Another restaurant casualty: Popular downtown Sacramento cafe in state office closing

Side Bar Cafe, a inexpensive breakfast and lunch option inside the state Department of Justice headquarters in downtown Sacramento, will close at the end of the month, according to a laminated letter displayed in the cafe.

Cooks at the counter-service cafeteria at 1300 I St. will continue making hamburgers, sandwiches, breakfast burritos and more until Jan. 31, co-owner Larry Brecht wrote in the letter. It’s been popular among DOJ employees and people visiting or staying near the Sacramento Convention Center for its inexpensive menu, which tops out at the $7.09 grilled chicken club sandwich.

Brecht has worked in food service for more than 25 years, but doctors have long urged him and his wife Marcelina to change careers, he wrote. Larry is scheduled to undergo a fourth back surgery next month, Marcelina has battled cancer for the past 15 years and both were in a car crash last October that left Larry “bone-on-bone” in his lower back.

“My family has not had a real vacation since June of 1995. We have dedicated everything our bodies and minds had available to serving our customer(s) and friends,” Brecht wrote. “Now time has come to stop and take care of our own personal needs.”

Side Bar’s closure was further spurred by a range of financial increases related to worker’s compensation, materials, taxes, minimum wage and insurance premiums, Brecht wrote in the letter.

Side Bar is one of at least 12 area restaurants to close or announce closure since Dec. 29. Breakfast chain Peg’s Glorified Ham n Eggs recently closed its only California location in Roseville, the Sacramento Business Journal reported Monday.