Great staff, and they always have what I need. Their fastener selection has served me well…read more One note: working people with 9-5 jobs like to shop after they get home from work. It's 6:22 PM, and I'm headed to a store that's open...

Just a shout out to Ace Hardware in Palo Alto…read more The service is outstanding. Everyone is sooo helpful and nice. The store is always clean. I can most always find what I need when I go in. Of course the prices can be a bit more expensive, but I would rather shop local than big box!

I came to California Avenue hardware with an unusual request: a small piece of astroturf 3 ft by…read more6ft. The store does carry packages of astroturf but they were 4 ft by 6ft. While I could have made do with that, Michael kindly cut it for me himself to the perfect 3ft by 6ft! That's real service!

The owner is so knowledgeable and helpful! He's always got good answers for my questions.read more

Awful place to go! Will never go again! Workers are not friendly or eager to help!…read more Called to get an items and the guy said it's available and we have it but 'I do t have time to get them for you to put on hold' , so I had to drive to the store! Parking is a nightmare! The guy i first saw told me to go to the front desk not welling to assist at all! Then the same guy was called to find the item but some one else from the store came and went to fetch! I thought why is this guy did not just help me at the first place? They have some kind of Command in line? The place had few workers but no one really care to assist me! I am trying to purchase an over $100 stuff and came few miles away to get it but they don't seem to care! Then the guy came back and told me they don't have what I want ! The online is wrong! I think he is just stupid and did not find it!!! Completely waste of my time! Not sure what is wrong with Menlo Park stores! I have repeat bad experiences in a month so I guess i will not return to this town to do any purchases! Where is the old fashion service?? It's gone !! Or maybe now a day ' service' is an unknown thing!!! I will just go to home depot or Amazon. Instead! Store like ace should review their service , if Amazon or home depot monopolised the market , this will be a good reason! I got better service at home depot cone to think of it!!!

I needed some flare fittings that are not commonly stocked at big box stores. Acehardware.com told…read moreme that Menlo Park Hardware had six of them in stock today so I put an order in for pick up to make sure I didn't have to dig through a disorganized rack for half an hour to find them when I got there. Less than 20 seconds after my order confirmation email I got an order cancellation email full of broken links to files on someone's hard drive. No explanation, just "Your order has been cancelled. Bye." I contacted customer service to see what the issue was and they gruffly told me that my payment was rejected and that I'd need to call my bank. I called Discover and they said no one had even attempted to charge my card for anything in the last 48 hours. Basically, Ace is full of it. McMaster-Carr overnighted the fittings to me for $13. Same card and everything. The next time you see some local hardware store owner crying on the news about how everyone shops at Amazon now try and remember it's likely because they stopped attempting to provide anything their customers needed a very long time ago. There's dozens of small-time hardware stores in San Rafael, none of them have the lowest prices on anything and all of them are packed with customers because they actually try.

I came in here looking to purchase a single 2.5mm hex wrench. However, the hex wrenches were only…read moresold as sets so I ordered the one I needed on Amazon. However, I was surprise to see a rather large freezer near the check out area. Upon looking into it, low and behold, there were frozen pies in it. On impulse, I picked up the Caramel Apple one for $18.95. Verdict: It was delicious. Who would have thought that, right?

Trying to get a semblance of customer service here is practically non existent…read more I needed a key copied and was told to go to some counter and ring a bell for service. I waited 15 minutes before giving up and asking the cashiers who were standing around scrolling TikTok if they could make a key copy for me. Nope. Apparently they don't know how to make keys.. Clearly management here doesn't believe in cross training. How hard is it to train people to make key copies?!

What a gem of a hardware store! Very friendly and helpful customer service. They had exactly what…read morewe needed and even met us behind the store to directly load the 100 pounds of cement we needed. Since 1983!

Avoid: Smug, rude employees that thought it was funny to play games and abuse an elderly person by…read moresaying she could use their bathroom, getting her to come back in the store; only to reject her causing her to have an accident. They lost a $450 sale from me today, and I will never return. Hopefully all of my neighbors will do the same. It's sad when I need to take my business away from a small business owner to a corporate chain that would never treat their customer in this manner.

Great helper found at Home Depot - Monte is extremely kind and helpful and above all an experienced…read moreexpert who actually listens to you and what your needs are, just amazing. I will be back! Today Dencell also went above and beyond to find the right wood for my project and was super helpful. Overall friendly staff but Monte and Dencell go out of their way to help!

Had a fridge delivered on Friday and one of the driver made me feel SUPER UNCOMFORTABLE…read more He was so unfriendly and gave me very judgmental looks when I spoke with him. I guess he didn't even want me touching his phone because he forged my signature on his phone (no big deal) but I hate that attitude.

Small store but super knowledgeable staff that is helpful and professional. Don't hesitate to stop…read morein if you need anything. If they don't have it, they will tell you where to find it.

Over the years I fly to San Francisco and stay at my brother-in-law's home often spending numerous…read moredays carrying out handyman tasks around his yard and home! This year was no exception as he had a number on jobs on his 'to-do list'! #1 task- Replace the old wooden post metal mail box! Needless to say, he didn't get his new mail box to match the structure fitting that were there already! So, how do we solve the mismatch? He, now my not-so-favourite brother-in-law, says,'let go to Portola Valley Hardware as they always have a solution to my handyman problems'! We go to PVH and the friendly staffer at busy front counter cheerily says to go down Aisle 7 and I'll have Bob waiting to assist you! And there he was! Bob listened to our 'Mailbox' dilemma then offered a plan that efficiently put into action and solved our problem with a little custom carpentry and, voila, we left ecstatic that we could now complete installing the mailbox per his creative skill set! Thank you Bob and PVH staff for going way and beyond in ensuring you looked after our needs and sent us home totally satisfied! Hmm...what made my favourite -in-law most pleased and excited was that his bride was absolutely ecstatic at the awesome finished new mailbox! WELL DONE/5! Respectfully, Dave C. Kelowna, B,C. CANADA

Such a great hardware store, my local go-to, friendly knowledgeable staff. Unfortunately they are…read moreclosing up shop in the summer of 2026 and I'll miss them. Patronize them while you can, they deserve it!

I see that it's going out of business and that's unfortunate for their local customers. However,…read moreI've never cared for this hardware store. Of the few times I've went, what I was looking for was never in stock. Help was ok. I left wondering how they stay in business and that was 7 years ago! It's interesting because I've always found True Value Hardware stores disappointing. Orchard Hardware (now Ace) is my go to favorite.

We needed to build a customized handrail for an upstairs bedroom. I brought in a template to…read moreChris, their milling guy. We had to do several cuts to get it right because Chris wanted a perfect seam at the joint. Thank you Chris. Andy De Wild from San Carlos

I visited for my first time today and had a great experience thanks to Yusuf! I was looking for…read moresome wood for a personal project and he showed me around and looked through options with me. We ended up finding a great piece for the perfect price.

The vibe here is beige on beige, cream on cream, off white and more of the same. Tons of busts…read more(marble or some other stone--beige, of course), oversize mirrors, huge sofas sectionals and other oversize furniture with cushions galore. Multiple floors of monotony and sameness, an ode to neutrals. I imagine that someone who loves neutral palettes would want this stuff. I felt starved for color and vibrance, which if you're looking for, you will not find here. I'm not sure who the target demographic customer is for this place, e.g. in all my years, I've never been to a home with a massive grecian bust as decor. Maybe this is for a commercial establishment? If someone was looing for an off white huge sofar with stuffed cushions, and willing to pay more, this would fit the bill. It has a completely different ethos from what they were over a decade ago when they had way more interesting, well-built furniture, e.g. we have an RH eight person dining table/seat set we got from them over twenty years ago--it's classic and standfs time, a gorgeous polished piece of wood. They truly don't make them like that, as the sayin g goes--and RH these days definitely doesn't sell like these.

I gave it an additional star because the location is really stunning. The chandeliers, with the…read morefountain and the trees in the center make for a beautiful setting. That being said, our server broke one of our wine glass while serving us, they were out of Migration and Caymus, the only two wines we wanted to try, and my sea bass was the most undercooked fish I have ever been served at a restaurant - and it's a relatively pricy dish on their menu. I was do disappointed. I didn't want to complain and have it sent back because they were already taking so long to get food out. As for positives: the grilled avocado and caviar was delicious; the butterscotch dessert was very rich, but delicious. If they sold that in a jar, I would have walked away with it. At one point, the server offered us a complimentary shrimp appetizer - maybe they noticed they were falling short on our experience and tried to sweeten the deal. Appreciated the effort. Maybe their brunch is stronger. I can only imagine what those glass ceilings would do to the place on a bright clear day.