Mama Dolce's

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Mama Dolce's marks Mama Dolce's Food Processing Plant on your Pip-Boy's map in Fallout 3. This place can be reached either through the Flooded Metro Station then east through Arlington Cemetery, or through the Arlington/Falls Church Metro in Falls Church. Mama Dolce's Food Processing Plant is divided into three parts:

Mama Dolce's Processed Food
Mama Dolce's Food Distribution
Mama Dolce's Loading Yard

Between the entry-side Processed Food, and Food Distribution, lies the Loading Yard.

Background

A terminal in the Food Distribution section can only be used by looting Mama Dolce's Encryption Key from the body of the Chinese Remnant Captain. The terminal reveals that Mama Dolce's was a front for Chinese intelligence and espionage throughout the DC area, and would undoubtedly serve as the base of operations for the other outposts scattered in the surrounding Wasteland. It seems that their front, in the end, came back to bite them, as when the bombs dropped they became the Ghouls you fight in Mama Dolce's.

Notable Loot

Books

Tales of a Junktown Jerky Vendor is outside just north of the entrance behind some barrels, next to a dead Wastelander, in a boxcar.
Chinese Army: Spec. Ops. Training Manual is next to one of the snipers in the Loading Yard area.
Guns and Bullets is next to the other sniper on the opposite side of the Loading Yard.
Guns and Bullets is in a bathroom stall on the ground floor in the Processed Foods area.
Dean's Electronics is on a shelf in the middle of a stairway in the Processed Food area; it's next to a phone, a toolbox and a broken computer.
Tumblers Today is in the Food Distribution area. Drop down through a hole(s) in the floor to the lower “cave” area to find the book next to two safes and a skeleton.
Two Pre-War Books can be found - one is in the Food Distribution area, on an upper level next to a terminal. The second book can be found on/under a small table in the upper level in the Processed Foods area.

Misc

At least 11 boxes of Sugar Bombs can be found throughout the facility, mostly (if not all) in the Food Distribution area.
Nuka-Cola Quantum is on the upper level in the Food Distribution area. It's on a desk next to a terminal.
On the ground floor in the Food Distribution area there is a ramp that leads downwards to two safes which require average and hard Lockpicking Skill respectively.
Many Chinese Assault Rifles can be looted from the Chinese Remnants, along with otherwise hard-to-find Dirty Chinese Jumpsuits.
Two Stealth Boys can be found in the building. The first is located in the upper levels of the Food Distribution area under the desk which holds the Chinese Commander's computer. The second is in the Processed Foods area through a set of double-doors, located on a table to the right as you enter the room.
A sniper rifle and .308 ammo are found on the eastern Loading Yard balcony.
One of the two main buildings contains a Fat Man, but you have to activate 'tcl' in the command console, because the Fat Man is inside the foundation of the building (below the floor). Use the 'tcl' command prior to entering Mama Dolce's (i.e. before you go into any of the building entrances). At the same time you can see a some sort radio receiver (same level as the Fat Man) and a connection with one of the radio frequencies you hear when you are outside the Citadel. You can activate it but you can only reply 'See you later' (Confirmed only for PC).

Notes

CAUTION: In the large open Food Distribution room with the turret, in the southwest corner near the short staircase and bed on the floor, there is a wooden plank that extends diagonally from the floor to the metal catwalk above. Jumping onto this plank in an attempt to get to the catwalk will result in being stuck, forcing you to load an earlier save.
There is a gas leak in the southern area of the Processed Foods area.
When exploring the factory there will be boards with Chinese characters carved on them.
In the Loading Yard there is a gate that requires a key to open, but there is no corresponding key in the Mama Dolce's location, possibly because it doesn't lead to anywhere. The other side of the gate was not intended to be accessed, and the alley is unfinished beyond line of sight. The letters seen on the wall through the fence start at the 'E' in "ERIES". Because of the nature of Mama Dolce's, the writing on the wall probably is "Deliveries".
There is a switch in Mama Dolce's Processed Foods which can be activated, but does nothing. When entering from Arlington, it is in a room to the right, through the large elevated utility door.
In Mama Dolce's Food Distribution, in the cavernous section where the copy of Tumblers Today is located, standing on one of the safes lets you access a "sewer grate" which can be opened and closed. However, opening or closing it does nothing.
Fast travel is available from Mama Dolce's Loading Yard.
On the encrypted computer it can be noted that the food colorant is the same as the printer ink.
When entering Mama Dolce's at higher levels, it turns into a good source for high-condition Chinese Assault Rifles.
The interior of the building (including the loading yard) is much larger then the entire building as viewed from the outside, which contains no area for the loading yard to have been, and is rectangular rather then square (as the building is when viewed through the loading yard).
Mama Dolce's loading yard is not in the same area on the world map as the Mama Dolce's building. This explains why the "People's Republic of America Radio" station can not be heard here.

Appearances

Mama Dolce's only appears in Fallout 3.

Bugs

Outside the front entrance to Mama Dolce's, there is a (supposedly) dead Wastelander next to a book... Although he appears dead, every several seconds... he blinks! PC This is most likely caused by a texture glitch.
Next to the truck on the road with the dead Wastelander inside, there is a Salisbury Steak which cannot be picked up or grabbed.
There are radioactive barrels around this Wastelander along with green "radioactive" dust, but there is no radiation.
In Food Distribution there are two Very Hard Doors (require 100 Lockpicking to open) that open onto blank walls. These can be accessed by jumping from the top catwalk onto the middle catwalk in the largest room of the food distribution area