Pupusas, pho and pizza bowls: 18 restaurants that opened around Sacramento in August
Maybe restaurateurs decided the time was right to take a plunge as the COVID-19 pandemic waned earlier this summer. Maybe it’s just a coincidence.
At least 18 restaurants opened around the Sacramento area in August, the largest monthly total The Bee has recorded since before the pandemic.
The list includes four new restaurants in Folsom and nine in Sacramento proper, plus places in Rocklin, Roseville, Elk Grove and Citrus Heights. They’re serving cuisines such as Korean, Brazilian, Mexican, Indian, Middle Eastern and classic American.
These 18 restaurants opened in or near Sacramento in August:
▪ Catalina’s Kitchen (1010 Riley St., Suite 1, Folsom): Beyond burritos and tacos, you’ll find housemade sweet corn tamales and loroco-and-cheese pupusas at this Mexican/Salvadoran restaurant.
▪ Captain Crab Boiling Seafood & Bar (1785 Challenge Way, Sacramento): Captain Crab, which started in Stockton and opened north of Cal Expo in early August, touts its Louisiana-style seafood boil and happy hour specials.
▪ Creasian Fusion (9163 E. Stockton Blvd., Suite 300, Elk Grove): Vietnamese dishes such as phở or gà nướng sả (lemongrass chicken) make up most of Creasian’s menu, though there are a few Chinese- or Thai-rooted items as well.
▪ Crumbl Cookies (2607 Marconi Ave., Sacramento): This 4-year-old cookie chain opened in Arden Arcade’s Town & Country Village shopping center on Aug. 6, with rotating flavors such as chocolate potato chip and Kentucky butter cake.
▪ Frog & Slim (1420 16th St., Suite 300, Sacramento): The jazz-influenced, old-school supper club opened in midtown Sacramento’s Legado de Ravel building on Aug. 25.
▪ Inferno Chicken (5925 Birdcage Centre Ln., Suite 109, Citrus Heights): Fried chicken sandwich, fried chicken tacos or fried chicken macaroni and cheese? You pick the vessel, then the heat level at this fast-casual restaurant that opened Aug. 16 on an appropriately-named street.
▪ Jamba (615 David J. Stern Walk, Suite 110, Sacramento): This smoothie chain founded as a 1990 Cal Poly senior project is Downtown Commons’ latest addition, opening Aug. 23 between Häagen-Dazs and Sauced BBQ & Spirits.
▪ Junni K-Style Desserts (711 E. Bidwell St., Suite 10, Folsom): You’ll find sweets such as pat-bingsoo (shaved ice with red bean paste, mochi and sliced almonds) at this Korean dessert shop.
▪ Marco’s Pizza (6839 Longtree Blvd., Ste. 160, Rocklin): Ohio-based Marco’s, known for its “pizza bowls” as much as its pies, also has locations in West Sacramento and Folsom.
▪ Mochinut (1714 15th St., Sacramento): Opened Aug. 13 in midtown’s 1430 Q building, Los Angeles-based Mochinut specializes in mochi doughnuts and Korean-style corn dogs also known as gamja hot dogs.
▪ Sal’s Kabob & Gyro Grill (1300 E. Bidwell St., Suite 145, Folsom): This fast-casual Middle Eastern restaurant, which started in Elk Grove, does its own spin on cheesesteaks and burgers in addition to kebabs, shawarma wraps and salads.
▪ Sizzle Shack (8359 Elk Grove Florin Rd., Suite 109, Sacramento): You’ll find Vietnamese dishes like bò né (a breakfast of steak, eggs and pâté with a baguette) alongside kimchi pork bowls at this Asian fusion restaurant in Vineyard, which opened Aug. 12.
▪ Somisomi Soft Serve & Taiyaki (3590 Crocker Dr., Suite 130, Sacramento): Somisomi is known for goldfish-shaped waffle cones called taiyaki infused with a layer of taro, Nutella or other sweet paste, then filled with soft serve ice cream. Known together as ah-boong, the Korean-style dessert could previously be found at Somisomi’s Elk Grove location before the Crocker Village store opened.
▪ Tandoori Flame (1245 Pleasant Grove Blvd., Roseville): Dishes at this sit-down restaurant and catering hub skew North Indian, such as dal makhni or cholle bhature.
▪ Taqueria La Perla Tapatia (2820 Marconi Ave., Sacramento): Tacos are just $2.09 on Tuesdays at this Mexican restaurant in Arden Arcade, which also carries breakfast items, tortas and seafood.
▪ Teaspoon (2030 Douglas Blvd., Suite 16, Roseville): It’s the second area location for this boba cafe, which first opened in downtown Davis before launching across from Kaiser Permanente Roseville Medical Center on Aug. 28.
▪ Ttobongee Chicken (2791 E. Bidwell St., Suite 1100, Folsom): Gangnam Ave. owners Sylvia and Young Choi opened the second area Ttobongee after their Natomas store (Elk Grove and Roseville locations are in the works). The Korean chain is known for its thin-batter fried chicken doused in sauces such as sweet-spicy yangnyeom or a jalapeño marinade.
▪ Tupi Coffee (701 19th St., Sacramento): Eduardo Faustino’s Brazilian cafe, which has an original location out near Arden Arcade, replaced Simpleton in Boulevard Park.