The following is from City of Treats, a food and drink newsletter by Abridged Senior Food Editor Benjy Egel. Want it sent directly to your inbox? Sign up here.
On Friday night at Maydoon, our server quoted more than an hour wait for an outdoor table. Salt & Straw’s scoop line was so long that I ducked in the separate door for a to-go pint instead. As temperatures crept into the 90s on Sunday, I stopped by the new Ululani’s Hawaiian Shave Ice in Old Sacramento, only to wait 25 minutes in a queue that would’ve taken more than an hour to complete. We ended up securing a booth at Ju Hachi on Sunday night, but not before hearing Adamo’s Restaurant was booked solid and seeing a dozen or so people huddled outside Journey to the Dumpling.
Sacramento is outside right now. Graduation celebrations, mild weather (so far) and a slew of pop-ups or small festivals have people flooding patios and parks in the city’s entertainment districts. There’s a celebratory feeling in the air, buoyed by the headlining restaurants and bars that have opened in recent weeks.
Looking to try multiple favorites in one go? Check out the food on a certain block in Southside Park, which I’d put up against any in Midtown or Downtown pound-for-pound. A new elevated Mexican restaurant in South Land Park also bears promise for lovers of tacos al carbón (proteins, usually beef, grilled over charcoal). And if you’re getting out of the city, I’ve got some tips on how to make your next camping trip a tasty one.
Let’s dig in.
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Benjy’s Bites
Osaka-Ya | 2215 10th St., Sacramento | 916-446-6857
Mecha Mucho | 2215 10th St., Sacramento | 916-753-6214
Taiwan Best Mart | 2219 10th St., Sacramento | 916-498-1698
As mentioned in last week’s City of Treats, I’m in the process of moving out of Southside Park. Part of my farewell tour included a multi-stop lunch on 10th Street between V and W streets, a historic stretch with a food scene that’s pound-for-pound as strong as any block in Sacramento’s urban core.
Sacramento’s only handmade mochi and manju shop, Osaka-Ya, opened here in 1963, less than a decade after the city’s historic Japantown was razed to create Capitol Mall. A line at its shave ice ($5.25 for a small, which two people can split) window is an unofficial sign of Sacramento summer, piled high and available with adzuki beans or Gunther’s Ice Cream.
Mecha Mucho, the city’s lone concept centered around Japanese egg salad sandwiches, took over that window as a winter pop-up in 2023. It’s now stationed inside Osaka-Ya to the left mochi counter, with an expanded menu including donburi and loaded fries. But if it’s your first visit, start with the cluckin’ katsu sando ($15), crispy chicken katsu stacked atop sunomono pickles and egg salad on shokupan milk bread.
Taiwan Best Mart (founded in 2002) hasn’t been around as long as Osaka-Ya, and isn’t as trendy as its other northern neighbor. But its loyal following has continued to show up for frozen dumplings, bento boxes and fried chicken breaded with sweet potato starch under second-generation owner Christine Chang’s management. Rice bowls ($12 plus add-ons) with pickled mustard greens, raw garlic, a house pork sauce and forbidden rice are among the most popular items; I like mine with a couple of slightly-sweet Taiwanese sausages.
Egel’s Nest
I live, play and cook in this community just like you. This recurring section is a window into my life outside of restaurants and bars, always with a food and/or drink angle.
I spent Memorial Day weekend in Mammoth Lakes for my friends Zac and Manon’s annual camping trip. Our regular campground is just outside of town, meaning people tend to eat out for most meals or maybe pull some yogurt and granola out of the bear box. The one exception: Saturday night quesadillas.
Zac grilled up mass batches of pork belly, skirt steak, chicken thighs, onions and peppers, which others spooned into flour tortillas with shredded cheese, sour cream, salsa and other fillings of choice before throwing them back on the camp stove. It was easy enough to throw together for a party of 11, and customizable so that everyone walked away happy. I poured a chilled water bottle full of Manhattans (mixed at home) as others cracked Distant Brewing beers, then we all dug into Real Pie Company pies and s’mores bars made by my partner Abbey.
In the news
Zoe Barrie’s latest Cooking in Season recipe, mixed berry galettes, hearkens back to her days as a farm-to-table restaurant’s pantry chef. Blackberries, strawberries and blueberries all work wonderfully, but so do several other summertime fruits.
Happening this week
- Sacramento Cocktail Week began Sunday and will run through Thursday at participating area bars. Several events are happening each day, with the headliner competition (Sacramento’s best mai tai) going down at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Harlow’s.
- Vallarta Prime started its soft opening last week at 1948 Sutterville Road in South Land Park, where Ford’s Hamburgers once sat. The new Mexican restaurant is decidedly more upscale, with ribeye tacos al carbón and an emphasis on mariscos.
- BAD Bakers opened its eighth area location last Saturday at 2021 Bronze Star Drive in Woodland. The Filipino-influenced bakery specializes in loaded and infused doughnuts as well as buttery señorita bread and kolaches.
Benjy Egel is the senior food editor at Abridged. Born and raised in the Sacramento region, he has covered its local restaurants and bars since 2018. He also writes and edits Abridged’s weekly food and drink newsletter, City of Treats.