Coffee, wine and community: Tandem now serving in East Sacramento
A coffee shop serving $24 glasses of Cabernet at 6:30 a.m.? It’s more likely than you’d think.
Karly Worl took a leap of faith when she left her tech sector managerial job in the Bay Area to pursue a longtime passion — food and wine.
Last May, Worl shared her hopes of turning her passion into a career with her friend Melody Thebeau, one of the owners of SacYard Community Tap House, who pointed her in the direction of Lucas Thompson.
Thompson ran his Cluster Coffee cart for more than two years out of SacYard, after more than a decade working in coffee and beer. His end goal was to open a brick-and-mortar coffee shop, and he quickly realized he needed a partner to get it done. So when he met Worl — who had a background in project management and was eager to share her love of wine — magic was made.
“I would have probably drowned if I was doing this by myself, to be honest,” Thompson said. “Our strengths and weaknesses ... balance each other out.”
Thompson blended his expertise in coffee and familiarity with the Sacramento community with Worl’s wine education and administrative knowledge to build a joint coffee-wine establishment from scratch, with support from experienced business owner Thebeau.
The two aspiring entrepreneurs hit the ground running on their venture. They created an LLC in June, and less than a year later on April 4, Tandem Coffee & Wine opened in a prominent corner unit at 3100 Folsom Blvd., Suite 100, on the corner of Alhambra Boulevard.
Comfortable leather and suede seats fill the room, and tables of varying sizes invite extroverted coffee lovers to chat while others take a quiet moment alone with their drink of choice. Light-colored accents contrast royal blue tiles on the front of the main bar, and floor-to-ceiling windows soak the dining space in abundant soft light.
On the menu, Worl’s food creations include finger food snacks — including house-made feta dip with bread — a prosciutto and cantaloupe salad, warm paninis and grilled cheese. One of their most popular items is a “breakfast roll-up” that includes hash browns, egg, sausage and white cheddar in a flour tortilla topped with a green salsa.
“It’s kind of a mini breakfast burrito,” Worl said. “It’s easy to grab and go ... you can walk and talk with it.”
Thompson and Worl collaborate with numerous Sacramento-area businesses and friends for their offerings. The shop is sourcing bagels from Battin’s Bagel Bike, which previously worked with Thompson at Cluster Coffee; sweets from Bella Bru Cafe; and coffee beans from Station Coffee Roasters.
Worl’s philosophy on the wine list was keeping it affordable and high-quality with a variety of domestic and imported wines. She is planning on changing roughly a quarter of the list every few months, and recently began serving wine flights.
“We can ... introduce (customers) to something they haven’t had or show them how the same type of grape can be different across the world,” Worl said.
Although the menu is physically divided into morning and afternoon to evening dishes, Worl and Thompson aren’t strict about what can be ordered as long as the ingredients are still available, and drinks — alcoholic or otherwise — are never limited by the clock.
Operating hours start at 6:30 a.m. daily and go as late as 10 p.m. Thompson said he wanted to serve coffee well into the evening after discovering a gap in the market for late-night coffee haunts in Sacramento.
Building an environment that Thompson and Worl wanted to work in all day was a massive community effort; friends and friends of friends are embedded in every inch of Tandem.
Thompson’s architect wife, Ginger, helped design the space and secured contractors, Sacramento artist Jeremy Stanger designed a huge mural throughout the shop, and Worl’s friend Hanna Romley designed Tandem’s logo and made some drawings for the brand, such as illustrating Thompson’s Great Dane drinking a mug of coffee and reading a book labeled “How To Use A Mug Without Thumbs” for the menu.
“So many different people have their fingerprints in here, but it all got tied together,” Worl said.
The pair has big plans for Tandem. They’re hoping to introduce educational programming, such as structured wine pairing classes and a Q&A panel with the owner of Station Coffee Roaster, to share knowledge and love of coffee and wine with their customers.
“We’re not gonna judge,” Thompson said. “If you’re just getting into wine (or coffee), this is going to be a good place to learn.”
What I’m Eating
The fourth sister of the Maya family restaurants, Maya’s Authentic Mexican Food, is upping the ante for Mexican food in Davis.
The bright pink building on the corner of Third and D streets downtown promises a party vibe, while succulent smells wafting from the kitchen promise a feast. Inside is a tight squeeze; tables and bar seating fill almost every square inch of available space, but it makes for easy socializing.
It feels impossible to choose just one item from the enormous menu board looming over the counter. Items span traditional Guanajuato street food to westernized Mexican delicacies and even dip into fusion dishes with birria ramen and egg rolls.
You’ll need napkins handy for the juicy — borderline wet — street tacos ($3.99 each). All of the meat-based entrees come with a wide variety of protein choices, from carne asada and chicken to beef tongue and fried pork stomach, and even just beans for a vegetarian option.
The elegantly presented elote esquite bowl ($6.99) pays tribute to the classic street-corn-in-a-cup without changing what makes it revered. The dish is simple, a bowl of roasted corn is topped with a large dollop of mayo and a tangy-spicy sauce, then dusted with cotija cheese and chili powder.
Combining sauces is the best way to experience the enchilada combo plate ($17.99). Smoky, rich red sauce paired with a fresh, bright and slightly spicy green salsa or a dark, earthy mole sauce amplify the meaty flavors of your protein choice — in my case, shredded beef.
Maya’s Authentic Mexican Restaurant
Address: 237 D St., Davis
Hours: 10:30 a.m.-9 p.m. daily
Phone: 530-746-1605
Drinks: Fountain and bottled sodas, bottled beer, craft cocktails
Vegetarian options: Items can be made vegetarian with meatless options
Noise level: Loud
Outdoor seating: Patio seating along Third and D streets
Restaurant Openings & Closings
▪ The second Dos Coyotes in Folsom opened Monday at 2750 East Bidwell St., according to a Facebook post by the restaurant. A new crunchy fish taco by executive chef Mark Casale, with beer-battered and panko-crusted Pacific cod topped by a green papaya slaw and avocado tomatillo salsa, is joining the regional chain’s southwestern menu as part of the opening, the post said.
▪ Seasons 52 closed its Arden Fair mall restaurant on Monday, citing “business conditions and distribution challenges in the area,” The Bee reported. The Darden Restaurants chain served up low-calorie entrees and shot glass-sized desserts during its 12 years in the mall.
▪ Love Birds Coffee & Tea Co., 4181 Highway 49, Suite 100, in Diamond Springs, closed its doors on Saturday after a decade baking pastries and brewing coffee in the Sierra Nevada foothills. Husband-and-wife co-owners Jasmin and Garrett Sanders posted about the closure online to their 2,500 Facebook followers, sharing plans for Garrett to return to his previous career as a financial adviser while Jasmin homeschools their children.
This story was originally published May 23, 2025 at 6:00 AM.
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