Restaurants in Vallejo

The Ayyad family opened the Zaki Kabob House after years of perfecting Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cooking in their own kitchen. The Ayyads' menu of Egyptian, Jordanian, and Greek fare unearths their Middle Eastern roots with the familiar flavors of lamb shawarma, pita, and baba ghanouj. Conversely, Zaki chicken intrigues the tongue with tender rotisserie poultry marinated in a seasoning whose recipe, like the address of the White House, is a carefully guarded secret. Brunch, lunch, and dinner at the lushly pattered restaurant might end with the Turkish sweetness of organic baklava.

Following Baja Fresh’s ethos set in 1990 as a healthy take on fast food, never-frozen meats sizzle atop the grill before they're tucked into made-to-order tacos and burritos. Grilled corn and flour tortillas embrace fish, carnitas, chicken, and steak, and smoky queso fundido sidles onto nachos and into burritos. Between bites, chips scoop up salsa made from farm-fresh produce rather than poured out of a can or fabricated in a space-age replicator. A complimentary salsa bar ensures no mouthful goes unspiced, and guests can scoop up their favorites as they await their dine-in, takeout, or catering orders.

Mississippi Catfish's chefs fill baskets with fried morsels of catfish raised in captivity and grain-fed at Simmons Farm in Yazoo City, Mississippi. Other Delta delicacies, such as river prawns and fried-chicken mistaken for river prawns by sleepy fishermen, keep the morsels company along with sides of hush puppies. On Friday and Saturday, barbecue from the grill makes a saucy addition to the menu's usual selections.

After walking under the turquoise awning and past the brick façade of Abby's Grill, diners can dig into grilled seafood and pork marinated in the restaurant's secret sauce. The polished surfaces of wood tables gleam in the light streaming through the eatery's tall windows, which provide opportunities to watch passersby or attempt to intimidate parking meters with icy glares.

“Welcome to the Dojo,” reads Dojo Dog’s colorful, anime-inspired menu. “Please begin your training by choosing a combat technique.” What follows is not instruction in martial arts, but rather a flavor battle that pits an all-American favorite against Asian-inspired toppings, such as wasabi mayo, katsu sauce, and flash-grilled cabbage.

The brainchild of Michael Koh, a UC-Berkley undergraduate and Taiwan native, Dojo Dog began after a night of “inebriated revelry,” when Koh and his friends returned home with a late-night hot-dog snack, only to realize that they’d forgotten to add condiments. As Koh told Laurie Song of Hardboiled magazine, the crew improvised with a nearby bottle of teriyaki sauce, producing “surprisingly tasty results.” Further experimentation with the flavors of his home continent yielded the combinations that now appear on the menu of his cheerful blue truck, all piled atop all-beef or vegetarian hot dogs from local vendors and cradled within french hoagie rolls. Koh supplements his wares with tall, cool glasses of Tranquilitea, a mango-jasmine green tea served over ice.

Though Dojo Dog’s ever-evolving roster of fusion fare is no secret on campus, Koh has kept word of his entrepreneurial feat from his parents in Taiwan. Koh plans to surprise the pair when they visit him for graduation, and until then he asks that diners sign a nondisclosure agreement in soy sauce before he hands over their orders.

The chefs at Mint Leaf follow family recipes to fashion Northern Indian dishes with seasonal, organic produce, free-range meats sourced from local farmers, and spices handpicked by family back home in India. Kebabs spear mahi-mahi, chicken, and other meats marinated in a house-made yogurt sauce before baking in a clay tandoor oven. A collection of vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options eases the strain of dietary restrictions. Mint Leaf's selection of more than 50 wines and specialty cocktails helps temper the heat when guests get ambitious in selecting their meal's spice level. On select nights, local musicians entertain diners as they eat and inspire guests to break it down on the dance floor after finishing their meal or winning a game of I Spy.