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.
It’s Abridged by PBS KVIE’s birthday week! One year ago Wednesday, we went live to the Sacramento region. In the time since, we’ve published more than 1,000 stories, grown our staff and cleaned up at our first California Journalism Awards. What other newborn can claim that level of production?
I’ve had the pleasure of being Abridged’s senior food editor since the outset. And while my job is 90% typical journalism, 10% eating, I’m extremely fortunate to be able to enjoy the Sacramento area’s smorgasbord of incredible restaurants.
These are 11 of the best dishes I’ve eaten at Sacramento-area restaurants over the past year. I hope you’ll enjoy them as much as I have.
- Breakfast sandwich at Immortal Cafe & Supply in Downtown Sacramento
- Fish tacos at El Abajeño Tacos in Roseville
- Tea leaf salad at Chef Burma in Midtown Sacramento (also available at My Burma in Davis)
- Pumpkin chai pancakes at The Pantry in Roseville
- Asparagus spring tartine at Franquette in West Sacramento
- Brisket at Belly Barbecue in Folsom
- Nizami chicken dum biryani at Ziyafath’s Hyderabadi Restaurant in North Natomas
- Pepper steak sandwich at Tony Baloney’s in unincorporated Sacramento County
- The whole damn carrot at Veg Kitchen + Bar in Midtown
- Vanilla rum canelé at Pastry Cat in East Sacramento
- 50/50 pot de crème at Canon in East Sacramento
Thanks for your support in Year 1. Here’s to many more!
Sign Up for the City of Treats Newsletter
Get the latest Sacramento food news from Benjy Egel in City of Treats — delivered every Tuesday.
Benjy’s Bites
Delhi Oven | 3150 Macon Drive, Sacramento | 916-333-4292
Surrounded by office parks and suburbia off Elkhorn Boulevard in North Natomas, Delhi Oven is joined in its building by two other connected businesses: fusion-friendly Championz Pizza and Indian Cash & Carry grocery store. The restaurant and banquet hall is worth visiting on its own merits, though, for hearty dishes enjoyed by the neighborhood’s sizable South Indian population.
Start with chole bhature ($12), a Punjabi chickpea curry appetizer. Served with achar, red onions and puffed-up pappadams on a silver thali, it’s full of flavor no matter the spice level. Most menu items skew North Indian, but forearm-length dosa ($11-$15) scrolls served with sambar stand out among the Southern specialties. The chicken tikka masala pizza ($15-$30 depending on size) is a surprisingly fresh-tasting standout from the Championz side, topped with tandoori-baked meat, dried ginger, jalapeños and cilantro above a firm crust.
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 Labor Day weekend taking in Los Angeles’ culinary delights with two college buddies: bubbling sundubu-jjigae in Koreatown, coco frío with Tajín and lime from a corner vendor, gomashio brown rice cakes with crispy oyster mushrooms and cilantro ginger chutney from a vegetarian restaurant, Porto’s Bakery’s tiramisu cake.
Yet the weekend’s highlight came over a liter of Gulp Hablo orange wine at the Hollywood Bowl — which, amazingly, allows outside alcohol for Los Angeles Philharmonic concerts. The orchestra took the stage that Saturday night to play the music of John Williams, the legendary composer behind scores for “Star Wars,” “Jaws,” “Harry Potter” and much more, with scenes from the films projected on a screen behind him.
I silently hoped that Williams had been able to see one of the Philharmonic’s shows throughout the weekend. Luckily, we picked the right night. Before the final song, Darth Vader’s “The Imperial March,” Williams emerged from the wings as a surprise guest conductor. He’s 94 years old, and was in a wheelchair. But when his arms went up, surrounded by a crowd of lightsaber-wielded fans, his movements seemed as crisp as they ever were.
In the news
Island Tacos will close Sept. 30 after 21 years in an East Sacramento parking lot. It’s been owned and operated by Mexican immigrants Antonio and Maria Valderrama since 2005, and they’re now ready to retire, their son Jose told me.
Pangaea Bier Cafe, closed earlier this year in Curtis Park, is coming back — in Downtown Sacramento. It’ll open in spring 2027 as part of The Diggs, a mixed-use building at 3rd and R streets, and brew its own suds this time to serve in a 7,000-square foot beer garden.
Sacramentans seeking top-notch food and connection are showing up at supper clubs, intimate dinners run by local industry pros out of their own homes. Keyla Vasconcellos looks at two: Good Wilma’s, operated by a group of five friends with ties to Majka Pizzeria & Bakery, and Dinner with Old Friends, run by fine dining couple Derek Sawyer and Yessenia Ochoa-Sawyer.
Happening this week
- Folsom’s Broadstone Marketplace just added two new restaurants: Palette Dim Sum & Lounge last Friday, and The Breakfast Club at Midtown on Monday. The former serves Cantonese seafood and five colors/flavors of xiaolongbao; the latter is a Bay Area-based brunch operation with another location coming to Midtown Sacramento.
- Akame Sushi will open its second location on Wednesday, this one at 12251 Folsom Blvd. in Rancho Cordova. Like the original in Roseville, this one will pride itself on all-you-can-eat Japanese food, with a basic option for $29 and premium access including sushi tacos and uni nigiri for $39, plus à la carte service.
- Fluffy Fluffy Cafe will bring its viral Japanese soufflé pancakes to Elk Grove when it opens Friday in The Village shopping center. It’s the 19th Fluffy Fluffy location nationwide, joining another in Davis.
