for you though. I would recommend this place overall for dates or small get-togethers; especially on the weekends. There's usually live music that plays not too far, so it's nice to stroll around on the lit streets around the block. read more

Ambience is on point, and my group of four was seated very quickly. Food came out fast as well and was delicious. We ordered the tea leaf salad, fiery beef tofu, and mango white fish. I would especially recommend the tea leaf salad! read more

Burma Ruby - Mango White Fish, Fiery Beef Tofu - Burmese Near Me - Palo Alto, California

The place has moved from the location posted on the web! Please check that before heading. As for the food, it's alright, though expensive and wouldn't recommend that highly given the variety of options available in downtown PA. read more

We went for a corporate lunch, made the booking in advance and were made to wait outside for 15+ minutes before being told that they can't accommodate us due to some breakdown of their ordering system for another 45 minutes. We had to rush around the area to find a restaurant which would accept a large party without reservation during busy lunch hours on Friday. It would have helped if they'd have told us earlier as we'd be in a lesser rush to eat and get back to work. Also please make your ordering system more resilient. Not a restauranteur, but maybe using pen and paper and later tallying your inventory once the system is back could have provided a better and more accommodative experience to us. read more

so disappointed with the quality of the food. This was a staple for me pre-COVID but it seems like both the service and the food seems to have significantly declined. service is also entirely automated now (having to order on an app) but they still charged a substantial automatic gratuity on top of a regular tip without informing us of the price breakdown. will not be returning read more

Burma Ruby has quickly become one of my favorite places to eat in downtown Palo Alto. The food is flavorful and absolutely delicious. I don't find it too oily or greasy like most other Asian/Pacific Island cuisines can sometimes be- so it's filling but not heavy. I LOVE the Tea Leaf Salad. I could eat that for lunch and dinner everyday and not get tired. Also a big fan of the coconut rice and eggplant. I like that Burma Ruby has vegan friendly options, and because there's so much variety in flavor, it's definitely on my top three places to eat out whenever I do. The only complaint I have is about the service. Sometimes (even when not too busy), service can be really slow. The last few times I've been here, I've had to grab the waiter's attention to get food and water (one time they even forgot one of our dishes altogether). If the food wasnt so delicious, I'd give 4 stars. But the quality of the food is so great I'll give Burma 5 for now! read more

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our party of (4) originally planned to dine at rangoon ruby, but since we didn't have a reservation and the place was packed, the owner/manager suggested that we try burma ruby, just a couple blocks away, with the same cuisine, in a more casual setting. so we walked a couple of blocks, and fortunately, were able to be seated right away, despite it being a peak dinner hour. my niece wanted noodles, anything with noodles, so we ordered her the side of garlic noodles, which was a generous side dish as the thick noodles tossed in garlic sauce came in a moderately deep bowl. i was on my "low carb" day so i just a couple of noodles to taste, and they were good, savory and well-seasoned with a good amount of garlic. i ordered the lettuce wrap, which was served as a large plate of iceberg lettuce, with radish, carrots, water chestnuts and shrimp blended together as the topping for the wraps. i thought the shrimp was savory and delicious....though i could have used some more pieces! on the side was their special house sauce which tasted like a tangy plum sauce. my husband and sister-in-law shared the country style beef, one of their signature dishes, which consisted of beef in bagan's traditional red curry with onion, garlic and red chili. i don't eat beef, but they said it was a good dish, well-made with lots of savory seasonings and spices. we also ordered a vegetable dish, broccoli and garlic, to share amongst the 4 of us, and to ensure my niece ate something other than noodles for dinner! this was a nice dish, consisting of broccoli tossed with white wine, garlic, a dash of salt and garnished with fried onions. i didn't like the onions, but the broccoli was tender and flavourful, and not overly cooked. service was pretty standard, as our food was brought to us in a timely manner and we never felt rushed despite the increasing number of guests who walked in (and had to wait for a table). our total bill was about $70, not bad for (4) people dining in downtown palo alto! great location along university avenue with lots of foot traffic! but this also means you need to spend some time looking for street parking or resign to parking in the city lots/garages. read more

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Wonderful Tasty Spicy Great food. Loved their Samosa Soup, best soup ever had. Let me know if you open a branch in LA. Would go on opening day But yes food was awsome, house made lager beer was smooth. Just amazing. read more

The food here is different, Burmese with a twist. Nice clean place. Friendly service. The prices are a bit steep. I liked the tea salad that has ferment tea leaves as dressing. It also has fried chickpeas, which were crunchy. The samosa soup was okay, not exactly my cup of tea. It was thick, almost no liquid. Chicken curry was different, again almost no liquid, but a lot of chicken. Take your date here for an "exotic" food experience, a hybrid between Indian, Chinese, and Thai. At least a very unique chandeliers are cool to look at. read more