Get a taste of everything at Terra Madre Americas in Sacramento this weekend

After months of anticipation, the biggest weekend for Sacramento’s culinary scene is fast approaching.

The Terra Madre Americas festival kicks off Friday afternoon at the SAFE Credit Union Convention Center in downtown Sacramento, bringing renowned chefs, local gastronomy stars and Indigenous tribal leaders to the nation’s Farm-to-Fork capital. The new festival combines the longtime Sacramento Farm-to-Fork Festival with Terra Madre Salone del Gusto, a major European food festival honoring sustainable food production.

The central theme of Terra Madre Americas is to promote and celebrate the Slow Food movement, a broad term describing a way of producing, preparing and consuming food that respects Indigenous traditions, preserves the environment and treats workers fairly, among other sustainable efforts across the supply chain.

At the heart of the festival is a marketplace inside the convention center, with food producers, community organizations and restaurants handing out food samples to thousands of foodies passing through throughout the weekend. A dedicated enoteca will pour nearly 80 wines from California, New York, Oregon and Washington, plus another 16 wine brands from Argentina, Chile, Bolivia and Mexico.

Dozens of educational workshops, lectures, panels and demonstrations are scheduled throughout the weekend, ranging from discussions on agroecology policy to beer tasting. On Saturday and Sunday, downtown streets surrounding the convention center will house food and drink vendors, handmade goods sellers and live music in a street food festival accompanying the main festivities.

The majority of the Terra Madre Americas festival is free, with the exception of certain sit-down dining experiences, food purchases, slow food tastings and cooking demonstrations. Tickets for the plated prix-fixe meals — the Grand Tasting and the Terra Madre Americas Bistro reservations — were sold out by Tuesday afternoon, but many of the slow food and drink sessions are still available.

Those sessions include a slow cider tasting ($35 per person), which will feature four cidermakers discussing their slow production processes and pairing cheeses with a range of ciders. For those preferring a zero-proof experience, a garden mocktail session ($25 per person) will teach participants how to make non-alcoholic drinks with homegrown ingredients, while a home barista masterclass ($25 per person) shares the fundamentals of brewing the best espresso at home.

Other sessions include a keynote exploring the relationships between food and society, a three-hour demonstration with Wilton Rancheria on how to process acorns to eat, a panel introducing the Slow Food farms of Sacramento and caviar tasting with Tsar Nicoulai Caviar.

Terra Madre Americas offers a free schedule builder on its website to help plan out which panels, workshops and lectures to attend. Though most sessions are first-come, first-served, the ticketed events require advance registration on the site.

What I’m Eating

In a world dominated by build-your-own-bowl eateries like Chipotle and Sweetgreen, it’s refreshing to find local restaurants implementing the format in different ways, such as in a Mongolian barbecue style.

Mongolian barbecue — a misnomer, as it actually hails from Taiwan, according to Taipei Times — allows diners to create custom noodle bowls with meats, vegetables and a slew of sauces before a cook grills it together over a large round griddle typically visible from the dining room.

In Carmichael, Li’s Mongolian BBQ keeps it simple with its all-you-can-eat barbecue ($17.99 per person for dinner and weekend meals; $14.50 for weekday lunch) and slimmed-down ingredient selection. Proteins include two types of chicken, beef, pork, shrimp, imitation crab and lamb, while vegetable toppings range from cucumbers to jalapeños to baby corn.

Rounding out the barbecue bowls is a set of 10 sauces that imbue various flavors and spice into the dish, including sugar water, lemon juice, oyster sauce, hot chili oil and Li’s house sauce. The restaurant recommends using one scoop of each sauce to get the ideal flavor combination.

Once the bowl is properly piled high, a staff member quickly cooks the dish on the searing grill, occasionally pouring water on the griddle to deglaze some of the accumulated sauces. Included in the all-you-can-eat offering are side dishes of rice and hot and sour soup, which are delivered directly to your table while you put together your bowl.

To close out the meal, stop by the modest fruit bar to the left of the barbecue buffet — also included in all-you-can-eat — and pick up cuts of pineapples, watermelons, peaches and more for a healthy dessert option.

Li’s Mongolian BBQ

Address: 4725 Manzanita Ave., Carmichael

Hours: 11:30 a.m.-8:30 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday; closed Mondays

Phone: 916-664-3920

Drinks: Fountain drinks, bottled drinks

Vegetarian options: Customizable without protein

Noise level: Quiet to moderate

Outdoor seating: No

Openings & Closings

• National Parks-themed bar Parkside opened for business on Wednesday, Sept. 17, replacing Malt and Mash Irish Pub. The outdoorsy nightclub launched its second location at 715 K St. in Sacramento six years after opening a sports bar and grill under the same name in downtown Davis.

• San Joaquin Valley taco chain Tacos Chapala expanded north to the capital region with a new restaurant in Sacramento. In early September, the taqueria opened its first Sacramento eatery at 7411 W. Stockton Blvd. in the North Laguna neighborhood, serving its selection of tacos, burritos, bowls and other Mexican favorites. The restaurant has three other outposts — two in Stockton and one in Manteca.

• Cattlemens Steakhouse plans to open a new location in Elk Grove by spring 2026. The Rohnert Park-based restaurant chain announced it will open at 9105 W. Stockton Blvd., in a building previously occupied by Cicada Cantina and Logan’s Roadhouse. “We are thrilled to be joining the Elk Grove community,” Peter Mrozik, president of Cattlemens, said in a statement. “Elk Grove’s strong sense of place and welcoming spirit make it a perfect fit.” The new location joins three other locations in the capital region: Rancho Cordova, Roseville and Dixon.

This story was originally published September 25, 2025 at 7:00 AM.

Camila Pedrosa

The Sacramento Bee

Camila Pedrosa is the California Diversions Reporter at The Sacramento Bee. She previously worked on The Bee’s service journalism team and was a summer reporting intern for The Bee in 2024. She graduated from Arizona State University with a master’s degree in mass communication.