Joneck’s Wine Lounge and Bottle Shop relocating from East Sacramento to midtown
An East Sacramento wine bar is moving to a new location in midtown, a little over a year since its opening.
Joneck’s Wine Lounge and Bottle Shop, which debuted last April at 5619 H St., is expected to relocate this summer to 2231 J St., on the same block as Capital Stage theater, as first reported by Sacramento Business Journal.
Co-owner Renee Jones said the move out of East Sacramento was driven by more than just a desire for a central location.
“It’s really about the inherent history of a neighborhood and what has happened around it,” Jones told The Sacramento Bee in an interview.
Jones, who is Black, said she has felt unwelcome in East Sacramento, where she has faced frequent racist interactions as a business owner.
“It’s been an observation and how I’m treated,” Jones said. “When people who live locally come to the bar, they’re very nice and giggly, but treat me like a servant. Then they find out I’m the owner, and they’re looking around the space completely differently. It’s ‘oh, you’re the owner?’”
Jones co-owns Joneck’s with her husband, Todd Yeck, who is white. The business name, pronounced “yo-necks,” is a combination of their surnames.
Jones said she had wanted to have a spot in midtown but when the opportunity came to open in East Sacramento, she pounced on it because there was a void of wine bars in the neighborhood.
She started searching for a new location almost immediately after opening the business because of what she described as almost daily interactions that were racist. The stress took its toll, prompting her to seek counseling and take antidepressant medication, she said.
“I’m not going to lose my business,” she said, deciding on the move. “It makes sense to find a place that is welcoming, versus trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.”
Still, Jones said she was “incredibly grateful for the people who have been supportive.”
“I became closer to people who lived in the neighborhood who had shared, ‘oh no, you’re not crazy, this is normal’,” she said.
With that support, Jones said that she feels it’s a “blessing” to be able to open their J Street space.
“It’s kept me sane,” she said of finalizing the deal. “To be in midtown, where people are out, and they want to be social, and they want to be around each other, and to meet new people, to celebrate and give back to those people who have been loyal and regulars for us, I cannot wait, because I feel like I haven’t been able to give my full self to our regulars because of the what the experience has been.”
Jones said she has her “fingers crossed” that they will move by July, closing for a few weeks at the end of June to give themselves time to change locations.
The new midtown location will offer more than the wine flights, beer and small bites Jones has had previously. That includes outdoor dining, a broader food menu and extended hours. It will be licensed as a restaurant, not a bar, allowing minors to enter with adults.
Jones said she plans to host live entertainment, including music, DJs, trivia nights, poetry readings, and wine tastings.
“I am looking forward to celebrating with everyone who’s been a regular,” Jones said. “I genuinely am looking forward to celebrating and bringing joy to everyone who has gone out of their way, out of their neighborhood to come and visit us, and now they can come to this space that is as inclusive.”
