Two tenants could occupy riverfront restaurant in Old Sacramento, mayor says
Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty announced Tuesday that a waterfront restaurant in Old Sacramento will be filled with two new tenants.
Midtown’s Der Biergarten and another unnamed restaurant will split the space, McCarty said during the State of Downtown breakfast. Final talks are ongoing with a second tenant, he said, declining to name the eatery to avoid jeopardizing negotiations.
“It will go well with Old Sacramento — people on the go,” McCarty said of the second occupant after his remarks at the SAFE Credit Union Convention Center.
Rio City Cafe, which opened in 1994, occupied the historical building based on a steamship warehouse and its riverfront deck. It closed in 2024 after its landlord — the city of Sacramento — could not find about $5 million amid a budget deficit to repair the deck which served 70% of Rio City Cafe’s customers, according to previous Bee reporting.
McCarty’s announcement comes as the city has planned for years to renovate Old Sacramento, a tourist attraction that draws about four million people annually. A $40 million plan under former Mayor Darrell Steinberg sought to establish new businesses, build a playground and repair the aging wooden boardwalks. But those plans were delayed during the pandemic after revenues declined from the hotel tax used to fund the renovations.
The property comprises a larger structure, which housed Rio City Cafe, and a smaller building that the cafe used for supplemental prep. Der Biergarten will serve food and beer from the smaller building, using the adjacent outdoor space.
Steinberg worked to find money in the city’s budget to fix the deck. He proposed lowering Rio City’s rent and building a space outside. But the city and restaurant owners reached an impasse in August 2024 and the restaurant closed for good.
In 2024, Gov. Gavin Newsom allocated about $4.6 million in the state budget to renovate Old Sacramento. The repairs to the river deck finished this year, McCarty said.
“That’s exactly how we bring back energy to our riverfront, our crown jewel of Sacramento,” McCarty said.
Sean and Erika Derfield have run the original location of Der Biergarten in its open-air midtown lot since January 2014. It serves a variety of German delicacies such as pretzels and schnitzels, as well as hot dogs, sweet and savory Belgian waffles and fries. The food is meant to complement their selection of 30 taps with domestic and imported beers.
“It is just like our beer garden that we currently have at 24th and K, where everything is outdoors. So when it rains, we are closed,” Sean Derfield said, who added its midtown location will remain open.
Derfield applied for use of the space when the opportunity came up in 2024. About 26 applicants vied for the space, and 16 went through the entire process, he said.
“We were one of the three that were chosen. They had meetings with us, and we looked at everything and said we’d be interested. We gave them our business plan, and they chose us,” Derfield said.
The Old Sacramento location of Der Biergarten will serve the same menu as the midtown location, with a small twist: The American beers it serves will come exclusively from Sacramento’s breweries. It will still serve its signature German brews.
Derfield also owns Sean Finnegan’s Pub in Old Sacramento, which he opened in 2022.
This story was originally published February 24, 2026 at 9:33 AM.
