Mike Dunne posted some upcoming developments on the restaurant scene in a recent column. I hopehopehope that Gianni's Trattoria will be good because we seriously need some good midpriced Italian around here. McCormick and Schmick is a chain, I'll believe it when I see it as far as Tex Wasabi's is concerned (note to restaranteurs, it is not a good idea to base your restaurant concept around a "fictional chef"- will he be serving fictional "tasty food?). Ella could be good although when I heard about it some time ago I was disappointed that downtown was getting another American bistro-type thing. I'm hoping at least one of the wine bars is good, and has more seating than 58 degrees! No word on the chicago deep dish pizza proposed for J and he didn't mention Mana or the Queen of Sheba on Broadway (not a surprise as Dunne does not seem to be a fan of Broadway dining-he should read my article on it).
I also just found his article on the 12 best restaurants. I'm really suprised to see Enotria rate so highly. I'm going to check that out this year. His choices are pretty staid and how to say this, I guess European, except for his 99th shout out to Lemongrass this year (I'm skeptical about that, too). Of course, I would hate for someone to make me rate my top ten, because I want different food at different times and it's hard to pit a Korean bbq place against a white tablecloth place. I think he should have reigned himself in to the Sac area, too. If you're going to range this far, why not just put French Laundry at the top of the list? All in all, I'm trying to be nice, but I hate his list. There, I said it.
We need Cuban food!
ReplyDeletegbomb
is Queen of Sheba opening up downtown?
ReplyDeleteon broadway where the jamaican place was. it may already be open.
ReplyDeleteanyone else been to this new Pho place on J St? Good/bad?
ReplyDeletei'm with gbomb! where's the f$#%@n' cuban food?
ReplyDeletemoe
hurray! i just checked out the bit about Gianni's and they're gonna serve tramezzini!!!!!
ReplyDeleteyum!
as for tamarind... the soup is okay but the service is really mediocre. my toppings came when i was almost done with my food even tho' i asked for them twice. hoa viet is way better.
moe
I really have been away from Sacramento for to many years, I guess -- this list has places in Roseville, Auburn, Plymouth and *%$#@* El Dorado Hills on it? Time was those places didn't even have reasonable chilli dogs.
ReplyDeleteThese are all pricey restaurants, right? Is that part of the criteria for getting on his list?
ReplyDeleteLemongrass really is great, but I don't know if it deserves to be put on that list. It's worth checking out, because they do some amazing things with some of the standard fare many people enjoy, but there also are plenty of really good, cheaper Vietnamese places in this town.
As for Slocum House - wtf? I've had to go there for many family gatherings over the last 10 years and it's always been a disappointment. It's not terrible, but it's overpriced and unoriginal. It is a terrific place to take your grandma though.
I almost wet my pants when I saw Ethiopian on Broadway. I am so down with that. I know it will be no 23rd and Cherry in Seattle but any Ethiopian food has got to be good Ethiopian food.
ReplyDeleteOn another note, Enotria is totally worth the visit for the vino alone. They have a monthly prix fixe dinner that I've always wanted to try, of course so does Waterboy.
Miss B
I didn't like Tamarind. I think they make their pho with paste instead of beef bones and shortribs.
ReplyDeleteamanda
It kind of blows my mind how many bad things I've heard about Tamarind's service in such a short time! I can't figure out how you get it together enough to open a restaurant but can't get your staff together enough to bring out the right food. And I've walked by it enough to know that it isn't because it's slammed.
ReplyDelete-miller
There's a pho discussion on the Sacramento LJ community right now.
ReplyDeletehttp://community.livejournal.com/sacramento/835925.html
if Tex Wasabi is the same as it is in Santa Rosa -same owner, operator- be prepared for health code violations. MMM MMM. unless they've changed their ways. Plus, it's like barbequeue sauce on sushi. yuck.
ReplyDeleteTex Wasabi's is over priced and terrible. My husband and I went on 3/26/07. The ribs and chicken were so dry that you could not cut through them. The first time we got our garlic fries, they were cold and soggy. We sent them back and they came back cold and hard as a rock. My husband says the California rolls were so-so.
ReplyDelete