Sacramento Area Meals Worth the Trip
The city of Sacramento has a food scene that punches well above its weight. In Downtown, Midtown, and East Sacramento alone, there are scores of excellent restaurants, and plenty more pepper surrounding neighborhoods. We even keep a map tracking our favorite places around town.
When we moved to Sacramento, one of the things that excited us was the prospect of having a new radius. After more than three decades in San Francisco, we had done many deep dives of the coast and the Bay Area. Living in the Central Valley provided access to areas that are new to us. So, we’ve taken to doing the occasional day trip just to explore, and what better reason to go on an excursion than to grab a bite? Here are a few of our favorite jaunts (and joints in them) so far:
Grass Valley
The quintessential Gold Country town, Grass Valley was founded after the discovery of gold at Gold Hill, and a population boom followed. As such, the town seems almost stuck in time, with beautifully preserved Victorian structures throughout. Grass Valley maintains a laid-back, independent vibe, eschewing modern trappings for plenty of quaint boutiques and small eateries.
A must-stop spot is the Golden Gate Saloon, in the Holbrooke Hotel. This gorgeously renovated Victorian inn is as old as the town itself; in fact, when Grass Valley burned in 1855, the owners of the saloon were up and running in a tent outside the very next day. The menu is a sophisticated blend of California fresh ingredients inflected with modern Mexican sensibilities. On a recent visit, we fell in love with a dish of green chorizo, broad beans, and tomatillo sauce, alongside some hearty achiote rice. If you can nab it, the little bistro table on the Juliet balcony at the front of the restaurant makes for excellent people watching.
Auburn
Another OG Gold Rush town, Auburn was founded by miners heading to Coloma, where gold was first discovered in California. When they found gold in the soil at the site of modern-day Auburn, they stayed for more prospecting, and discovered good mining. Like Grass Valley, Auburn retains its Victorian charm and small-town spirit. Friends who are clients stop there frequently en route between their homes in the Bay Area and Reno, and they tipped us off to one of the best bites in town. Auburn Alehouse produces award-winning beers, in a region that bustles with excellent craft brews, and serves up elevated pub grub, all in an impressively restored firehouse. The kitchen knows its way around a fryer, serving up some of the best fried chicken you’ll ever have — and don’t miss the ethereally light fried pickles, either.
Placerville
We were so excited to learn that our favorite West County Sonoma restaurant, Rocker Oysterfeller’s, opened an “Eastside” branch in the nearby town of Placerville. Of course, they serve oysters (Tomales Bay, to be specific), but their strong suit is Southern and Cajun/Creole fare including gumbo, étouffée, shrimp and grits, and fried chicken. In season, be sure to ask if they’re doing their Cajun Dungeness crab. Cocktails are a highlight here as well. The Placerville location lacks the roadhouse vibe of its Valley Ford sister — it looks like a Mexican restaurant, because it was — but everything else holds up just fine.
Lodi
While still very much in Gold Country, Lodi is more famous for red — wine, that is. Lodi is the heart of Zinfandel production, and here you’ll find the biggest, juiciest ones. The hottest ticket in town is Guantonio’s Wood Fired, a hip, petite spot in a building that resembles a renovated garage. The menu is cleverly cleaved into simply “Not Pizza” and “Pizza,” since wood-fired pies using only organic, non-GMO flour are their stock in trade. Chef-owner Nick Guantone shines a spotlight on the area’s best produce, producing vibrant salads and creative combos on the pizzas, such as the Goldie: summer squash, spring onions, ricotta, black pepper. Guantone also is keen on local, small-batch wines, which you can enjoy with your pies or buy at comparatively low prices. (The restaurant started as a retail operation, and is licensed as such.) We were charmed by the place, but be warned, it’s only open Wednesday through Saturday for a few hours for dinner, and they don’t take reservations.
Roseville
Depending where you live in Sacramento, Roseville may not seem like much of an excursion, but since we live in South Land Park, it’s definitely something of a schlep. What Roseville lacks in the charm of Gold Country Victoriana, it makes up for in modern shopping convenience, so we end up going there for the occasional retail therapy session. And when we go, we always stop at Nixtaco. The strip mall and the busy intersection are, also, charmless, but that becomes easy to ignore when the food arrives. Chef-owner Patricio Wise merges traditional Mexican techniques and flavors with, yes, our famously excellent ingredients for what they refer to as Farm-to-Taco. Think hardy blue corn tortillas wrapped around Mazatlan-style shrimp, rajas con queso, or what they endearingly call Roadkill, roasted and shredded pork belly with serrano chiles, tomato, and onion, on a bed of grilled cheese. There’s good reason why Nixtaco has maintained its spot on the Michelin Bib Gourmand list, and why Soleil Ho of the San Francisco Chronicle gave them a shoutout as having the best tacos in Northern California.