More than 25 restaurants opened around Sacramento this month, from cookies to curry and more
March yielded a bumper crop for new restaurants across the Sacramento, with at least 27 concepts debuting — more than any other month in recent memory.
Roseville’s dynamic restaurant growth continued with the launch of five standalone places and Local Kitchens, a micro-food hall with five restaurants — Nash & Proper, Garden of Eat’n, Señor Sisig, The Melt and Curry Up Now — under one roof.
Two ramen shops opened in Folsom, a pair of Middle Eastern concepts debuted in Elk Grove within the same week and Thai restaurants came online in eastern Sacramento and Auburn. Eight new restaurants opened in Sacramento proper, while Fair Oaks, Rocklin, Citrus Heights, Woodland and Diamond Springs all added one new restaurant apiece.
Bober Tea & Coffee (3620 N. Freeway Blvd., Suite 300, Sacramento): This Instagrammable bubble tea chain now in Natomas is known for sugary drinks and mochi doughnuts.
Bullta Korean BBQ & Club (8353 Folsom Blvd., Sacramento): Enjoy all-you-can-eat or à la carte meats at this neon-lit Korean barbecue spot in College Greens Shopping Center.
Cora Coffee (1201 J St., Sacramento): Look for Juno Coffee drinks and baked goods from Folsom-based Simply Scones at this downtown Sacramento cafe on the ground floor of a three-story building.
Crest Cafe (8696 Elk Grove Blvd., Elk Grove): After 13 years serving downtown Sacramento customers next door to the Crest Theatre, Afghan immigrant Monira Sultani expanded her “modern Mediterranean” halal restaurant to Elk Grove on March 6.
Crumbl Cookies (3661 N. Freeway Blvd., Suite 110, Sacramento and 6920 Auburn Blvd., Suite 120, Citrus Heights): This cookie chain’s rapid expansion — four Sacramento-area locations have opened in the last four months — reached north Natomas and Citrus Heights in March.
Curry Up Now (10357 Fairway Dr., Suite 130, Roseville): Indian street food gets fusion-ified at this Local Kitchens concept, with the end result of tikka masala burritos, deconstructed samosas and pico kachumber tacos.
Divided Sky Tavern (4894 San Juan Ave., Fair Oaks): Ian Branning’s taproom and restaurant in Northridge Plaza features unusual bar bites like smoked trout dip, Thai curry mussels and charred Brussels sprouts in a miso-pomegranate glaze.
Firehouse Pizza (1950 Douglas Blvd., Suite A5, Roseville): Dasha Nedzelskyi’s father Yuriy worked as a pizza delivery driver for a decade after the family immigrated from Ukraine in the early 2000s; now the family has their own pizzeria based around delivery and pick-up.
Fukumi Ramen Chaya (280 Palladio Pkwy., Suite 937, Folsom): This Japanese restaurant specializing in tonkotsu ramen already had outposts in Citrus Heights and Roseville before it opened in the Palladio shopping center on March 7.
Garden of Eat’n (10357 Fairway Dr., Suite 130, Roseville): This local salad-and-sandwich shop already had roots in Roseville and Auburn before planting its third location in Local Kitchens.
Jersey Mike’s (2030 Douglas Blvd., Suite 18, Roseville): One submarine sandwich chain replaced another as New Jersey-based Jersey Mike’s took over from Subway on March 30 in Rocky Ridge Town Center.
Karin Thai (13338 Lincoln Way, Auburn): Placer County’s newest Thai restaurant has familiar noodle favorites and four types of fried rice as well as lemongrass-marinated spare ribs and kua kling, a spicy dry curry with minced chicken or pork.
Kiki’s Chicken Place (3211 Stanford Ranch Rd., Rocklin): This locally owned fried chicken favorite known for its loaded fries launched its second Rocklin location on March 21.
Kiki’s Express (4991 Franklin Blvd., Suite B, Sacramento): Kiki’s also opened a more quick-service, grab-and-go chicken spot in North City Farms on March 9.
Mendocino Farms (1210 Roseville Pkwy., Suite 100, Roseville): The innovative sandwich-and-salad chain opened its second area location (midtown Sacramento’s Ice Blocks development got the first) on March 1.
Mountain Mike’s Pizza (171 W. Main St., Woodland): The 3,900-square foot pizzeria franchised to Gurjit Mann and Sumeet Benipal marks Mountain Mike’s 250th location nationwide and the third in Yolo County.
Nash & Proper (10357 Fairway Dr., Suite 130, Roseville): Cecil Rhodes and Jake Bombard’s super-popular food trucks predated restaurants in downtown Sacramento and Elk Grove before Nash & Proper joined up with Local Kitchens.
Rumi’s Oasis (9688 Bruceville Rd., Suite 107, Elk Grove): This cafe inside a Middle Eastern market offers up halal dishes like pakora, bolani and kebab wraps.
Señor Sisig (10357 Fairway Dr., Suite 130, Roseville): Señor Sisig’s Filipino fusion grew popular in the Bay Area thanks to tosilog burritos and sisig nachos; its first Sacramento-area presence is in Local Kitchens.
Soriano’s Restaurant (570 Pleasant Valley Rd., Diamond Springs): This unfussy Mexican/Salvadoran restaurant skews heavily toward the former cuisine, but keep an eye out for pupusas revueltas and with beans and cheese.
Tasty Pot (2731 Del Paso Rd., Suite 110, Sacramento): This Taiwanese individual hot pot chain replaced BurgerIM in Natomas Town Center, adding to a reach that already included restaurants in South Sacramento and Elk Grove.
The Green Room (3839 J St., Sacramento): Bacon & Butter owners (and siblings) Amber Michel and Billy Zoellin debuted their new East Sacramento cocktail bar and small plates restaurant on March 2.
The Melt (10357 Fairway Dr., Suite 130, Roseville): You’ll find all kinds of variations on macaroni and cheese or grilled cheese sandwiches at The Melt, a San Francisco-based statewide chain that opened in Local Kitchens.
The Trax Taproom & Kitchen (400 Vernon St., Roseville): Akmal Zadran, who owns the popular Sunset Mart liquor store in Rocklin, opened his beer bar and restaurant by the railroad tracks with bites like mainline mac-and-cheese balls and boxcar barbecued chicken flatbread.
Twin Lotus Thai (8345 Folsom Blvd., Suite 119, Sacramento): Joe and Surinipha Gilman opened their Thai restaurant in a Raley’s-anchored College Greens shopping center; look for live music in the future, including piano-playing by Joe, an American River College music professor and Sacramento State lecturer.
Umami Ramen (187 Blue Ravine Rd., Suite 160, Folsom): Choose from one of five types of ramen — tonkotsu, black garlic tonkotsu, spicy tonkotsu, shio or veggie — or fried appetizer bites at this bright soup shop.