Palm Springs in downtown Sacramento: This new pink cocktail lounge hopes to make a splash

Downtown Sacramento’s newest restaurant and cocktail bar is an oasis in the summer heat — much like its Southern California city of inspiration.

Cabana Club opens Saturday afternoon at 414 K St., Suite 125 in Downtown Commons, a pink-walled hideaway influenced by owner Paula Thompson’s hometown of Palm Springs.

Prickly pear drinks, shareable bites and Barbie-hued lounges define the desert-inspired watering hole on the ground floor across from Golden 1 Center. General manager Alek Scheffler’s cocktail menu includes “Coachella Cool Girl” made with vodka, strawberries and Thai basil, and the “Cactus Cooler” with tequila and aloe vera.

“Everything is just really refreshing, and we definitely are taking cues from the desert as we influence that cocktail list,” Thompson said.

The Cabana Club will initially be open for dinner before adding lunch and brunch down the road. Burrata salads and peach-hot honey grilled cheese sandwiches are among the seasonal items this summer; truffle oil popcorn and deviled eggs will be staples throughout the year, along with $1.50 hot dogs.

Thompson also owns the happy hour-oriented Smic’s Sip & Quip at 12th and K streets, and ran a second Smic’s 2.0 in Cabana Club’s future digs while renovations were underway in May and June.

Vine + Grain, the wine bar previously in those digs, had left an operational kitchen, and chefs Carlos Lopez and Xavier Kirkland stayed on as well through the transition to Cabana Club. The new restaurant and bar is open from 4-11 p.m. seven days a week.