Our next stop after Bodega Bay was the town of Mendocino. I’d heard some really nice things about the town and was excited to visit. The actual drive was set to be less than 3 hours, so I had some detours in mind.
Our first stop was right before the Russian River. I took a turn off Highway 1 onto Goat Rock Road making several stops at places like Blind Beach.
A then drove south finding some parking to the trail to the summit of Peaked Hill. Needless to say, the views were beautiful.
Loved the views of the shoreline.
I like to mix in interesting places when we travel and there happened to be a place I read about in Sea Ranch. Right off Highway 1 is a sign directing one to the Sea Ranch Chapel.
A non-denominational chapel dedicated to the memory of local artist Kirk Ditzler, it is designed to be a “serene refuge” for meditation and prayer. There were several people inside the building, so I didn’t want to bother them.
You can find some photos of the interior here.
We made a short fuel stop in Gualala and then the Missus went to check out this lovely little book store.
Right at the Rollerville Junction, we once again did a detour off the Shoreline Highway. This time up Lighthouse Road. We took a quick look at the Point Arena Lighthouse.
Before heading back down the road and parking at the beginning of the Point Arena – Stornetta Trail.
It’s a lovely coastal trail.
We only went until we could view the shore and rocks before heading on our way.
JJ did have time to stop and smell the flowers though.
From there it was just an hour to the town of Mendocino. We were instantly charmed by the village.
The Victorian style houses instantly took us to the East Coast.
In need of lunch, we stopped by a little shop steps away from where we were staying. You know why we “had” to stop here, right?
Yep, that’s right, it’s Frankie’s! Frankie’s is mainly a pizza and ice cream shop; but they also have salads and falafel…and even piadina.
There’s some patio seating, which was great on a nice sunny day.
The Missus and I really weren’t feeling like pizza, so we got Frankie’s Falafel and the Mediterranean Piadina.
The portion size for the Falafel Salad was quite generous.
This dish is actually Vegan. The exterior of the falafel wasn’t crisp enough, nor was the interior nice and creamy. We did both love the Tahini Dressing though. Nice and earthy, with a good acidic kick. The hummus was passable.
Both the Missus and I enjoyed the Piadina, which, while not being close to what we’d had in Malta, was quite refreshing.
The pita was crisp; the Tahini, like the salad was very refreshing; the Parmesan Cheese adding that salty-milky component. Crisp spinach, with olives and sun dried tomatoes as “hidden” surprises.
And while there wasn’t a “rainbow from Frankie” signifying his approval (we miss you F), this was a decent lunch.
Frankie’s
44951 Ukiah St.
Mendocino, CA 95460
Glad the lunch wasn’t too much food as it was now time to explore a bit before checking in.
Thanks for stopping by!
As we figured, this wasn't an aguachile in conventional terms. It wasn't overly acidic, but quite mellow. Though I will say the seafood, especially the bay scallops were sweet and tender, so were the shrimp. Both of which weren't over-cooked and tough. The sweet and ripe avocado and the briny cucumber added another layer. But what clinched it all was the nicely toasted and salted sour dough, which was the perfect foil for the dish. Yes, it's not a conventional version of the dish, but we enjoyed it. We both wished that the octopus had that nicely toasted sour dough with it as well.
The highlight of the dish for us was the pillowy and warm pita. After that, well, everything was way too sour. Man, that chicken might have been ok, but the puckery-tartness overwhelmed things. Same with the green salad. Yikes, the sharp sourness just took over. Kind of a bummer.
Choices of pizza, Asian fusion, poke, a taco shop and Greek/Mediterranean (as well as a massage parlor)…what a unique mall area with plenty of parking.
We decided on Viktor's after checking out menus on the windows of all the businesses.
Walk up, order and pay. Grab your beverages. Your name is called out when everything is ready.
For this initial visit, we chose to share an Ultimate Salad ($14.95). A full serving of Gyros and a full serving of Victor's chicken on top of a Greek Salad. Wow! Plenty of food to share. A standard Greek salad-Romaine, bell peppers, onion, tomato, Feta and Greek olives, topped with a house made VK dressing. The marinated chicken was moist and grilled with a nice char. The beef and lamb gyros was shaved from the vertical rotisserie spit and very good. 
I also ordered this "Feta Melt" from the starter menu ($6.25) and wow-this was great. Feta, red onion, bell peppers, tomatoes on a toasted pita. 
A great bite of flavors and texture. Even though served folded, as above, eating the pita 'open faced' seemed proper.
The small signage with an interesting font was intriguing. Tappi's opened in October 2022. 
The menu, more intriguing. There were South of the Border and Mediterranean categories and some items with Japanese names, along with a good breakfast menu, (which has Japanese souffle pancakes as well as German and Ube pancakes available). Fusion? Con-fusion? Simply good food? 
We asked what the 'Soup of the Day' was. The answer was both tomato and broccoli cheese. Yes! One of each, please.
We decided to try the Khachapuri with kielbasa ($12). Plenty of cheese. filling fresh made crusty chewy bread, thin slices of a garlic-y kielbasa. A sizable meal (we took two slices home). 
I had seen Kunafa (crunchy, sweet, cheesy, creamy) at the bottom of the menu and knew I was going to order it. Our nice waitress said they were 'trying something new' and offering the kunafa as a sandwich for $11 (the large piece of kunafa by itself is $10).
Yes. The 'bread' is a sweetbread- an eggy, cardamom flavored, sesame seed topped delight. Separately or together, each bite was wonderful. We did take half of this home, too, to have with coffee.
The location in Mission Valley, across the parking lot from the Trader Joe's (at the Northwest corner of Interstate 8 and Mission Center Road), inside the former Fuddruckers, is closest to home, so we stopped here for lunch. 
Clean and organized, with indoor and outdoor seating, it is spacious. 
I decided to try a cup of the Green Lentil Soup ($3.99)-wow! Made with organic lentils, tomato, garlic, carrot, onion, parsley, mint and a vegetable broth, this was a *wonderful* version! All flavors can be tasted, even the mint. I definitely will get this again.
I chose the Falafel Appetizer plate ($9.99) as my main dish. Again-wow! The falafel are made with fresh ground garbanzo beans and various herbs, lightly fried so there is a crisp crust and flavorful fluffy interior. It's served with hummus (also fresh made with garlic and lemon juice) and tzatziki (made with yogurt, cucumber, dill, parsley, mint and garlic) and grilled pieces of pita. So fresh and filled with flavors, plenty for a meal or to share. 
The Chicken Brie Panini comes with a choice of standard salads or soup for $13.99, but you can choose the strawberry date salad for an additional $1.99…and The Mister did just that. 
The sandwich is on grilled artisan bread, made with chicken tenders, tomato, basil and Brie. It is a large, tasty sandwich.
The strawberry date salad is so very flavorful! Mixed greens and strawberries are tossed with candied walnuts, chopped medjool dates and Gorgonzola. This 'side' portion was more than enough for us to share and experience the flavors and freshness.
You can order 'to go' or find a seat. The 'to go' menu is on the wall to make it easy for the 'to go' people.
The 'for here' menu; a bit larger.
A cheese manakish ($4.99). A small version of a herby cheese pizza with no sauce. Excellent fresh bread: thin, slightly crisp, slightly chewy.
Here's a zaatar manakish (3.99) add cheese ($1.50). Zaatar is a spice mixture of thyme, oregano, sesame seeds, sumac and salt. It's herby, nutty, salty, savory and tangy. Sumac by itself has the 'tang' you get from lemon juice. In any case, this combination of zaatar and cheese is really good.
Six tweaks of falafel ($5.99). A nice version. Quite crunchy. The tahini dip is so creamy!
Kabab Plate ($13.99) Two very large beef kabobs with rice, grilled tomato and raw onion. Easily shareable.
An order of baba ghannouj (6.99) arrived with pieces of hot-from-the-oven pita. The roasted eggplant based dip is smoky and smooth and has a sesame flavor from the tahini. Olive oil and lemon juice as well as garlic round out the flavors. The version here is just lovely.
The Appetizers plate ($15.99). Choice of four. Plan on taking some home; the serving platter is deceptively deep. Hommus, fattoush, baba ghannouj and in the center, tabboule. All the salads are made here daily. The hommus and baba ghanouj are excellent versions. The fattoush is primarily a 'bread salad' with the pieces of fried pit toping lettuces, tomato, cucumber and other vegetables. It's another craving I've had. The tabboule is parsley, tomato, cucumber, mint, green onion and bulgur-crunchy. Its dressing (lemon juice, paprika, salt and pepper with olive oil) really showcases an excellent quality olive oil. 
A single beef kabab ($3) is sometimes quite enough for a nice snack/small meal. (This kabob is smaller than the two beef kabobs served on the kabab plate).
Free hot tea at the back; serve yourself. 
