Richmond, Vallejo, Fairfield, etc. ideas

Hi
I have to venture out toward Sacto again. Last time I stopped at House of Soul and I'm looking for another Friday lunch stop. If I'm long on time, I'm considering Ricky's Corner, but I'm also thinking about Gracie's Family BBQ, A Heavenly Taste, Or Bobby's BBQ.

I tried searching for taquerias/taco trucks in those areas and didn't come up with anything recent. Any ideas, I'm open to any type of food, but things that are harder to come by in SF and close to 80 are best, but I'm willing to drive a bit. Thanks, C-

There is the Vietnamese/pho place called Pho Hoa Phat at the Seafood City mall. I haven't been there but it is a sister of PHP#1 in Pleasant Hill which has the best pho I've had in the bay area.

J

I'd go with Gracie's or even better in Vallejo, Gumbah's. I'm not sure if Rickey's serves fried chicken for lunch.

There's a new Mexican joint in Crocket, but I haven't tried them yet.

There's lot's of good food off the San Pablo Dam Road exit. Don't know if that is far enough along on your journey.

Since you seem to be craving Mexican, my highest rec would be for Tortas Los Picudos. Take SPDR exit and turn left toward the Casino. Turn right at Nations and it will be in the same plaza as La Strada.

If you hit Wienerschnizel, you've gone too far. Picture of the torta, and the thing to order is the torta, is below. Really get the Mexican cheese (queso fresco) on it.

http://www.chowhound.com/california/boards/sanfrancisco/messages/192807.html

Nearby is El Tazamul which has great pupusas.

You can continue up San Pablo Avenue until you hit a freeway again. In the plaza with the San Pablo Supermarket (KFC/McDonalds/Double Rainbow near by), there is a really good Filipino bakery, Maynilla which has some baked buns and empenadas.

Next door is a pho place. I'm not a pho expert. I can't say that if it is worth a stop unless you live in the area. I really do like their drinks though. It is called Pho 89, I haven't heard from anyone else in the area if it is thumbs up or down.

If you take a right on San Pablo Dam Road, there is Gou Bou Li for Chinese, next to Raley's, Kaliente for pupusas (I prefer El Tazamul, but others disagree). The Tandoori chicken sandwich at Chicken Tandoori USA, El Chaldon for Peruvian (don't get the special chicken though), Bianco's for Italian Sandsiches.

On the Appian way exit off I-80 is the Hawaiian BBQ place which gets lots of positive posts. Haven't been there yet.

If you want a nice and not mom and pop type of place, there is Pear Street Bistro in Pinole.

WAAAAY up is The Old Post Office in Vacaville. I ate there a few years back and liked it. There was a recent post saying it was still good.

If you stop in Vallejo, be sure to stop for ice cream at Lilled's. Pick up some cheese corn for the drive.

Would you be interested in Filipino food?

Link: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/42889#208737

Image: http://www.cyberbilly.com/meathenge/i...

Thanks to both of you for the advice. I'll report back.
If you're around the Mission, I've found great tortas at Tortas El Primo on Folsom. It's funny b/c I made a mental note of that place off of CH about 5 years ago and finally tried it recently. I've linked my yelp review.

Link: http://www.yelp.com/biz/8Jlk5GKrV-KA-...

Pho 89 rates a visit, not spectacular, but above average.

Gumbah's in Vallejo for an italian beef with hot peppers.

I did a taco truck crawl of Vallejo last October - Tacos Dos Hermanos (Sereno Bl & Sonoma Bl) and Tacos Guadalajara (Ohio St & Sonoma Bl) have held on to their top spots IMO.

If you're interested in a quick stop just off the freeway, a worthwhile taco truck is Tacos Ensenada (Maple & Springs) - I got to them after my crawl and found them right up there in the top 3. They also opened up a new restaurant just a couple blocks farther down Springs Rd if you're interested. A new truck/stand I want to explore more is Taqueria Joya (parking lot of 1120 Broadway near Michigan) - only had the pastor and carnitas, but they were nice & tasty and the right price ($1 each).

If you don't mind Guatemalans cooking up Italian food, you might wanna' pop by Fratello's (Broadway & Tuolumne) - not the best-looking neighborhood, but nice interior and it's fairly close to Hwy 37.

Two of my standbys these days are Georgia Street Grill & Gumbah's on Tennessee. If you don't mind a dumpy looking place, you can try Pupuseria Y Taqueria Mercy (333 Tennessee) for the best pupusas in town.

Gracie's MIGHT be closed downtown. I drove by there on Sunday and it kinda' looked like the building had been emptied out. They have a location out on Springs Rd though - you might wanna' call ahead and see what's up beforehand just to be sure.

Gracies is still open (I called). They are closed Sunday's which is why it took so long for me to try it out.

Melanie was saying they had the baby back ribs which are supposed to be good. I liked the brisket which had a nice smoke to it. However, it is the least generous serving of brisket in the Bay Area. The lunch special had five thin pieces of brisket ... which is better for the cholestorol, I guess. It does have the deepest smoke flavor unsauced of local brisket that I've tried.

Link: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/...

That's good to know about Gracies - their building looks practically deserted when it's not open.

I did have their brisket sandwich earlier this year, but that wasn't really the best way to enjoy their brisket. Next time I pop over there, I'm having sans the sandwich stuff.

[Melanie Wong]

Regarding La Joya, here's an email I rec'd from a shy chowhound -

"Have you tried the La Joya taco truck on Broadway in Vallejo yet? It's in the parking lot of the One Mile House bar. Tacos are a dollar. Most days, the chicharrones tacos are off the hook. You must try."

[josquared]

I will try it again - I've only had the carnitas and pastor tacos there (twice) and both times they were real good. I'll have to try out the other varieties.

You know, I've finished my marathon (yay!) - it might be time to start up a new taco truck crawl