The Abridged version:
- Looking for dinner before a Sacramento Kings game or Golden 1 Center concert? Check out these 11 nearby restaurants for reasonably priced, tasty meals.
- You can find quality barbecue, tacos, ramen and more within 10 minutes of the arena gates.
- Read through this list, then write in your own favorite if it was missed.
Golden 1 Center’s new chef is churning out the arena’s best food in years, if not ever. But if you’re looking to eat before walking through the gates, try these 11 restaurants within a 10-minute walk of the Downtown Sacramento capstone.
There’s the barbecue joint you smell before you see, the sports bar with options for every customer, the tropical rooftop bar with burgers and fruity cocktails. Read through these selections, then add what you think was missed at the bottom.
With tickets, concessions and merchandise already costing families a pretty penny, this guide leans toward more affordable options. If money isn’t much of an object, Camden Spit & Larder and Ella Dining Room & Bar are nearby and excellent.
These 11 restaurants are all open for dinner, but be warned: many get slammed right before a Golden 1 Center event. Show up by two hours before game time if you want to be safe.
Cariño
729 J St.
A pink-walled verdant oasis on a rough block of J Street, Cariño stands out from its surroundings (and wealth of stellar surrounding Mexican restaurants such as La Cosecha, Cilantro’s and Taqueria El Burrito). Owned by sisters from Mexico City, its dishes are made with a little extra cariño (an affectionate Spanish word for “care”), as the neon sign says. It’s particularly notable for its Mexico City-born dishes, of which you’ll find at nearby competitors.
Molletes are a prime example. Normally served as an open-faced sandwich, this version features soft telera bread sliced into breadstick-like pieces and smothered in Monterey jack cheese, refried bean spread, pico de gallo and cotija. Cariño’s care is also clear in a nuanced mole negro that’s simultaneously bittersweet and fruity, a plate-scraping sauce covering chicken enchiladas. Grab a colorful pot of cafe de olla to keep cheering through the night.
Sauced BBQ & Spirits
1028 7th St.
Sauced BBQ & Spirits’ Downtown Sacramento location, one of five for the Livermore-based brand, greets customers at DoCo’s mouth with the smell of smoke. Even with a huge dining room (and a menu to match) and a decently large patio, ticketholders often fill all seats before a game, dipping into the whiskey-based bar or sampling house-brewed Sauced Pig beers.
They come for North Carolina-style pulled pork cut through with a vinegary mop sauce, sweet potato casserole punctuated by crisp black skins, candylike brisket or pork belly burnt ends when available and hefty burgers when not. The quartet of standout barbecue sauces on each table (mustardy Georgia Gold, sweet and tangy Pig Candy, Kansas City-style Tin Roof and Hot Tin Roof) are worth naming a restaurant after. The Tin Roof, mixed with ranch dressing, shows up in the Hella Cali salad as well, a lighter option with blue cheese, avocado, onion strings and the option of smoked chicken.
Beach Hut Deli
711 K St.
Beach Hut Deli was founded in 1981 by then-19-year-old Troy Feist, not far from the shores of Folsom Lake. Today, it’s amassed more than 40 locations across California, Nevada and Oregon. Many are independently franchised, including Sean Hook’s outpost on Ali Youssefi Square across from Downtown Commons, which opened in 2020. With a thatched roof interior and faux surfboard tables, it’s leaned into the beachy vibe, buoyed by a carefully-crafted beer list and $4.50 Coronas.
Many Beach Hut Deli sandwiches come lathered with cream cheese, including the flagship Surfin’ Bird, which runs anywhere from $8.25 to $24.50 depending on size. Layers of turkey (other versions have ham or roast beef) pile into a pliable French roll with avocado, salty bacon and a slew of ubiquitous veggies. Unlike other locations, this one also has a separate vegan menu, which leans on realistic substitutes from The Butcher’s Son as well as jackfruit and tempeh. Impossible Meats shows up only alongside imitation provolone in a faux chicken parm, which disguises any lingering taste or texture differences under a blanket of marinara sauce.
Lotus Thai Cuisine
425 J St.
Tucked away in the sunken courtyard of Sacramento’s Historic Chinatown Mall, Lotus Thai Cuisine is a pain to park near — but perfectly on the walking route for any fans taking Amtrak to a Golden 1 Center event. It’s not just supporters, either: Linkin Park and their support crew spent $3,000 on food at Lotus before their show last year, according to a restaurant manager. If you have the time, spend a few minutes walking around the center, which includes the Ping Yuen Senior Community apartments and a memorial to fallen Chinese railroad workers.
With a slightly shorter menu than sister restaurants Sai Varee Thai Cuisine in The Pocket and Baan Noodles & Rice in South Land Park, food comes out quickly — and in the case of the $14 boat noodle soup, should be eaten quickly, lest the rice noodles soak up the savory broth for you. Panang is the most popular curry, a cozy dish for winter evenings filled with bell peppers and lovely hits of Thai basil.
Tipsy Putt
630 K St., Suite 120
Want to test your own athletic ability before the Kings take the court? Hole up at Tipsy Putt, DoCo’s indoor mini golf course, for a round of nine, a shuffleboard-inspired game called “1-2 Putt” and 28 drink taps, along with cocktails ranging from the ’02 Playoffs (whiskey, Coke and sad memories) to the Beam Team (tequila, blackberry, ginger and lemon).
Putting through a diminutive Tower Bridge replica is the golf course’s highlight; on the culinary menu, it’s the chicken al pastor vampiro tacos (three for $17 with rice and beans, or $10 sans sides on Tuesdays) coated in a chili rub and wrapped in cheese-skirted tortillas. A hearty Mexican chopped salad packed with pepper jack cheese and pepitas can be served with that chicken, carnitas or barbacoa, but vegetarians will be happy with the chickpea option and creamy cilantro dressing. The house lager, Mulligan Light is just $5 per pint before Kings games; pair it with an order of wings (eight for $12, 20 for $24) covered in a salty-spiced rub for bar bite bliss.
Kodaiko Ramen & Bar
718 K St.
The final boss of packed pregame restaurants, Kodaiko Ramen & Bar has a strong claim for not just the top downtown ramen, but the best in the Sacramento region — the “Sac Ramen Kings,” as their T-shirts read. The brick-walled basement joint is owned by the same crew as Kru Contemporary Japanese Cuisine, including chef Takumi Abe, and serves up slurp-worthy bowls alongside stellar cocktails. Kodaiko doesn’t take reservations, but you can get in line online, and doing so may be your only chance to get tonkotsu before tipoff.
In a bucket, as an appetizer with yuzu-Tajín dipping sauce or as part of a peach-and-noodles salad, the juicy chicken karaage is a must-order. The ramen is split into classics below $20 (the mushroom paitan and shoyu with chicken are my two favorites) and custom creations such as a recent chicken-lemon base, succulent shrimp, dancing bonito flakes and three outstanding shrimp-miso butter dumplings. Need a sweet treat to beat a feeling of defeat? A rotating ice cream sandwich offers flavors such as taro, strawberry milk tea or calamansi.
Foundation Restaurant & Bar
400 L St.
There’s truth in Foundation Restaurant & Bar’s name: it feels time-tested beyond its 13 years, a stepping-stone to the modern dining scene like many San Francisco restaurants of old. A dark, weathered wooden bar, cushy booths and a back area with sports on a large TV play host to a crew of regulars, with friendly service and happy hour specials to keep them coming back.
Even at a slightly toney place such as Foundation, a good fry cook matters a lot. Green beans coated in a sumptuous breading, garlic fries, calamari — all come every bit as crispy as one would want without being overcooked in the middle. The $34 braised beef short rib is fall-apart tender in a red wine pan sauce, and a surprise addition of pesto benefited the crackly margherita flatbread flecked with Parmesan whispers. On a bar menu split into classics and contemporaries (plus a couple mocktails), the passion fruit margarita shines.
Yard House
405 K St., Suite 100
A national chain with locations in Roseville, Elk Grove and Folsom, Yard House is a sports bar designed to appeal to everyone. The vegan, the carnivore, the adventurous and the diet-conscious can all happily order off this DoCo restaurant’s menu, which spans from chicken wings with a Gardein imitation meat substitute to globetrotting fusion entrees and burgers made with a proprietary USDA Prime beef blend. There are dozens of taps, 32-ounce pours in glasses half a yard tall and collaborations with major craft breweries, yet robust cocktail, wine and mocktail programs make sure the beer-averse won’t be left behind.
A long list of sizable appetizers peaks with Miguel’s queso dip, created by corporate chef Miguel Mata. Ribbons of guajillo chili oil and roasted poblanos balance a creamy blend of cheddar, pepper jack and queso blanco, which is torched and served with tortillas and chips. The Korean BBQ cheesesteak fluidly melds its different ingredients together as well, its tender shaved rib-eye drawing in melted white American cheese, kimchi and a streak of gochujang inside a hoagie roll. The newly introduced Maui salmon salad stands out as a lighter option, particularly for its bright sesame-lime dressing and rice chunks fried into croutons.
Shabu Shack
606 L St.
An artificial tree full of cherry blossoms greets customers as they walk into Shabu Shack, a Japanese hot pot spot across L Street from the arena (additional locations in Elk Grove and Davis). Inside, staff bearing t-shirts with the restaurant’s name in the Kings’ 2000s logo zip from the dining room to the patio, firing up tabletop stoves and dropping off plates of raw meats and vegetables. From there, the customer is the chef, slipping those ingredients into bubbling broths for a quick boil.
You can do so for about $25 per person, or splurge on all-you-can-eat options ($43, or $86 with premium meats, all appetizers and bottomless beer and sake). Popular broths include a tingling Sichuan, a savory miso or a Thai-inspired tom yum, with variable levels of heat and divided bowls allowing tables to boil two at a time. Pick from thin slices of American Wagyu, lamb or seafood, choose your noodles and get to cooking and slurping.
Darling Aviary
712 K St.
Matt Byrd and Bobby Falcon (yes, those are their real names) launched The Flamingo House in midtown with Amadeu Goncalves and Christian Tolen, then expanded west down K Street to open Darling Aviary in October 2020. The similarly avian-themed bar boasts an eye-catching metal peacock, a disco ball spinning inside a human-sized birdcage and framed paintings of different species. But if the weather cooperates, most guests simply walk through the lounge en route to The Nest, Darling Aviary’s rooftop bar that peers out at Golden 1 Center.
The Nest has a second bar for food and drink orders, including the velvety Fallen Fig cocktail with tequila, allspice liqueur, oat milk, pumpkin spice blend and fig jam. Burgers center around patties somewhere between typical and smashed, like the jammy, funky River City Wrangler with smoked Gouda, sweet pickled jalapeños, fried onions and housemade chipotle barbecue sauce. Happy hour from 4-6 p.m. includes a $7 mini version of the Phoenix Fries (curly fries topped with garlic, Gouda, chili oil and ranch) and an expedited pregame menu gets fans out the door as soon as needed.
The 7th Street Standard
1122 7th St.
The 7th Street Standard is a step nicer than other restaurants on this list, but pregame is the best time to go, as fans wearing Kings gear get 20% off food. Located on the ground floor of Hyatt Centric hotel, it’s been helmed by executive chef Ravin Patel and chef de cuisine Pedro Depina since opening in 2021.
The upscale California cuisine changes with the seasons, but chicken tandoori lollipops are always available as a strong appetizer, the well-spiced meatballs skewered and served between tikka masala and cilantro yogurt sauce. The miso-glazed, market-price fish ($38 for California-caught chinook salmon on my visit) was cooked to a buttery perfection over a bed of forbidden rice with punchy side of bok choy. Sneak up to the Clayton Club, a sixth-floor rooftop bar with bites, if you can’t get a table downstairs (or have time for an extra cocktail).
