Business & Tech

Sam's Chowder House to Open in Palo Alto

The popular Half Moon Bay restaurant will now have a presence on the Peninsula.

Residents of Palo Alto and surrounding towns don't have to visit Half Moon Bay or wait for their company to invite the chowder mobile because Sam's Chowder House is opening in Palo Alto.

The popular seafood restaurant will move into the location formerly occupied by the artisan pizzeria Campo 185 at 185 University Ave.

Owners Paul and Julie Shenkman are converting Campo 185, a pizzeria and Italian eatery, to a Sam’s Chowder House, and hope to reopen in the November timeframe.

"Our customers have been asking for a Sam’s on the Peninsula for a while, and we feel like this is the right location," said Julie. "There are a lot of Italian restaurants in Palo Alto, but there aren’t any seafood restaurants like Sam’s in downtown Palo Alto so this is the perfect spot."

In a letter to Campo 185 customers, the Shenkmans further explain their latest news:

Dear Campo 185 friends and customers,

It is with mixed emotions that we update you on our latest news. We are converting Campo 185 to a Sam’s Chowder House. We plan to reopen the restaurant around mid-October once we complete our renovations. Our customers have been asking us for some time now to open a Sam’s on the peninsula, similar to our Half Moon Bay restaurant. Over the past year, we have been exploring various locations, but haven’t found quite the right thing. Then we realized we already had it. As much as we love Campo, there are eight Italian restaurants, and 10 pizzerias in contiguous downtown Palo Alto, and there aren’t any seafood restaurants like Sam’s. So we thought it was time, and we think this is the perfect spot. We hope you do too.

We are excited that top Executive Chef Rob Holt, who joined us at Campo 185 in April, will helm the kitchen at the new location, under the continued leadership of our business partner and Sam’s Half Moon Bay executive chef, Lewis Rossman. Our menu will include fresh, seasonal ingredients prepared in a manner reminiscent of a New England style seafood house. Signature menu items will include Clam Chowder, Sam’s Lobster Roll, Fish and Chips, an ever-changing menu of fresh daily fish, a Raw Bar, and more. In addition, Executive Chef Holt will utilize his broad experience at leading Bay Area restaurants to create many other tasty specialties.

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

We want to thank all of you for your support and evangelism of Campo 185 – we truly appreciate it. We hope you’ll be as excited as we are about this decision, and look forward to serving you fresh, delicious seafood very soon. Also, we will honor any Campo 185 gift cards at Sam’s Chowder House once we reopen.

People interested in learning more about their progress and pending opening can follow Sam's on Facebook where they’ll be posting updates.  

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here