Traffic stop

Driving home from a weekend away recently, we hit traffic in Dixon. We were only 20 miles from home, but we were going less than 20 miles an hour, it was dinnertime, and our daughter was crying. We had to stop. Pulling off the freeway, we had a choice: Carl’s Jr. or that big blue place you can see from the freeway, Mariscos Perla del Mar. The choice was clear. We settled into comfy custom-tooled-leather chairs and ordered up seafood aplenty. They had everything from octopus and lobster to shrimp in about every preparation you could imagine. I got the latter, ranchero-style, with big chunks of poblano chilies and tomato. My husband had a plate of super-tender calamari, breaded and fried. (Next time, I would check out the huge range of ceviches.) The dinners were tasty and lavish, and we left fortified to face the road ahead. 7800 Batavia Road in Dixon, (707) 693-0140.