John Vink, the Silicon Valley smokehouse savior, is at it again.
The engineer-turned-entrepreneur has revived the shuttered Armadillo Willy’s in the Blossom Hill area of South San Jose. Both this and his first Empire Armadillo restaurant (Sunnyvale) are now serving house-brined pastrami and other New York deli treats — hence the “empire” in the name.
Besides the restaurant’s bestselling barbecue brisket, customers can order sandwiches of pastrami or corned beef or a “fresser” (a combination of the two meats) on rye with brown mustard or thousand island. Those beefy selections join the long menu of smoked pork ribs, pulled pork, chicken, turkey and jalapeno-cheese sausage, plus burgers and salads.
The abrupt closure of three Armadillo Willy’s in late June had set Vink in motion. “I had to buy it,” he said, or lose his favorite sandwich, pit-smoked chicken — which he’d eaten for years while working at Apple and Google. “We moved fast.”
The Armadillo chain downsized to one restaurant, on Bridgepointe Parkway in Foster City.
Vink negotiated the deals and leases and brought in restaurant veteran Ousmane Barry, who was general manager of the Santa Clara Willy’s, as the Empire president and general manager.
New desserts inspired by Barry’s years working in restaurants include a New York-style cheesecake and a Southern-style banana pudding revised to appeal to West Coast palates.
Also new is another East Coast deli favorite: matzo ball soup.
As for side dishes, they’re all back, from the spicy peanut slaw to the cornbread muffins served with honey cinnamon butter.
Details: Open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily at both locations, 878 Blossom Hill Road, San Jose, and 161 E. El Camino Real, Sunnyvale. empirearmadillo.com
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