Where’s the Sacramento region’s hottest comic book store? Hint: It has a real kick
Sacramento’s premier place for locally-made hot sauces is an Arden Arcade comic book store known for its pair of pug mascots.
Most of Empire’s Comics Vault & Hot Sauce’s shelves are lined with issues of Spider-Man’s and Ghost Rider’s exploits, as well as creations by local artists. But behind the counter, owner Ben C. Schwartz has curated roughly 60 bottles of hot sauces made in the Sacramento region, Bay Area and around the country.
Schwartz made a point to stop at Habañero Hots, a 42-year-old Mexican restaurant and salsa company, when visiting his grandparents in Lodi. After they died, he had little reason to go south. Many Sacramento grocery stores still had limited hot sauce selections. So, he thought, why not order bottles directly and carve out a niche for himself among local hot sauce fans?
Empire began selling hot sauce about 6 years ago, about 15 years after its founding as a comic book store. Marvel and DC’s newest releases still drive fans to 1120 Fulton Ave., but Empire now has a following that comes in solely to buy hot sauce — and play with Hot Pepper and Captain Dylan Hunt, Schwartz’s two friendly pugs who roam the store.
Hot sauce’s popularity has rocketed over the last few years, and research firm SkyQuest anticipates the global market growing from $2.17 billion in 2021 to $4.37 billion in 2030. Schwartz credits Hot Ones, the popular YouTube series in which celebrities are asked personal questions while eating increasingly spicy chicken wings, for catalyzing demand.
“Over the last couple years, it has changed drastically because people are into hot sauce now,” Schwartz said. “It is not just a gag gift, it’s not just a few of us who really like it or something that sits in your fridge for five years as you finally use it. Everyone wants to be part of it.”
Yet Schwartz refuses to carry any hot sauce made with pepper extract, which boosts the spiciness level “to 15” on a scale of 1-10, he said. While Schwartz uses hot sauce liberally, he’s into complementary flavors more than macho-man blasts of heat. Several hot sauces carried at Empire can double as marinades, mustards and even relishes.
There’s everything from Bravado Spice’s sweet manuka honey passion fruit sauce to the Palo Alto Firefighters’ ghost pepper sauce. Among Sacramento companies, Creature Sauce’s bottles of “Sauceferatu” make for a heated Halloween, as does Prescribed Burn’s “The Swamper” with serranos, jalapeños and Anaheim chiles.
“The big thing that people need to know is that they’re not all ridiculous. There’s a hot sauce up there for anyone,” Schwartz said. “Even someone that will tell me they don’t like heat, I’ve got something that will just augment and make the meal they eat maybe just a little bit better or a little bit different than they’re used to.”
There are no samples, as that would require a food service permit, but Schwartz has tried the dozens of sauces on display and gives recommendations based on people’s individual tastes. Bottles range from $9-$12.
What I’m Eating
El Boritracho has been a welcome addition to Citrus Heights’ rather staid dining scene since opening five months ago. Few restaurants around the region carry the Puerto Rican, Salvadoran and Honduran dishes offered at Bella Luz’s restaurant where Alonzo’s Pizza Depot previously stood.
I missed El Boritracho on my first run through Copperwood Square shopping center, as its only signage is a 12-by-16-inch laminated paper between a smoke shop and a nail salon. The interior remains a work in progress as well, with remnants of Alonzo’s train theme providing much of the decor, but vases of fresh flowers on each table were a nice touch.
The tacos Hondureños ($11) appetizer featured two enormous tacos dorados (I would call them taquitos, but that implies something smaller) stuffed with your choice of shredded chicken or beef and cabbage salad. The fried exterior was thick and crunchy, durable enough to hold up under multiple types of cheese, a savory red sauce and pickled onions.
El Boritracho’s pupusas ($3.50, made from corn or rice flour) were large as well, but I tasted the melted cheese inside more than the chicken or spinach I selected. Mofongo ($17), a savory Puerto Rican cake made from mashed, garlicky fried plantains and served alongside chicken, ground beef or succulent shrimp, was a step back in the right direction.
The namesake dish, El Boritracho ($25), is a sampler platter intended for one or two people. You’ll get a taste of trifongo (similar to mofongo, but with cassava and sweet plantains as well) plus smoky shrimp, juicy chicken and surprisingly gamey steak, all flattened and served with a Salvadoran rice/red bean mix called casamiento.
El Boritracho
Address: 7054 Sunrise Blvd., Citrus Heights.
Hours: 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Sunday.
Phone number: (916) 745-4383
Website: https://www.facebook.com/p/El-Boritracho-100087754245449/
Drinks: A good selection of aguas frescas and international sodas, along with beer, wine, sangria and micheladas.
Vegetarian options: Not a ton, but trifongo is available as an entree, there are huevos rancheros for breakfast and pupusas can be made vegetarian.
Noise level: Fairly loud.
Our cookbook countdown
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Openings & Closings
▪ Two area favorites, Canon and Nixtaco, are collaborating on a Folsom restaurant called Cantina Pedregal at 185 Placerville Road. It will eventually serve northeastern Mexican dishes inspired by Nixtaco co-owners Patricio Wise and Cinthia Martinez’s Monterrey roots, Wise announced on Instagram.
▪ Immortal Cafe & Supply opened last Friday at 1111 H St., Suite 102 in The Offices at Retro Lodge in downtown Sacramento. The vegan-friendly cafe and outdoor gear shop is owned by former Temple Coffee roaster and barista Edwards Evans, Ro Sham Beaux bartender and kitchen manager Eric Cockrell, Canon baker Jessica Weddle-Cockrell and record label founder Shannon Horan.
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