Back in my younger days, I served 8 years in the U.S. Navy, and left as a Petty Officer 2nd Class,…read morewhich isn't too shabby considering the short time that I served in the navy. Although a U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer is only two pay grades above a 2nd class, a chief is light years ahead, and chiefs are awarded privileges that are in many ways superior to the privileges that many commissioned officers enjoy. As a long-ago 2nd Class Petty Officer, imagine my surprise when my friend Brent, a retired Navy Chief Petty Officer, invited my friend Robert and I to join him at Sage and Sand CPO Club, at NAS, Fallon, NV, so I could be a "chief" for a day..
You have to love the Navy ship anchors in front of the building, which from the size of them, look like they came off a destroyer. NAS Fallon is many miles from the ocean, but it's a "Top Gun" base, as it trains and supports the men and women who fly "top gun" for the Navy.
Unless you want to buy a round of drinks for everybody at the bar, DO NOT WEAR YOUR HAT, or "cover," in Navy terms, into the CPO Club. There is a small sign posted above the entrance to the bar that lets you know what is expected of you if you enter, "covered." Just inside the building there is a convenient board where you can hang your "cover" and then you won't have to buy a round of drinks at the bar. You've been warned, so just "do it."
As you enter the main bar/dining room, you'll notice the full-circle bar, and the many television monitors that are playing a major league baseball game, on this early Thursday evening.
As in Las Vegas, there's a sign above the bar that announces "What's said in here stays in here," and that's truly the motto for most U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officers and their guests.
Sage and Sand CPO Club is not a restaurant, as it's more of a bar, and has the food catered and delivered. You place your order at the bar, and the bar conveys the order to the caterer, who is located nearby, and your meal is delivered to you in a styrafoam container, ready to enjoy. I saw the catering lady rush up to the bar with our "Shrimp Po' Boys'" in a bag, exchange a few words with bartender Val, and then she rushed off... "gone with the wind" before I could snap a photo. So... can you say "industrial food?" That's what I can say, which cost this "restaurant" a star for me on my Yelp review.
I ordered a "Shrimp Po' Boy" sandwich, which gets you get lots of deep fried, battered shrimp, mostly small, served on a fresh, hoagie roll. Along with the shrimp, the sandwich is garnished with shredded lettuce, sliced tomato, along with sweet and smoky aiouli sauce, and a small bottle of Tabasco sauce on the side. Along with all of that goodness comes a small cup of cocktail sauce, for your dipping pleasure. Pass the ketchup!!!
You get lots of perfectly seasoned and deep fried shrimp on your hoagie roll, along with the tangy aiouli sauce, with the diced lettuce and fresh tomato slices. With your sandwich comes a small "mountain" of perfectly deep fried fries, which are seasoned, and crispy golden on the outside, and chewy, tender white on the inside. Sage and Sand CPO Club caters a great "Shrimp Po' Boy" sandwich.
The sandwich was great, but it was catered, and in my opinion, rather "industrial" or "institutional" in taste, and quite generic. Too bad it wasn't made on site, and too bad the delivery person was in such a rush. Just to be fair... three stars isn't bad, and I plan to hit this place again the next time I visit my friend. If the sandwich was made on site, and if the server had the time to allow me to take her photo, presenting the sandwich, this restaurant could have easily qualified for for stars, or maybe even for a fifth star, especially after I'd enjoy a few of their cold beers.