Category: Food

Help me out, folks. I read this article on kcra.com about downtown Sacramento Restaurants fighting to stay open, you know, because of the economy.

Or is there another reason?

Over the past couple of weeks, several downtown restaurants have shut their doors for different reasons. Table 260, Danielle’s Creperie and Fog Mountain Cafe recently closed….”The economy has really impacted folks, from furlough Fridays to reduction in the work force,” said Downtown Sacramento Partnership executive director Michael Ault. Ault said despite restuarants closing others are opening in their place.

How has it impacted folks outside of them not having enough cash to eat out?

He said the keys for restaurants to succeed are to offer a unquie product, know how to market your resturant and provide good customer service. (that’s a cut and paste, folks, enjoy the typos…)

So, did Table 260, Danielle’s Creperie, and Fog Mountain Cafe close because of the economy, or because they didn’t offer an unique product, or know how to market their restaurant, or provide good customer service?

Maybe the R strip’s most beloved watering hole, the Shady Lady Saloon, will be closed until May 19. Apparently a technical slip up in Shady’s reporting to Alcoholic Beverage Control landed the bar a 10-day suspension of its alcohol license.

Shady Lady is a fantastic bar. The decor drips 1920s speakeasy. The front patio has lots of streetside seating. There’s often a live band playing. And I’m told they make their own tonic (though I’m not really a gin and tonic drinker) and it’s excellent.

Continue reading “Shady Lady on Hiatus”

OK, next up on the Big Eight is Capitol Dawg on Capitol and 20th Streets. That’s right, I’m listing what is basically a hot dog stand in my top eight favorite bars in Sacramento.

Why would I do that? Well besides offering a smorgasbord of ‘specialty’ dogs and like fodder, Capitol Dawg also offers you perhaps the most elusive drinkable I’ve sought throughout Sacramento’s sprawling barosphere: the sublime Olympia lager.

Continue reading “More Than Just Hot Dogs”

Smoking fish that is. And I was reminded again last week that there is no better smoked fish in our fair city than at Laszlo’s Gourmet Smoked Fish in Old Sacramento.  Sure, going to Old Sac is a pain in the ass what with the brick streets (notice they’re not cobblestones, they’re bricks, make note of it), the all-day meter enforcement, the strange DMV-like conglomoration of humanity, but it’s all worth it once you get a bite of Laz’s incredible fish. I’m telling you, his smoky treats were the hit of my family’s Easter feast. Even my nephew for whom ketchup is an exotic condiment loved it. Be it sturgeon, shark, shrimp, or salmon, you’ll be hard pressed to find a better chunk of formerly swimming goodness than at Laszlo’s strangely located Front Street store.

And before you start to complain that it’s too expensive at $7.95 per quater pound, realize that a) Laszlo is adorable, b) fresh fish is only slightly less expensive and c) honestly, how often do you buy smoked fish anyway? It’s not like they made a Sesame Street short about it.

Laszlo’s Gourmet Smoked Fish- 1100 Front St, #140, Old Sacramento. 916.492.9089

I stopped by Streets of London for a drink yesterday and decided its still too early for Streets of London. Streets is a proud member of the Big Eight, Summer Edition. Why? Because it’s a great pub and most of its plaudits are earned in its outside area.

Between the outside foosball table and fact that there’s more seating in the backyard than inside, this little pub’s every quirk favors the great outdoors to its claustrophobic interior. For one, Streets is cacophonic when it’s crowded; you’re going to want to be outside. For another, did I mention foosball? Yeah, that’s outside too. Continue reading “Fairweather Fan at Streets of London”

Caught a piece at sacbee.com today about the revamping of Lounge on 20. Apparently they’re revamping the menu, going all molecular gastronomy on us, and changing the name to Lounge 2.0. Also, they’re redecorating.

Three things: 1) Molecular gastronomy? Really? My personal opinion is that the MG movement will never quite catch on with Californians becase we’re too close to the source. Basically, we’re living on top of the greatest agricultural land in the world, and turning our native products into foams and bricks and pebbles, delicious as they may be, seems somewhat against the Cali aesthetic. Continue reading “Sous Vide and Shaved Chests”

‘Twas a beautiful evening Sunday. The sun shone, the clouds meandered, the river splashed and frolicked on its scoot to the bay. I could not have pictured a more lovely evening for riverside dining. My lovely companion and I took a table at Scott’s Seafood on the river, ordered a bottle of Pinot Noir, and watched the world and the shadows lazily drift by. As we toasted to our rare fortune to live in such a beautiful place, and to our great blessings of health and happiness, we were serenaded by the strains of “STROKE ME, STROKE ME.”

Yes indeed, at Scott’s, a place where you’re lucky to get dinner for two for less than $100, the music du jour was taken directly from a 1981 episode of Headbanger’s Ball. Continue reading “Waiter, There’s a Hair-Band in my Soup”

 It’s Springtime. And if tradition holds, Summer will probably follow. There can be no better time, then, to dust off the Big Eight, Summer Edition. This being my first post on Sac Rag, I could talk about what I do or where I grew up. But in my experience, the best way to get to know somebody is to get to know their bars. I’ve got eight of them. Eight summer bars, I mean.

I’ll start with the Virgin Sturgeon, since right now I feel like a beer and cigar on a deck overlooking the Sacramento River. If you’ve never been to the Sturgeon, it’s unlikely you’ve ever walked a jetway onto a floating barge-turned-seafood-shack-and-bar. And that would mean you’re missing out.

Don’t take a first date here and don’t wear your clubbin’ shirt (or clubbin’ skirt, ladies). The Sturgeon’s no place for putting on airs. And the only dress code, as far as I can tell, is the sign outside kindly asking that you wear a shirt and shoes. Continue reading “Hello, I like to drink on the river.”