What are Sacramento’s most underrated restaurants? You can still vote for your favorite
Not every neighborhood restaurant gets the acclaim it deserves. Tell us which Sacramento-area gem merits a moment in the spotlight.
The Sacramento Bee is in its final stage of collecting readers’ nods for the region’s most underrated restaurants. Nominees will be highlighted in a story to come.
Tell us: What is greater Sacramento’s most underrated restaurant? Submit your answer to https://tinyurl.com/underratedinsac.
Answers so far have included:
- La Placita (9272 Greenback Lane, Orangevale): This Mexican restaurant serves breakfast from open until close, along with later-in-the-day items such as steak Chicana (asada strips simmered in a house sauce with peppers, tomatoes and onions) or Colombian-style chicharrónes.
- JP Thai Kitchen (6004 Freeport Blvd., Sacramento): People in Freeport Manor head to JP near Sacramento Executive Airport for flavorful Southeast Asian dishes such as roasted duck larb, panang curry and smoked eggplant in spicy basil sauce.
- Flaming Grill Cafe (2380 Watt Ave Suite 150, Sacramento): The nominator claimed this restaurant in Arden Arcade’s Country Club Plaza makes the best burgers in town — and you can get those hefty boys with ostrich, elk or buffalo meat.
- Avatar Indian Bistro (8657 Auburn Folsom Road, Granite Bay): Opened at the end of 2021, Avatar creatively plays with Indian American spices and flavors to create dishes such as apricot fig salad, pistachio chicken korma or lamb shank masala.
- Sae Jong Teriyaki (8337 Folsom Blvd., Sacramento): A low-key Korean/Japanese restaurant near Rosemont, Sae Jong specializes in fast casual tempura, bibimbap and flame-broiled teriyaki.
What I’m Eating
West Sacramento’s last decade has been marked by housing growth, rapid development along the Sacramento River and craft breweries as it became a more attractive, less expensive alternative to Sacramento living.
Latinos still make up 33% of the city’s population, according to the most recent Census data, and traditional places such as Cocina Doña Chuyita have persevered through those changes. Tucked away off Jefferson Boulevard between a liquor store and tire shop, Dulce Jazmin Ascencio’s restaurant opened in 2012 with Mexican license plates lining the walls and pineapple-spinach aguas frescas ($3.09).
Go for the camarones a la cora ($19) if you enjoy a fireball’s worth of heat. Chili seeds poke out from this shrimp dish native to the small, coastal state of Nayarit, which has a pleasantly sour marinade lurking behind its wall of spice.
Gooey, cheesy quesabirria tacos ($4.50 apiece) were a more modern highlight, double-wrapped in large corn tortillas and stuffed with juicy stewed beef. You’ll want a cup of the warm, rich consommé ($2.07, can support two or three tacos) for dunking.
Cocina Doña Chuyita
Address: 1035 Drever St., West Sacramento.
Hours: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday.
Phone number: (916) 572-0066.
Website: http://ordercocinadonachuyita.com/
Drinks: Beer, sodas and aguas frescas.
Animal-free options: Hard to find vegan and even vegetarian options; a few of the latter include huevos rancheros, nachos and quesadillas.
Noise level: Quiet.
Openings & Closings
- Breakfast lovers will want to try out Bagel Street Cafe, which began its soft opening June 30 at 4819 Granite Drive, Suite B in Rocklin. It’s the first Sacramento-area outpost for this Fremont-based bakery; more than 20 other locations dot the Bay Area.
- Another Fremont-based restaurant, Mas Fuego, will open a second location on Saturday in Natomas, the Sacramento Business Journal reported. The Latin fusion restaurant will replace Malabar American Cooking, which closed during the pandemic, at 2960 Del Paso Road.
- Flow State Coffee Co. has closed after just five months at 611 16th St. in Boulevard Park, according to a sign on the door. The cafe had served Camellia Coffee Roasters drinks.