Category: Food

Restaurant Openings in the ‘Cade

Two openings to report in the Arden/Arcade area;

1) At the corner of Arden & Eastern, a storefront previously inhabited by a tax preparer, an electronics repair shop, and an online gaming center will soon be the home of “Cheffrey’s An American Bistro.”  This restaurant, opened by the founders of the “Refer-a-Chef” catering company will be the first new restaurant in the area for quite some time.  Drop on by for the grand opening, August 9. 

2)  Boudin Bakery, long-awaited and much anticipated, shows signs of an imminent opening.  Work seems to have reached a peak at the Fair Oaks and Munroe location formerly a Java City.  Signage is up and the contractors’ dumpsters are full, so don’t be surprised to start chowing down on chowder in a bread bowl within the next 45 days–just in time for fall.

Now if only the Food Circus would reopen in the Watt Avenue Tower Records & Books location, all would be right in the world.

Shakey Jake’s: A Cheerful Earful

There are times in life when all you want is to be left alone, to simply enter an establishment, purchase your foodstuffs and be on yourArrrrgh…where's me bee-day? way without fuss, without conversation and without complications that might interrupt your terribly important inner thoughts about what Dee from “What’s Happening” might be up to these days.  If that’s the kind of mood you’re in, then, by all means, stay away from Shakey Jake’s. Continue reading “Shakey Jake’s: A Cheerful Earful”

Poll Dancing

Hey there readers.  I know you were just as excited as I when you saw that this month’s issue of Sacramento Magazine featured a special reader’s poll on all the best places to eat.  After last year’s good showing for local restaurants, I’m sad to say that Sacramento Magazine readers have slipped a bit and are back to their chain-eating ways.  Here’s a few examples:  Best Chips & Salsa-Chevy’s, Best Brewpub-BJ’s, Best Burger-In ‘n’ Out.  Do I need to say that the region’s best chips and salsa are not at Chevy’s?  No, I don’t think so.  I would have voted (actually I did vote) for Caballo Blanco which is on the corner of Franklin and Fruitridge.  NOTE:  Keep your eyes out for a Sac Rag reader’s choice awards coming soon.

Oh, and one more thing: no matter what the Sac Mag readers think, Texas West BBQ is not the best BBQ in Sacramento.  Period.

Oz Korean BBQ: There’s No Place Like Home

Some people just don’t understand Korea.  They quickly overlook it when considering the important cultures that make up Asia.  They figure that it’s probably kind of like China and kind of like Japan and just hanging out, waiting for someone to emcity20.jpevisit.  The truth is that Korea is very different culture than either of its larger neighbors.  The Koreans have staked their territory in Asia and created a fiercely independent culture that includes some pretty nasty wars, some pretty crazy movies and some pretty good food. Continue reading “Oz Korean BBQ: There’s No Place Like Home”

Esquire Grill: American as Apple Compote

Eat AmericanSometimes you just feel like a good “date” dinner, the kind of dinner where you sit for a few hours, chatting, eating, sipping wine, chatting more, eating more, sipping more wine, chatting a little louder, eating too much, slurping wine, hooting and laughing and disrupting others’ dinners, etc.  So to that end, on a recent Saturday night, Mrs. Eats and I found ourselves entering Esquire Grill.  Now I had never actually sat down to a full meal at the ‘Squire before– drinks sure, appetizers definitely, dessert absolutely–but never a full snout to tail meal.  This was to be one of those splurging nights; with a two-for-one coupon and a $50 gift certificate, we figured that we could go pretty crazy and still be not break the bank.

Continue reading “Esquire Grill: American as Apple Compote”

Bounty Hunters

This weekend, Mrs. Eats and I hit up our local Farmer’s Market and came away with a veritable s-load of fantastically fresh goodies.  We bought berries for a week, fixings for a giant party salad and our absolute favorite, the hot BBQ almonds and orange-honey almonds from the vendor we affectionately call “Nut Guy.”  Summer is here and her bounty is ripe.  Don’t miss out on the fresh melons, tomatoes, cherries, peaches, plums, pluots, flora, fauna, fruita, fangora, etc.  Click here for a list of markets in your area (we’re pretty partial to the Saturday CC Mall Market and the Tuesday Fremont Park Market, but feel free to explore and find out for yourself who has the freshest white freestone hybrid seedless waterpeachplums).

Daphne’s: Not Just Scooby Snacks Anymore

scoobydoogang01.jpgIn my work-a-day neck of the woods, a new restaurant opening is treated with the same awe and wonderment that the Incas would have given to a total eclipse of the sun on the summer solstice while the simultaneous atmospheric entry of a comet crushed their god-king during a leap year.  So, it was with great fanfare that Daphne’s Greek Cafe, Richmond Grove’s newest eatery, opened its doors to the hungry public.  Located in the Safeway shopping center on 19th and S, Daphne’s takes up some prime real estate and makes the most of it with conspicuous signage, a logo wrapped SUV in the front parking stall and wafting scents of lamb turning slowly on a vertical spit.

Continue reading “Daphne’s: Not Just Scooby Snacks Anymore”

A White Rose By Any Other Name is “La Rosa Blanca”

When one thinks of culinary excellence, one thinks of Auburn Blvd.  One just can’t help it.  It is inevitable that one be drawn by the fine wafting odors of Sacramento’s “street of dreams” when hunger rattles one’s belly. Be it Taco Bell, Mountain Mike’s Pizza or the unnamed restaurant in the bowels of the Clarion Hotel, gastronomic greatness exudes from every street corner.

I kid, of course. Auburn Blvd is simply an asphalt ribbon of sleaze with a few gems floating in the muck, and lucky is one who finds the gem without getting a little bit of the sleaze on him.  One of those gems is La Rosa Blanca, a speck of a place wedged among a pawn shop a ubiquitous flophouse style motel and the Deseret Thrift Store (RULDS2?). Continue reading “A White Rose By Any Other Name is “La Rosa Blanca””

Thursdays at Ruby Tuesday’s

When you take the time to write about food as incessantly as I do, you find yourself in the weighty role of dining adviser to friends and family.  Whether for a small bite with an old friend or a recommendation on where to take the clients from out of town, my opinion is sought.  I’m not trying to say that I’m the cool like Shatner, I’m just saying that with the “sac-eats” moniker comes responsibility.  Most of the time I’m happy to help those I know find the best dining experience within their parameters (i.e.  close to Music Circus and in and out within 30 minutes, or Thai food in W. Sac, or “I’m in the mood for Viking food and I’m stuck in traffic in Placerville.  What do you suggest?”).  However, every now and then someone takes my advice and has a thoroughly rotten time.  I wind up feeling like an asshole for recommending places that don’t live up to the hype and feel guilty about it for days. 

So, this was my mood the other day after recommending “Cervantes“ to my sister and her friends.  The food was bad, the service weak and the drinks lousy.  I felt extremely bad about the whole thing, so I offered to take said sister to the new Ruby Tuesday’s in Folsom.

Continue reading “Thursdays at Ruby Tuesday’s”