Sacto area hot spots?

Well, ol' Geo (and I *do* mean "ol' " ) is going back to Sacramento for his high school class' second reunion--after 4 7 years. Thinking that maybe I could get some solace by eating well, I searched the board for tips. Except for one lone discussion of a couple of brewpubs, "Beyond Chicagoland" had no recommendations for places to eat in the Sacto area.

Since I grew up there, I'm only too well aware that it never was a culinary destination... but still, doesn't anyone even know a fun dive to visit? I'm most certainly open to suggestions of any and all sorts. Except, maybe, commuting to The City for eats... :^)

TIA!

Geo

How long has it been since you've been back?

We have many fabulous restaurants in Sacto.

What do you like to eat, and where? Midtown is buzzing with new places, and Del Paso is well on its way. Elk Grove has some nice spots, as does East Sac. The pocket is getting a new Scotts Seafood.

check out the food/dining forums for Sac for more info.

http:www.sacramentofoodgroup.org

http://www.sacramentofoodgroup.org for info.

Geo wrote:Well, ol' Geo (and I *do* mean "ol' " ) is going back to Sacramento for his high school class' second reunion--after 4 7 years. Thinking that maybe I could get some solace by eating well, I searched the board for tips. Except for one lone discussion of a couple of brewpubs, "Beyond Chicagoland" had no recommendations for places to eat in the Sacto area.

Since I grew up there, I'm only too well aware that it never was a culinary destination... but still, doesn't anyone even know a fun dive to visit? I'm most certainly open to suggestions of any and all sorts. Except, maybe, commuting to The City for eats... :^)

TIA!

Geo

In addition to Melly's rec (good site, BTW, I read it all the time!), you can also try posting your question at http://www.chowhound.com under the California board and also doing a search by city at http://www.yelp.com. You'll get first-hand recs and reviews at both sites but while Chowhound will yield direct responses from people (like they do here), Yelp is a little more organized (star ratings, type of establishment, cost, address, website, etc.).

Tnx to you both, Melly and LNR! I'll take a look this evening. I've spent some time on the Bee's site, and Sacto mag. One thing I'm going to try is Lemon Grass--I hadn't realized that its chef was the author whose cookbook I like so much!
Another funny thing--I graduated from La Sierra (now long gone) 47 years ago, and one of my best pals was Mabel Fat. It's a hoot to see that her father's place--Frank Fat's--is *still* getting good recs...

One sort of place that I'd like to find was represented perfectly by the Iris Cafe. It was a small, quiet neighborhood place, run by a Japanese family, serving family Japanese food. This was long before sushi had arrived. I wonder if that sort of place still exists?

I'm not looking for anything really cutting edge contemporary--*that* I can get in Montreal. I'm looking for local stuff, regional favorite kinds of things. Like the steak house that used to be in scary Locke CA, or that seafood place on the river in Rio Vista, or the Buckhorn in Winters--those sorts of unique, indigenous places.

I'd just love to find a traditional California-Italian place, still playing Frank Sinatra, where people like, e.g., my father! used to like to go. (Marin Joe's comes to mind here, but I can't remember any place like that in Sacto...)

Anyway, that's the kind of thing I'm seeking. Tnx for the sources!

Geo

Check out Freeport Bar and Grill while you are in Sac..it's on Freeport on the way to Locke. There still is a steakhouse in Locke!

For a neighborhood Japanese spot, check out Edokko in the pocket in the little strip mall on Florin and Riverside.

We have a ton of Sushi places....and thai places. For dimsum you must go to New Canton on Broadway. It's as good as dimsum in San Fran.

Jamies Bar and Grill on 5th and Broadway is another fun neighborhood spot and people seem to like the tri tip sandwich. It's really a neighborhood place. It has the green awning over the door...no windows.

Check out the board when you are in town...you could meet up with other foodhounds and enjoy a meal. http://www.sacramentofoodgroup.org

For nice East Sac neighborhood place..La Trattoria Bohemia on the 3900 block of J street. For old-fashioned Italian try Vinces at 8901 Elk Grove Florin. For upscale Italian...Biba in midtown. She writes some great cookbooks also..was recently on Martha and she used to have her own tv cooking show.

Tnx Melly,

No question, La Trattoria Bohemia is a destination: read all up on it, and it's a neat-sounding place. But I'm a bit confused on Edokko--is this it?

http://www.themenupage.com/newedokko/index.html

Some comments on a couple of pages claimed that Edokko was closed.

Anyway, lots of good ideas there, tnx so much!

Geo

Geo wrote:Like the steak house that used to be in scary Locke CA

What's scary about Locke? I've never been, but I've been kind of fascinated by the "ghost chinatown" story since I first heard about it.

Too many ghosts?

I don't know why Geo thinks it is scary. It was built for Chinese by Chinese...which is why it is historical. There are only 10 Chinese people living there now...but Al's steakhouse is still there!

Now understand I'm talking about A Long Time Ago--not more than 50, not less than 40. When you drove into Locke (and once I pulled off the River Road on my old '47 Aerial to take a slow ride through), the first thing you noticed was the strange architecture: very narrow streets, dark, sided by two-story buildings, with ironwork balconies not too far from the French Quarter. (And, now that I think about it today, not too far from the old quarter of Shanghai either!) Then, altho' the place seemed deserted, there was this.... Presence, of people going back a long way. And then you'd glimpse, out of the corner of your eye, some movement. But a quick turn of the head revealed only a just-descended corner of a curtain at a dusty window.

Spooky, that's what we all felt.

But then, we WERE grad students, who, as we all know, are about 90% spooked most of the time.

Geo