Not every neighborhood restaurant gets the accolades it deserves. What are some Sacramento-area gems that deserve your attention?
Sacramento Bee is in the final stages of gathering reader buy-in for the region’s most underrated restaurant. Candidates will be highlighted in future stories.
teach: What are the most underrated restaurants in Greater Sacramento? Submit your answers to https://tinyurl.com/underratedinsac.
Answers so far include:
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La Placeta (9272 Greenback Lane, Orangevale): This Mexican restaurant opens for breakfast and serves dishes such as Steak Chicana (asada strips simmered in a house sauce of peppers, tomatoes, and onions) and Colombian Chicharron.
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JP Thai Kitchen (6004 Freeport Blvd., Sacramento): People from Freeport Manor head to JP near the Sacramento Executive Airport for flavorful Southeast Asian fare like roast duck roe, Panang curry, and smoked eggplant with a spicy basil sauce.
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Flaming Grill Cafe (2380 Watt Ave Suite 150, Sacramento): A recommender claimed that this restaurant in the Country Club Plaza in Arden Arcade makes the best burgers in town. You can eat chunky burgers with ostrich, elk or buffalo meat.
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Avatar Indian Bistro (8657 Auburn Folsom Road, Granite Bay): Opening in late 2021, Avatar creatively combines Indian-American spices and flavors to create dishes like apricot fig salad, pistachio chicken korma, and lamb shank masala.
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Sejon Teriyaki (8337 Folsom Blvd., Sacramento): A relaxed Korean/Japanese restaurant near Rosemont, Sae Jong specializes in fast-casual tempura, bibimbap, and flame-grilled teriyaki.
what i eat
The past decade in West Sacramento has been marked by residential growth, rapid development along the Sacramento River, and craft breweries making it a more attractive and cheaper alternative to living in Sacramento.
Latinx residents still make up 33% of the city’s population, according to the latest census data, and traditional places such as Cosina Doña Chuita have weathered these changes. Tucked away on Jefferson Boulevard between a liquor store and a tire shop, Dulce Jazmin Asensio’s restaurant opened in 2012 and the walls are lined with Mexican license plates. Pineapple and Spinach Aguas Fresca ($3.09).
let’s go to Shrimp a la cola ($19) If you enjoy the heat of a fireball. Originating in the small coastal state of Nayarit, this shrimp dish has chili seeds sticking out and a pleasantly tart marinade lurking behind a wall of spices.
Soggy and cheap Quesaviria tacos ($4.50 each) It was a more modern highlight, double wrapped in a large corn tortilla and stuffed with juicy braised beef.You will want a warm and rich cup Consomme ($2.07, 2-3 tacos) for dunks.
kitchen donna tuita
address: 1035 Drever St., West Sacramento.
time: Monday through Friday from 9am to 9pm, Saturday from 8am to 9pm and Sunday from 8am to 3pm.
phone number: (916) 572-0066.
Website: http://ordercocinadonachuyita.com/
Drink: Beer, soda and aguas fresca.
Animal-free options: It’s hard to find vegan or vegetarian options. Some of the latter include huevos rancheros, nachos and quesadillas.
Noise level: quiet.
opening and closing
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Breakfast lovers should try Bagel Street Cafe, which has a soft opening on June 30th in Suite B, 4819 Granite Drive, Rocklin. This is the first location in the Sacramento area for this Fremont-based bakery. There are more than 20 of his locations dotted around the Bay Area.
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Another Fremont-based restaurant, Mas Fuego, will open its second location in Natomas on Saturday, according to a report in the Sacramento Business Journal. This Latin fusion restaurant will open to replace Malabar American Cooking (2960 Del Paso Road), which closed during the pandemic.
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A sign on the door says the Flow State Coffee Company at 611 16th Street in Boulevard Park has closed after just five months. Drinks from Camellia Coffee Roasters were served at the cafe.
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