Dining

Tahoe Joe's Famous Steakhouse in Folsom was seemingly humming along, but then abruptly went dark in May from lack of business.

Les Baux has emerged – and in some aspects flourished – since it opened last spring. What an intriguing combination of top-flight bakery, coffee spot and casual bistro.

We Sacramentans are ideally positioned to … well, get outta town. Within easy reach are destinations that are the envy of the world – Lake Tahoe, San Francisco, and the Napa and Sonoma wine countries. Then there's the Monterey Peninsula, always a favorite destination.

Food trucks are not welcome in Auburn's historic district under an ordinance passed by the City Council on Monday.

I'm sitting in a large room that's very quiet, very expensive, has no windows, pipes in bad music and, every minute or two, there's this frantic-looking dude who stops by to apologize and thank us for being patient.

We greeted Kinnee O'Reilly's Irish-themed pub in El Dorado Hills with enthusiasm when it opened in September 2011, featuring a menu of well-handled pub-grub classics and, of course, Guinness beer on tap. But the restaurant biz is brutal and diners' tastes are fickle, and Kinnee closed after only eight months.

TODAY-SUNDAY- The 11th annual Wild & Scenic Film Festival focuses on climate change, offering more than 100 films about nature, community activism, adventure, conservation and more.

During our several visits to Clark's Corner – for breakfast, lunch, dinner and for drinks – we tried to put our finger on what it was exactly that makes this place work – and work so well.

As 2012 comes to a close and we gear up for many more dining adventures in the next 12 months, let's recount some of the great – and not so great – moments on the local culinary scene.

With another year's adventures in casual dining under the belt, so to speak, here's a subjective list of the 10 places my lunch pals and I especially liked in 2012, in order of preference.

Pulled into the crowded parking lot of the vintage Loehmann's Plaza the other day and walked by a lineup of chain restaurants, including Jack's Urban Eats. It plans to move into the much bigger space – now under renovation – vacated by Scott's Seafood Grill on June 18. Just an FYI.

First Impressions: In our latest dizzying round of visits to new restaurants in and around Sacramento, we discovered one in Roseville that could soon be excellent, and we zeroed in on some very good burgers and beer in West Sacramento.

Somebody noticed the advertising insert in The Bee, the one that read, "Enjoy the holidays in Walnut Creek."

Once December arrives and the malls are crammed with Christmas shoppers, I'm drawn to one particular restaurant that really appeals to me, especially with the giving spirit that takes hold in so many at this time of year.

One of my favorite books on exotic cuisine is an oversized, colorful tome called "Thai Street Food" by David Thompson.

We were at a table in Negril, appreciating the framed photos of Caribbean resorts on the walls, and eyeing a suspiciously motionless and silent red-and-yellow parrot perched nearby.

For many years, Sacramento was not known as a pizza town. There were Zelda's, Luigi's and a few other spots here and there, but the quality dropped off perceptibly and quickly.

At the risk of sounding like a Yelper tapping out a review with his thumbs on a smartphone, I really, really wanted to like this place.

Goodbye, summer. Adios, grilled watermelon salad, corn on the cob and heirloom tomato gazpacho.

The original Buckhorn restaurant sits in a building that is more than 120 years old. The walls are red brick. Mounted on those walls are animal heads including deer, moose, caribou and boar. White string lights add a warm glow to the rustic feel.

I have thought about Zindagi Indian Bistro often since we first dined there six months ago and were blown away by several elements of the experience, especially the wonderfully balanced and precisely seasoned food, the modern décor and a small wine and beer list that aspired to be food-friendly.

Long before Ruth's Chris, Morton's, Sutter Street Steakhouse, Land Ocean and Chops began serving thick cuts of beef to restaurant-starved Sacramento, there was the Broiler.

First Impressions visits dining spots in the region that are new or have undergone recent transitions.

Over the past year, Enotria has quietly and carefully been hiring one top-flight restaurant professional after another, all with designs on transforming this place into the best restaurant in the city.

You can't beat the prices on appetizers during happy hour. Tacos, housemade four-cheese mac 'n' cheese, chili, hot dogs, corn dogs and nachos all are free.

The recent Lake Tahoe Food and Wine Festival at Harrah's and Harveys in Stateline, Nev., at Lake Tahoe was over the top in a good way.

I have a dangerous job, I hope you know. Besides having to write unpleasant things about unpleasant people who own and operate sharp instruments, I am obligated to eat enough rich, fatty food to make my primary-care physician cringe.

You can spot the restaurant from down the street. A bright-red door greets you, while the ample windows give you a peek inside the inviting space. Once inside, the atmosphere is fine dining, but with a family and neighborhood feel.

Admittedly, we're not on close terms with the finer points of Indian food, but we do know what's good.

We've been dropping by lots of new places lately, trying a wide variety of food and compiling plenty of first impressions.

Select from $3 draft beers and well drinks, and $5 select wines by the glass and martini cocktails. Snacks are $3, $5 and $7.

Everyone's searching for excellent food at bargain prices, and that's what the Oak Cafe delivers. It's the student-run restaurant on the American River College campus, and what comes from its kitchen is as good as the fare at many high-end dining spots. That's saying a lot, but it's true. And get this: Lunch is only $15.

The problem with reviewing Blackbird Kitchen + Bar is that it's a wonderful restaurant, a pretty good restaurant and a muddled and middling restaurant. It all depends when you go, how you order, who is overseeing the kitchen and who is waiting on your table.

We fired up the Batmobile the other day to see where it would take us. Two hours later we were on Highway 101 at the exit to historic Santa Rosa, 50-some miles north of San Francisco.

At the Sacramento Burger Battle on Tuesday evening at Raley Field – there were two battles – the competition among the 15 restaurants and personal battles to finish trying all 15 creations.

When Revolution Wines came to town and set up shop about seven years ago, it was an exciting – even momentous – occasion in local culinary circles.

With a day to go before Sammy Hagar was set to take the stage at the new Roseville restaurant bearing his name, 238 Vernon St. was a blur of activity Friday morning. Today, the city celebrates "Sammy Hagar Day" with an outdoor street party.

The subject was pizza and which restaurant in Sacramento serves "the best." Not a good starting point to the conversation, as "the best" of any dish is such a subjective concept that the notion is nullified before it even reaches the table.

It's easy to say something is done the New York way. You can put it on your sign, you can stamp it on your menu and tell everyone who will listen that you're making pizza the way it's made at Patsy's in Harlem, Luzzo's on the Lower East Side or Grimaldi's nestled beneath the Brooklyn Bridge.

The last time I ate in a four-star white-tablecloth restaurant, I was frustrated and unhappy. (Bear with me; I'm not asking for sympathy.) This wasn't an isolated incident: It simply isn't what I want anymore.

This laid-back restaurant has a sushi bar and an alcohol bar against the back wall. Multiple flat-screen TVs play in the background. Stone-topped tables match the stone-topped bar.

It being an election year, this column has tried for months to wrangle an invitation to dine at the White House and run a review. How come they don't return phone calls?

First Impressions visits dining spots in the region that are new or have undergone recent transitions. Have a candidate for First Impressions? Email us at brobertson@sacbee.com.

First visits to unfamiliar restaurants are generally a scouting trip and little more. Should we take a deeper look or cut our losses and move on?

"That's the thing – cars mean cigars," said an expertly coiffed woman, making an "Eeew!" face and waving away a cloud of tobacco smoke.

It is tempting to assume the worst: When a restaurant is big and busy, when it offers a good bit of pizazz to go with its many styles of pizza, and when its very existence holds so much hope for a once-dire part of downtown, surely the overall quality is going to suffer.

Sometimes there are big surprises waiting in little restaurants. You just have to go inside.

"Chez Daniel" means house of Daniel, even if nobody really has a house in a Folsom strip mall next to a martial arts studio.

oxy has a Paris-meets-ranch theme with intricate crystal light fixtures, a carved wooden bar, Brazilian cowhide booths and some western-themed paintings

Some folks know them as "guilty pleasures," but this column prefers to think of them as "go-to" dishes. You know the ones: You get an urge for a certain something and immediately turn to a longtime standby. With that concept in mind, let's explore some go-to's that keep on goin':