Good Neighbor offers full-service elevated, cozy classics in Sacramento
Last year saw a number of big moves by local restaurant groups. One of the biggest is Good Neighbor, a new concept from Urban Roots Hospitality Group.
Good Neighbor took over the Ice Blocks space that formerly housed popular restaurant Beast & Bounty, which closed at the beginning of last year. Urban Roots announced their takeover of the restaurant a couple of months later. It officially opened in October.
The space retains its hip, industrial aura, with vaulted ceilings and concrete and brick walls. Gone are Beast & Bounty’s pastel tones and rose gold finishes, replaced with a more masculine motif. Cobalt blue velvet upholstery line the benches. Burnt orange and forest green color blocking graces the walls. Sunlight floods in during the afternoons.
Good Neighbor’s open kitchen is a veritable Swiss army knife of stations. There’s a wood-fired pizza oven, an expansive fire grill, a double fry station, and more. It’s all in constant use.
The restaurant stands out in the company’s portfolio. Whereas Urban Roots’ other properties are more niche — barbecue at the flagship, tacos at Cerveceria and fried chicken at Bawk — Good Neighbor is set up as a more general interest restaurant.
It’s also its first attempt at full service, as opposed to the more casual model of ordering at the counter.
“So the concept itself is kind of like, welcome home,” said Greg Desmangles, culinary director of the group overseeing the restaurants. “We wanted to take classics that people know, stuff you might eat at a neighbor’s house, put our spin on it and execute it as well as we can.”
The menu is both eclectic and familiar. Homey classic mains like a crispy roasted chicken ($27), steak frites ($31) with tallow fries, and a hearty double-cut pork chop ($29), drizzled with Desmangle’s grandmother’s holiday ham glaze, sidle up against more contemporary dishes like mussels and chorizo ($21) and a vegetarian roasted cauliflower ($23) with Calabrian chile and eggplant puree.
Of course there’s pizza ($21-25). Chef Zach Schechtman spent a week in Naples last summer studying the classic techniques, but has adapted his recipe, calling it “Neo-Neapolitan.” His is a sturdier crust, with enough structure that you can pick up a slice. A 72-hour cold fermentation lends rich flavor.
Schechtman runs the kitchen day to day, conducting the stations like an orchestra. Exposed to the dining room, it becomes a focal point in itself, dinner and a show.
If there’s a qualm, it’s that the open kitchen’s aromas, while appetizing, cannot be sufficiently contained. If they’re doing a lot of frying, and they inevitably will be, you’ll be reminded of it on your clothes.
Opposite the kitchen, the bar shimmers, backlit during the day with natural light. Bar director Justin Sheffey and bar manager Christopher Osman invent new cocktails and innovate concepts on old-school tipples.
A lurid red Garden negroni ($17) freshens up the classic with tomato gin. The Good Neighbor Old Fashioned ($17) uses tallow from the mothership restaurant’s brisket to fat-wash the bourbon, complemented with hay liqueur and citrusy Licor 43.
The same tallow is used to dress the tallow fries, which like all other fried items are cooked in canola oil.
The fries and other small plates are an excellent way to enjoy the bar. One’s as good as another, though the standout is their pavé fries ($16). Yukon gold potatoes are shaved to a thickness of about a millimeter, layered with butter and a little corn starch and baked. Once cool, the compressed dish is sliced into batons, fried and served with sour cream and chives.
The dessert menu is terse. On our visit we enjoyed the Basque cheesecake ($9), richly creamy and burnished brown on top.
Good Neighbor does not take reservations, so try to go early or be prepared to wait. As weather improves, the outdoor seating will help.
The restaurant also runs a takeout concept, Side Hustle, in the adjacent space on 17th St, It serves all-beef hot dogs, sourced from Lockeford Meats & Sausages, served plain or dressed up like the popular Danish hot dog ($9) with remoulade, quick-pickled cucumbers and crispy shallots.
There’s also Liège waffles ($10), plucked from the Good Neighbor dessert menu, and playful milkshakes ($10) and smoothies ($11) that can be made boozy for an additional $6.
Good Neighbor
Address: 1701 R St., midtown
Hours: 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Monday-Thursday; 11 p.m.-10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Sundays
Phone: 916-758-6194
Website: goodneighbor916.com
Vegetarian options: There’s a good array, especially in the small plates and pizzas.
Noise level: Moderate when it’s not busy, but it can get boisterous
This story was originally published February 5, 2026 at 8:00 AM.
