Oren’s Hummus, Palo Alto

Posted by Lauren

* Dining Out page updated! *

In my morning post I mentioned the employee appreciation lunch we were having at work. When noon rolled around, a few of us walked over to the food trucks…

The parking lot was packed so I hunted for the shortest line. Tandoori Chicken USA Mobile won the anti-popularity contest. Their chicken tikka masala was pretty tasty, but the scant portion left me wishing for more. I went from their 5-minute line to a 30-minute line for tacos. I eventually abandoned that line due to time constraints and grabbed a mini carrot cupcake instead!

A few employees attempted a flash mob – it was so entertaining and made everyone smile :)

I supplemented the light lunch with a nutrigrain bar, two oranges, and a cookie from last night’s bug-a-thon. (Our “emerging” product is coming out soon!) Needless to say, I was still really hungry when 5:30 rolled around. Luckily, I had date night to look forward to! (aka go out to eat for dinner and dessert ;) night)

I rode my bicycle ~6 miles to Kyle’s – I really need to find a route with a bike lane! Talk about riding on the edge… After I arrived, we set out on foot for downtown Palo Alto (endless options) and settled on the relatively new, super popular Oren’s Hummus. We pass by it a lot and it’s always packed …almost as if they are paying folks to huddle around the entrance?

It’s very Palo Alto. They have five tenets: Authentic, Fresh, Healthy, Convenient, Sustainable.

We started out with the complimentary slaw and perused the menu. Our picks: classic hummus entree with imported tahini, olive oil, and their secret sauce with whole wheat pita (free refills on pita) and beef kebab skewer entree with sweet potato fries and herbed quinoa.

I’ll give it to them, their hummus was pretty good. If I go back, I’ll probably order the mushroom hummus to spice it up though. We ended up mixing in tons of complimentary hot green harissa sauce and red chili garlic sauce to kick up the heat. Now I want to make some pepperoncini hummus…

Ok, ignore the overly oily natural, hormone free beef… ignore the quinoa that tasted like I imagine “garden” would taste. Feast your eyes on those sweet potato fries. THE BEST sweet potato fries I’ve ever had. I bet they fry them three times.

After dinner we did what we also do… got a sweet treat!

Yogurtland now has pumpkin pie… I recommend you try it with crushed up vanilla wafers ;)

Question: What’s your favorite non-traditional hummus flavor? I love the roasted red pepper variety!

-Lauren