Executive chef Jarvis Yuan makes lunch at Mandarin Roots restaurant. (Photo by Natalia Nazarova)
By Kate Bradshaw
Mandarin Roots, a long-standing family-run Chinese restaurant in Palo Alto, closed its doors Dec. 31 after 24 years in business.
"All good things eventually come to an end and it is with great sadness to announce that the time has come to close our doors," the owners wrote on their website.
In 2014, the restaurant at 3345 El Camino Real was changed from Hunan Garden to Mandarin Roots. It had been run for 15 years by owner Simon Yuan before it passed to his son, Jarvis, who revamped the restaurant with a Chinese-Californian concept offering "elevated street food" that became Mandarin Roots.
"It's based off the idea of taking Chinese food that my dad was doing and fusing it with what I've been doing, which is California, and taking that to the next level," Jarvis said at the time.
The menu offered craft cocktails, fusion-focused tapas like pork belly quesadilla, Kalbi beef tacos and Taiwan sliders, and extensive noodle, beef, chicken, seafood and vegetarian fare.
