Popular carnivore-friendly Southern restaurant to replace all-vegetarian Mother

In: fried chicken sandwiches. Out: vegetables.

Nash & Proper will open a brick-and-mortar restaurant in Mother’s old downtown Sacramento location this spring, chef/co-owner Cecil Rhodes told The Sacramento Bee on Tuesday. The food truck with a cult following previously announced it would open somewhere downtown after winning the Downtown Sacramento Partnership’s “Calling All Dreamers” competition.

Rhodes and partner Jake Bombard were in negotiations for another property about a block away when Mother closed on New Year’s Day, he said. The popular vegetarian restaurant’s chef/co-owner, Mike Thiemann, reached out to Nash & Proper about filling the space at 1023 K St., which had the added benefit of a fully built kitchen.

“It pretty much just fell into our lap,” Rhodes said. “The place we were going to go in would’ve been a total build-out. It’s a win-win for us because having the open kitchen is something we really wanted to do so we could interact with customers like we do at the food truck.”

Nash & Proper had a year of business under its belt by the time the fried chicken sandwich craze of 2019 came around, and its popularity swelled as customers sought a local take on the Nashville-based trend. Rhodes and Bombard have expanded to three trucks, one of which has started serving the Bay Area, and will keep all running after the brick-and-mortar opens, Rhodes said.

Having a full kitchen will allow Nash & Proper to start frying half and whole birds and serve more hot sides, Rhodes said. There will be brunch on weekends and boozy combos of chicken with a glass of locally-produced wine or beer. Cosmetic changes will be minimal, as Rhodes and Bombard want a quick turnaround before opening.

“We’ve got to put in a lot of fryers. That’s the main thing,” Rhodes said. “We’ll brighten it up a little bit, but lots of stuff will stay there.”

This story was originally published January 21, 2020 at 11:01 AM.