Chow down as you cool down, enjoy our five favorite Sacramento-area summer dishes
Sacramento summers call for a particular type of food.
The oppressive heat (I love you, Delta breeze) makes chilled options ever more enticing, along with grilled meats and seafood. It’s also the right time of year for some of the region’s most delicious produce, including tomatoes, stone fruit and melons.
These are five of my favorite dishes to order at Sacramento-area restaurants during the summer.
Goi dau hu at Tay Giang Restaurant, 7321 W. Stockton Blvd., Suite 100, Sacramento ($13): Texture and flavor contrasts rule in this tofu salad, served at Dai Chi Luu’s Vietnamese restaurant near Cosumnes River College. The tofu squares are fried crispy on the outside yet remain fluffy within, garlic chips provide a delightful crunch and a lime-mint dressing ties together the cabbage, grape tomatoes, onions and shredded carrots.
Seared ahi tuna at Grange Restaurant & Bar, 926 J St., Sacramento ($47): The summer menu at this downtown restaurant connected to the Citizen Hotel includes a tribute to legendary local tomato farmer Ray Yeung and a delightful canteloupe-plum-thyme shrub mocktail. But it’s this seafood entree that stands out, its perfectly cooked squares flecked with Maldon Salt atop fregola, Jimmy Nardello peppers, raita and peaches from Patrick’s Berry Farm in Camino.
Glazed chicken at Savory Fried Chicken, 9174 Franklin Blvd., Elk Grove ($10-$15.70): Fried or grilled poultry might be more popular, but I go for the glazed chicken at this casual Filipino joint in Laguna Village Plaza. Deep-fried then coated in a sweet sauce, it feels halfway between a summer barbecue and a picnic.
Oktoberfest sampler at Kathrin’s Biergarten, 4810 Granite Drive, Suite A1, Rocklin ($44): Do you miss Dirk Muller’s work at Morant’s Old Fashioned Sausage Kitchen, the longtime south Sacramento butcher shop destroyed in a 2020 fire? Sample it along with chicken or pork schnitzel, braised red cabbage and fries in this shareable platter at Kathrin Grosse’s German-inspired biergarten, where Muller makes half the sausages. The house special Dirkat sausage combines both their names; other standouts include the Thüringer bier bratwurst, knackwurst and weisswurst (white bratwurst).
Fruit freeze at Gunther’s Ice Cream 2801 Franklin Blvd., Sacramento ($4.80-$9.70): A classic for a reason, this dairy-free slushee uses real fruit juice and comes in a variety of flavors (guava and lime are my favorite combination). You can find Gunther’s ice cream and fruit freezes at a range of Sacramento restaurants, but they’re best enjoyed at the 83-year-old Curtis Park ice cream parlor.
What I’m Eating
Past aisles of shrimp chips and rice flour sits South Area Market’s hot food counter, a cornucopia of Laotian dishes prepared without pretense near the intersection of Stockton Boulevard and Fruitridge Road. Founded by Laos natives Sisouk and La Soukasene in 1994, the market has been owned by their daughter Nancy since 2012.
The market’s dining room has been closed since the pandemic began, and masks are still requested. My group took our lunch to the surprisingly delightful Lawrence Park less than a half-mile away, where the city has installed cornhole boards, a ping-pong table and a shade structure covering several tables.
Greater Sacramento has roughly 11,000 Laotian residents, more than any other metropolitan region in the U.S., according to a 2019 Pew Research Center study. The Soukasene family prioritizes the flavors of that community with little bowing to broader American palates, though recognizable dishes such as pad see ew ($12-$13 depending on protein) and steamed catfish with peppers ($8).
Take thom keuang nai ($13), an intestine stew where customers specify how much beef bile they’d like ladled over the top. Or gaeng nor mai ($8/small, $15/large), a dark green bamboo stew from the rotating hot bar with pumpkin, straw mushrooms and a cut of heat throughout its earthy broth.
Try the rad nha ($12-$13 depending on protein) for a more straightforward dish with less spice; the flat rice noodles mixed with scrambled eggs, peanuts and Chinese broccoli in a pleasant gravy. And don’t forget to grab a lemongrassy Lao sausage ($3 apiece), which can be cut into slices or serves whole.
South Area Market
Address: 5220 Fruitridge Road, Sacramento.
Hours: 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Sunday.
Phone number: (916) 427-9327.
Website: https://www.instagram.com/southareamarket
Drinks: Sodas, Thai teas and beer.
Animal-free options: Not many – ask about the hot bar, though.
Noise level: Quiet.
Openings & Closings
Shipwrecked Tiki Bar opened last Friday at 217 G St. in downtown Davis, as The Bee’s Brianna Taylor reported. The pirate-themed bar from University of Beer owner Nate Yungvanitsait has drinks with names such as the Bitter Rye Tai, Hawaiian Hula Blossom or the extra-strong Zombie Jet Pilot (limit of one per person).
Shabu Shima is Fair Oaks’ new Japanese hot pot destination at 9729 Fair Oaks Blvd., Suite A. Customers cook vegetables and thin strips of meat, including American Wagyu beef and head-on prawns, in flavorful broths over tabletop stoves.
Roma’s Pizza & Pasta, an unfussy Italian staple in Carmichael, will close in mid-August at 6530 Fair Oaks Blvd., the owners announced on social media Saturday. Sister restaurants Roma’s Pizzeria and Roma 2 Pizzeria (in Sacramento’s South City Farms and Rosemont neighborhoods, respectively) will remain open.
Get Sacramento's Food & Drink news delivered to your inbox
Sign up here to receive our free weekly Food & Drink newsletter, written by Bee food reporter Benjy Egel. You'll exclusively receive an early look at restaurants, bars, festivals and more.
