Eggplant Alley? Fat Alley? There’s a method to the madness for naming Sacramento backstreets

Jacqueline Pinedo
·2 min read

Sacramento’s grid follows a standard chronological and alphabetical order, which can feel pretty mundane — but the city’s alleyways? That’s where it gets interesting.

Eggplant Alley. Fat Alley. Tomato Alley?

There’s a method to the madness.

Twenty alleys in Sacramento are named in this way across the midtown and downtown area. While less mundane, the names still follow an alphabetical order. The first letter corresponds with the street parallel to the north, said Stacia Cosgrove, the principal city planner for the city of Sacramento. Eggplant Alley? Just south of E Street.

How do Sacramento alleys get their names?

The idea to name Sacramento’s alleys came about in 2009 to promote safety, establish a sense of place and help identify buildings more quickly, Cosgrove said.

When Sacramento’s alley names were being considered, it was important to pick names that wouldn’t duplicate street names in other counties.

“That really narrowed it down,” she said.

Sacramento’s history was then considered to “encourage more businesses to locate on alleys” throughout the midtown and downtown area.

Now, Sacramento residents can visit businesses like Tomato Alley Free House, a neighborhood bar with Asian bites, next to Tomato Alley. Or head to Liestal Alley, where you’ll stumble upon the entrance to Old Soul Cafe, where you can get craft coffee and food.

Here’s a list of alley names in Sacramento:

  • Chinatown Alley

  • Democracy Alley

  • Eggplant Alley

  • Fat Alley

  • Government Alley

  • Historic Alley

  • Improv Alley

  • Jazz Alley

  • Kayak Alley

  • Liestal Alley

  • Matsui Alley

  • Neighbors Alley

  • Opera Aly

  • Powerhouse Alley

  • Quill Alley

  • Rice Alley

  • Salons Alley

  • Tomato Alley

  • Uptown Alley

  • Victorian Alley

History behind the names

It’s hard to pinpoint the exact reason behind most of the names, other than their location, but at least four have historical significance, Cosgrove said:

  • Liestal Alley was named after Sacramento’s sister city in Liestal, Switzerland.

  • Fat Alley was named after Frank Fat, restaurant owner of Frank Fat’s restaurant.

  • Matsui Alley was named after Robert Matsui, former United States representative and Sacramento city councilman, who was born in Sacramento.

  • Tomato Alley and Eggplant Alley are both odes to Sacramento and the Central Valley’s farming communities.

Can you still name unmarked alleys?

Unnamed alleys can eventually get named, too.

Alleys that don’t already have names, can eventually get assigned one only if a building permit is issued for a new development on an alley that requires an address, Cosgrove said.

The Sacramento Building Division maintains a list of pre-approved alley names that can then be picked by the permit holder of a new development, Cosgrove said. To get signage installed at either end of the alley would also be the permit holder’s responsibility.

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