One of SF’s top dim sum restaurants has a Sacramento-area outpost — inside a casino
For top-tier, inventive dim sum, head to ... Sky River Casino? Yes, really.
The Wilton Rancheria’s Elk Grove casino is home to 2,100 slot machines, 80 table games and Dragon Beaux, Willy Ng and Jenny Huang’s celebrated Cantonese restaurant based in San Francisco.
In fact, Sky River (found just off Highway 99 at 1 Sky River Parkway) is the only place outside of the original Richmond District location to find Dragon Beaux’s sun-dried abalone shumai (three for $16), lobster har gow (three for $12) and chow fun with American Wagyu beef ($29). The restaurant just celebrated its two-year anniversary Jan. 12, while the San Francisco pioneer will turn 10 later this year.
Ng has opened restaurants inside Las Vegas casinos but Sky River was his first tribal-owned venture. Their comparatively relaxed setups dovetail with Dragon Beaux, where customers can stop in for a bite between hands of blackjack or indulge in a tray of thinly sliced Peking duck, he said.
“They’re more dynamic — they’re not just for the high-end,” Ng said. “It’s very good for a Chinese restaurant with a casual dining experience like dim sum, noodles and rice. You don’t have to be fancy ... so I think it fit my style.”
Ng founded famed dim sum spot Koi Palace with his brother Ronny in 1996 in Daly City; it now has four standalone locations, multiple James Beard Award semifinalist nods and ghost kitchens in all Local Kitchens food halls, including those in Roseville, North Natomas and Davis, as well as a pared-down version in Sky River Casino. The brothers also own Palette Tea House in San Francisco’s Ghirardelli Square and Stick & Steam, a concept adapted from Hong Kong-style street food, in Millbrae.
Dragon Beaux has earned its share of praise, too. The Infatuation and Eater each dubbed it one of San Francisco’s 11 best dim sum restaurants last year, a couple of months after San Francisco Chronicle restaurant critic Mackenzie Chung Fegan named its custard crystal dumplings as one of her five favorite Bay Area dim sum dishes.
Koi Palace is steeped in tradition, usually full of predominantly Asian customers selecting the individual fish they’d like to have killed and prepared. Dragon Beaux is Ng and Huang’s vehicle to push Cantonese American cuisine forward, often at a lower price point in a setting that non-Asians find comfortable, he said.
Dragon Beaux also offers an all-you-can-eat tabletop hot pot during dinner. Some menu items are consistent between the two concepts, most notably the Instagrammable rainbow of xiaolongbao (soup dumplings), their dough dyed different colors by squid ink, turmeric, paprika and more.
Dragon Beaux’s Sky River Casino location is open from 3 to 10 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday (with happy hour deals for the first three hours after opening), 3 p.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday. It’s closed on Wednesdays.
What I’m Eating
For dumplings within Sacramento’s city limits, head to Tasty Dumpling in Curtis Park’s Crocker Village development. A printed mural of pot stickers, Taiwanese beef rolls and xiaolongbao eating instructions covers one side of the narrow dining room; on the other, plexiglas windows show employees in orange hats fastidiously molding dough and fillings.
Helen Zhang’s quick-and-easy Chinese restaurant debuted in June 2021, and a second, larger location will open Monday in Campus Commons’ Boulevard Center at the intersection of Howe Avenue and Fair Oaks Boulevard. For now, it’s one of Crocker Village’s few locally-owned restaurants, a family-friendly place for comfortable lunches and dinners with a few items that stand above the rest.
Xiaolongbao can steal a show, but Tasty Dumpling’s real star is the vegetable-steamed dumplings (eight for $13). Veggie options are often afterthoughts at Sacramento dumpling houses; shiitake mushrooms’ earthy flavor bursts out of these ones’ green spinach dough, escorted by cabbage, glass noodles and carrots.
Few other local restaurants serve Xi’an cold noodles ($10), also known as biangbiang noodles and originally from the northwest province of Shaanxi. These thick, housemade noodles are best ordered spicy, punched up by a red chili-paprika-cayenne oil that washes over the mouth but stops short of discomfort.
Braised beef brisket noodle ($15) soup stands out for its umami-heavy broth interrupted by broccoli, bok choy, tomato slices and small offal cones. Fried golden buns with condensed milk (six for $9), pillow-like mantou accompanied by a cup of sticky-sweet dairy, end the meal on a fluffy note.
Tasty Dumpling
Address: 3700 Crocker Drive, Suite 150, Sacramento
Hours: 10:30 a.m.-8:30 p.m. daily
Phone: 916-758-5621
Website: tastydumplingmenu.com
Drinks: Bottled sodas, teas and juices
Vegetarian options: Veggie dumplings and Xi’an cold noodles are standouts, and other dishes such as scallion pancakes, green beans and red bean bao round out the menu.
Noise level: Medium to medium-loud
Outdoor seating: A couple of tables next to the front door
Openings & Closings
▪ Offbeat Coffee’s soft opening began Wednesday at 600 Broadway, Suite A, at Upper Land Park’s northern border. Vivian Tran and Thao Nguyen’s coffee shop with Vietnamese influences and a hand-drawn snail logo spent 2024 popping up at Sacramento spots such as Majka Pizzeria & Bakery and Pipeworks rock climbing gym before launching as a brick-and-mortar.
▪ El Papagayo closed Jan. 19 at 5804 Marconi Ave. in Carmichael ahead of a rebranding as Palo Palo Kitchen & Bar. FJ Villalobos’ Mexican restaurant with an all-vegan menu is selling its parrot-themed decor as it converts to a Filipino concept.
▪ Dillian’s Bar & Grill has had its “last call” after 20 years in Lincoln at 605 Lincoln Blvd., Suite 100, owner Scott Giller announced on Facebook. It’ll be replaced by Lost Shaker Bar & Grill, which plans to infuse the dive bar with craft cocktails and elevated comfort food.