Author: sac-eats

I’m Scared, You’re Scared, We’re All Scared of the Red Scare!

Red-MenaceThis Friday at the Center for Sacramento History, you too can be frightened out of your wits by the hoary spectre of COMMUNISM! Starting at 6pm, with lectures at 7:30, you can take a stroll down memory lane to 1935, when our civic forefathers tried over a dozen farm labor unionists for trying to overthrow the government.  Good times, good times.  Refreshments may or may not be served, but if anyone over there has a sense of humor they’ll serve red wine…or vodka shots.  Check out the CSH website for more details.

Ernesto’s: Still Not Good (just in case you were wondering)

It wasn’t my choice, really. I had to eat at Ernesto’s today. I had fallen into a gaggle of Ernesto’s gift certificates and needed to spend them. What was I supposed to do? Let them go to waste? Give them to friends?  What kind of punkass friend gives his buddy a gift certificate to a shitty restaurant?

Not me. I had to choke it down myself, and choke it down I did.

Ok, to be fair, Ernesto’s food is not horrible. It won’t give you a ride on the “vomit comet” or the “anal egress express” but it will leave you with a serious sense of “edible amnesia.” Edible amnesia is the condition that occurs when the food that you eat is so bland and uninteresting that you can’t even remember eating it. And that’s where Ernesto’s fits it. It’s Mexican food for people from Slovakia. It has zero flavor, no passion, and  a serious lack of oomph, in fact no oomph whatsoever. It’s like someone back in the kitchen is treating corn starch as a spice.  The sauces are weak and flavorless, the meats bland, and the soups waifish. Yeah I said waifish.

So, just in case you were wondering, Ernesto’s is still not anyplace you’d want to go if eating was your goal. Margaritas aren’t bad though.

Brent Weinbach at the Comedy Spot: Saturday 8pm

I’ll admit, I’ve never seen Brent Weinbach perform. But I’ll totally pimp him anyway. Why? Because a lot of comedians I know say that this guy is hilarious. If you get that kind of praise by other comedians, it means that you’ve got a funny act that is something special, something different, and something probably fairly offensive. Sounds good to me. Performing with Brent will be a few of Sacramento’s best comics, so come out Saturday at 8pm to the new Sacramento Comedy Spot at 20th and J streets. (That’s correct, right on the midtown ice rink.) Tix are only $10.
Check out http://www.saccomedyspot.com for details.

More Restaurant Closings- Center Court and Cheffrey’s

webbLooks like C-Webb and his Center Court restaurant cum sports bar in Natomas have thrown in the towel. I’m sure a weak economy, crappy local sports teams, and C-Webb’s waning star power didn’t help the sinking franchise.  However, according to Sacbee.com commenters (and we know how reliable they are) it really closed because too many black people went there. PersonallyI’m more likely to fall on the side of the argument stating that folks with0ut jobs don’t like spending money on cheesesteaks and jalapeno poppers.

Also in Arden/Arcade, one of the whiter parts of town, Cheffrey’s: An American Bistro, closed up shop recently.  Owners of the best sweet potato fries in town and a key lime pie that would make your face contort into sweet/soury puckers of joy, Cheffrey’s shut down  operations last month.  The owners’ catering business, Refer-a-Chef, is still up and running however.

Ridiculous Sale On Easton Wines

I’ll keep this brief. If you like Barbera as much as I do (for a previous article on Barbera, click here), Easton Wines in Amador Co. is selling a case, a g-damned case, of their 2003, g-damn 2003!, Barbera at $129. That’s less than m’f’ing $11 a bottle for those of you that went to fundamentalist Christian schools. Jesus Christ and all the saints and Mary and Joseph and all the myrrh you can shake a stick at, that’s an insane deal.

A) This is probably one of the best Barberas made in California. B) It’s stupid cheap. And C) See A and B.

It’s a beautiful time of year to head up to Plymouth in Amador County. Drive on up with one of your many days off in the next few months and grab yourself one of the best wine steals this year. For maps, product info and events, check out Terre Rouge/Easton Wines at terrerougewines.com.

Sacramento Comedy Spot Grand Re-Opening This Weekend

sacramentocomd16dMoving from its humble digs on Broadway, the Sacramento Comedy Spot — the city’s premier destination for improv, sketch, and stand-up comedy – opens Friday at its new location in the Marrs Building on 20th and J in the heart of midtown. The Spot has been putting on some of Sacramento’s best improvised and sketch comedy shows for almost a decade. If you like shows like Saturday Night Live, and Who’s Line is it Anyway?, this is the comedy club for you. Friday’s shows feature the Anti-Cooperation League, Sacramento’s longest running long-form improv group, at 9pm and Throwdown, a competitive improv and stand-up battle, at 10:30pm. Tickets are only $8 per show and are nearly sold out. Shows run Saturday and Sunday as well starting at 8pm.

Check the Sacramento Comedy Spot’s website for information on show times, tickets, and a schedule of classes where you can learn how perform improv, write sketches, and put together a stand-up act worthy of the club circuit. www.saccomedyspot.com

Taylor’s Kitchen

If you’re a cooking or eating enthusiast in Sacramento, Taylor’s Market has probably been on your radar for a while. Known for its absolutely top-notch selection of produce, meats, and wine, Taylor’s has wowed the locals in Land Park and surrounding neighborhoods for years. So, if Taylor’s new restaurant — cleverly called Taylor’s Kitchen (turns out that “Taylor’s Market Restaurant Kitchen Counter Bistro Cafe” was already taken) — didn’t cut the Mendocino mustard, it’d be a shock to almost everyone who cares about these things.

Thankfully, very few people have been disappointed (other than those insufferables who just love to hate on restaurants), so all is good in the fragile environmnet of Land Park. Continue reading “Taylor’s Kitchen”

Have a Low Brau October

If you haven’t had your fill of all things German yet this October, stop on by Sam’s Hof Brau for some true Teutonic fare. I love Sam’s; I love everything it stands for; I love the the AARP crowd that hangs there; I love the velvet wallpaper; I love the pictures of fat women on antique bicycles, I love the giant turkey legs smothered in gravy. For more than 50 years, Sam’s has been serving ridiculously hearty foods from its Watt and El Camino location, and this month you can sample some of their best German specials. Friday through Sunday, enjoy German style short ribs, bratwurst and braised red cabbage, German pot roast, knockwurst, Bavarian style chicken, and kielbasa. Make a special trip on Saturdays for Sam’s arousingly good German potato salad and wash it down with a mug of Warfsteiner from the cozy bar. The best news is that every dish is under $10. So get your oom-pa on and celebrate Oktoberfest by eating wurst until you burst.

Bikes and Brews

If it’s October, that means Oktoberfest! Enjoy the brewed bounty of the season from brewers like Rubicon, Hoppy and Pyramid this Thursday with an Oktoberfest Bike Crawl. Bring your cruiser or 10-speed, rent a bike for the occasion for only $15, or ride in style in a pedicab sampling fall’s best beers and free appetizers. At each location there will be prizes, giveaways, and drink specials. And remember, it’s a furlough Friday this week, so you state workers can really let your hair down. Pre-party starts around 5pm, with the crawl starting at 6. Meet-up is at 1013, 12th Street. Cost is $20. Check out http://www.grubcrawl.usa.com for more info.

Alternatively, hit up Sacramento Brewing Company, Flaming Grill, and Sam’s Hof Brau, for some hardcore suburban Oktober’ing if you happen to be closer to that neighborhood.