Best 50 restaurants in Sacramento

SN&R eats through old favorites, hidden gems and trendy hotspots to pick the region’s best dining experiences · It’s as though the little sister restaurant of Hawks in Granite Bay moved to the city, set herself up in a loft and is leading the fast-paced urban life. Hawks Public House’s caliber of food is just as high as the original restaurant, but the approach is more casual in a vibrant, bustling room with an open kitchen and wood accents. Charcuterie is a focus here, as well as house-made pastas enveloped in rich sauces. The restaurant’s take on brunch is refreshing, too.

When I first moved to Sacramento, I did what I assume any ordinary food-obsessed person would do. I Googled, “Best restaurants in Sacramento.”

What I found were suggestions on Yelp and TripAdvisor, crowdsourced websites that tend to be an unreliable reflection of reality. Now, that same search yields ideas from national tastemaker Thrillist and the San Francisco Chronicle’s restaurant critic—in other words, people who don’t even live here are dictating where to eat in Sacramento, and that’s bogus.

We set out to curate an essential list of restaurants that both celebrates the new and innovative as well as the old-school and classic. More importantly, we wanted to highlight Sacramento’s amazing diversity and showcase the full of range of worthwhile dining experiences you can have in the region. They most definitely are not all white-tablecloth affairs, but they are all delicious.

Of course, with any such list, there need to be some rules. We narrowed the geographic scope to Sacramento and its immediate suburbs—no Davis, Auburn or Amador County, though we know there are some gems there. Restaurants had to be open at least three full months in order to be considered. With some other stipulations, we cast out a call for nominations to local voracious diners and wound up with well more than 100 names. From there, we ate and debated and ate and debated. And ate. And here we are: SN&R’s best 50 restaurants in Sacramento, listed in alphabetical order. (Scroll down or click here for a map of all of our picks.)

—Janelle Bitker

HAWKS PUBLIC HOUSE

It’s as though the little sister restaurant of Hawks in Granite Bay moved to the city, set herself up in a loft and is leading the fast-paced urban life. Hawks Public House’s caliber of food is just as high as the original restaurant, but the approach is more casual in a vibrant, bustling room with an open kitchen and wood accents. Charcuterie is a focus here, as well as house-made pastas enveloped in rich sauces. The restaurant’s take on brunch is refreshing, too.

Order: vegetable “snacks,” burger, pastas, croque madame; $$-$$$; 1525 Alhambra Boulevard; (916) 588-4440

HAWKS RESTAURANT

Hawks represents the ultimate white-tablecloth experience in the area—well-worth the 25 minute drive from Sacramento. Chef-owners Mike Fagnoni and Molly Hawks create menus that pay tribute to local ingredients via Italian- and French-inspired dishes. It’s always difficult to choose between ordering &#;agrave; la carte or going with the exquisite seasonal tasting menu—either way, don’t miss pastry chef Misty Greene’s sweet endings.

Order: gnocchi, braised meats or $80 prix fixe; $$$$; 5530 Doulgas Boulevard in Granite Bay; (916) 791-6200; http://hawksrestaurant.com. A.T.

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