Indian food, pizza and Cracker Barrel: December restaurant openings in Sacramento, suburbs

Six Sacramento suburbs added restaurants in December as 13 notable eateries opened across the region.

All but four were first-time ventures with concepts such as Mongolian barbecue, Halal Indian food and Korean shaved ice. One chain gave a year’s worth of free tacos to its first 100 customers; another opened its 11th and most visible location in Sacramento.

A number of restaurants closed as well, including Hot Italian, Heckle Alehouse & Eatery, Original Perry’s, The Press Bistro and Pluto’s, as owners prepare for California’s minimum wage to rise to $13 in the new year. Opa! Opa! managed to avoid the same fate by finding a smaller midtown location, but will close its East Sacramento restaurant when the new one opens in February or March.

New suburban restaurants

Al-Noor Indian Cuisine (3151 Zinfandel Dr. #1, Rancho Cordova): This white-tablecloth Halal restaurant serves a lunch buffet as well as dinner service and catering.

Bento Revolving Sushi (8909 Madison Ave. #408, Fair Oaks): Customers at the sushi bar can order a la carte items on tablets or pick them up as they come around the conveyor belt.

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store (4630 Sierra College Blvd., Rocklin): The 10,000-square foot breakfast-and-lunch restaurant is Cracker Barrel’s second in the Sacramento area and 661st nationwide.

Del Taco (4610 Sierra College Blvd., Rocklin): The Southern California-based fast food chain celebrated its first Rocklin location by giving the first 100 customers a year’s worth of free tacos.

Flour Dust Pizza (5080 Foothills Blvd., Roseville): Mano Vrapi had run Flour Dust Pizza as a portable wood-fired catering oven for the last four years before opening a brick-and-mortar location.

Fresh Wok Mongolian BBQ (4010 Foothills Blvd., Roseville): Fresh Wok replaced Jasmine Mongolian BBQ, which opened and closed earlier this year in west Roseville.

R Vida Cantina (7040 Sunrise Blvd., Citrus Heights): The family behind local chain Casa Ramos opened its 6,500-square foot Mexican restaurant and cantina on Dec. 20.

Tree House Cafe (630 3rd St., West Sacramento): It’s not just baked goods and drinks at this coffee house: lunch items include panini, salads and rotating daily barbecue items.

Sacramento dining spots

Chipotle Mexican Grill (615 David J Stern Walk #130., Sacramento): The popular fast-casual restaurant opened its 11th Sacramento location in Downtown Commons.

Deluna Dessert Cafe (3581 Truxel Rd., Sacramento): Deluna specializes in Asian treats such as bubble tea or bingsoo, a Korean shaved ice with sweet toppings.

Mezcal Grill (5701 Broadway #B, Sacramento): This Mexican restaurant with a South Natomas location seems to be a welcome addition to Tahoe Park: 29 of 30 Yelp reviews have been five stars since it opened on Dec. 1.

Noah’s Pizza (9663 Folsom Blvd. #A, Sacramento): This pizza parlor near the Rancho Cordova border specializes in New York- and Philadelphia-style pies.

Sweet Charlie’s (8136 Delta Shores Cir. S. #100, Sacramento): This Philadelphia-based dessert chain from two brothers offers dressed liege waffles on a stick and unlimited free toppings on Thai-style rolled ice cream.