These are midtown Sacramento’s 11 best restaurants, from fish skewers to fine dining

Midtown Sacramento has become synonymous with the city’s most ambitious, creative restaurants. Eleven of those businesses were among the region’s best in 2024, slotting in among The Sacramento Bee’s Top 50 Restaurants.

The top choices included pioneers and newcomers, homey hidey-holes and Michelin-starred destination restaurants. All were listed in alphabetical order on the Top 50 list, which is unranked.

Fear not if you don’t see your favorite midtown restaurant listed below. The Bee is collecting write-in responses for “Readers Choice” selections until Nov. 27, with the five most popular answers to be added to the Top 50 list in December.

Adamo’s

$ — Italian

Many of midtown Sacramento’s top restaurants are synonymous with cutting-edge innovation. Then there’s Adamo’s, a brick-walled pasta house run by John Adamo and his daughter Chiara in the P Street building they own. While losing Chiara’s brother Polo to Localis around the corner was a major blow, she’s an accomplished chef in her own right, the hands behind bimonthly pasta-making classes that feature glasses from the family’s Tuscan winery. Adamo’s Bolognese over pappardelle is umami heaven, and you can taste the quality tomatoes in marinara enveloping peppery meatballs with creamy polenta. Yet this isn’t just a red sauce joint: Sticky seasonal gnocchi is a refreshing, lighter option, particularly a springtime rendition with snap peas, asparagus, pancetta and lemon beurre blanc. A s’mores budino special with a flawlessly toasted marshmallow, a layer of graham cracker crumble and pudding made from Berkeley-based TCHO Chocolate is one of the best takes on that campfire classic when available. Adamo’s second location will open next year in Mitchell, South Dakota, of all places.

2107 P St., Sacramento, CA 95816 | 916-440-9611

Centro Cocina Mexicana

$$ — Mexican

Before there was Mayahuel, Zócalo or Cantina Pedregal, there was Centro. The Paragary Restaurant Group concept, the brainchild of partner/chef Kurt Spataro’s travels across Mexico and lessons from Diana Kennedy, opened 30 years ago well before midtown was cool. Regional dishes and highish-end presentation shook the dining scene then, and Centro has withstood the tests of time even as Spataro ceded day-to-day responsibilities to chef de cuisine Fidel Lopez. It’s not exactly clean eating: “manchamanteles” literally translates to “tablecloth stainer,” and effectively translates to slow-cooked pork shoulder served with plantains, cinnamon-speckled pineapple, and a garnet yam-stuffed tamal. Mole negro swimming through the enchiladas Oaxaqueñas touches bitter, rich and savory notes on its way past pulled chicken and into the mouth. The fish used in pescado al mojo de ajo varies based on the latest catch; in March, it was a stunning salmon piled atop a bed of greens with portobello strips and garlic chips. Add in seasonal margaritas, discounted happy hour bites and more than 300 types of tequila, and it’s hard to have a bad night.

Chicha Peruvian Kitchen & Cafe

$ — South American

Chicha’s September expansion brought Giancarlo Zapata and Marleny Chávez’s Peruvian restaurant to Sacramento’s city center, though Placer County diners have feasted on its creations since 2021. The new midtown location has a few more American tinges than the Roseville original — pizza drizzled with ají amarillo aioli or bottomless mimosas with your chicharrónes and tamales at Sunday brunch — but both carry the lip-smacking ceviches that serve as barometers for any Peruvian restaurant. The Pimentel ceviche, in particular, folds sheets of cod and bulbous choclo corn together with an orange leche de tigre so tasty you’ll want to spoon out every last drop. Pan-fried salmon andino is an unassuming knockout as well, a relatively healthy entree bathed in anticucho sauce atop creamy quinoa reminiscent of Zapata and Chávez’s past cooking in upscale Lima hotels. Passionfruit or lime pisco sours are tempting cocktails, yet sober sippers don’t lose an ounce of flavor by ordering chicha morada, a sweet purple corn drink devoid of alcohol.

1501 16th St., Suite 101-102, Sacramento, CA 95814 | 916-573-3942

Journey to the Dumpling

$ — Chinese

There are two parallel journeys to these dumplings: the snug, well-trodden Elk Grove classic that debuted in 2016 and the neon-lit midtown Sacramento beacon that finally opened last November. At either location, you’ll find dozens of customers slurping xiaolongbao, handmade soup dumplings that area eaters have come to associate with Chris and Yvonne Tan’s restaurant. But Journey has plenty of other dumpling stars, including green ones made with spinach dough, another variety stuffed with Impossible Foods’ faux meat and pork wontons doused in chile crunch so outrageous you’ll need to take a pint home. While still in the restaurant, though, don’t forget to taste some of the region’s most innovative contemporary Chinese creations such as king oyster/shiitake mushroom bao that look like they’ve been pulled straight from the earth.

1700 21st Street, Sacramento, CA 95811 | 916-822-4473

Kin Thai Street Eatery

$ — Thai

Travel shows on the TVs, paintings of night markets and even a diorama of hawker stalls near the front door paint a clear picture of Kin Thai’s inspiration. Sisters Napis Lindley and Napak Kongsitthanakor’s restaurant transposes Thai street food to the sit-down world of midtown’s MARRS Building, serving skewered fish balls bursting with flavor and Isan-style sausages over banana leaves on wood trays. You can’t go wrong with either of Kin’s marquee blue crab dishes: a crunchy soft-shell delight bathed in yellow curry, or a fluffy omelet that riffs on a Michelin-starred Bangkok food stand’s iconic creation. The ga prao is another street eat redone in a Western setting, an amalgamation of stir-fried holy basil, peppers, garlic-chile sauce, a fried egg and choice of ground chicken or Impossible Meat that comes out perfectly spicy at medium heat. Finish your meal with a slice of airy cake separated by paper-thin pandan crepes and overflowing with meaty coconut cream.

1050 20th St., Suite 180, Sacramento, CA 95811 | 916-619-8144

Localis

$$ — Californian

Dinner at Localis runs a minimum of $266 per person, including tax and gratuity. If you have that kind of cash, it’s worth every penny, because Localis is Sacramento’s ultimate high-end marriage of regional ingredients and global inspiration. Former electrician and metal band drummer Chris Barnum-Dann is now synonymous with the midtown restaurant where he is the chef, owner and wine curator, and frequently uses his travels to South America, Europe or Asia (he has a leg tattoo of Thai ingredients) to fuel Localis’ monthly 12-course tasting menus. Barnum-Dann also frequently passes fancified versions of childhood classics across the chef’s counter: a March “barbecue” dish featured Wilton-based Tsar Nicoulai Caviar sturgeon meat brined and cooked sous-vide, then grilled on binchotan charcoal and served on a pork bone with sturgeon bacon-braised greens from Newcastle’s Natural Trading Co. and a cornbread madeline. While wine is a focus, teetotalers and drinkers alike would do well to check out the exquisite mocktail pairings (a coconut-chile concoction to go with grilled black cod, say, or a virgin martini with Dixon’s Emigh Lamb shoulder pavé). Service concludes with a to-go loaf of banana bread made from Barnum-Dann’s grandmother’s 1956 recipe, a warmhearted tribute that stretches the meal into the next day.

2031 S St., Sacramento, CA 95811 | 916-737-7699

Magpie

$$ — Californian

Too established to be trendy, too young to be a legacy restaurant, Magpie often flies under midtown Sacramento’s farm-to-fork radar. But Ed Roehr, Janel Inouye and Brian Hawley’s business, founded as a catering company in 2005, makes up for its lack of flair with honest-to-goodness crafting of premium local ingredients. Bland onion rings won’t cut it after crunching through Magpie’s winter delicata squash rings with a dipping cup of smoked paprika aioli. Three-Michelin-starred Bay Area restaurants such as the French Laundry and Quince feature Vacaville’s Wolfe Ranch Quail on their tasting menus; at Magpie, the birds are served with a sweet wine vinaigrette, braised fennel bulbs and potatoes for $36 throughout the winter. Two relative mainstays persist through the seasonal changes: a whole Petaluma chicken, half confit and half pan-seared before being served with roasted vegetables on a winter visit, and carrot cake cookies sandwiching a layer of cream cheese frosting that are approved by none other than the Dalai Lama.

1601 16th St., Sacramento, CA 95814 | 916-452-7594

Maydoon

$ — Middle Eastern

Idean Farid grew up in his father Mohammad’s Persian restaurant in Rancho Cordova, then set out to open his own place as an adult. Soon after opening Maydoon in June 2020, he recruited his dad to come help with some more traditional dishes. The result is a sleek, white-walled midtown destination where people flock for workday lunches, happy hours and iftars, fast-breaking evening meals throughout Ramadan. Mohammad’s kebabs are among the best around, particularly an herby chicken shish kebab marinated in spiced orange juice and grilled to ridiculous tenderness. You can try his meaty handiwork or garlicky falafel in the Maydoon bowl, a bright mix of rice, cucumbers, tomatoes, pickled onions and house cilantro dressing. The earthy, tangy fesenjoon, a pomegranate-walnut-chicken stew, bursts through the taste buds and will have you scraping the bowl for every last drop. It’s “to die for,” as one tablemate exclaimed, much like the rest of Maydoon.

1501 16th St., Suite 111, Sacramento, CA 95814 | 916-382-4309

Mother

$ — Californian

Michael and Lisa Thiemann and Ryan Donahue’s vegetarian restaurant, a downtown delight in the late 2010s, reopened in September 2023 a dozen blocks east on K Street with new chef Robb Venditti. Mother’s iconic oyster mushroom po’boy made the move along with a few other classics, but the midtown version is even better than its predecessor thanks to an expanded menu made possible by a larger kitchen. Take Thiemann wedding lasagna, layers of green tomatoes, spinach and crookneck squash with a romantically practical backstory. Michael made the dish for his and Lisa’s reception, guests raved that it was the best they ever had, and it landed on Mother 2.0’s menu. The seasonal menu leans into nature’s bounty instead of faux meats, letting Delta asparagus and spring onions shine through agnolotti pasta or letting Gold Bar squash define thick latkes. Ten-course chef dinners offer a step up, while arugula-piperade quiche and cinnamon roll bread pudding stand out from the rest of the city’s Sunday brunches.

2319 K St., Suite B, Sacramento, CA 95816

Mulvaney’s B&L

$$ — Californian

Need to show out-of-town guests what Sacramento’s farm-to-fork scene is all about? Take them to Mulvaney’s, a converted 19th-century firehouse where the menu changes daily depending on which growers walk through the back door and what animal has recently been butchered. Pig is the primary protein, available as a double-cut Bledsoe Meats pork chop with an immaculate fat-muscle ratio or in specials such as pork belly cured for three days, confit for three more, then seared and served with kimchi. It’s always worth considering a seasonal salad at this political lunch favorite: An early October iteration with frisée, pecans, a central goat cheese glob and honey-roasted pears wriggling out of their skins was a welcome bridge to heavier entrees. Housemade shrubs and mocktails are every bit as enticing as their boozy counterparts, and the No. 1 dessert is an off-menu fine dining take on a Hostess Ding Dong, a dense devil’s food cake with strips of ganache, a bittersweet chocolate coating and the characteristic white swirl across the top. Patrick and Bobbin Mulvaney began passing their restaurant down to Sarah Wasson in 2023, and after some initial turnover, the staff has it clicking as usual.

1215 19th St., Sacramento, CA 95811 | 916-441-6022

Paragary’s

$$ — Californian

Sacramento’s answer to Berkeley’s Chez Panisse, Paragary’s helped pioneer farm-to-fork dining in the capital region when it opened in 1983, and still holds up today. The late Randy Paragary’s legacy lives on in his namesake restaurant, along with Centro Cocina Mexican and four Cafe Bernardo locations, thanks to business partners Kurt Spataro and Stacy Paragary. Chef de cuisine A.J. Nist’s seasonal menus have a few constants: wood-fired pizzas, the love-it-or-hate-it mushroom-Jarlsberg salad and the Paragary’s 83 cocktail, essentially a sweeter French 75 that’s aptly suited for the midtown restaurant’s million-dollar patio. As in its heyday, though, Paragary’s best skill is knowing what to do with premium local produce, such as a grilled half Mary’s Chicken served with Newcastle-based Twin Peaks Orchards’ revered yellow nectarines over a smoky harissa streak. Housemade pastas have always been a specialty, as at several other California cuisine trailblazers, and Paragary’s slippery tagliatelle with lamb ragu, nutty green fava beans, Castelvetrano olives and mint leaves can compete with any Italian restaurant in town.

1401 28th St., Sacramento, CA 95816 | 916-457-5737

This story was originally published November 15, 2024 at 5:00 AM.