Palo Alto, CA + Add a trip

University Coffee & Coupa Cafe: free wireless, startups, & VCs (the last two aren't free).

Best sandwiches around

JJ&F Market near El Camino and Page Mill Road. Seriously, the sandwiches are fantastic. Be sure to ask for "the spread" — their mixture of mayo and mustard that tastes like neither.

Nola's

great place for food and cocktails

Palo Alto Sol: best sit-down Mexican this side of the border

Try the molé or the guajillo... you'll be begging to come back! Family run and it shows.

Sundance the Steakhouse is a really good place to have a dinner. The food is great, the restaurant interior is very nice, the staff is good. Big choice of good wines, they also have some great port for dessert.

The place is a little noisy in the evening, but not extremely so, you won't need to scream to make your friends hear you.

The food is a bit on expensive side, but it is well justified by its taste.

Zeni

Good coffee and great pancakes. Always crowded but if you can find a seat, it's a nice place to soak in the Silicon Valley vibe.

Nice donuts place, open 24/7, and has excellent free wifi. You can usually see a lot of students here, as well as some startup employees working through the night to get their proof-of-concepts done.

My friends chose this place to meet up for some food and drinks instead of simply going to a bar (which was my original preference!). We ended up sitting in the lounge area and although I didn't get to sample much of the menu and go overboard on the drinks, I did decide to warm up with the Pumpkin Spiced coffee. That was really a nice treat but admittedly, I'm not a huge coffee drinker.

Of course, after seeing the dessert menu, I had to go with the sampler plate which featured their read pudding, southern pecan pie, and beignets with sauces. I just about ate everything but it went down too quickly. I'm going to have to go back and try it all over again!