As restaurant review guides go, it has no equal. It is so prestigious that whole cities vie for even a single mention, and Sacramento is no exception. Breaking in, however, is easier said than done.

Early business success often brings challenges. In the case of ol’ Republic Brewery, the biggest challenge is meeting consumer demand.

While Bill Carey is amply appreciative of Highway 50 patrons looking to reconnect with his former establishment, the German-style St. Pauli Inn, he is just as quick to point out that his Forester Pub & Grill is not a Continental restaurant.

When I sit down at Juno’s for one of the best burgers of my life, Chef Helms starts by telling me he doesn’t want to be a namedropper. The fact that he mentored under legendary French Chef Jean Luc Chassereau of The Cookery and Reda Bellarbi Saleha of Aioli Bodga Espanola is not the point. 

Failing in the restaurant business is a great way to go broke. The risks are huge, and the collapse rate is high yet there’s always the chance you’ll hit the sweet spot.

Celebrating 30 “wonderful years of life,” this year, Carina Lampkin has been cooking since landing her first job at an Auburn restaurant more than a decade ago. 

Tucked in the back of a local restaurant in downtown Winters is a nondescript room revealing an enticing view: floor-to-ceiling shelves packed with 10-pound wheels of cheese.

Jot Condie, 46, the California Restaurant Association in 1998 as its chief lobbyist. In 2004 he was promoted to president and CEO. 

Before opening his first retail coffeehouse in a midtown Sacramento alley, Jason Griest roasted a lot of beans.

Ashley Coleman has wine in her blood. Great-granddaughter of winemaker Julio Gallo, she grew up tending grapes in the family vineyard and working at its winery in Livingston. She knew the family business would color her future, but she never dreamed she would use wine to drive social change.