What noteworthy restaurants opened – or reopened – in the Sacramento area in 2023?
Colombian doughnuts on Franklin Boulevard. Ten-course vegetarian dinners in midtown. A high-end marriage of Baja California and Japan in a Placer County town.
These are the Sacramento area’s most important restaurant openings — and reopenings — of 2023.
Anchored Eats (8099 Douglas Blvd., Granite Bay): How does a summer snack shack make this list? Well, the land-based complement to Anchored Eats’ floating food boat provides the best bites anyone could hope to enjoy on the shores of Folsom Lake. Former Selland’s Market-Cafe lead line cook Ruby Shields is the kitchen’s captain, churning out loaded burgers on Grateful Bread buns, housemade carnitas and thousands of snow cones.
Caravan Uzbek Cuisine (7800 Sunrise Blvd #11, Citrus Heights): Years of operating a North Highlands food truck led Farkhod and Aziza Soatova to open the region’s lone Uzbek restaurant, which serves a collection of halal items such as a rice pilaf called plov, boiled dumplings known as manti or laghman, a beef noodle soup.
Divina Colombian Cafe (6201 Franklin Blvd., Sacramento): Rocio Lopez opened the area’s only Colombian restaurant on June 24 in south Sacramento. It exclusively serves Colombian coffee, along with arepas, empanadas, arroz con pollo and sugary doughnuts called buñuelos.
Jim-Denny’s (816 12th St, Sacramento): Former South co-owner N’Gina Guyton in September resuscitated Jim-Denny’s, which served enormous pancakes and hamburgers to downtown Sacramento from 1934-2020. She put her own twist on it, too, with Takis-topped hot dogs, burgers groaning under the weight of hot links and onion rings, fruit-based mocktails and fried chicken Fridays.
Mother (2319 K St., Suite B, Sacramento): Michael and Lisa Thiemann and Ryan Donahue brought their acclaimed all-vegetarian restaurant back for a second run on Sept. 12 after its closure in downtown Sacramento in 2020. This midtown version includes former Mulvaney’s B&L chef and Rossi Catering owner Robb Venditti, and also fried oyster mushroom po’boys, nut burgers, seasonal salads and 10-course chef dinners.
Ōkesutora (1801 L St., Suite 70, Sacramento): Several omakase sushi restaurants opened in 2023, and Ōkesutora — Japanese for “orchestra” — stands above the rest in midtown’s Handle District. The reservation-required concept from Mymy Nguyen and Jimmy Voong, owners of sleek neighboring Vietnamese restaurant Saigon Alley Kitchen & Bar, asks customers to trust former Nobu Las Vegas chef and Sacramento native Hieu Phan to deliver 14 courses of exquisitely-presented nigiri, sashimi and grilled dishes.
Omakase Por Favor (640 Twelve Bridges Drive, Suite 100, Lincoln): If Ōkesutora stands above, Omakase Por Favor stands apart, a marriage of Baja California seafood and Japanese high-end presentation in a 52,000-person Placer County town. Chef/owner Jeana Marie Pecha honed her craft at regional pop-ups and fine dining restaurants in the Mexican state of Colima before shucking oysters and serving “caviar y chicharron” (Tsar Nicoulai and Sterling Caviar sturgeon eggs on sturgeon skin chips). At $75 per person with a $40 optional wine pairing, the omakase dinners are some of the most affordable around.
Prost Beer Hall (9085 Elk Grove Blvd., Elk Grove): David Smith and Jamie Dougherty, the couple behind Pizzasaurus Rex and Old Town Pizza & Tap House, opened their brick-walled beer hall in Old Town Elk Grove on July 19. A couple of California breweries are on tap, but most beer comes from Germany, along with inspiration for dishes such as jagerschnitzel (chicken breast or pork cutlets with mushroom gravy) or käsespätzle (Gruyere cheese sauce over housemade spätzle noodles).
Shoki Ramen House (2530 21st St., Sacramento): Sacramento residents feel a sense of nostalgia with Shoki Ramen House, a 2010s favorite that was destroyed in a 2018 fire but reopened in Land Park in October after a series of pop-ups. Yasushi and Kathy Ueyama’s quaint Japanese restaurant is best known for its tan tan men, a Sichuan-inspired soup with no shortage of heat.
Southside Super (921 V St., Sacramento): Home cooking, no fusion. That’s the idea behind Phuong Tran and Seoyeon Oh’s 18-seat Vietnamese and Korean lunch counter in Southside Park, where humble dishes such as commoner’s rice (braised pork belly, quail eggs and pickles over rice) or kimbap (sushi-like seaweed wraps stuffed with kimchi tuna, bulgogi or fried tofu) shine bright with intense flavors.
What I’m Eating
Art meets food at Twin Lotus Thai, Joe and Kai Gilman’s restaurant in the College/Glen neighborhood’s College Greens shopping center. Joe is a music professor at American River College and adjunct professor of jazz studies at Sacramento State, while his wife Kai grew up in southern Thailand before immigrating to the U.S.
A piano sits at Twin Lotus’ west end, and local bands play two or three shows to accompany curries and noodle dishes on Friday-Sunday evenings. Recorded past shows play on the restaurant’s TV during lunch service, while poets take the mic on the fourth Tuesday of every month.
Kai ran a boutique in Phuket until the infamous 2004 tsunami, and pays homage to her former city with the Phuket salad ($9.75). Chunks of avocado, mango, apples and canned pineapple sat over shredded carrots and green papaya, tied together by a savory tamarind/fish sauce dressing.
The spicy basil ($15) hit a high note with its squeaky sauteed green bells and bell peppers, poached egg and choice of protein (I went for ground chicken) over mild garlic rice. Don’t be fooled by the name; while Thai basil is a primarily ingredient, the dish’s oyster-soy sauce had merely an easygoing level of sweet heat.
An earthy panang curry ($14.25), meanwhile, made for a warming cold-weather dish with ample burn. Fried tofu cubes tucked nicely into their jackets alongside zucchini, carrots and green beans.
Twin Lotus Thai
Address: 8345 Folsom Blvd., Suite 119, Sacramento.
Hours: 11 a.m.-3 p.m. and 5-8:30 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, 12-3 p.m. and 5-8:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Phone number: (707) 564-3277.
Website: https://www.twinlotusthai.com/
Drinks: Beer, wine, boba and housemade sodas served in fun pineapple-shaped glasses.
Vegetarian options: Several.
Noise level: Loud during performances, and medium at other times.
