Vallejo firefighters dig in on take-out food to support local restaurants
VALLEJO, Calif. - Vallejo firefighters are altering their meals to make life easier for struggling restaurants.
Friday night, they picked up dinner at the Front Room on the Wharf restaurant, instead of cooking for themselves at Station 21.
The crew trooped over in two engines to pick up their order, the only sales allowed during the coronavirus shelter-in-place.
"Hopefully our presence, our choice to order take-out meals and encourage our citizens to do the same, can make a difference in keeping their doors from closing," said Kevin Brown, head of the Vallejo Firefighter's Association.
Front Room owner Chantel Tran greeted the firefighters warmly.
"Fresh homemade bread," she exclaimed, packing it up, along with trays of chicken, side dishes, and green salad.
The restaurant, on the normally bustling Vallejo waterfront, would normally have 100 diners on a Friday night.
But customers have dwindled this week, especially after Solano County banned indoor dining
"A few hundred people is all, compared to a couple thousand," said Tran.
The firefighter's order was her largest sale of the evening.
"That's very sweet of them to support me, they are wonderful, thank you," she said.
The idea came after a house fire earlier in the week, when the crew missed lunch and ordered some food to go.
While waiting, they noticed they were the only customers.
"That led to the decision of ordering take-out as much as we can," said Brown.
"We have nine firefighters eating but they eat for 18, so the fact that we place such a large order at a restaurant usually helps out with their missing customers."
Captain Sean Googins listed the places the crew has sought out over three days. "Mod's Pizza, Ike's Sandwich Shop, Picknicky's Sandwich Shop, Front Door, and maybe next a Vallejo favorite, Sac's Hot Dogs, we'll see."
Vallejo has six firehouses and all of them are making it a point to support hungry businesses.
"It's the least we can do is buy at local restaurants and give back to the community while this is going on," said firefighter James Borges.
Admittedly, the take-out diet may stretch their food budget and their waistlines.
"I've got some new pants on order just because of this," joked Googins.
But kitchen clean-up is a lot quicker than when cooking from scratch.
And at a time when people are anxious about coronavirus, just seeing fire crews in the community, grabbing meals, can be reassuring.
"We're happy to help and if that means eating a great meal from restaurants nearby we're happy to do it," smiled Brown.