Staying in SF, we will be doing tours of Stanford and Berkely at the end of August with our older teens. Need suggestions for interesting lunch spots for both those locations. Thanks!

Can't help w/ Stanford because I haven't been into Palo Alto for 3 or 4 years and things change.

And Berkeley has a LOT of interesting places. You'll probably get recs for many different places - but for a special "event" type of lunch I'd go to Skates.

It is on the Berkeley Marina and has one of the very best views in the whole Bay Area. The restaurant sits on pilings actually out over the water and you see all of SF, three bridges and all the sail boats out on the bay. The food is quiet good and will have something for just about everyone. Good desserts too. A bit on the pricey side - but not bad considering the location and menu . . . .

Since this is a college visit, how about having lunch around campus? Smart Alec’s on Telegraph Ave. (corner of Durant, I think) is a good place for quick lunches. It has an interesting menu; salads, soups, and health-food style sandwiches. I liked their grilled eggplant sandwich. Prices are reasonable and I think they only accept cash.

Sorry, I forgot to add this is in Berkeley, complete with street scene to get a feel for UCB campus town!

There are loads of places in downtown Palo Alto - just stroll along California Street until one strikes your fancy.

We had a really nice lunch in June at the California Cafe in the Stanford Barn shopping center. Loved the Oakville Grocery there. We attended a 95th birthday celebration at the California Cafe and it was very good. They also have a small outside patio to dine if that interests you. Happy college campus hunting! ***kim***

We visited my son many times when he was a Berkeley student. He graduated last May. Visit the Berkeley campus, a very nice campus. Then just stroll to the south side of campus, cross the street, and you'll find a very eclectic neighborhood, a huge variety of people for people-watching, plus tons of little cafes of every type you could desire. Just wander around and poke inside the busiest ones (which tend to have the best food). Good prices for food too. We always looked at people's plates to see what looked good! Lots of casual choices, great for teens.

Max's in Palo Alto shopping center (not near Arboretum) is another great place for a teenage appetite. Also in SF. Each of the waitstaff sings a song (sometimes a cappella) at a time interval that escapes me right now... Can be entertaining. Only qualified crooners are allowed.
In P.A., this location is removed from the raw, college atmosphere.
In SF, located on California or Van Ness.

There are lot's of restaurants to choose from along Shattuck Ave. in Berkeley.

La Note, a nice French bistro, serves very good sandwiches.

I remember making that Stanford/Berkeley tour trip once...years ago. Invaluable, because the campuses and their atmospheres are so dramatically different. There was no question where I felt most comfortable.

This Berkeley alum agrees with Melissa above--the place you want to eat on a campus visit, and to stroll to get the best feel of campus atmosphere, are the four blocks of Telegraph Avenue on the south side of campus (it runs south from Sproul Plaza, where the Student Union and Sproul Hall, the administration building, are) and the first block in either direction of its side streets.

In my day, and I gather still from a recent visit, the place to go in this area if you wanted a little quieter, more gracious atmosphere and waitstaff service was Blake's on Telegraph. This is where you're most likely to see professors lunching as well as students.. Here's a link to their website:
http://tinyurl.com/ascn9
but there would be a lot to be said, on a campus visit, for one of the funkier or more ethnic student places--like Melissa says, look for the crowds.

By the way, if I were being asked for a recommendation of a destination restaurant in Berkeley for someone visiting the Bay Area or driving through Berkeley on the interstate, I'd go with janis's recommendation of Skates above. The views are fantastic. But for your particular purpose of feeling out the campus vibe, I'd suggest eating near campus. Skates is on the other side of town from campus and has little connection to it.

Not far from Stanford is the very nice Left Bank restaurant, one of several in the area. We had a delicious lunch there--the atmosphere is upbeat and the service excellent.

Thanks for the great suggestions!