Pasty Shack returns: 74-year-old East Sacramento ‘staple’ reopens
The long-time Sacramento restaurant, Pasty Shack, has reopened under new management after closing in April, almost ending its 74-year-long run.
The shack on 4746 J St. is now owned by long-term employee, Paula Gutierrez, who has worked at the business on and off since 2003. In an interview with The Sacramento Bee, Gutierrez said she signed a new lease in late April, saving the beloved mom-and-pop shop.
“I am very happy,” Gutierrez said. “I feel like it’s such an East Sacramento staple.”
With its fresh coat of paint, Pasty Shack officially reopened June 13, according to the business’s social media.
Pasties are traditional British savory meat hand pies. Pasty Shack serves a variety of flavors in theirs, including the classic Cornish pasty with diced beef, potatoes and onions, a vegetarian option with mushrooms instead of meat, and a Mexican pasty with refried beans, chili con carne, jalapenos and ground beer with green chillies, according to the shack’s menu.
Gutierrez said she has worked every role at the shack in addition to working directly with the former owner, William Mier, who died of cancer in 2016. When she wasn’t full-time at Pasty Shack, she was on-call to fill in for Mier while he was sick, she said.
In 2022, she took over as a Pasty Shack baker after the original baker retired.
As what workers believed to be Pasty Shack’s end loomed, Gutierrez asked Bobbie Mier, William’s wife, if she could take over the restaurant.
“I didn’t even think about it, like my mind didn’t even process,” Gutierrez said. “I didn’t want this place to close. This is like my home.”
The shop is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays. On Mondays and Tuesdays it opens at 11 a.m. and closes at 3 p.m. The shop is closed Sundays.
