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Mike Wallau stood in his restaurant Mike’s Diner Bar last night and scanned the room.
“All I felt was gratitude,” he said.
For 30 years, the Midtown Palo Alto institution has been whipping up classics with a twist, like crab cake benedicts, pear salads and bruschetta pomodoro.
Coined a “neighborhood jewel,” the restaurant has survived its fair share of battles from employee embezzlement to a near-eviction after turning in rent one day late and a 17-month closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Wednesday, Wallau, who grew up blocks from his restaurant, announced that the neighborhood staple will close its doors on Sunday.
“This has been the most difficult decision of my long restaurant career,” Wallau wrote in a statement. “But after 30 years running various Mike’s eateries, it’s time for me to change direction, focus on my family, and grow my restaurant consulting business.”
Wallau has built, owned and operated Mike’s Diner Bar, Portola Kitchen and Mike’s Café Menlo Park. Now, with three decades of restaurant experience under his belt, he hopes to help others manage their own establishments through restaurant consulting.
Currently he’s working on a couple of projects, but hopes to do more with his newfound freetime.
For years, Midtown Palo Alto has struggled to sustain local businesses, and COVID didn’t help, Wallau said.
“The model for full-service restaurants, specifically, is just different,” he said. “There’s so many things that are working against you to profit, and I just didn’t see any of that changing.”
So, he said, it might be time to take a deep breath and step back.
But Wallau didn’t want to leave his newly-renovated diner vacant – he is a neighbor after all. Instead, he’s handing the baton to Kirk’s SteakBurgers, which has served Palo Alto signature charcoal-grilled patties since 1948.
The restaurant, owned by brothers Maurice Carrubba and Giuseppe Carrubba, is home to second- and third-generation employees who cook beef from the same butcher used since the restaurant’s inception.
“I love Palo Alto and our Midtown community,” Wallau wrote. “And I’m delighted that my replacement is a family restaurant dedicated to Palo Alto and run by restaurateurs who really know and care about our city and our neighborhoods.”
It’s been so rewarding, Wallau said, watching his past employees, who once attended Palo Alto High School, dine at the restaurant with their families.
“I want to thank all my customers, supporters, staff, friends and family for their patronage, loyalty and all the great times we’ve shared,” Wallau said. “The sun may be setting on Mike’s Diner Bar, but it’s a fresh start for a new Midtown restaurant and a new dawn for me.”