Sacramento Restaurants, Nightlife and Entertainment

[creamcityleo79]

sactown Saturdays (sponsored by sactown magazine, of course!)! Brilliant!!!

[Majin]

Sactown Sacturdays... sounds good.

[Phillip]

I've never seen crowds in Midtown like last Saturday night. It felt like the French Quarter more than Sacramento, with throngs of happy celebrating people everywhere. I walked from 23rd & G to Capitol Park and back and there were crowded sidewalks and busy restaurants all along the way. Recession? What recession? I've never seen Midtown realize its potential the way it did last Saturday night.

It's been a year since I went to a Second Saturday, and that one was relatively sedate and not very busy. Are they always like last weekend's now? Or was this one extra special?

[otnemarcaS]

As I mentioned last month in post #347 this event should now be every 2nd and 4th Saturdays. Like others here, I was amazed at the crowds last Saturday. Last month was also very cowded. Haven't seen this many people out in midtown since St Patricks day back in March. As long as they keep it fresh with rotating gallery displays and music, people will keep coming. Boy, the restaurants certainly benefit. We ate at Tamaya Sushi & Grill at 21st and J. We originally tried to get pizza at Luigi's but the line was too long and no seating available. Will try 'em again sometime later.

[sugit]

Bunch of stuff from Mike Dunne's "Appetizers" section in the Bee

* An Agave Blooms Along 20th Street *
Enough with all the wine bars in midtown Sacramento. Let's talk tequila bar. The Ulloa brothers - Jose and Carlos - hope to do that on or about Dec. 1. That's when they aim to open their Azul Mexican Food and Tequila Bar in the MARRS building (for Midtown Arts, Retail, Restaurant Scene) along 20th Street between J and K. Construction is to start next week, says family spokeswoman Raquel Gomez.

The Ulloa brothers come from a dairy-farming family in the Mexican state of Jalisco, home to the best tequilas. Azul will be their first restaurant and bar. The restaurant, to seat about 45, will be designed as a taqueria, says Gomez. Several of the dishes will be based on traditional family recipes.

Azul could mean that Sacramentans will have one more place to savor the paloma, which in Jalisco is the tequila-based cocktail of choice, not the margarita. A paloma generally is made by filling a tall tumbler with ice, adding 2 ounces of silver tequila (also called blanco), putting in a pinch of salt, squeezing in an ounce of lime juice, tossing in a wedge of lime, and filling the glass with around 6 ounces of a citrus soda, usually Fresca or Squirt, though sometimes grapefruit juice is used. In contrast to the typically sweet and slushy margarita, with a paloma you actually can taste the tequila. The only other Mexican restaurant in Sacramento where I've been able to find a paloma is Centro Cocina Mexicana.

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*A New Site with History*
I went for the pizza, stayed for the cookie. Luigi's Slice, a branch of the landmark Luigi's Pizza Parlor along Stockton Boulevard, has opened in the MARRS building (for Midtown Arts, Retail, Restaurant Scene) along 20th Street between J and K in midtown Sacramento.

To judge by a wide slice of the pepperoni and sausage ($3.50), the pizza has traveled well from the original location to the new, but that shouldn't surprise anyone who has ordered takeout from Luigi's Pizza Parlor. (The midtown pizzas are baked at the new site, but it will take 53 years for the ovens to get as seasoned as the ovens along Stockton Boulevard.)

The midtown quarters are sleek and chic, but the standout design feature is a wall of handsomely displayed photos that trace the history of the Brida family from Italy to Sacramento. The only drawback to the display is the lack of information to identify the principals, a shortcoming the family is looking into correcting, says Linda Brida, the wife of Greg Brida, the son of Sergio Brida, who with his brother Celso has owned Luigi's since 1965.

A more subtle Sacramento connection to Sacramento's culinary history is on the counter near the cash register - jars of fresh cookies, including a delightfully spicy, complex and moist gingersnap ($1.25). They're from Joe Bickie's Baked Goods, but there is no Joe Bickie. That's the nom de plume of baker Amy Alfaro, the sister of Greta Garverick, who for years ran the popular Greta's Cafe in midtown. Garverick does catering these days, and Alfaro helps her out with desserts, for which Greta's Cafe was celebrated.

Luigi's Slice is the only outlet so far for Alfaro's cookies, which also include snickerdoodles, buttermilk and a flaxseed wheatgerm, as well as brownies. Alfaro's dream is to open a cookies-and-milk shop, and the way the midtown culinary scene is developing that would seem a distinct possibility. As for the name Joe Bickie, she says she came up with Joe for coffee and Bickie's for cookies. "I just like the mystery of it all," Alfaro says.

Luigi's Slice, 1050 20th St., is open 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Sunday through Wednesday, 11 a.m.-2:30 a.m. Thursday through Saturday; (916) 447-1255.

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*Midtown Chocolaterie On Tap*
On a cold and foggy winter day in Sacramento nothing is quite as fortifying and soothing as a cup of hot chocolate. This winter, chocolate master Ginger Elizabeth Powers will come to our rescue with no fewer than four kinds of hot chocolate.

She hopes to start serving the hot chocolates, along with assorted hand-crafted chocolates, a couple of chocolate cakes, and the best chocolate-chip cookie she can whip up, around Dec. 1 in tiny quarters she just leased in the 1800 block of L Street in midtown Sacramento. Her chocolaterie, Ginger Elizabeth Chocolates, will be next to L Wine Lounge and Urban Kitchen.

The four hot chocolates that Powers is to make include a traditional European, a classic American, and a Oaxacan, the latter infused with chile-pepper flakes, fresh ginger, vanilla bean and cinnamon.

Her specialty chocolates are to include such flavors as salty caramel dark chocolate, fresh peppermint, hazelnut praline, orange jasmine and creme brulee.

Until about three weeks ago, Powers was pastry chef at Masque Ristorante in El Dorado Hills. She also owns Courture Chocolates by Ginger Elizabth, which wholesales artisan chocolates to the restaurant Mulvaney's Building & Loan and the wine bar 59 Degrees & Holding Co. She also has been doing favors for weddings. (Her own wedding is Oct. 14, when she marries Tom Hahn, her partner in the new business. Hahn also is a cook, having studied at Chiang Mai Thai Cookery School in northern Thailand and worked at the celebrated restaurants French Laundry in Napa Valley and Manresa in Los Gatos.)

Whether the shop will have seating is uncertain. It's small, but Powers plans to have it built so customers will be able to see the chocolate makers in action in the kitchen.

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*Downtown To Get Some Soul*
Before the end of the month, Ray Smith hopes to start building out a restaurant to bring his busy and broad style of Southern cooking to downtown Sacramento.

Smith is co-owner and chef of Table 260 in Elk Grove. The restaurant's name was inspired by his suite number at the shopping complex Harbour Point. He will keep basically the same name - Table 260 Downtown - when he comes to Sacramento, though he'll be at 800 J St., on the ground floor of a loft high-rise.

"It will be a little more upscale," says Smith of the Sacramento restaurant. The restaurant is to include an urban lounge with blues and jazz, a more extensive wine list, a higher-end menu, and a private VIP room capable of seating 15 to 20 guests.

Ideally, Smith would like to open the new place by the year-end holidays. He will continue to run the Elk Grove restaurant after the Sacramento site opens.

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*Ella Nears Debut*
The patio isn't likely to be ready, but that isn't stopping the Randall Selland family from opening Ella on Sept. 22. Everything else is expected to be in place by then, says family member Josh Nelson.

One of Sacramento's more eagerly anticipated restaurants this fall, Ella will be at 12th and K, bringing to downtown an upscale hybrid offshoot of the family's two successful operations, the restaurant The Kitchen and the deli and wine shop Selland's Market Cafe.

Nelson says Ella is about set to start accepting reservations, (916) 443-3772.

[wburg]

Gallery openings every week is kind of a different beast than every month: most galleries want to cycle things a little more slowly and artists want a little more exposure time. Second Saturday has effectively worked over the years as a way to motivate businesses to stay open a little later and encourage people to come downtown a little more often. Second Saturday itself as a weekly could potentially suffer from over-exposure, but the basic concept of having businesses open later, having more provision for street musicians (currently, *ALL* of the street musicians working Second Saturday is technically in violation of city codes--the police just choose not to enforce it) and encouraging pedestrian activity are things that are already helping midtown promote itself. As I have mentioned before, every Saturday in midtown now is as busy as Second Saturdays ten years ago, and weekdays in midtown are as busy as Saturdays were ten years ago. So it is working, and a monthly party to remind people that the cool stuff is down here helps to reinforce the message.

That being said, more frequent street fairs and festivals with other themes would definitely be welcome. More ethnic fairs, pride festivals, local cultural fairs--any excuse for a party! Maybe it's time to reintroduce Thursday Night Market. That started well, but the city got scared of just how successful it was--the council at the time felt the crowds were too big and called it off.

[otnemarcaS]

Yeah, the Thursday Night Market became a victim of it's own success. Too many kids hanging around and they were not not spending money on merchandise or food. Add to these the punks that wanted to just hang out afterwards downtown and they'd need several cops on horses just to clear out the crowds. TNM certainly became too big for it's own good.

However, 2nd Sat seems different. People do spend money at the midtown restaurants and shops. It's certainly much better eating at the various restaurants midtown than the temporary mobile restaurants set up at TNM. Even with the crowds, it feels much safer than TNM. I notice there is very little police presence at SS compared to TNM. There's a lot of young people mixed with the mature crowds on SS but they seem to be better behaved than those that hung around at TNM back in the day.

[downtownserg89]

second saturday is always a hoot. i was there, sitting in front of olipom over on 21st between k and L. it was "crackin" as they say nowadays. i felt so midtown scenester.

and dude, the mcdonalds on freeport was DEMOLISHED! someone told me they're rebuilding it and having a new vibe, a place with wifi and more of a diner vibe, like the olden days mcdonalds. so this should be exciting perhaps?

and maaaaaaars needs to hurry up and open. i cant wait to cruise on by and see all the people walking around, sitting sipping coffee, doing the midtown thang!

[otnemarcaS]

Had my first slice of pizza at Luigi's today. I see what people mean. Damn, that was some good pizza.

[BrianSac]

Originally Posted by otnemarcaS

Had my first slice of pizza at Luigi's today. I see what people mean. Damn, that was some good pizza.

It was sure nice to eat a big fat juicy, cheesy, peporonni pizza after dancing my ass off at Badlands Friday night. Looking forward to the Tequilla Bar and Peets coffee too.

[creamcityleo79]

Better than before:

Bob Shallit: McDonald's owner wants old Land Park look
By Bob Shallit - Bee Columnist

Published 12:00 am PDT Monday, September 17, 2007
Story appeared in BUSINESS section, Page E3



The McDonald's restaurant on Freeport Boulevard came tumbling down last week. Its replacement should resemble this rendering. Franchise owner Harris Liu said he wants a building that "integrates into the (1920s) neighborhood." CRMS Architects


The McDonald's eatery on Sacramento's Freeport Boulevard came down overnight a week ago. It's going to be rebuilt -- as a custom-designed "Craftsman-style" hamburger outlet -- almost as fast.

"We'll have it done by December," says franchisee Harris Liu. "I can't afford for it to be closed that long."

Liu, whose family owns 23 McD's in Northern California, decided the 40-year-old Freeport outlet, near McClatchy High School, had to be replaced. It was reduced to rubble in one day.

"It was an old, beat-up building," he says. "People driving by wouldn't give it a second look."

He met with Land Park neighborhood groups, showed them different McDonald prototypes. Nobody liked any of them.

So Liu broke the mold, working with local architect CRMS to design a McDonald's that he says "integrates into the (1920s) neighborhood." The brick building's edges will be softened, canopies will shade windows and doors, the heavy timbers left exposed.

Outside, a patio will invite people to sit, have coffee and use the Wi-Fi Internet connection. Gone are the golden arches and play yard.

"This is unique," says Liu of the coffeehouse ambience and Craftsman-inspired exterior. Nationwide, he says, "there's nothing like it in the McDonald's system."

He expects construction to be completed in three months and hopes to inspire other Freeport business owners to "step up" and remodel their aging buildings.

To prevent his Freeport employees from jumping ship during construction, Liu says he's offered them all jobs at another McDonald's.

"Good people," he says, "are hard to find."

[Majin]

I hate McDoanlds so I don't really give a damn. I however hope they don't rebuild the parking lot along with it.

[reggiesquared]

Originally Posted by BrianSac

It was sure nice to eat a big fat juicy, cheesy, peporonni pizza after dancing my ass off at Badlands Friday night. Looking forward to the Tequilla Bar and Peets coffee too.

is there a link to this tequila bar?

[downtownserg89]

see i was right about the mcdonalds!

[creamcityleo79]

Went downtown today and had a friggin' blast! Luigi's was great! My husband LOVED the state capitol and Capitol Park! We looked at a CADA apt and it was awesome! We had PF Chang's for dinner! Pictures from today to come soon!

[ozone]

I never go to Mc Dees but I'm not everyone. I wouldn't even mind if the noisy Metro carwash (L and 19th) and all their "legal" employees were replaced by the golden arches (as long as it looked good).

[Majin]

Originally Posted by ozone

I never go to Mc Dees but I'm not everyone. I wouldn't even mind if the noisy Metro carwash (L and 19th) and all their "legal" employees were replaced by the golden arches (as long as it looked good).

Hah, I have the same thoughts everytime I drive by that place.

[sugit]

This sounds really cool.....I have to imagine this would bring more acts/bands/shows in...

Outdoor Entertainment Venue Proposed for West Sacramento

Intimate Site for Events Would Make Raley Field Accessible to Greater Number of Groups and People



WEST SACRAMENTO, Sept. 10, 2007 -- An enhancement to Raley Field will create an intimate outdoor entertainment event venue that will open up the West Sacramento stadium to a much wider variety of community events, including concerts, theater productions, sporting events and other private functions.

The proposed venue would contain seating for approximately 3,500 on a 1.5-acre plot behind center field and would have no impact on the current Raley Field experience. The venue is expected to open in March 2009.

“The overall goal for this entertainment venue is to provide another attractive, family-oriented option for entertainment and the arts within Raley Field. While the venue will be located at Raley Field, our goal is to create an intimate garden setting that’s separate from the baseball stadium and can host as wide a variety of events as possible,” said Raley Field President and COO Alan Ledford.

Designed by the San Francisco firm of Heller Manus Architects, the outdoor entertainment setting would cover approximately 24,000 square feet and include a 40-foot-by-60 foot stage covered by an iconic canopy. Events at the venue would not coincide with baseball games.

The proposed site has been used in the past for several well-known community events such as the Rhythm & Ribs Festival, Grape Escape and Jazz Jubilee. Add in company parties, pre-game barbecues and a host of other events and the current Raley Field site accommodates more than 100 events a year.

With the new venue, Raley Field could host an additional 60 public and private events throughout the year spanning a wider range of types and smaller sizes, such as concerts, sporting events such as boxing and tennis, trade shows, fine dining events, summer movie nights, high school graduations, and outdoor symphonies, to name a few. Many of these events are currently not economically feasible or practical at the existing stadium.

Some features of the proposed outdoor entertainment venue include:

* Permanent stage and lighting, with a state of the art sound system.
* An area in front of the stage with the capacity to seat approximately 2,800 people or 1,300 people if configured with tables.
* An area featuring box seats flanked by four suites. Behind the box seats, an elevated grass berm for picnic style enjoyment of facility events.
* A covered open air patio specifically for groups and patrons with access to concessions and restrooms.
* A small building that will contain dressing rooms, office space, storage space, bathrooms, and a food service area.

[sugit]

Looks like the city might actually get the Community Center Theatre renovated.

I like how the expansion would build out the L Street side to meet the street and get rid of Brutalist architecture look.

Report Back- Findings of the Community Center Theater Renovation Financial Feasibility Study
Location: 1301 L Street (District 1)
Recommendation: Adopt a Resolution, directing staff to 1) complete a thorough analysis of Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) projections of the next ten (10) years; 2) secure architectural services to complete design concept, formalize cost estimate, and assess phasing options for partial renovation of the Community Center Theater; 3) seek naming rights proposals; and 4) develop a formal facility fee ticket surcharge beginning with the Fall 2008 season. Contact: Judy Goldbar, General Manager, Convention Center Complex (916) 808-5630; and Tina McCarty, Administrative Officer, Convention Center Complex (916) 808-8220, Convention Culture and Leisure Department.

[ozone]

sugit do you know of any time frame the city might have for this project? I'm assuming that the rendering you have is very preliminary/concept.

Looks like they are getting rid of the porte-cochere too. That's good.