New Eats in the 95821

Within the last few months, three new eateries have appeared in the greater Town & Country Club area (a hybrid of Country Club Plaza and Town & Country Village). These new joints manage to fill in a few gaps in the foodscape. If we keep our fingers crossed, maybe we’ll get an art house theater too.

Taqueria Y Pastelria San Marcos

It’s a fine piece of fortune when a fantastic taqueria opens up within blocks of you. San Marcos offers everything that a good taqueria should: great tacos, killer chips & salsa, and depression-era prices. Not only that, but San Marcos meets all the conditions for ethnic dive greatness, including a plethora of handwritten signs indicating the bizarre and sometimes draconian rules regarding restroom usage, ATM utilization, soda refills, chips & salsa availability, and most importantly, what is and is not included in the daily special. If you try to bend any of these rules, you will be left out in the Oaxacan desert to be eaten by coyotes.

And while I have not had a chance yet to sample anything but the tacos (rad) and the chile colorado (incredible), the pasteleria (bakery) case looks like it has to be good. In fact, it looks more inviting than Mae West on Ecstasy.

3397 Watt Avenue, Sacramento
Food **** Atmosphere** Service**

Mr. Haney’s Gameday BBQ

Tucked away from the throbbing thoroughfare of El Camino Avenue, a new barbecue restaurant is trying to make a go of it. What they’re hoping, apparently, is that the sight of a coal-black smoker sitting out in plain view in the adjacent parking lot will be enough to get motorists to stomp on the brakes and try some tri-tip.

And oh, what tri-tip it is–juicy, smoky, flavor-rich, and tender. If Haney’s did nothing but tri-tip, they might be world famous. As it is, their fame hasn’t quite reached all the way to Arden Oaks yet. (Little Arden-Arcade humor for the peeps) The problem is that everything on the menu (save for the potato salad) pales. The chicken is a little chewy, the ribs a little tough, and the hot links a little too smooth and manufactured (somewhat pate-like actually, and therefore creepy in the mouthfeel department (by the way, I think this is the first time I’ve used the trendy term “mouthfeel” in anything I’ve ever written)). The rolls taste as if they’re fresh from a King’s Hawaiian Bakery bag, the string beans taste fresh from a can, and the “homemade” green salad is just a little too creepy to order, what with those quotation marks around the word homemade. The sauce does taste homemade however, and other than a slightly too-ketchupy consistency, is pretty tasty.

The service is always super friendly and the tri-tip and tater salad are fantastic. Let’s face it, not every restaurant hits a homerun with every dish. The fact that they do one thing really, really well should be enough for a visit if you’re in the mood for barbecue. And if that doesn’t convince you, the prices might. As an obvious appeal to the students of nearby El Camino High School, many of the entrees are under $5.

4128 El Camino Ave, between Avalon and Eastern, Sacramento
Food **1/2 Atmosphere* Service***

Backer Back

Despite its name, which sounds like it belongs to a purveyor of Swedish mattresses, Backer Back is a bakery. And a damn good bakery at that. Drawing its recipes from Germany and Sweden, the ‘Back cooks up ridiculously fine breads, spreading their perfumed rye scent out the front door to tempt the shoppers of Town & Country village.

If they haven’t already, the owners of Backer Back may wish to partner with local doctors, since their pastries are so undeniable in their sweet gravity that they’ll be putting local dentists to work for years. And the breads will undoubtedly employ local chiropractors as well; for while breads from other European countries like France and Italy are known for their light and crusty nature, the loafs from central Europe are dense, rich, flavorful, and heavy enough to be used in Olympic weightlifting trials.

Town & Country Village
2601 Marconi Ave., Suite F-6 (next to Starbuck’s)
Food**** Atmosphere*** Service***