This classic Greek spot has been a Palo Alto fixture since 1995 and looks straight out of a wine country postcard. Evvia is the sister to Kokkari Estiatorio, and, like its sibling, power lunchers dominate the daytime scene while families and couples are here at night for roasted dishes from the massive hearth—like lemon-oregano rotisserie chicken and souvlaki with onions and tzatziki.

If you live in Palo Alto you probably already know Zareen’s. This iconic Indian and Pakistani place operates with lightning-fast efficiency and the food is excellent. The chicken tikka masala is buttery, the palak methi paneer is full of crispy cheese, and the lamb gosht falls apart with a stern glance. Grab a mango lassi while you wait for the (very) short amount of time it takes to get your food. Make sure to order a side of the fluffy garlic naan.

Ramen Nagi is a Tokyo-based chain ramen spot that’s mobbed every night of the week, with hour-long waits—for a good reason: the simmered-for-24-hours tonkotsu broth. It’s silky and rich without being too fatty, and the chashu is tender. The bowls are a choose-your-own-spice-level kind of adventure, with options ranging from one to a burn-your-mouth-off 10. You can also customize noodle thickness, broth richness, garlic, saltiness, and whether you’d like to add squid ink or basil.

Coconuts is making the best jerk chicken in Palo Alto. This colorful and casual Caribbean spot right off of University Ave. is where to get an excellent and reasonably priced meal. Order the $15 dark meat combo plate with juicy chicken, sweet plantains, and red beans and rice—plan to lick the tangy sauce off your fingers with reckless abandon. The large space fills up with large groups on the weekends, and on sunny days the patio is the perfect place to sip on a dark and stormy.

Palo Alto doesn’t have many sceney restaurants, and that’s where Sekoya comes in. But this seasonal American spot is more than just a place with tons of cute couches, bespoke light fixtures, and tech execs. Sekoya is a trendy spot where the food is quite good. The parker house rolls with mascarpone are fluffy, the zesty lamb tartare gets the balance of citrus just right, and the chicken thigh topped with cara cara is about as juicy as the orange.

Tai Pan is a multi-room maze with excellent classic Cantonese-style dim sum and plenty of space for groups. It’s also one of the few places where you can roll up with your entire discussion group or mystery book club and have saucy char siu bao, bouncy XO noodles, and steaming hot siu mai spinning on a lazy susan within 15 minutes. Whether you go steamed, boiled, pan-fried, or all of the above (a decision we always endorse), it’s easy to leave satisfied.

The headliner at the Georgian spot Bevri on University Ave. is the khachapuri—the boat-like bread filled with a Wisconsin basement’s worth of cheese deserves its own statue in the Rodin Sculpture Garden. You should also order some of the fist-sized khinkali for the table, and the chicken kebabs you could cut with a spoon. This upscale-ish spot has a great outdoor seating situation for an al fresco lunch date, or you can hang out next to some VCs under the Georgian flag hanging inside.

One step into this two-floor Indian restaurant will make you forget about the alley you walk through to get here. The domed skylight looks like it could belong in a cathedral, and intricate blue flowers line the walls. Ettan (from the same folks as Copra) serves dishes from across the subcontinent like a maa ki dal with slow-cooked black lentils, a crispy Kerala fried chicken, and a paratha with enough paper-thin layers to qualify as a book. Expect every plate to be as elaborate as the space.

For fancy Mexican food dressed up with delicate radish garnishes and access to a full bar, get to Sun Of Wolf. The minute Happy Hour rolls around, this modern, high-ceilinged place fills up with coworkers in vests splitting tuna tostadas and drinking mezcal flights on the patio. And you should join them—especially if it means getting to spend quality time with the Sun Of Wolf carnitas, which pull apart with minimal effort.

At Taverna, prepare to overhear IPO jargon as you sip on Greek wine poured by waiters in suits. The all-day Greek restaurant, which looks like a Palo Alto-ified restaurant straight out of Mamma Mia (rickety blue chairs and all), is a hot spot for business lunches and team bonding for folks in embroidered puffers. Start things off with the fried zucchini cakes, and follow with the pork gyro stuffed with french fries. It’s filling, but won’t leave you in need of a nap on the office couch later.

So Gong Dong Tofu House is where Stanford students can escape the dining hall for great tofu soup. While the wait (and road rage in the tiny parking lot) at this Korean spot off of El Camino might test your patience, the gochugaru-filled tofu stew is worth it. There are 16 different varieties, but the dumpling version is the best thanks to the contrast between the chewy dumpling wrappers and the silky smooth tofu. Each bowl is served with plenty of banchan.

Iki Omakase is one of the many places in Palo Alto serving expensive fish. At the eight-seat counter, you’ll get so many courses of expertly prepared uni, octopus, and torched toro you’ll lose count (on our last visit we tallied 24). The $195 dinner is the most intimate sushi experience around—you could hear a pin drop in the stark, black and gray space, so prepare to whisper with your date. Try going on Wednesdays, Fridays, and weekends, when a lunch omakase is served at 12:30pm for $105.

This old-school diner is a hub for students to drink milkshakes. Heading here is like stepping back into a more analog time—the walls are plastered with vintage Coca-Cola signs, there’s cow art everywhere, and classic red vinyl booths line the space. The best thing on the menu is the hash brown pie, which is a hefty brick loaded with bacon, green onions, and bell peppers (and, in the name of good ol’ diner excess, a blanket of cheese across the top). Know that breakfast is served all day.

Terún is a white-tablecloth pizza and pasta spot that works great when parents are visiting, you’re with a picky eater who will only accept a margherita pizza, or you’re just looking for a place to eat outside and sip on a spritz. Is the rigatoni mindblowing? No, but the pasta is cooked al dente and the sauce is tangy. Order a crispy Neapolitan-style pie for the table, share a pasta or two, and do your best to pretend you’re off the Amalfi coast and not off of the sidewalk of California Ave.

Located on the main drag of California Ave., Kali Greek Kitchen is almost a carbon copy of Souvla in the city. This fast-casual Greek spot serves juicy lamb pitas, salads with feta, large rice plates that will keep you full for hours, and a thick frozen Greek yogurt that's very creamy. The inside feels like a coworking spot circa 2017, so we recommend enjoying their pitas out on their permanent outdoor parklet-patio situation (especially now that California Ave. is car-free).

This spot is part of a group of similarly named taquerias across the Peninsula that are all owned and operated by the same extended family. This small location is Palo Alto’s version, and it’s the best taqueria within city limits. The menu is long and all of the meats are tender, but the differentiating factor is their salsa—specifically, the fresh green tomatillo with a tangy kick and the ever-so-slightest hint of smokiness.

As the name suggests, Nola is a New Orleans-themed restaurant and bar and the main reason to come here is for their weekend bottomless brunch. This place manages to look like a southern-style townhouse with an indoor balcony, indoor fountain, and an excessive amount of Mardi Gras beads. The food is passable, but it's also not the point—you're here to drink mimosas in the most party-like setting Palo Alto has to offer.

The menu at this bright, airy downtown spot was inspired by the dinner parties the chef’s Japanese-American mother (the titular Ethel) threw when he was growing up in Hawaii. That means a lot of seafood, seasonal produce, and ingredients like koshihikari rice, shiso, and yuzu. That same dinner party spirit carries through the restaurant’s vibe, too, working for just about anything from low-key post-work drinks and bites to a special occasion.

Bagel-loving Peninsula-dwellers rejoiced when Berkeley-based Boichik Bagels expanded to Palo Alto. Their location here (in Town & Country Village) is takeout-focused, but there are a few tables outside of the shop, a.k.a. prime real estate for digging into your paper-wrapped sandwich immediately. Loose bagels are available, as are sandwiches with things like whitefish salad or lox, but we like to keep things straightforward at Boichik: everything, untoasted, with chive spread—simple perfection.

Naschmarkt is a fancy Austrian place that nails the art of a power lunch. Water is served in goblets, there are wine bottles in neatly shelved rows on every wall, and the soundtrack is smooth jazz. While a place like this could easily be corporate card fodder with no substance, the food is as hearty as it is delicious—especially the beef goulash that falls apart, and the pork schnitzel sandwich on a pillowy pretzel bun. But the sleeper hit is the fries, which have a touch of truffle oil.

Stepping into the large dining room at the Palo Alto outpost of Zaytinya, a national Middle Eastern restaurant chain, feels like walking into a lively party on a Mediterranean yacht. It's just the right setting for a special occasion or dinner with parents. Reservations go quickly, but snagging a table is usually doable during off-peak hours.

The interior of this casual slice shop location from the team behind State Of Mind Public House And Pizzeria in Redwood City and Los Altos feels a little like going back in time to the pizza parties of yesterday, with skateboard deck signage, a colorful chalkboard menu, and cartoon images of humanoid pizza slices doing bike tricks and landing ollies. You can choose from New York-style pies, crispy-bottomed Sicilians, or square gluten-free versions.

After wandering through Town & Country Village and spending unspeakable amounts of money on bespoke dresses and designer candles, end the day at Wildseed. The 100% vegan restaurant (their original location is in SF) serves an earthy, umami-packed burger that stands up against any meat version, made with a mushroom-based patty and topped with sweet grilled onions. If you’re after something a little more light, they also have salads, flatbreads, and mezze plates, plus a full bar.