Sandwiches and yogurt: Zarri's Delicatessen Kim's Cafe Solano Yogurt & Ice Cream

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Zarri's

Little Lord Steed and I took a long walk today and not long after we started I realized that I hadn't had breakfast and now it was lunch time. So we stopped at Zarri's which is supposed to have Solano's best sandwiches.

Instead of ordering off the regular menu I ordered today's special, a tri-tip sandwich for $5.50. On the man-behind-the-counter's recommendation I took it on sourdough and it was delicious if not transcendent. But eating it reminded me that I had had their poor boy before when my boss bought me one. That also was good but not transcendent. In both cases, however, the sandwiches left me with the belief that transcendence is possible from this place. I'm all for ordering more sandwiches from Zarri's.

Also, the deli's just cool. And their prices on sliced meats and cheeses are reasonable, so one could certainly order their make-at-home sandwich fixins at Zarri's as well.

Cash, debit, or local check only.


Kim's

For dinner, Lady Steed, Little Lord Steed and I decided to hit up Kim's Cafe, which I think is the newest restaurant on Solano (Patch article). Lynsey was excited about having Vietnamese sandwiches as This American Life just replayed their episode that talks about them on Saturday.

We arrived about ten or fifteen minutes before they closed. The place was empty but charming and the woman who runs it was supernice. She warned us against ordering one of the sandwiches (she's about to replace it with something better) and gave Little Lord Steed a free length of baguette (the same length as the sandwiches ordered by the grownups) with their "homemade butter".

Lady Steed ordered the Lemongrass Chicken and I the Black Pepper Pork. Both were great. Both came with green onions and (pickled?) shredded carrot and cilantro and some pepper (Lady Steed says jalapeno; I don't think it was hot enough to be that) and were terrific and crazy cheap (at least compared to Zarri's). We spent $7 total (another nice thing: the tax is built into the price).

We'll definitely go here again. The price-to-fun-and-flavor ratio is unbeatable. Check it out. We need to keep this family in business. Best customer service I can recall in ages. I mean --- a free sandwich for the baby? That's crazy!

. . . and yogurt

I think we've never been here before simply because the signage is so forgettable. Apparently it's an old neighborhood standby, but I've barely been aware of it.

We walked here after eating our Kim's sandwiches in front of Flowerland (LLS though, instead of eating, threw his tennis ball around and generally laughed himself silly until his ball rolled under their closed gate and disappeared from view) and the service here was just as friendly and likable as Kim's, even if they didn't give us any free food. We came with the specific plan to eat yogurt and she let us try the most interesting sounding flavors (Valencia Orange and White Chocolate & Macademia), both of which were sugarfree. (Note that all the yogurt is softserv and all the ice cream is in barrels.) The WC&M was terrific and so we got a medium cup for the three of us to share and we were plenty satisfied.

Like Kim's, the tastiness is cheaper here than at its Solano competition.