Okay, let’s lay some ground rules here. This is Silicon Valley. It’s not San Francisco, New York, or even the unfairly-maligned-around-these-parts LA dining scene. From a food and atmosphere perspective, we’re grading on a bit of a curve. That said, Oren’s Hummus is unequivocally the best dollar-for-dollar spending on food you can do in Palo Alto. (The closest In-N-Out is technically in Mountain View, but even if it weren’t, Oren’s still would take the crown.) Some background: a guy named Oren makes (like everyone, we assume) a gajillion dollars on four successful startups, but finds something still missing in his life. That thing? Authentic Israeli hummus. He teams up with his wife, who conveniently happens to be a successful restaurateur, to bring the flavors of home to the Valley. Fast forward a year or so, and the duo are running the best restaurant on University Avenue. Given that the restaurant is already a favorite of luminaries like Paul Graham, it’s safe to say that millions of dollars of deals have gone down over skewers at Oren’s, with millions more to come. It’s also open until 11 every day, which is like being open until 4 a.m. around these parts. But those aren’t the best reasons to go to Oren’s. The best reason is that the food—from the skewers to the falafel to, yes, the hummus—is consistently, uniformly delicious. You know how you can often tell in one bite whether the guy who made your food actually gives a crap? At Oren’s, they always do. And that’s harder to find than it should be in the South Bay.