Sacramento Restaurants, Nightlife and Entertainment

[wburg]

Originally Posted by ozone

Maybe it's not hard to get for you wburg to get over to Broadway but what about the office worker on a lunch break? They are not going waste most of their break time in traffic just for a Big Mac.

I agree that there are already a lot of chain sandwhich and coffee shops I guess I was meaning hamburgers specifically. I like to eat out at, as you call, them 'high-class' restaurants but I'm not happy about spending more money and time on a simple hamburger, fries and coke.

I work downtown and can name about a dozen places within short walking distance for hamburgers, plenty more if you include all the pizza by the slice and quick Chinese and Mexican places...and if I have a hankering for chain-burgers, there's a Carl's Jr. and a food court in the mall.

[ozone]

Humm. So you are not keen on investing with me on an In-and-Out Burger on J and 17th? I don't work downtown that's why I was talking about Midtown. There's a lot of employment in the West Central Midtown/East End area, a lot of people walking around looking for a bit to eat.

[wburg]

If I was at J and 17th and wanted a burger, I'd go to Hamburger Mary's or Jim-Denny's, and there are a couple of dozen non-burger options in the same perimeter. In & Out seems awfully auto-centric for midtown--don't they normally have a drive-through?

[Cynikal]

I've never seen an urban In & out and I agree with wburg, they are car focused (hence the name). I am a fan of In & Out but Willies is a close second for that type of burger. I bet a second location in midtown would do very well.

[ltsmotorsport]

I think it's a requirement for them (drive-throughs).

[doriankage]

From KCRA3.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- 55 Degrees, an upscale eatery on Capitol Mall, will shut down today as a result of tough economic times.

The owner said the costs of food, fuel and other expenses are making it difficult to make a profit.

The restaurant was counting on a surge of customers spilling over from two downtown building projects that never materialized.

Fins, a seafood restaurant, is also closing two locations, including its eatery at 19th and R streets.

[ozone]

I think it's a cop out to blame their low performance on the unrealized "surge of customers spilling over from two downtown building projects that never materialized", however, it does point once again to fact that we need more people living downtown in order for downtown businesses to thrive. The reason discount stores survive downtown is that they are supported by the low-income population that lives there.

[ozone]

Originally Posted by ltsmotorsport

I think it's a requirement for them (drive-throughs).

Well I know there's an In-N-Out Burger at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco:



BTW Hamburger Mary's is now Hamburger Patties and bet it's still overpriced, dirty and not very fast. And I've never even heard of Jim-Dennys.

[otnemarcaS]

I've been to the In-N-Out at Fisherman's Wharf when I lived in SF. It's obviously in a high volume tourist area with lots of foot traffic.

Many hamburger places, like junk-in-the-box, do almost 70 percent of their sales in drive thru. Can't imagine a drive thru being allowed in midtown but I think most residents will welcome a drive thru-less In-n-Out anywhere in midtown rather than another high priced steakhouse or even sushi restaurant.

Hamburger Patties and Jim-Denny's are sit down restaurants with pricey burgers mostly in the $7 to $10 range. Regardless of what Wburg thinks, midtown has a lot of young residents too, without huge disposable incomes, that want burgers at the reasonable prices a quick service Mickey D's or In-n-out provides.

[wburg]

otnemarcaS: Jim-Denny's has a walk-up window on the side of the building, and their "five cent burger" is a combo with fries that costs about six bucks. I know midtown has a lot of young residents with small disposable incomes, I used to be one of 'em until I got old (and still don't have much disposable income.) There are plenty of places to eat cheap in midtown, trust me, that's where I eat!

[Pistola916]

I would def. welcome an In & Out in the central city. I remember when I was young my mom would take me to the McDonalds on K street, that was a hoppin place.

[BrianSac]

As I suck down a chocolate shake from In&Out I'm dreaming of a In&Out in the space where 55 degrees was located. I bet the place would be packed at lunch time!

[tronblue]

Are you guys kidding. Go to nationwide and eat a real burger and support something local.

[wburg]

*headslap* that's right, nationwide! 20th and H. Bottom line is that there are cheap eats to be found in midtown as well as downtown. It's the tens of thousands of state workers who keep the downtown cheap eateries open, not the one thousand or so SRO residents--do the math. Also note that is why most downtown places are only open really crappy hours, like 10 AM- 3 PM monday-friday. We need another few thousand people DOWNTOWN if downtown restaurants and entertainment are going to be viable after 5 PM.

[goldcntry]

Nationwide does dish out a buger worthy of 5-6 napkin stars! They're almost as good as a Glenda Burger from Glenda's Cafe in Jackson (now closed :sad. The problem with Nationwide is that they are sooooo far from the Capitol Mall west corridor. The problem with 55o was that they were too expensive and didn't want to cater to the hundreds of state employees on the mall. They made Il Fornaio prices look like McValue Meals in comparison! And judging by the volumn of folks I get to stand in line with at Il Fornaio's, a lot of other folks prefer IF to 55o.

While it's fun to think of an In-and-Out on the Mall, it really wouldn't fit. And as long as the owner's of the 555 building continue to try and make up their declining revenue from exiting tenants by rising their tenant fees, I see that place staying shut for a very looooong time.

[ozone]

Look I don't need a lecture on supporting small, locallly-owned businesses. If I can get it in Midtown (where I live and my business is) I will -even if it cost me a little more. I'm not a big hamburger guy but there are times I have a craving. Plus some of my staff are not able to drop $15-$20 every time they go to lunch. There is not a fast, inexpensive hamburger joint in Central West Midtown/East End. Of course, I'm not a fan of the auto-moblie, but I wouldn't mind if Harv's carwash were replaced with drive-thru -J/K. Patrick would have a fit.

I do not like Nationwide. Plus it's kind of out of the way. Like Zelda's and Luigi's and some of the other old time local institutions it is way overrated.

[Yogi916]

"Burgers & Brew", from the same owners as Crepeville, with a location in Davis open till 3am, will be opening in our mixed use project at 14th & R St.

[ozone]

Yogi916 that's great! What is the 14th and R project? Is it under construction now and when is it expected to be finished? "Burgers and Brew" -never been but I'm excited for that part of R Street. It's probably still too far for me to walk on my lunch though. But I will certianly check it out.

[sugit]

Originally Posted by ozone

Yogi916 that's great! What is the 14th and R project? Is it under construction now and when is it expected to be finished? "Burgers and Brew" -never been but I'm excited for that part of R Street. It's probably still too far for me to walk on my lunch though. But I will certianly check it out.

Check out the last page of "Sacramento Preservation/Adaptive Reuse Projects" for some photos and such. It's the brick building next door to Empire and R15 / Cafe Bernardo.

Here is the website as well:
http://www.1409r.com/

It was in the Bee a couple weeks ago that they have signed a specialty market and a cafe /deli as well.

[ozone]

Oh yeah that's right. It's a start.