The greater Sacramento food scene has something for every eat and every budget.

Love some kick behind your noodles? Check out a new Chinese restaurant in Davis. More into spices than spicy? Try a South Indian spot in Roseville. Need a strong but fun sushi date spot? There’s a great, accessible spot in South Land Park and Elk Grove.

All of these reviews were first published in The Sacramento Bee’s free food and drink newsletter, published weekly by reporter Benjy Egel.

Sushi Q

There are top-dollar omakase spots like Kru Contemporary Japanese Cuisine, and there’s quick-and-easy grocery store sushi that won’t poison you. For the midpoint, though, you’d be hard-pressed to find many better options than Sushi Q.

Qui and Kim Tu opened the first Sushi Q in 2015 in Calvine Corner shopping center near Sacramento’s Elk Grove border, then followed with a South Land Park location in November 2020. It’s the kind of place where the chefs studiously slice fish, only breaking their focus to cheer on the Kings or toast customers with sake bombs at the end of the night.

The specials board is worth monitoring — on our visit, it included speckled kamasu (barracuda) nigiri and sweet, smoky firefly squid gunkan. On the main menu, I recommend starting with the temaki trio ($24), a trifecta of spicy tuna, salmon and negihama (minced yellowtail with scallions) adorned with masago and microgreens.

Sushi Q’s chirashi ($46) was as tasty as it is beautiful, a neatly-arranged bowl of sashimi and sides meant to be shared across several people. Succulent salmon belly and casually-rich escolar were highlights among the 18 pieces of raw fish and tamago, buoyed by wakame and jellyfish salad atop a layer of rice.

The torch roll ($14.50) stood out from the maki we tried, a flame-topped mess of tuna and shrimp tempura in a roasted garlic sauce. It wasn’t too hot despite being labeled as “spicier” on Sushi Q’s menu, so add a dash of true wasabi if you want more zing.

Address: 1339 Florin Road, Suite B101, Sacramento and 8235 Elk Grove-Florin Road, Suite 400, Sacramento.

Hours: 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Friday, 4-9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday (both locations).

Phone number: South Land Park: (916) 208-9314. Calvine Corner: (916) 896-0116.

Website: https://sushiq916.com

Drinks: Full bar.

Animal-free options: Very few. One exception is the $10 vegan roll with oshinko (pickled vegetables), cucumber, sprouts, wakame and avocado.

Noise level: Moderately loud at the bar, quieter at dining room tables.

Hunan Style

When I grew up in Davis during the 2000s, the Chinese restaurant scene was … disappointing. UC Davis attracted Chinese students and faculty, but few quality options existed for townies’ Wednesday night dinner.

That’s changed a bit in recent months, as four Chinese restaurants opened around the Yolo County college town between September and December 2022. One of the new stalwarts is Hunan Style, which debuted in September next to the Davis Food Co-op at 630 G St.

Hunan province’s food, like that of nearby Sichuan, is hot. Not the surface-level blast of spice that immediately overwhelms the senses, but a lingering slow burn that numbs the mouth. There are no flame emblems on Hunan Style’s menu or dimming-down of traditional dishes: basically, expect at least some spice in everything region-specific.

Hunan Style’s griddle-cooked pig intestine with peppers ($23) is a quality standard-bearer, buzzing from a few different chilis sliced and mixed with chewy offal, celery and white onions in a hot pan. Our server identified one dried red chili as a bird’s eye pepper (50,000 and 100,000 Scoville units, about 10 times as many as a jalapeño).

Chairman Mao braised pork ($21) was another regional item, named for the Communist leader who spent his early years in Hunan. I’d recommend a side of rice ($2.50) to soak up the thick, sweet-spicy red sauce slathered across fatty pieces of pork belly.

Hunan Style offers a sizable menu of niche dishes and (to a lesser extent) familiar classics. Coarse scrambled eggs with tomatoes ($15) were one of the latter, a Chinese American home staple that rarely makes its way onto restaurant menus. Comforting, yes, but probably not worth its price point.

Address: 630 G St., Davis.

Hours: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-9:30 Friday and Saturday.

Phone number: (530) 231-5536.

Website: https://qmenu.us/#/hunan-style-davis/menu/1670891037703/details

Drinks: Chinese and American sodas, teas and juices.

Animal-free options: A section of vegetable dishes; many other items include pork.

Noise level: Relatively loud between the stone floor and audible kitchen commotion.

Juno’s Kitchen & Delicatessen

Juno’s Kitchen & Delicatessen is as cute as to-go restaurants get. Mark Helms and Susan Vasques bake sourdough daily in the couple’s 12-year-old sandwich shop named after their bull terrier/pit bull mix, whose grinning face shines down in 4-by-6 family photos hung around the 1,000-square-foot space.

It’s a beloved East Sacramento hole-in-the-wall, and one of the best sandwich spots anywhere in the city. Helms, the founding chef/owner of now-closed Ravenous Cafe in Greenhaven, has a knack for thinking creatively and melding flavors together wonderfully.

Juno’s has all the pastramis and salamis of a traditional deli (Vasques even gave my parents’ yappy dogs a few slices of the latter), but great meatless sandwiches as well. As an omnivore, I’d happily order the vegan sandwich ($14.50) again.

Instead of trying to create a meat substitute, Helms let sliced portobello mushrooms shine with caramelized onions, roasted red peppers, a white truffle spread and a balsamic reduction.

The panko-encrusted eggplant sandwich ($14) had some of the same vegetables, plus Manchego cheese and zingy basil aioli. Each sandwich order comes with the choice of herby roasted potato rings vs. a mixed green salad.

There were pan dishes, too, like a rich chicken pasta ($18) that paired translucent tagliatelle from San Francisco-based Dolce Italia Foods with bacon, button mushrooms and arugula. Adding anchovies to Caesar salads is always a matter of debate; Juno’s bright kale Caesar ($12.75, plus another $3.50 for grilled chicken or $6 for shrimp) removes that choice by mixing anchovy paste into the vinaigrette.

Address: 3675 J St., Sacramento.

Hours: 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday or until sold out.

Phone number: (916) 456-4522.

Website: https://junoskitchen.com

Drinks: Sodas and sparkling water.

Animal-free options: Several sandwiches.

Noise level: Moderate when ordering; no seating indoors.

Yianni’s Bar & Grill

Yianni’s Bar & Grill isn’t far from Carmichael’s busy Marconi Avenue/Fair Oaks Boulevard intersection. In spirit, though, this Greek American grillhouse feels straight out of the California Delta.

Wooden fixtures, old decor and a snug-but-lively dining room give Marko and Rania Tzikas’ 14-year-old restaurant a homey, divey air. Old-fashioned, meaty entrees and specials underscore that ambiance, as do a crowd of locals perpetually gathered around the bar.

Yianni’s menu described the saganaki ($15) as “unforgettable,” and it’s not wrong. A metal bowl of kasseri cheese is doused in brandy and flambéed before being walked out to the table, an eye-catching appetizer if there ever was one. Served with soft pita, the gooey cheese was similar to fondue, with a réligieuse (thin layer of cheesy crust) encasing the pan’s bottom.

Chicken souvlaki ($24) was well-executed, its herbal, lemony marinade shining through the three skewers of char-grilled poultry. Served over rice pilaf with green beans, it came with a container of terrific housemade tzatziki for dipping.

The lamb chop dinner ($36) featured four beautifully-grilled but small pieces of bone-in meat; spring for the lamb chops by the pound ($58) if you’re really hungry. A slightly bitter pilsner from Greek brewery Septem and Kourtaki Retsina of Attiki white wine stood out on an otherwise American drinks list.

Address: 6628 Fair Oaks Blvd., Carmichael.

Hours: 4-9 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 4-10 p.m. Friday, 5-10 Saturday, closed Sunday and Monday.

Phone number: (916) 482-0796

Website: https://yiannisbarandgrill.com/

Drinks: Full bar.

Animal-free options: Well, the “I make lamb” scene in “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” is iconic for a reason. But Yianni’s has a few salads, several meatless appetizers and one vegetarian entree (fettuccine sautéed in brown butter and topped with mizithra cheese).

Noise level: Relatively noisy.

The Grand Indian Cuisine

The Grand Indian Cuisine sits inauspiciously in Roseville’s Fairway Creek Shopping Center, its bold flavors somewhat hidden in an expansive suburban parking lot. Also known as the Grand Porottas or Porottas South Indian Cuisine, it’s a 5-year-old South Indian restaurant owned by Arunachalam and Kavita Mohanraj.

South Indian cuisine tends to be more vegetarian and pescatarian-friendly than food from the north, uses rice more than naan and can be spicier. Beyond that, the Grand gets hyper-local throughout its menu, specifying what region or even city certain dishes come from in an effort to educate diners.

Such was the case with the Alleppey fish masala ($17), a terrific tilapia curry that’s rooted in a 175,000-person city in the Indian coastal state Kerala. The melt-in-your-mouth fish got most of its flavor from a burnt orange gravy that included mangoes, ground coconut, cumin seed paste and ginger. It made my party want to try more curries on our next visit.

Ghee podi mini idli ($11) were a fun, super-shareable way to experience a South Indian breakfast classic (it worked fine as a dinner appetizer, too). Sand dollar-sized steamed rice cakes, their consistency similar to cornmeal or arepas, were tossed in a vibrant mixture of basil and spices. It’s common to dip idli in sambar, a flavorful lentil stew also offered at the Grand, but I didn’t miss it at all here.

As with the usually-larger idli, you can get chewy parathas ($4 per piece) in their classic form. Or you can order kothu paratha ($14), a South Indian street treat that involves shredding the flatbread, mixing it with vegetables or eggs (or chicken, for $2 more) and smashing it into a square loaf. Gentle and warm, it was somewhat similar to a casserole, and better than it sounds.

Address: 9600 Fairway Drive, Suite 100, Roseville.

Hours: 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m. and 5-9:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m. and 5-10 p.m. Friday, 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday, 11:30-9:30 Sunday.

Phone number: (916) 773-0212.

Website: https://thegrandcuisine.com

Drinks: Beer and wine.

Animal-free options: Many, clearly marked on the menu.

Noise level: Relatively quiet.

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