These are Sacramento’s oldest restaurants and businesses still serving the capital city

Hanh Truong
·8 min read
9

Sacramento’s roots run deep, and some of its ties to California history can still be seen on the streets of the capital city.

From a bar and a bookstore to a restaurant known for serving California politicians, some of Sacramento’s oldest establishments are still standing tall.

Reader Leon Corcos asked Bee Curious: “What are the oldest local retailers still operating in Sacto?”

Here’s what we found after speaking to an archivist with the Center for Sacramento History and searching The Sacramento Bee’s archives:

An illustration shows the original Sacramento Bee building at 1016 Third Street. The building housed the Daily and Weekly Bee, first published Feb. 3, 1857. It was home of The Bee until 1902, when the newspaper moved to 911 Seventh Street. The building was demolished in 1964 to make way for Interstate 5.
An illustration shows the original Sacramento Bee building at 1016 Third Street. The building housed the Daily and Weekly Bee, first published Feb. 3, 1857. It was home of The Bee until 1902, when the newspaper moved to 911 Seventh Street. The building was demolished in 1964 to make way for Interstate 5.

The Sacramento Bee

Before it became Sacramento’s flagship daily newspaper and was acquired by one of the largest news media publishers in the United States, The Sacramento Bee was The Daily Bee.

Established in 1857, The Sacramento Bee is one of 30 U.S. dailies owned by the McClatchy Company.

“The object of this paper is not only independence, but permanence,” The Daily Bee wrote in its first-ever edition on Feb. 3, 1857. “Its purpose is, whatever may the measures which it will advocate in the future, to owe no thanks to any cliques or factions, but based on the broader foundations of right, to survive the wreck of mere party organizations, and still to be supported by good and true men all over the state.

Mailroom workers sort newspapers before delivery at The Sacramento Bee’s new building at 21st and Q streets in 1952. They came to the mailroom in lots of 25 or 50 “counted magically by the press.”
Mailroom workers sort newspapers before delivery at The Sacramento Bee’s new building at 21st and Q streets in 1952. They came to the mailroom in lots of 25 or 50 “counted magically by the press.”

In the same 1857 editorial, The Bee touted its unique name as “being emblematic (to) the industry which is to prevail in its every department.”

The Bee’s mascot, a newspaper-carrying bee named Scoopy, was created by famed animator Walt Disney.

During its run, The Bee has garnered scores of awards, including six Pulitzer Prizes. Most recently, the publication won multiple awards from the California News Publishers Association and the Sacramento Press Club.

Men stand with bicycles in front of the Burnett & Sons Novelty Wood Works at 13th and B streets in Sacramento in a photo circa 1903.
Men stand with bicycles in front of the Burnett & Sons Novelty Wood Works at 13th and B streets in Sacramento in a photo circa 1903.

Burnett & Sons

Founded in 1869, Burnett & Sons has been a family-owned planing mill and lumber company for more than 150 years.

Philitus Burnett and his son, Henry, created the company in Sacramento, according to its website, and it’s the second-oldest operating business in the area.

Despite changing times, Burnett & Sons prides itself on staying true to its original values.

“In an era of mass production, Burnett & Sons has refused to waiver from the principles of individual and custom production, which are very rare these days,” the company said on its website. “Though we’ve upgraded our equipment and adopted modern, computerized machinery, our company’s product and reputation remain surprisingly unchanged.”

Teichert workers pave extensions to the runways at Mather Field in Sacramento County in 1944.
Teichert workers pave extensions to the runways at Mather Field in Sacramento County in 1944.

Teichert

One of the earliest businesses in Sacramento built the foundations of the city — and California.

Teichert, a construction company, has a history in Sacramento that spans more than 130 years.

According to the company’s website, Adolph Teichert was a self-employed businessman in 1887 when he began advertising his work specializing in manufacturing artificial stones for sidewalks, fencing and flooring at 2116 M St.

At this time, California had only been a state for 37 years, the company said.

The Teichert company’s California Contractor’s License is No. 8 — the oldest active one in the state, according to the Greater Sacramento Economic Council. It was issued in 1929, records show.

Teichert laid sidewalks around the state Capitol building. He did concrete jobs throughout the Sacramento area with his company in the early 1900s — setting the ground for alleyways, sidewalks and carriageways.

The company constructed concrete walkways at the State Capitol grounds and remodeled buildings. The business became known as A. Teichert & Son when the founder partnered with his son Adolph Teichert, Jr., in 1912.

The company went on to pave roads and highways in Northern California in the 1920s and took its ventures from Southern California to Oregon and Nebraska in the 1950s.

In the 2010s, the Teichert company assisted with the construction of Terminal B at Sacramento International Airport, as Judson Riggs, who belongs to the fourth generation of the Teichert family, took over as head of the business.

A vintage photograph of Old Ironsides shows the oldest licensed bar in Sacramento County in earlier days.
A vintage photograph of Old Ironsides shows the oldest licensed bar in Sacramento County in earlier days.

Old Ironsides

Old Ironsides has been serving spirits for more than 90 years in the Southside Park neighborhood of Sacramento.

The oldest bar in the city, Old Ironsides was the first business to receive a liquor license in Sacramento after Prohibition in 1934, according to its website.

The boozy business started as a bottle shop and game room with claw machines, shuffleboard and pinball, before evolving into a nightclub in the 1990s where standup comics and bands such as Death Cab for Cutie took the stage.

Old Ironsides, shown on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020, is the oldest licensed bar in Sacramento County and the Kanelos family are looking for a buyer for the historic bar.
Old Ironsides, shown on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020, is the oldest licensed bar in Sacramento County and the Kanelos family are looking for a buyer for the historic bar.

To this day, Old Ironsides continues to display its iconic corner sign at 10th and S streets, touting “mixed drinks” in neon lights.

The bar and restaurant was owned and operated by the Bordisso and Kanelos family from when it opened until 2022. That’s when the establishment was sold to Sacramento business barons Bret Bair and Eric Rushing.

Bands are still booking the venue under the new ownership and themed music shows are corralling people to the dance floor.

Beers Book Center, a Sacramento business that started in 1936, was located at 1013 14th Street in 1985. The Sacramento Convention Center now stands in that location.
Beers Book Center, a Sacramento business that started in 1936, was located at 1013 14th Street in 1985. The Sacramento Convention Center now stands in that location.

Beers Books

Beers Books has been stocking shelves with new and used titles for Sacramentans since about 1936, according to the store’s website.

Before planting itself at its current location at 712 R St., Beers Books cycled through four different owners and several locations in the city’s core.

It started at 1125 8th St. under namesake and early owner Nellie Beer.

Back in 1960, when the shop was known as Beers Bookstore and located at 1406 J St., it regularly advertised its collection of “school books, spellers, arithmetic & work books” for children and real estate books, according to archives from the now defunct Sacramento Union newspaper.

Charlie Stadem, 17, of Sacramento, works on categorizing and organizing at Beers Books during their soft opening Saturday, Aug. 26, 2023, at 712 R St. in Sacramento. She said she began working at the book store during a high school internship, and is now on staff at the decades-old business.
Charlie Stadem, 17, of Sacramento, works on categorizing and organizing at Beers Books during their soft opening Saturday, Aug. 26, 2023, at 712 R St. in Sacramento. She said she began working at the book store during a high school internship, and is now on staff at the decades-old business.

Jim Naify has been running the bookstore since 1985 and currently owns the business, according to its website.

The shop continues to offer customers the chance to buy books, as well as sell or trade them.

The Sacramento Bee covered Beers Books’ 70th anniversary in April 2006.

Reporter Allen Pierleoni called it the “venerable Beers Books — a Sacramento landmark and once the city’s most comprehensive bookstore.”

“Could such longevity be a case of customer loyalty involving three generations of Sacramentans?” Pierleoni asked. “Are readers playing the nostalgia card? Or maybe it’s just that folks simply love to browse used book stores.”

Frank Fat’s features dramatic colors and interior.
Frank Fat’s features dramatic colors and interior.

Frank Fats

Frank Fats on 806 L St. has come a long way from serving Chinese-American style dinners for 50 cents apiece in the 1940s.

The family-owned restaurant dates back to 1939 when Frank Fat opened his namesake restaurant. It was previously called Frank’s 806, according to The Bee archives.

Over the decades, the speakeasy-style eatery became an institution for authentic cuisine and California politics.

Frank Fat’s, which has a Michelin Bib Gourmand and an America’s Classic award from the James Beard Foundation, is often considered the “Third House” for its popularity among legislators who would often make deals within the restaurant booths, according to the Michelin Guide.

It’s most notable for the so-called “Napkin Deal.”

In 1987, California Assembly Speaker Willie Brown of San Francisco hosted a dinner at Frank Fat’s with lawyers and representatives of insurance companies and the tobacco industry. They came to an agreement on tort reform, sealing the deal on a napkin.

Since the restaurant opened, 12 California governors — including Earl Warren and Gavin Newsom — have dined there as well as retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy and plenty of lawmakers and lobbyists.

Aromas from its classic dishes of honey walnut prawns, kung pao chicken, an assortment of chow mein and the famous banana cream pie continue to waft from the kitchen.

The Frank Fat Family Restaurant Group has expanded over the years — adding Fats Asia Bistro to Roseville and Folsom in 2000 and 2004, respectively, with Frank’s grandson, Kevin Fat, at the helm as CEO.

Gunther’s Ice Cream has been a Curtis Park staple since 1949.
Gunther’s Ice Cream has been a Curtis Park staple since 1949.

Gunther’s

Sacramento’s sweet tooth was satisfied early on with the inception of Gunther’s Ice Cream in 1940.

Herman Gunther and his wife, Iva, started out selling ice cream at Fifth Avenue and Franklin Boulevard before moving Gunther’s to its current location at 2801 Franklin Blvd. in 1949.

“This was the beginning of an even more successful time,” the ice cream shop said on its website.

Gunther’s is known for serving slow-churn ice cream and offers more than 40 flavors, as well as fruit freezes, sandwiches and other frozen treats.

Gunther’s Ice Cream has been a Curtis Park staple since the ’40s.
Gunther’s Ice Cream has been a Curtis Park staple since the ’40s.

Its Googie-style parlor still showcases its Jugglin’ Joe sign featuring a neon-lit ice cream man tossing a scoop from his right hand to his left, where it lands straight in a cone.

“Pop Gunther would tell the children that if Jugglin’ Joe dropped his scoop, that the ice cream was free,” the shop said. “Pop’s pledge still stands. If Joe ever misses… the ice cream is free!”

What about Blue Diamond Almonds?

Some businesses that had an early start in Sacramento have expanded outside of the capital region.

This includes Blue Diamond Almonds.

Dating back to the 1850s, almond farmers tended Sacramento soil for its Mediterranean climate. The company has grown into the “world’s largest almond processor,” according to its website.

There’s a plant headquartered in Sacramento, which includes its distribution center, offices and Almond Innovation Center.