The relationship between a neighborhood and a restaurant or bar is often a bit complicated and always crucial, and it looks like the new Corner Bar at 57th and J streets is getting its rapport right.

In the continuing saga of a crossroads spot in the Sacramento, the Corner Bar opened this month to an instant buzz. Early on a recent Saturday evening, the front bar area was full, not overcrowded but energized, and there was something of a celebratory air. In short, people were happy to have life back on that corner.

"It's about time they opened," said a tall, dark-haired woman named Susie. "We've been waiting forever."

Susie wouldn't give her last name because, she said, she never tells strange men in bars her full name. Can't really blame her, though I'm only a little strange.

But her point about waiting was on the money for mood, if not exactly accuracy. Although the building was empty less than two months after Sweetwater Restaurant & Bar moved to midtown, it felt like decades to people in the area.

That corner is a bit of hallowed ground for the neighborhood – for the practical reasons of being within convenient and easy walking distance for lots of people, and for the sentimental connection back to 1954, when that was the site of the first Shakey's Pizza.

Local owners and talent

That end of east Sacramento is a mix of students, young adults, and longtime homeowners, and the folks running the Corner Bar know it well.

Owners Jerry and Joyce Thompson have owned that building for years and rented it to Sweetwater. Their son, Joel, is managing the new place, and Evan Elsberry, the talented chef and owner of Evan's Kitchen just up the block in the 57h Street Antique Row, is overseeing the kitchen.

The menu is still evolving. It's loaded with starters, sandwiches and burgers – including turkey and veggie – though there's also a full dinner menu and a big kids menu for families. The Thompsons are also serving a brunch buffet on weekends.

Elsberry is setting the food lineup and the tone in the kitchen, but his primary job will still be running his own restaurant. The full-time chef at Corner Bar is Elsberry protégé Michael Steele.

"We have all the dinner choices and specials," Elsberry said, "and we want to have the best bar food in town. But we're going to be adjusting menus for a while as we get a sense of things."

Going for neighborhood feel

Jerry Thompson said he's thinking of the place as a neighborhood bar with a restaurant – that atmosphere gets a boost from vintage photos of the area, like J Street in 1937 and old aerial shots of the H Street Bridge or the empty land that would become California State University, Sacramento – rather than a restaurant with a bar.

The difference seems to fit the area, which gets lots of after-work traffic, mid-evening college customers out and about, and end-of-the-night business from east Sac residents coming home.

The trick for a place like Corner Bar is fine-tuning the tone to appeal to the range of potential customers, and to fit into the area, which is starting to bloom with restaurants nearby, including Opa Opa across J Street, Crepe Escape up near 57th and H, and Selland's Market and Café Rolle, both near 54th and H.

That's something that will play out over months, but in the early weeks, anyway, Corner Bar seems to be on target.

"We want this to feel like the place people have known," Jerry Thompson said, "and we want this to be a bit new, too."

"My goal," Elsberry said, "is to make money for Jerry."

A face-lift at J and 24th

Speaking of restaurants reinvigorating busy locations, Toreros Mexican Restaurant has seriously stepped up the pizzazz and the food at J and 24th streets next to Cornerstone Restaurant.

The former Taco Loco spot got a bit of a face-lift in style, and a fuller, more sophisticated menu that now includes breakfast (It opens at 11 a.m. but offers it through the day.) and food ranging from ceviche to enchiladas mole.

Toreros, owned by Gonzalo Orozco, took over the space in mid-September and just went through its official grand opening this month.

That's a section of J Street blossoming with evening action, and it would be nice for everyone if Toreros clicks with that neighborhood.

Call The Bee's Rick Kushman, (916) 321-1187. Listen to him Tuesdays at 8:40 a.m. on NewsTalk 1530 (KFBK).