Late-night eats and esports? Diner is latest opening by these Sacramento restaurateurs
Past, meet future.
Roc & Sol Virtual Diner, Matt and Fred Haines’ new restaurant that opened Wednesday, merges Americana nostalgia with an with an ultramodern feel. Part elevated diner and part esports battle arena, it’s the newest project just outside the R Street Corridor for the longtime Sacramento restaurateurs.
“We are true believers in R Street and the whole idea of what’s happening down there with the art, with the music,” Matt Haines said. “I’ve had a dream of doing a diner for 10 years now. I love diner food — I like high quality, but I like breakfast all day.”
Roc & Sol replaced the more typical diner Waffle Square Country Kitchen at 1825 10th St., and what a dramatic shift it’s been. Neon lights now pour out of the 4,000-square-foot building freshly covered in psychedelic murals of growling tigers, tree-sized mushrooms and grinning, corpulent money men.
The food is modernized, too, thanks to a culinary team including Fred Haines, longtime 33rd Street Bistro chef Pamela Cantu, regional chef Victor Cruz and chef de cuisine Antonio Mejia.
Breakfast could be house-made biscuits with smoked chicken sausage gravy and eggs ($16), or brioche crème brulée French toast ($14) for those seeking a sweeter bite. Other Sacramento restaurants are full of loaded fries but light on poutine ($14), topped in this case with onion gravy pot roast, Tillamook cheddar curds and green onions.
All dinner items stay at $22 or less, including chicken pot pie, meatloaf drizzled with cayenne aioli and slow-roasted tri-tip served with au jus and horseradish.
“It’s not your standard, real-quick diner food. Some thought and creativity has gone into it,” Matt Haines said.
After an initial ramp-up period (opening hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week), Roc & Sol will become one of Sacramento few late-late night food spots. It’ll stay open until 2 a.m. Wednesday and Thursday and 4 a.m. Friday and Saturday once fully staffed, Matt Haines said.
Esports players won’t have to wait long to make use of Roc & Sol’s back room, though, which will host two to four esports competitions per month on its 16 gaming stations.
The first showdown is a digital version of the Causeway Classic: UC Davis and Sacramento State teams will duke it out over League of Legends, Overwatch 2, Rocket League, Valorant and Super Smash Bros. on Nov. 12. Subsequent competitions will feature teams from across the country and be streamed via Twitch.
The Haines brothers also own Suzie Burger and Wildwood Kitchen & Bar, and owned 33rd Street Bistro, Riverside Clubhouse and Bistro 33 in Davis and El Dorado Hills before closing or selling them within the past five years. They reopened 33rd Street Bistro, their flagship restaurant, as a food truck earlier this year.
In the last year, the Haineses quietly begun establishing their brand around the R Street Corridor — and not just in the restaurant industry.
Before opening the diner, the brothers opened a Roc & Sol retail clothing store at 1730 12th St., which is connected to their industrial art-focused Twisted Track Gallery.
They’re also planning to open a quick-service restaurant called Twisted Track Station where Shoki Ramen House was at 12th and R streets. All four concepts — the clothing store, the art gallery and the two restaurants — will be linked by a rewards program in an under-development app.
This story was originally published November 4, 2022 at 6:00 AM.