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.
We’re in the thick of Sacramento’s infamous summer, and honestly, I’m loving it.
Sweet, juicy Delta corn. Grill marks all over squash and chicken. Hot dogs at baseball games. Bánh mì by the American River (though we already talked about that one).
My No. 1 Sacramento hot take is truly a hot one: Unless you work or live outside, the summers here just aren’t that bad. Sure, temperatures get over 100 with some regularity, but I’d take the dry heat and Delta breeze over pretty much anywhere in the South, Midwest or East Coast. Seasonal variety helps keep life interesting, and supports the food scene that makes the region shine.
Today’s City of Treats includes “heavenly beef” from a Southeast Asian restaurant in South Sacramento, along with choice finds at a Land Park market and new restaurants serving pizza and phở. I’m making myself hungry — let’s get to it.
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Benjy’s Bites
Cocomilk Cafe | 6519 Savings Place, Suite 225, Sacramento | 916-996-1204
“Eat sticky rice and stay pretty all day,” the neon sign inside Cocomilk Cafe prescribes. It’s at least worth a shot, as Keo Keonorasak’s Laotian, Hmong and Thai restaurant makes glutinous rice a staple on its menu. Located in a busy South Sacramento shopping center at the edge of Little Saigon, it’s inspired by Southeast Asian street food stands, sells jars of housemade jeow bong chili paste and offers a wide-ranging smoothie bar.
Heavenly beef ($17) is one of those sticky rice-supported dishes. Dehydrated beef strips are marinated in a sticky honey-ginger-sesame mixture, deep-fried to give them a bit of a crisp and served with jeow som, a ferocious Laotian chili sauce. The fried rice salad nam khao ($17) is a study in contrasts, with crunchy rice and peanuts, tangy fermented sausage, hot chilis, herbaceous greens and lime juice’s acid. The dessert menu’s purple rice custard ($10) and glazed mochi waffles ($10) beckoned, but I opted for coco taro cups ($9), a six-pack of coconut cream-topped puddings packed into branded green-and-white boxes.
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.
After much-needed massages Saturday in Land Park, my partner Abbey and I ducked into Superette Market. Sophie Mosgrove’s year-old, pint-sized grocery store isn’t necessarily where I’d go to load up my fridge for the week, but it’s become a neighborhood favorite for its thoughtfully curated selection of food, drinks and kitchen accessories, with locally-made products denoted by stickers.
We walked away with Moke Hill Nuts & Candies gummy bears, a can of Fermensch Kombucha’s dry-hopped pear flavor, Showoff salsa macha and Little Sesame’s herby jalapeño hummus. The gummy bears were opened in the car, the kombucha was cracked an hour after we got home and I doubt the others will make it through the week.
In the news
Old Sacramento has a new speakeasy: The 1920s Bookstore, opened by bar industry veteran San Bao last Friday. It’s only available by reservation as of now, with drinks through the decades and a secret entrance tied to a clock. Keyla Vasconcellos has the story.
Contributor Becky Grunewald and I recommended 11 lunch spots for Downtown Sacramento workers, then asked where else people eat around the Capitol. The responses included four Mexican restaurants, a time-tested Thai spot and a Moroccan café.
With fewer Americans drinking today than in years past, Sacramento-area wineries and breweries are leaning into in-person events to get people in the door. One business hosts bingo, taco with wine slushies and live jazz on three consecutive nights, while another allows artists and nonprofits to use its space for free.
The Davis City Council will consider amending its outdoor dining ordinance at a meeting Tuesday night. Davis enacted the ordinance in 2024 to regulate patios that sprung up during the COVID-19 pandemic, but few businesses have gotten the necessary permits since.
Happening this week
- Frico Pizza celebrated its grand opening Aug. 11 at 1429 Broadway, Suite B in Sacramento. Owned by brothers Rodney Jong and Jon Chin, it’s named for the crispy edge where cheese hits the pan, and serves up both Detroit- and New York-style pizza.
- Sit Lo Saigon began its soft opening Aug. 12 at 565 Howe Ave., Suite 3 just north of Campus Commons. It’s the third location for 72-hour phở, joining Sit Lo Saigons in Elk Grove and Davis, and further expands Mymy Nguyen and Jimmy Voong’s local Vietnamese restaurant empire (Saigon Alley Kitchen + Bar, Saigon 88).
- Fairytale Town’s annual Tales & Ales Brewfest is this Saturday from 5-9 p.m. GA tickets are $55 for adults and $15 for kids, and benefit the 66-year-old, kid-friendly Land Park nonprofit amusement park.
