Rangoon Ruby

Palo Alto, United States

3.8

Closed now

20 reviews

Accepts Credit Cards
Free Wi-Fi

Contacts

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Telephone:
+1 650-323-6543
Website:
www.rangoonruby.com
Address:
445 Emerson St, Palo Alto, CA, 94301
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
770 ftPalo Alto
800 ftPalo Alto Transit Center
0.6 miStanford
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Bussiness info

Takes Reservations
Yes
Delivery
No
Take-out
Yes
Accepts Credit Cards
Yes
Accepts Apple Pay
No
Good For
Dinner
Parking
Garage, Street
Bike Parking
Yes
Wheelchair Accessible
Yes
Good for Kids
Yes
Good for Groups
Yes
Attire
Casual
Ambience
Classy
Noise Level
Average
Good For Dancing
No
Alcohol
Full Bar
Happy Hour
Yes
Best Nights
Fri, Sat, Sun
Coat Check
No
Smoking
No
Outdoor Seating
Yes
Wi-Fi
Free
Has TV
No
Waiter Service
Yes
Caters
Yes
Has Pool Table
No

Today

Today 11:30 am – 2:30 pm
5:00 pm – 10:30 pm
Closed now
Local time (Palo Alto) 12:14 AM Friday, May 23, 2025

Business hours

Monday 11:30 am – 2:30 pm
5:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Tuesday 11:30 am – 2:30 pm
5:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Wednesday 11:30 am – 2:30 pm
5:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Thursday 11:30 am – 2:30 pm
5:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Friday 11:30 am – 2:30 pm
5:00 pm – 10:30 pm
Saturday 11:30 am – 2:30 pm
5:00 pm – 10:30 pm
Sunday 11:30 am – 2:30 pm
5:00 pm – 10:00 pm

Description

Specialties

Probably the finest Burmese restaurant in the Bay area.

With accomplished chefs proficient in all of the specialties that make Asian-​Burmese cuisine sought after by food aficionados, Rangoon Ruby is fast striking a chord with diners looking for a fresh, modern approach to one of Asia’s most popular cuisines.

Influenced by Indian, Thai and Chinese cooking, our authentic Burmese menu is complemented by an exquisite bar with signature Tiki cocktails including our eponymous Rangoon Ruby (a must try, for all first timers!).

Rangoon Ruby goes the extra mile to bring you the ultimate dining experience. From our warm service staff to an extensive menu of outstanding dishes, our artfully designed interior and upscale ambiance, we provide the luxuries of dining in comfort and in style.

History

Established in 2012.

Founded in 2012, Rangoon Ruby Burmese Cuisine was launched to bring Burmese food to the masses. Chef owner Max Lee had a vision to share his passion for his home style of cooking with the Bay Area. Partnering with chef Win Tin, Chef Max has quickly made a name for himself in Asian Fusion cuisine. Currently open in Palo Alto, San Carlos, Belmont, Burlingame and San Francisco.

Meet the Manager

Rodel M.

Manager

General Manager Rodel Marquez helps keep everything running smoothly at Rangoon Ruby. His savvy business and leadership style keeps Rangoon Ruby going as the best Burmese restaurant in the San Francisco Bay Area. He and his team are devoted to giving you the finest experience possible.

Owner John Lee was born and raised in Burma. Out of his passion and reminiscence for the delicious flavors from home, John started Rangoon Ruby in the San Francisco Bay Area. With superb chefs and a team of warm, hospitable servers, Rangoon Ruby is dedicated to providing a great dining experience to you.

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20 reviews of Rangoon Ruby

No registration required
Place rating: 4
Durham, NC
Very delicious food! This place was packed when we went for dinner last weekend. My partner and I ordered the Palata with coconut chicken curry, the chicken and shrimp biryani (aromatic and flavorful with nuts and spices) and a garlic noodle with duck.
My only displeasure was them having put the 2-​seater tables so close to each other that I was bumping elbows with adjacent diners. I understand the space utilization factor for running a successful restaurant but the tables are too close for comfort.
Place rating: 5
Santa Clara, CA
I took my parents to this place to give them a taste of Burmese cuisine. For the first time, we all licked off the plates in a restaurant. I’m glad they liked one of my favorite places.
Must try —
Tea lead salad
Platha dip
Yellow lentil fried rice
Coconut pudding
Place rating: 4
Pittsburgh, PA
Was really craving some tea leaf salad and comfort food after a long day at work. This place was walking distance from the hotel, so I ordered the tea leaf salad and shrimp curry. I turned on my tv show and ate it happily in my hotel room. The only thing is the curry was spicier than I expected even though I asked for mild.
Place rating: 5
Chicago, IL
Awesome food, great service, nice ambiance — give me these 3 and I will give you a 5 star :)
Loved lunching here! The service was nice and prompt. We were a party of 5 and stayed over for almost 2 hours which went past their closing time but we weren’t shown any kind of haste in any way.
Their portions are big and tend to get heavy so order carefully.
Burmese food is awesome! This place is a must-​visit.
Place rating: 5
Miami, FL
Aaaaaaa-​freaking-​mazing food! Absolutely a must try of in San Fran/​palo alto! They truly are the BEST Burmese Cuisine in the bay area.
They were recommended to me twice by two different acquaintances so knew i just had to go! and am so glad I did because the food, flavors, and fusion, was one of kind and I’d never tried before! So my taste buds were definitely in for quite the surprise!
Since I was there on a business trip and short in time, I asked the waiter to recommend only the BEST and he did just that! Recommendations were:
— Appetizer: Palata
— Main dish: FIery LAmb Tofu
also, please be advised their portions are BIG so definitely go with a big appetite and a taste bud! :-P
Place rating: 4
San Diego, CA
We were a little hesitant to try Burmese food… Just cause we didn’t know what we were getting ourselves into and one of our friend also had a bad experience before.
But to our surprise the food was good. It was like a mixture of Thai, Chinese with Indian. We ordered a bunch of things: catfish, lemongrass pork, garlic noodles, tofu wrap, basil beef, and calamari. So we had a good mix of everything and some cocktails. Honestly it was pretty tasty… Tasted mostly like Southeast Asian…
Luckily we made resos well in advance. Had a party of 8, when we left it looked like there was a long line still and it was 10pm.
Place rating: 3
San Francisco, CA
The food here is pretty good (vouched for by a Burma native) but it is incredibly overpriced. I ordered the Monk Hingar (catfish stew — my favorite Burmese dish), others in my party ordered garlic noodles and chicken with rice, and all three dishes had small portion sizes. My stew was flavorful and as usual I thoroughly enjoyed the fried yellow peas for texture and the lemon juice for brightness, but it was served in a small shallow bowl that was literally 1⁄3 the size of the bowl I got at Rangoon Superstar in Berkeley. For $ 14.95 before tax and tip, I was not hungry for a measly 2 hours then ended up devouring a large burger and a huge pile of chips for dinner to make up for the lack of sustenance at lunch. I would not recommend this place unless you have money to throw away.
Place rating: 2
Redwood City, CA
Added a fee to our bill after the fact.
My wife and I enjoyed the food, but found this ACA charge in very poor taste. Without warning, we see on our bill an additional 3% charge «to pay for the ACA (affordable care act)». Rather than be transparent and increase the price of items on the menu, they decide to hide a fee and add once we pay the bill. Is this even legal?
Rather than ask for the charge to be refunded which is what this long note proposes, we just won’t be returning.
To management, is this really a better experience than increasing prices 30 cents? (on a $ 50 dinner bill, this totals $ 1.50. You can’t increase prices to make up $ 1.50 and would rather sneak it in with an embarrassing note after dinner? Crazy.
Place rating: 4
Palo Alto, CA
Came here on a Saturday at 12:30 expecting a line, but there was no wait at all! Service was great and we were seated immediately and helped with a very friendly waiter. This is my third time eating Burmese food and it definitely lived up to the standard! We ordered the garlic noodles and the basil chili beef. The garlic noodles were light and flavorful and had a strong taste of garlic, but not too strong. The basil chili beef was not spicy at all, and was so tender and soft. Really enjoyed this place and overall Asian vibe.
Place rating: 4
East Bay, CA
I’m not too familiar with Burmese food so this was a fun experience!
My friend and I shared:
–Tea leaf salad: this was recommended by the waiter and we really enjoyed it. The tea leaves offer a unique flavor but beware that it’s a little spicy!
–Crawfish chowder: the noodles cook fast and so it’s a bit soggy and we didn’t taste any crawfish. It reminded me more of pumpkin but it was still flavorful.
This place is pretty with good service and a large price range. They also have a lot of interesting sounding dishes and I definitely want to come back and try more of the salad, seafood and veggie dishes!
Place rating: 4
Cupertino, CA
Everything here was delicious! My two friends and I didn’t have too much experience with Burmese food, so we went with our waiter’s recommendations and ordered the Tea Leaf Salad, Pork Curry, and Mango Shrimp with a side of the coconut rice. We finished every last bit of food on each plate; it was just that good. Service here is also very good — the waiter came over several times to see how we were doing, and we never had to flag anyone down to ask for more water.
The only reason I took off a star is for the price, which is higher than I was expecting based on portion sizes. Still, I had an excellent experience here, and would definitely recommend checking out!
Place rating: 4
San Jose, CA
Tea leaf salad was very good and unique. We tried the vegetarian and chicken curry palata and the chicken was definitely tastier. The fried calamari was very good and tasted wonderful with the jalapeño and garlic in the garnishing. I agree with many of the reviewers that this place has good food overall, but the appetizers are better than the entrees.
For the main course we had the garlic noodles with duck as everyone has seemed to loved them. They were good. We also tried the Minted Jalapeño Chicken which was also good, and I would have enjoyed more if I was not already so full with the appetizers.
The staff was very helpful and courteous. They place the order using tablets that they carry with them, and I think they are wirelessly connected to the kitchen. I know it is not a big feat of engineering but we got our tea leaf salad as soon as we finished our appetizer order just as our server walked away. It was fun to see things come so fast and be good.
Place rating: 4
Westfield, NJ
This is a nice upscale and trendy Bermese restaurant for a night out. Reservation highly recommended even on a weeknight. We got seated with no problem on a Thursday night with reservation, but noticed that the restaurant filled up very quickly. The waiter was very polite and attentive, and took his time to welcome us and explained the menu.
We got the signature tea leaf salad, calamari, country Lang (which is in a yummy curry sauce), and chili beef, topped with coconut rice. The salad is definitely special and did not disappoint. I have never liked salads but this is just so different, full of crunchy stuff, nuts and the tea leaf paste makes it so interesting with a deep flavor. The curry lamb was creamy and tender, and chili beef made perfect with just the right amount of slice. The calamari was just ok so I would skip it next time. We had a great meal overall. The price is actually not bad for a «upscale» place (we spent about $ 45 per person, with a glass of wine each), and it is great to get to share entrees family style. I would definitely come Back again.
Place rating: 4
San Francisco, CA
Located in the heart of downtown Palo Alto, it seems to be one of the busiest restaurants on the strip. I would recommend making reservations prior especially on weekends or else you would have to end up waiting like me for over an hour to be seated. It didn’t seem too bad with all the shops still opened and must i say… that i really like the Palo Alto nightlife vibe. You can see musicians passionately providing the streets with fantastic music and the christmas lights still up around the trees makes it feel like it’s the holidays all over again.
After a hour wait we were seated in a somewhat cramped area for two. We were immediately served with menus for food and an ipad menu for drinks. The ambiance seemed like a higher class dining but not to a degree of being too formal which i like. We ended up ordering the garlic noodles with duck meat and the pork pumpkin stew with steamed rice on the side. Wanted to say that the Garlic noodle didn’t really taste like garlic noodle but more like pasta. As for the Pork pumpkin stew… they actually accidentally gave us chicken pumpkin stew instead and we didn’t even notice on our first bite until she came over and switched it out for us. My lady liked the chicken better but i personally preferred the pork because it was more tender. The stew went well with the steamed jasmine rice.
In terms of the overall ambiance and restaurant experience it’s a solid 4 stars. I’m hoping to try the other stuff on the menu as the entrees we got were good but not great. I would say it’s kind of overpriced at this spot with 2 entrees that didn’t fill us up adding up to $ 45… but then again it is downtown pricing and their demand is just so overwhelming. Will be back for round two shortly and this time i won’t forget my reservations!
Place rating: 4
San Francisco, CA
An hour and fifteen minute wait. I highly recommend making a reservation if you wanna avoid a wait like ours… or actually, you NEED one if you’re going on a weekend for dinner. Not sure how lunch is, but it seems like a very popular restaurant that attracts many passer goers that walk through the busy & lively heart of downtown Palo Alto. The wait didn’t seem too long because there was just so much to do around the area. There’s Gong Cha a couple blocks down if you need your milk tea fix (I sure did!) And if you just happen to see another restaurant you wanna try along the way, bookmark it for next time. We walked around for an hour and enjoyed beautiful music sung by Eddy Dyno himself. He had such an amazing voice. I immediately searched him up on soundcloud/​YouTube after I watched his performance. He attracted a crowd!
Came back to check up on our wait time an hour in. We were seated 10 minutes after that. Felt a little too close to the table next to us. We ordered garlic noodles with roast duck and pumpkin pork stew. At first, they served us pumpkin CHICKEN stew which I already really liked. but the lady just snatched it out of our table after we already had a couple pieces and was like «whoops, here’s pork.» I wanted the chicken instead. will remember to get that next time. The garlic noodles were rather disappointing. Egg noodles? Barely any duck? Didn’t taste like garlic noodles whatsoever? Bland? I wouldn’t order this ever again.
Definitely a bit pricey. Our total came up to be $ 40~ for two entrees and a side of rice. It was good though. the stew at least. Can’t wait to be back to try other things! I know they have other locations, so maybe those might have a shorter wait!
Place rating: 3
Cupertino, CA
Did this place used to be bigger???
I remember coming here years ago with my cousin and it seemed much bigger and less crowded… Or maybe I was just smaller lolol.
We came in at 5:20 ish and were able to snag a seat, except the host told us there is a table with a 6:30 reservation so we had to hurry or have a seat at the bar. 1 hour was enough time for us so we decided on the table.
Ordered:
Garlic noodles with roasted duck
Fried salmon in lemongrass sauce
Tea leaf salad
and 2 IPAS
The total came to about $ 70! This place is NOT cheap! Well most items were moderately priced, but the salmon was almost $ 30, which was half our meal haha. The portions were OKAY. My boyfriend and I were able to finish everything, leave full and satisfied, but not disgustingly stuffed and dead. The food was all good to me, except I didn’t care for the garlic noodles. Would have rather gotten something else and rice or something. The tea leaf salad and salmon were excellent. The salmon was cooked perfectly.
The tables are kind of squished together so you could probably hear how your neighbors’ dates are going hahaa. Great ambiance but not a lot of privacy.
Would come again if in the area, but 3.5 stars because my first time seemed better: P
Place rating: 3
San Jose, CA
I’ve been wanting to try Ragoon Ruby for a while now since everyone around me had been raving about it like crazy. Tonight was the night to try it and sadly I have to say I was a little let down.
Food here was good, but not amazing. Portions are small and on the pricier side. The two dishes that stood out the most for me was the tea leaf salad (of course) and the chili basil lamb. The lamb was really tender and tasty :)
I think service here is what killed it for me. It was chaotic and unorganized, and it seemed like each server kept passing off our requests to other servers without actually tending to us. For example, we requested a glass of water at least 5 times and it took a good 15 – 20 minutes before it finally came. It’s a little ridiculous.
The restaurant inside felt really cramped and with the chaotic service it felt uncomfortable to eat. At the end of my meal I was feeling pretty unsatisfied and extremely thirsty :/
Place rating: 4
San Mateo, CA
Rangoon Ruby is a classy establishment serving unique Burmese food.
The menu is vast and the place runs smooth like butter. How smooth? We ordered a Mango Salad, Palata with Chicken, and Basil Beef. Each item came out as we were wrapping up the previously delivered item. The pacing was magical to say the least. Each item was pleasant to the palette offering unique twists on the Thai food I think it looks like. I particularly enjoyed the Palata. The entries are a little on the pricier side, but if you’re looking for a classy meal don’t hesitate to come here.
Place rating: 1
Alexandria, VA
Came here for the first time today. I started with the pallata appetizer, which was good. For the entrée, I ordered the pumpkin stew.
Around 20 minutes after I finished my appetizer, I asked when I would be getting my stew. The waiter said he would check.
I had a clear view of the kitchen and could see the cooks were working very slowly as if they didn’t care. Food was coming out very slowly, like one dish every 5 minutes.
15 minutes later and still no stew, I told the waiter I would leave if my entrée didn’t come out. He said it would be out in 2 minutes.
5 minutes later (40 minutes total), the stew finally came out. I would say the stew was very good, but the rice that I had with it was not good. It had whole spices, like cloves and cardamoms. Biting on a cardamom is terrible. It’s overpoweringly bitter and after eating one by accident, you won’t taste anything else.
Although I can possibly overlook the long wait for my stew, what I can’t overlook is the 3% «Affordable Care Act Tax» that was placed on my bill.
I consider adding such a thing to be deeply offensive, deceptive, and dishonest. On the tables, there is a card with a long, rambling explanation for why such a thing is added to the bill. It explains that while other restaurants «unilaterally raise their prices» (unilateral doesn’t mean what they think it means), they have bravely kept their menu prices unchanged. But because that is «financially unfeasible», they add a 3% ACA fee.
Excluding that one fee from the menu price is just a dishonest way of hiding the true cost of the meal. They are advertising one cost and then charging you another, just as a way of making a political statement.
Place rating: 4
San Francisco, CA
Next best Burmese restaurant after Burma super star imo! Sometimes even better because you can make reservations ahead of time. The vibe here is more upscale though, and the dishes a little more expensive (they’re so fancy and even have an iPad for wine selections). It is DT Palo Alto after all.
We ordered their staple tea leaf salad, mango chicken entrée, and beef curry. Every dish had a yummy combo of spiciness and sweetness. The mango chicken wasn’t too saucy, despite the mango purée. I liked that dish better than the beef curry, which was just a little too heavy for lunch. The service was great too. I would definitely suggest making reservations as it can get busy during dinner hours. I wouldn’t mind trying out their dessert the next time around– sticky coconut rice!