Afternoon tea evokes something people have always sought — “a feeling of rarely experienced elegance and class,” Mueller says.

When Jet Bonanno started his shoestring home-based food operation, he never dreamed it would morph into a thriving brick-and-mortar restaurant. But that’s exactly what happened when Bonanno opened Jet’s American Grill & Bar at the ripe old age of 22.

The street quietly has a lot going for it. Sacramento City Council member Karina Talamantes says that Northgate boasts a highly diverse community living up and down the boulevard. 

By the end of 2018, Sacramento’s restaurant industry was reeling. That year, close to 20 industry workers — servers, chefs, bartenders and others — died from suicide or behaviors related to drug or alcohol use. In the last month of the year alone, four workers lost their lives.

These nomadic eateries, which surged in popularity around the Great Recession, came in vogue again during the COVID-19 pandemic, often as the only option for cooks in lockdown.

Comstock’s took a look at three restaurants in the Capital Region where the interior design is as thoughtfully conceived as the cooking, places so special they’ll have you second guessing yourself the next time you’re tempted to order takeout.

We’re like a biker gang, but we make chili,” says competitive chili cook Toni Groth, who travels across the country with her husband Mark to fight for the title of World’s Best. Plus, Jimboy’s gives us the chili scoop.

When Thompson attended college at Notre Dame of Maryland University, she chose to pursue her interest in psychology, hoping to “help people with their problems.” But, as fate would have it, she ended up doing that through policy rather than therapy.

Pan dulce (in English, sweet bread) is being reimagined by intrepid bakers across the Capital Region. Comstock’s recently spoke with three local panaderos who are taking pan dulce to new heights while simultaneously paying tribute to the cultural traditions and food memories that shaped them.