The Abridged version:
- Abridged readers read through Becky Grunewald’s list of must-try appetizers, then submitted their own.
- Their list of favorites includes fries from Jack’s Urban Eats and Tower Cafe.
- Tacos are also represented, from Octopus Baja as well as Fuji Sacramento.
Abridged contributor Becky Grunewald’s list of nine must-try Sacramento appetizers included favorites such as The Waterboy’s veal sweetbreads, Kodaiko Ramen & Bar’s shrimp toast and Binchoyaki’s krispy rice.
But readers had a few additional suggestions, from longstanding loves to new gems. People wrote in these six appetizers at local restaurants, which they say shouldn’t be missed.
Urban fries from Jack’s Urban Eats
Multiple locations
Jack’s Urban Eats’ easy-to-love salads and sandwiches have helped the brand spread to 12 area locations, plus outposts in Walnut Creek and Fresno. An ideal meal at any of them starts with a bowl of urban fries.
These crispy potato strips are laden with blue cheese dressing, splashed with chili oil and finished with chili flakes and parsley. Add chicken for another $5, and it’s like having a buffalo wings in fry form. $6.50 small/$8.25 large
Cauliflower fritters from Magpie Cafe
1601 16th St.
These fried cauliflower bites aren’t always on Magpie Cafe’s seasonal menu. But when they are, they’re “incredible,” wrote one reader, who never thought they’d say such a thing about cauliflower.
Chef Brian Hawley forms five breaded balls per order, deep-fries them to a crisp, then plates them over sumac yogurt at the midtown restaurant. They’re finished with apple chutney and microgreens; get ’em while they last. $15
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Kalbi tacos from Fuji Sacramento
1235 Broadway
Fuji Sacramento opened at the end of 2023, and quickly adopted the Korean-Mexican fusion favorite made famous in Los Angeles. Kevin Oto and Russell Okubo’s Japanese restaurant plates trios of kalbi tacos for lunch and dinner, with a $3 discount during happy hours (3-6 p.m. daily, and all day on Wednesday and Sunday).
Flavors come from all over in these tacos: marinated beef short ribs, funky kimchi slaw and garlic miso sauce draped over the top. Corn tortillas shepherd these tacos toward the sweet chili dipping sauce, which is barely needed. $15
Pommes frites from Tower Cafe
1518 Broadway
Just three blocks from Fuji, Tower Cafe has welcomed families to its lush patio and worldly dining room for nearly 36 years. Countless meals have begun with a bowl of pommes frites, thick French-style fries cut in house and served steaming hot.
Each order comes with a trio of dips, all of them worth sampling: creamy Belgian frites sauce, punchy curry aioli and a savory red pepper-miso-chili blend. Ketchup and mustard are available as well. $9
Conceptualized tacos from Octopus Baja
2731 K St.
Several of Ernesto Delgado’s restaurants have crave-worthy starters, from Mayahuel downtown to Oaxaca in North Oak Park. Yet it’s Octopus Baja, opened in midtown last March, that captured this reader’s attention with its conceptualized tacos.
Available on the happy hour menu (4-6 p.m. daily), these tacos feature pan-seared shrimp coated in aleppo pepper, diced mango, a glob of smashed avocado and a drizzle of chive oil, all tucked in blue corn tortillas. With three to an order, they’re a shareable steal at their price. $9
Duck liver mousse from Hawks Public House
1525 Alhambra Blvd.
The slightly-more-casual sister restaurant to Hawks in Granite Bay, Hawks Public House actually starts diners with items made at Provisions, its pint-sized kitchen next door. The duck liver mousse is one of those favorites, a spreadable blend of offal tempered with cognac and cream. Its gelée cap rotates seasonally (it’s currently made with apple cider), while Berkeley’s Acme Bread Co. always supplies the grilled sourdough. $18
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.