Elite Cleaners & Tailors

I brought 2 pairs of pants. I replaced a button on one and a had an alteration on the other pair. For the price I paid I expected a better job. The hem job for the pants was not correctly done. It wasn’t even, not sewed all the way. And they still do not fit. It is a good thing I only brought one pair of pants for alterations. And this took 1 week. I have been many other places for less the price, ½ the time and a better job. I expected better especially with a location on UNIVERSITY AVE!!!

Fantastic service, turnaround times, and quality of dry cleaning, laundry, and tailoring.

I’ve taken our dry cleaning to Ann at Elite in PA for 20 years and absolutely no issues or complaints! Great service with a smile!

$ 12 per hem. Good deal and works with a lot of high end brands so Ann knows her stuff!
This is a little store where you can get all your fixings done. I used to work at a hotel nearby, and they took care of all the hemming. Does a great job and actually gives you advice on where to hem pants and jacket sleeves. She even sewed on a button for me w/​no charge… when I sew it on, it falls off in month…
Can’t get much better than that! It’s fast and Ann is always so nice.

If you’ve ver thought to yourself, «Man, I really wish someone would Sharpie my name all over this nice dress shirt of mine,» this is the place for you. If you have never had this thought, do not go to this place.
Seriously. Why write on my nice shirts?

The Asian woman running this place was pretty funny. I handed over my silk shirt with an oil stain she asked me if I’d tried washing it out already, and she started tsk-​ing me and shaking her head. Then she asked me what temperature I washed it at (cold) and she tsk-​tsk-​ed me again. Reminded me of my mom.
I showed her a pair of pants with another food stain (yes I’m a sloppy eater) that I’d clearly had a good go at already, and she just shook her head again, said next time to just bring it straight to her. She wouldn’t be able to do anything about the pants (appreciate the honesty) but would try her best on the shirt. It would be ready in just under a week.
I came in on the assigned day and my shirt’s ready, stain gone! $ 6, not bad. They delivered, on time and in good measure. Thanks, Elite cleaners!

Best dry cleaner I’ve found in the Palo Alto area. The clothes come back smelling clean (not like some places where it smells like chemical trying to mast dirty laundry) and they remove spots without damaging the fabric. Very friendly service as well.

I realized I have never written a review for Elite — my bad — and am really quite surprised by the inconsistent reviews.
I’ve been coming here for nearly 10 years, originally based on a referral from a work colleague who is also a long-​time customer. I use Elite for both dry cleaning as well as for simple alterations. They are incredibly reliable, and warn you in advance if they think it’s going to be difficult to get a stain out. I’ve never had any problems here with missing items, damaged clothing, etc., and the hemming has been great. It’s a super convenient location on University Ave, and it’s easy to get in and out. They used to only take cash but have started to take credit cards, which is helpful. And finally, Ann is really sweet!

Babies, I don’t have any skills in sewing «sheet!» :) This is one of the few departments I totally suck!!! So, when something is broken and needed repair, I either stop using them or have it fixed by the pro. In this case, I had to go to the pro.
I went here because I needed my skirts zipper to be replaced and my pants suit to be hemmed. The lady who helped me was very nice. She told me that the zipper on my skirt is not broken so there is no need for any fixing. Some people will probably wouldn’t care and just accept it even if it’s not broken. She was right though, it’s just that it keeps on opening everytime I’m wearing it so I assumed it needs replacement. Oh well, saves me $ 16 bucks right? She accepted my pants and told me it will be ready in 2 days. I came back after the said date and my pants were ready. They actually used manual labor to sew down the edge of my pants unlike the others who uses a sewing machine. What’s good about it? If my stilettos get caught in my hem, it will not tear the whole thing.
They did a great job and delivered good service! I wish they can also sew mouths that needed to be shut. You know, those yappy d yapyap mouth. :-P

I’ve been coming since October 2011, and have experienced good prices, good alterations, no problems with dry cleaning, honest feedback on what can be cleaned and what can’t, how to best care for clothes, and decent (4 – 5 days) turnaround for the alterations. Owner is friendly, the place is clean, never had anything lost, torn, or messed up.

The only reason this place gets even one star is because the woman was very quick to give me my money back when I asked for it.
Based on the positive reviews, I took a pair of pants there for a simple hem. They were about ankle length and the exact length that I wanted them was exactly one hem fold up. I told her that when I dropped them off. When I picked them up, I thought something looked odd, but waited until I got home to try them on. Not only were they not the correct length (she had an EXACT measurement to work off because these pants had never been altered before), they were uneven and she had not tapered the hem as she should have. She actually took out the dart in the factory hem and hemmed them without tapering them again.
Do not take your tailoring here. The owner offered to fix them, but after such a rookie job on the pants the first time, I didn’t want her messing with them again. She’s not that much cheaper than Jacquie’s Sew and Sew and Jacquie does MUCH better work.

This cleaner is so close to my place that I couldn’t pass up the convenience. I took a few shirts and a sweater there and most turned out looking good, but I had to give one back because it didn’t get even close to clean. They ran it through again at no extra charge so I thought I had found a good cleaner. I then brought in a brand new high quality dress shirt that I bought for my wedding to get pressed. I get it back and am putting it on and realize that they wrote my name in permanent ink on my shirt! Of course the first thing I do is check the other shirts I have brought there and what do I find? Names galore! Not even the correct initials or spelling! I brought it in and got nowhere trying to get them to buy me a new shirt. The wedding shirt was the only one I really cared about because it was nice enough and thin/​sheer enough that the pen showed through so if I’m not wearing my jacket you can see the writing. I had a couple of good trips here without any major complaints but that’s only because I didn’t notice that apparently they can’t keep track of clothes with tags like most places. It’s also cash or check only. Two stars because they can actually clean clothes well, but I won’t be back.

— — -EXPERIENCE REVIEW-​NO WORK DONE — —
I did something really stupid today and took a pair of pants that my mother deemed as «need to be hemmed» to Elite. I called ahead and the turnaround was right, about a week and, the price was right, 12 bucks.
I got in the little dressing room, swapped pants and son-​of-​a-​gun if they weren’t exactly the correct length!
I just started laughing. I told the seamstress to take a look and she was like «No, no, you don’t need a cuff.» She didn’t try and say I did need a hem since I was already there, she was just honest.
A great experience. I would bring any garment here in the future when I actually NEED an alteration

I’ve used Elite for the past few months to launder my dress shirts (on a hanger). I don’t use them for wash & fold or alterations for no reason other than I don’t need either of those services.
I would have given them 5 stars if they could turn around shirts in a day (like the NYC dry cleaners do). Otherwise these guys are great. They get out collar stains/​any other stains much better than the average dry cleaner. I’ve never had any issue with them. just a high-​quality product.
The shirts on a hanger are (I think) $ 1.75 per shirt. I think pants are in the $ 5 – 6 range.
The woman who works on the weekends (when I pick up and drop off) is SUPER nice. All-​in-​all a great product/​service. I would have given 5 stars if they could do the same-​day turn-​around.

The most reliable cleaner and tailor in the peninsula.

After a certain terrible experience at a different Palo Alto cleaners (
), I tried this place to get some pants altered.
I’ve only had alterations done here. The owner is fast and friendly and the prices are good. I’m always happy to drop off my clothing here.

I love this place. I have been going to elite for alterations and dry cleaning for years and never had any problems. Ann, the owner is just wonderful, she does special services that many customers don’t know about. She used to make personal deliveries to my home in the mornings and even customized my sofa slip cover.

i hate to give this place 1 star because ann, the owner is so sweet, but i can’t offer up anymore because they just do a terrible job.
i think it makes sense for guys who have t-​shirts, gym clothes, and other stuff that’s not too valuable /​delicate to use the laundry here. however, i strongly recommend against anyone else using them for any reason. i’ve only taken things here a few times — and am done for good now — but, every time there has been an issue: 1) i took 8 sweaters to be pilled, every one of them came back with tiny holes i had to hand darn! i didn’t notice this for months since i had them cleaned off-​season or i would have demanded that they pay for them. 2) they hard pressed a few sateen items i was taking on a trip to nyc, i didn’t have time to get them fixed before i left — same day — and had a panic attack trying to get a cleaner in ny to rush them for an event i was wearing them to. 3) they put other people’s clothing in with mine — scary to think that could be your stuff!

Inexpensive tailor, no idea about their cleaning services though. They’ll sew on a button or a few stitches for free with your order, in my experience.