Old Sac’s Rio City Cafe is an empty eyesore. The city is the derelict landlord | Opinion
The Rio City Cafe has sat empty next to the Sacramento River for nearly two years, the previous long-time operators victims of a city that refused to maintain the riverfront deck that made the historic district restaurant so popular, as it became off-limits for safety reasons.
This replica of a steamship warehouse is 32 years old and shows it.
The city of Sacramento, which is responsible for the property, has never replaced its original wooden shake roof, a fire hazard just waiting for something to happen. Dead weeds stand in the gutters. A building begging for fresh paint is surrounded by a chain-link fence.
Here on Sacramento’s Embarcadero Boardwalk is what by all outward appearances is a property in the hands of a derelict landlord.
Now, the city is trying to avoid any financial responsibility to fix up the building as it seeks to place all the onus on a new restaurant operator. It is no wonder that the city is now seven months behind its own schedule to find that operator, a telltale sign that nobody is yet willing to accept such terms.
A city spokesperson said in an email that they are in “active negotiations” and are “hopeful we will have a lease presented to city council for approval soon.”
“If for some reason the negotiations fall through with the current proposer, the city will reevaluate next steps.”
Whe leased to the Rio City Cafe, the city as landlord was under a contractual requirement to keep the structure in good condition. The closure of the deck for safety reasons is evidence enough that under former City Manager Howard Chan, Sacramento was ignoring its responsibilities. And now, Sacramento is suffering the consequences.
To appreciate the need for proper stewardship of riverfront infrastructure, one needs to look no further than next door.
Just upriver to the north is the structural little brother of the Rio City Cafe, the 750-square-foot Steamers Building. It, too, is managed by the city on behalf of the State Lands Commission.
Over the years, records show the city periodically modernized the Steamers Building. It got a new roof and its air conditioning unit was replaced. And, most recently, in 2024, the city repaired the building’s windows and siding.
So when the city sought bids last year to operate a small restaurant in the Steamers building and 1,550 square feet of adjacent outdoor riverfront dining space, it’s no wonder that eight bidders came forward.
On March 3, the city council awarded the new lease to the current operators of Der Biergarten on midtown’s K Street, with a base rent of $2,075 a month. Der Biergarten’s sign is already on the facade of the Steamers Building, a visible and promising sign of progress.
Next door at the former Rio City Cafe is the proof of what happens when the city does the opposite and ignores basic maintenance.
The Rio City’s long-time operators, the Miller family, closed the restaurant on Aug. 3, 2024 after a 30-year run. The city at the time said it had no schedule to fix the deck, which was closed for safety reasons earlier in the year. Since riverfront dining provided most of the revenues and with no solution in sight, the restaurant basically had no choice but to close.
Then, after subsequently receiving $4.6 million in support from the state, the city in March 2025 decided to spend $3 million of it to fix the deck. The project has since been completed. The restaurant itself, however, awaits repair on the outside and on the inside, an extreme makeover.
Last August, the city requested “expressions of interest” of possible operators, identifying 27 at the time. The terms, however, read like Sacramento’s version of “Impossible Dream.”
As for the aging structure, “the city anticipates delivering the restaurant in an as-is condition,” reads the official prospectus. “The lessee will, at their own cost, provide all additional trade fixtures, counters, bars, service stations and back-of-house food preparation equipment not already available on site, necessary for their operations.”
The proposed lease would last only 10 years, with a possible extension. As for the menu, “it is requested that menu pricing should be reasonable and offer good value,” says the prospectus.
Rent was to be negotiated later. And if all these financial conditions didn’t pencil out, “the city may grant the lessee an allowance for tenant improvements, to be negotiated in the sub-lease.”
Of those 27 prospective bidders, only three parties stepped forward expressing official interest.
“The level of interest, even if smaller than anticipated, still provided us with strong options to evaluate,” the city said.
The winner was supposed to be identified last Nov. 7. The failure to find a new operator in a timely basis speaks to the challenges that the city created for itself.
The Embarcadero Boardwalk was built more than 40 years ago to showcase the city’s Gold Rush heritage. Today’s eyesore that was once the Rio City Cafe now represents something no Sacramentan should be proud of.