With lunch specials for the high school kids, a popular Friday night fish fry and breakfast platters piled high with food, AC’s Café is quickly becoming the place to tempt your palate and satisfy your stomach.
The husband-wife team of Chris and Christine Vidales opened their café at 1429 Stanislaus – at the corner of Highway 120 and Stanislaus Street in Escalon – just a few months ago and are building the business on the strength of good food and quality customer service.
The café is named for the couple’s two children, 19-year-old Alyssa, a college student, and 13-year-old Christopher, an eighth grader.
The Turlock residents make the commute right now but are planning to relocate to Escalon soon to be closer to the business. Both have been involved in the food industry for nearly two decades, learning their craft from Chuck Brown, whom they worked for in Turlock and refer to as their mentor.
Anxious to run a place of their own, the couple jumped at the opportunity to bring their skills to Escalon when the business location became available.
“The locals have treated us like absolute gold,” Chris shared.
Christine takes care of the customers up front while Chris cooks in the back.
“We’re pretty regular here,” said local resident Amy Goncalves, finishing up breakfast with children Hazel, 3, and Dominic, 2, one recent morning. “It’s just a nice place, good food and great service.”
“It’s all good,” agreed fellow diner Ray Sewell, who was eating breakfast with wife Michelle Kindberg.
“It’s family,” Michelle added of what she likes about the business focus. “And the food is good.”
Open Monday through Saturday, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., AC’s Café is a breakfast-lunch spot. They do have a Friday night fish fry, with dinner served from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
“Lunches are where we make our money,” Chris noted, with the close proximity of the high school providing them with a steady stream of customers for lunch. They do offer a student menu, which has been a big hit with the lunchtime crowd as well.
Most popular breakfast items include the jam-packed Alyssa’s breakfast burrito that features red potatoes, scrambled eggs, cheese, country gravy and your choice of ham, bacon or sausage; biscuits and gravy, and the linguica stacker, consisting of a bed of potatoes piled high with linguica, eggs and cheese.
For the lunch crowd, the hot sandwiches have proven to be top sellers, including the Buffalo chicken wrap and the French dip. You can also get house made red potato salad, coleslaw or Chris’s chili beans as a side to round out the meal. AC’s features a variety of one-third pound burgers freshly prepared and barbecued, from the open face chili burger to the mushroom cheeseburger, along with soups and salads.
The café also offers a couple of special touches, with small toys for kids to play with while waiting for their food and a separate drink menu for specialty coffees and hot chocolate, served up by Christine.
You can get ‘to go’ orders as well, whether it’s just a beverage or a full meal; call 209-691-8220.
