E -- Hey, What Happend to E ? Dillon's Starts with D...

It’s still pretty early in the alphabet, but I do believe that we’ve found a gem here…conveniently hidden in an anonymous corner of a nondescript building across the street from the Sanitation facility.

The Process:
There are two restaurants that begin with the letter e which are listed in the Vallejo Phone Directory, Empire Buffet and El Emperador. No one, and I mean no one wanted to try the Empire Buffet. I suspect that even if the gang were to be paid to venture into the buffet that they would all pass. Why does the Empire have such a bad reputation? Hmmmm, could it be its proximity to Max’s of Manila and Seafood City? Perhaps the fact that it’s located in the parking lot of an oversized strip mall? Or maybe, just maybe, the fact that it’s a Chinese Buffet? Doing a little pre-lunch legwork, I called both the Empire Buffet and El Emperador. At El Emperador, I got a recorder in both English and Spanish…and was buoyed by the statement that the restaurant is open until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. Nothing says Juke Joint quite like being open ‘til midnight at a Benicia Road location. Sadly, they appeared to be closed for this particular Friday lunch, which, in retrospect, seems to have been a good thing since I think El Emperador would have been a really tough sell to one of toughest lunchtime crowds you’ll ever play to. I have it on good authority that El Emperador serves up some darn delicious chow, but that will have to be for another time.

If you haven’t gotten it by now, I’m pretty suspicious and particular when it comes to food. If something has been in the refrigerator more than a day or two, I ignore it and hope it goes away on its own. Which is partly why I like eating in restaurants: I don’t have to know how long the food has been there or how it has been treated. Ignorance really can be bliss if you work it right. Of course, I had to call Dillon’s and pester the nice woman on the other end of the phone with about a million questions. “As far as substitutions go, does no really mean no? Do you make the turkey in house? Is it pressed turkey loaf? Do you make all your own bread? Do you have Dijon mustard?” (Answers: no, no, no, yes, no – spicy brown. All the right ones, as far as I was concerned. The turkey, by the way, is made whole in Petaluma.)



Dillon’s menu is a full four pages, including drinks. Under more than a few headings are the words: NO SUBSTITUTIONS. When Cougar, upon perusing the menu, saw only these two words, she seemed to see no others. It doesn’t help that she doesn’t like sandwiches, either, so she opted out and had Thai at a new place over on Tennessee St. That place has changed hands more times than prosthetics fitter, but I’d be willing to try this iteration. Mz. Moon, our authority on all things Vallejo, was so eager to join in on today’s lunch expedition that I had to run to catch her before she drove away.

The Chow:



Loved it. What more can I say? I had the turkey club on wheat toast. It came toasted, the tomato was ripe and red and flavorful and the bacon was cooked to perfection. The pastrami and Rueben gals had a great experience. Tuna spread his wings and ordered up an eggplant sandwich, which had disappeared before I could get the camera focused. He also ordered the chocolate malt that arrived in two full cups. Everyone ate with such relish that it was difficult to make out the particulars of any individual comment. And even the one diner rated the meal with the lone 4, loved the sandwich.



The Wrap:
Here, the score must stand for itself and I think it will stand as the score to beat fort a long time to come. Say, you know why you can never starve in a desert? Right, because of the sand which is there.


The Rating: 4.75 out of 5.