No last-minute deal to keep Rio City Cafe open. Sacramento mayor comments on city’s decision

Owners of the Rio City Cafe and the city of Sacramento could not come to a last-minute agreement that would have kept the restaurant from closing, Mayor Darrell Steinberg said Tuesday. It will close permanently Saturday evening, as had been recently announced.

Steinberg in a statement cited unsafe conditions and costly repairs that the city’s economic development staff recommended against. A tenant of the city of Sacramento, Rio City Cafe went back and forth with the city after they closed the property’s riverfront deck earlier this year.

“Over the past week I have worked hard to see if there is a way to keep the Rio City Café open in Old Sacramento while the city pursues plans for a larger waterfront renovation,” Steinberg said in the statement. “Unfortunately, owners Mark and Stephanie Miller informed me (Monday) that they will close on Saturday. They need immediate access to a deck that the city’s structural engineers have determined is unsafe.”

A feature of Old Sacramento for the past 30 years, the restaurant estimated that its lost 70% of its business when the deck was closed by the city in April and did not anticipate that it would be repaired soon. As owners of the site, Sacramento closed the deck of and stopped plans to repair it due to budget shortfalls, cafe general manager Jimmy Gayaldo told The Sacramento Bee in June.

The restaurant confirmed the decision to stick with its plan of closing in a Facebook post Tuesday afternoon.

“Despite best efforts, we could not reach an agreement with the City,” the post read. “Saturday will be our last night and we proudly hang our hats after 30 years. We want to personally thank you not only for the lifetime of memories but the unremarkable passion shown for Rio over the decades. We are forever grateful. Cheers!”

Rio City Cafe has leased the property from the city for its 30 years of operation. The owners requested to change to a month-to-month lease in 2019, Steinberg wrote in his statement.

After learning of the restaurant’s plans to close, Steinberg said that he had met with the Millers to see if the restaurant could stay open.

He said that the city has discussed options with the Millers, including building an outdoor space in front of the restaurant, which Steinberg acknowledged is not nearly as good, or significantly reducing rent, a suggestion Steinberg said has previously come up and one he reiterated in the past couple of days.

‘City couldn’t fix what we needed them to’

The Millers told Steinberg that they need immediate access to the deck. Stephanie Miller echoed these concerns in a Facebook post Tuesday afternoon, also shared by the restaurant’s Facebook page.

“Rio City Cafe says a most gracious goodbye. In spite of our efforts to save Rio, we are closing Saturday night as the city couldn’t fix what we needed them to in order to survive,” Stephanie Miller’s post read, in part. “We’re honored to have been part of your special memories with us at Rio. And to my father-in-law, Lew Miller, who created Rio, all of this is because of you!”

“Many have asked why the city did not repair the deck over the last several years,” Steinberg wrote in his statement. “It is a fair question that deserves a thorough answer.”

Steinberg said he has been aware of the deck’s condition, but only learned of the Millers’ plan to close this month. He went on to say that for months, city economic development and public works staffs have been discussing options with the Millers for the deck.

Structural engineers told Steinberg that opening the deck would require a minimum of $1.5 million and six months of design and repair, a restoration that would only provide access to part of the deck for three to five years maximum before permanent repairs totaling $5 million would need to be made, the mayor said in his statement.

Economic development staff recommended not making these repairs.

“Instead, they will recommend soliciting proposals from potential tenants for the Rio City site and other key assets in Old Sacramento, including the north and south Public Market buildings,” Steinberg wrote.

Rio City Cafe in a July 22 post to Facebook announced plans to permanently close after Saturday, Aug. 3. Co-owner Stephanie Miller called the situation “heartbreaking,” Sacramento Bee columnist Tom Philp reported this week.

If Rio City Cafe stayed open, Steinberg wrote, they could have submitted a proposal.

“The idea is to dream big about how to use the city’s prime waterfront parcels to attract the most visitors, generate the most revenue and provide the best experience of the Sacramento River in a way that respects the history of Old Sacramento,” Steinberg’s statement continued.

These changes are part of the city’s revitalized waterfront modernization plan, which was previously delayed when the COVID-19 pandemic wiped the city’s hotel occupancy tax fund.

Recently passed Measure N allows for that tax fund to be used on properties that line the river and serve tourists, Steinberg said.

“Before I leave office, I will work with city staff and my colleagues to bring forward to the City Council a $40-million plus Old Sacramento Waterfront modernization plan,” continued Steinberg, who last year announced he would not seek a third term as mayor in this year’s election.

‘Find the money’

In a notice this past weekend to the mayor and city council, former Sacramento Mayor Heather Fargo pressured the city to do something about the deck.

“Just direct your city manager to find the money,” she wrote. “There are plenty of programs to support new businesses, and an obscene amount of money for consultants to help business districts, infrastructure projects and staff.”

Steinberg thanked the Millers for keeping their “well-loved” restaurant open in difficult economic circumstances, including the pandemic.

“As hard as it may sound in the short run, I agree with my city colleagues that serving the public means soliciting interest from other high-end restaurants and potential users for the prime riverfront space Rio City currently occupies,” Steinberg concluded. “Our staff is confident this space will be in high demand.”