It’s that time of year again. No, not spring. No, not your mother’s birthday. No, will you just let me finish for chrissakes? It’s that time of year when Mrs. Eats and I whip out the Entertainment book and start feeling a little guilty that we haven’t used it much in the six months that we’ve had it. It’s the time when you remember how sad you were the previous November when you looked through the dining coupon section of last year’s book and said, “I didn’t know they were in the Entertainment book!”
So, wanting to raise our EQ (Entertainment quality) we opted for two meals with savings written all over them, one dinner last weekend at the Sacramento Brewing Company and one at SBC’s Oasis the week after.
I’m typically a big fan of the brewpub. I like the whole concept of unique beer and fairly uninspired but hearty food served by the same institution. I’m usually happy with a red ale and a burger, or a pale ale and fish and chips sitting on the table in front of me. I used to really like SBC’s food. Their barbecued chicken pizza andFrench dip were a few of my favorite dishes in town, but about a year ago, those items completely disappeared from their menu. Add to that the fact that I’ve never been a huge fan of their beer, and SBC was quickly approaching “dead to me” status. (For example, chicken sausage is dead to me; I want nothing more to do with it and will not have its name mentioned at my table. It’s just not a good sausage and that’s all there is to it.) The culinary coroner was writing the death certificate when I came upon the “Drunken Pig Tostada.”
Oh God, the Drunken Pig Tostada is a thing of beauty, a giant fried tortilla shell filled with lettuce, black beans, super salty pork, avocadoes, tomatoes and more fried tortilla all drenched in a wonderful buttermilk dressing. This is a salad that stands up to a beer, lifts up its skirt, shows the beer the goods and doesn’t even blush. Speaking of beer, what beer should you get with the Drunken Pig? I’ll leave that to your tastes, but I’ve found that my favorite is the Celtic Amber. It appears to be the favorite of others as well. Our waiter at the Oasis, when taking my order told me I was a man after his own heart, which I didn’t take as a gay thing, just one of things that guys say to each other and then they wink and point at their genitals and then serve you a frothy beer. Actually he doled out good advice when I asked how the “Brewer’s Special” was. He said, “It’s gross.” And that was that.
Mrs. Eats went for the blackened cajun salmon sandwich one week and the burger the next. Both were good, and if you don’t want to go for salady porky goodness, will do as a good entree. Don’t get too adventurous with your choice of entree as I’ve heard that a few of the dishes there, including the nachos and prime rib, can be a little iffy.
So, go for the Drunken Pig Tostada. It’s an adventure in a shell. And with a beer, it’s heaven. And with the entertainment card, it’s half-priced. Mmmmmmmmm, half-priced.
Sacramento Brewing Company-Marconi and Fulton (In Town & Country Village), Sacramento
Sacramento Brewing Company’s Oasis-Madison and Sunrise, Citrus Heights
Food** Service*** Atmosphere**
The Sac Rag 
I’d go for anything with “drunken” in front of it. Drunken pig, drunken noodles, drunken high school physics teacher. How come when I was in high school, these teachers seemed to have ethics?
We used to dream of getting Mr. Keanon drunk, and having “our way” with him. Of course, we didn’t know what that meant, but it sounded good.
Sorry..I digressed back to the article about nasty teachers.
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I have been to Sac Brew many times with my girlfriend and with the Hop Heads. I tend to shoot low with the food…maybe fish n’ chips or a burger. The ribs are okay, too, especially on Mondays and Tuesdays when they are all-you-can-eat. John, one of the managers, is very hospitable with large groups for tastings ‘n stuff. 🙂
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sorry all, I suck at adding links.
(Fixed. -Ed.)
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ha-hem. I’m still waiting for an invite, The Chadd. I’d be happy to attend a Hop Head event, especially if there are hops involved, and heads.
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Sac-eats…just click on my name, and you will be transported to a world of drunken debauchery..uh..I mean..sophisticated beer aficionados. I also e-mailed ya an invite! Lemme know if you didn’t get it.
PS on spell check, I spelled “debauchery” correctly and misspelled “aficionados”. Hmm…
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Hey, Guys. I don’t even drink beer, and I like SAC Brew very much. My wife and I go there fairly often, usually for their great Sunday Brunch. Owned and operated by a great family. Have taken our kids (iuncluding son and son in law, both of whom are beer aficianados) and both gave Sac Brew rave notices. Not real fancy, but who needs all that fancy crap? Good food, good owners, good prices, and for beer drinkers, good beer! What more do you want?
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When you use the Entertainment Book at a restaurant, is there some secret head nod, wink or hand signal to give to the server to communicate that you know that you’re supposed to tip based on the pre-discount price? In the past, when I’d use the Book, I would always detect some sort of unconscious facial tweak or even overt look of resignation from the server that said, “Oh, fudge! These folks are going to stiff me.”
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Great call, norm. That look is real and very common. That’s the reason most folks won’t show the card until after the meal. By “most folks” I mean me.
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As a fellow Hophead, I would also like to extend an invitation to ya’ll to come by one of our events. We have fun, and beer fest season is right around the corner!!
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