Indian, poké and soul food: These 8 Sacramento-area restaurants opened in February

The shortest month had relatively few openings compared to others, but eight new restaurants began welcoming customers in the Sacramento area.

Here are the ones that opened around the Sacramento area in February:

▪ Chameleon Boba (2533 Merrychase Dr., Cameron Park): A pop-up inside Tasty Taco Box for now, this artificial sweetener-free bubble tea shop will soon move into a neighboring red trailer.

▪ El Favorito Taqueria Cocina Mexicana (2281 Del Paso Rd., Suite 100, Sacramento): Ivan Torres opened his fifth taqueria in Natomas’ Park Place shopping center on Feb. 10, adding to El Favorito locations in Grass Valley, Rancho Cordova, El Dorado Hills and Rosemont.

▪ Halal Bros (2917 W. Capitol Ave., West Sacramento): Abdul Kakar, who founded Gyro 2 Go food truck with his sister Wahida in 2009, opened this fast-casual Middle Eastern restaurant Feb. 22.

▪ Homero’s Mexican Food (7465 Rush River Dr., Suite 840, Sacramento): This Greenhaven taqueria’s vast menu includes catering platters of carnitas, carne asada, chicken fajitas and sides.

▪ India Oven (4540 Post St., Suite 280, El Dorado Hills): India Oven’s fifth location has the biryani, curries and tandoori customers have come to know, plus an impressive bar.

▪ Jimmy’s Poké Bar & Fusion Food (1920 29th St., Sacramento): It’s the second location for this build-it-yourself poké bar, which started in north Laguna and serves appetizers such as salmon skin chips or takoyaki.

▪ Tea Bay (7680 La Riviera Dr., Sacramento): This boba and smoothie shop near California State University, Sacramento carries bento boxes and a range of fried snacks, all under $10.

▪ The Original House of Soul (900 2nd St., Suite E, Sacramento): Ruben Parker gave his Old Sacramento restaurant the same name as his mother Cattie McCarver’s Vallejo institution, which opened in 1968 and is still running today.

This story was originally published March 1, 2021 at 5:00 AM.