Tal Palo, a new Mexican cafe and store, opens this month in downtown Los Altos.
Courtesy Adriana DominguezThere is nothing quite like Tal Palo on the Peninsula.
A combination Mexican cafe and shop opening Tuesday, Dec. 13, at 149 Main St. in downtown Los Altos, it’s a deeply personal homage to the lives and roots of co-owners Adriana Dominguez and Aaron Porter.
In a space designed to feel like an extension of their home, the couple will serve a small, often-changing menu that parallels their home cooking: two kinds of chilaquiles and molletes, toast topped with refried beans, melted cheese and salsa. Chilaquiles will be made with crispy, house-made tortilla chips and two kinds of roasted salsa: one red and mellow with a mix of dried chiles, one spicy and green from a base of tomatillos. They’ll be served with black beans and a slice of toast to soak up the rich sauce.
The menu will expand to include dishes like pozole, pan dulce (Mexican pastries, such asconchas) and tacos on fresh tortillas. Some days, they’ll grind masa for fresh corn tortillas; others, they’ll lean on theBay Area’s artisanal flour tortilla makers,like the East Bay’sMama Cuca和Xulo。Dominguez的母亲时,厨师Gloria Dominguez of Oakland’s Tamarindo Antojeria Mexicana, is in town, they’ll serve whatever she feels like making. That may becochinita pibil, which is Yucatan slow-roasted pork, or carne en su jugo, a beef soup from Guadalajara. (The expression behind the restaurant’s name, “de tal palo, tal astilla,” is a parental reference that can mean “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” Dominguez said.)
Tal Palo is equipped with an espresso machine, but don’t expect a limitless menu of customizable coffees. Dominguez and Porter plan to keep it simple with a few drinks, including a cross between a cortado and a flat white (their at-home specialty).
For a few Friday evenings in December, Tal Palo will test out dinner before rolling it out permanently in the new year. Think small, snacky dishes like esquites, tuna tostadas and aguachiles along with beer and wine.
The design of the new cafe is similar to many in Guadalajara, where the couple lived with their young children for several years: converted homes where the owners serve food out of a residential kitchen and often live upstairs.
“You feel like you’re invited to someone’s home. We wanted to re-create that experience for people,” Porter said.
The interior floors and a backyard patio are decorated with mosaic and terrazzo tiles imported from Guadalajara. An open dining room is set with tables and mismatched chairs.
An adjacent shop will stock imported Mexican goods, from ceramics and art to drinking chocolate. It will also sell hard-to-find Mexican beers as well as local and Belgian brews. (Dominguez and Porter previously ran popular Oakland beer bar Trappist, which aSanta Cruz brewery took over last year.)
Tal Palo will be open 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday and for dinner 5-10 p.m. on Fridays only in December (Dec. 16, 23 and 30), and then expand its hours in January.
Tal Palo. Opening Tuesday, Dec. 13. 149 Main St., Los Altos.talpalo.com
Elena Kadvany (she/her) is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: elena.kadvany@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ekadvany
