Empire Building

The Sea by Alexander’s Steakhouse to Take Trader Vic’s Space in Palo Alto

One of the two remaining Bay Area locations of Trader Vic’s, which opened in 2001 at Dinah’s Garden Hotel in Palo Alto (4269 El Camino Real), is set to close shortly, and it will be replaced by a seafood-focused restaurant from the Alexander’s Steakhouse team. It’s called The Sea by Alexander’s Steakhouse, and the announcement arrived today from executive chef Jeffrey Stout and partner Chanile Chang. The concept is high-end, luxury seafood, along the lines of Providence in L.A. or Le Bernardin in New York, which, we’ll just say, sounds pretty ambitious!

“Essentially we want to do what we did with steak but with different protein,” says Stout.

Look for Trader Vic’s to close within a couple of months if not sooner, though no exact date has been set. This leaves only six locations of the Tiki chain in the U.S., including one in Emeryville and two in Los Angeles, as well as more than a dozen international locations. The chain was, of course, started in Oakland by Victor Bergeron with his first bar in 1937.

The Sea by Alexander’s Steakhouse to Take Trader Vic’s Space in Palo