Inside a California prison’s restaurant, where workers get a second chance
December 22, 2025
A restaurant inside California State Prison Solano provides a one-of-a-kind training program that provides opportunity and a sense of purpose, as well as skills training. Launched a decade ago, the initiative brings some 80 men into one housing unit, where the No. 1 prerequisite is no violence. State prison officials say there hasn’t been a single fight among the unit’s residents in their 10 years living together. At Delancey Street Restaurant, workers learn every aspect of the restaurant business, some with hopes of working in the industry one day when they get out of prison.