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By Elena Kadvany
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I am a perpetually hungry twenty-something journalist, born and raised in Menlo Park and currently working at the Palo Alto Weekly as education and youth staff writer. I graduated from USC with a major in Spanish and a minor in journalism. Though my first love is journalism, food is a close second. I am constantly on the lookout for new restaurants to try, building an ever-expanding "to eat" list. As a journalist, I'm always trolling news sources and social media websites with an eye for local food news, from restaurant openings and closings to emerging food trends. When I was a teenager growing up in Menlo Park, I always drove up to the city on weekends with the singular purpose of finding a better meal than I could at home. But in the past year or so, the Peninsula's food culture has been totally transformed, with many new restaurants opening and a continuous stream of San Francisco restaurants coming south to open Peninsula outposts. Don't navigate this food boom hungry and alone! Feed me your tips on new chefs and eats and together we'll share them with the broader community.
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Pluto's appears to close after more than two decades in downtown Palo Alto
Uploaded: Jan 15, 2020
The windows of Pluto's at 482 University Ave. are dark, and a sign posted to the front door says the longtime salad and sandwich eatery is "temporarily closed for a refresh."
It's not clear whether Pluto's will reopen. The owners did not respond to requests for comment. The restaurant's phone line has been disconnected and its website is down.
Other locations appear to have closed at the end of 2019, including the original Pluto's in San Francisco's Marina District and one at San Jose's Santana Row. Pluto's in Chico, Sacramento, Davis and Roseville also closed in recent years, according to news articles.
The grilled tri-tip sandwich at Pluto's in Palo Alto. Photo by Veronica Weber.
Louis Kimball and Gerry Bugas opened the first Pluto's in 1995. The create-your-own salads and sandwiches model, Pluto's said, filled "a much-needed niche in the vast nothingness between fast-food and full-service restaurants."
That "vast nothingness" is now overloaded with fast-casual dining options. In Palo Alto, Pluto's competed with Sprout Cafe and
Sweet Green, plus counter-service eateries like
Lemonade, Curry Up Now, Onigilly and Mendocino Farms.
Pluto's was in the ground floor of the President Hotel Apartments, whose new owner
plans to convert the building into a luxury hotel.
Some customers lamented the closure online.
"This is very sad. Decent, comfort food that didn't cost an arm and a leg like most everything else around here," Alina S. posted on Pluto's Yelp page. "I've been coming here for 14 years and can't believe it's gone. It was one of the last mainstays on University."
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