Palma
Natural wine, a wood fire, and the best happy hour bread in the East Bay.
Drinks
- Rotating Natural Pour$10
Ask what's open — they pour generously.
- Vermouth & Soda$8
- Pét-Nat by the glass$12
- Amaro Spritz$10
Food
- Wood-Fired Focaccia$7
With cultured butter. Non-negotiable.
- Olives & Lupini$5
- Anchovy Toast$9
- Wood-Grilled Broccolini$10
- Sausage & Peppers$12
Is it actually worth it?
Palma does the thing I love most in a wine bar: they treat the happy hour list like a curiosity cabinet instead of a clearance rack. The $10 rotating pour has been a Jura chardonnay, a Sicilian frappato, and a slightly feral Loire chenin on three separate visits. Ask the person behind the bar what they're excited about and then order that.
The focaccia comes out of the wood oven blistered and salty with a puddle of cultured butter melting into it, and if I'm honest it is the entire reason I keep driving over the bridge. The anchovy toast is sharp and confident. The broccolini gets proper char. Nothing here tastes like an afterthought.
The patio is heated and strung with lights, which makes a 4pm Wednesday feel like a small vacation. Value is good rather than spectacular — you'll spend around $70 for two — but you're paying for real cooking and real wine.
