Neighborhood Favorite: Kehaulani’s Cafe
French technique meets Hawaiian and Filipino comfort food
At Kehaulani’s Cafe in Vallejo, the loco moco starts with short
ribs braised for 12 hours.
Neighborhood Favorite: Manchurian Indian Cuisine
A West Sacramento restaurant takes a gamble on Indian-Chinese fusion
This fast-casual restaurant serves a cuisine that germinated in
Kolkata’s Chinatown and is now popular across the
subcontinent.
Neighborhood Favorite: Taiwan Best Mart
A homemade sausage business grows into a popular restaurant
“It all started with the sausage,” says Christine Chang, the
second-generation owner of Taiwan Best Mart.
Neighborhood Favorite: Konditorei Austrian Pastry Café
How a ballerina and a baker built a Viennese pastry shop in Davis
Anyone who has visited the coffee houses of Vienna will see the
resemblance between those venerable institutions and Konditorei
Austrian Pastry Café in Davis.
Neighborhood Favorite: Gaspachos
Four siblings bring a Michoacan specialty to Franklin Boulevard
Gaspachos in south Sacramento does not serve gazpacho, the
Spanish chilled tomato soup. Here and in Morelia, Michoacan,
gaspacho is something else entirely.
Neighborhood Favorite: Amazon Grill
A nonprofit serves Brazilian takeout out of a former school cafeteria
Amazon Grill is operated by the nonprofit Brazilian Center for
Cultural Exchange of Sacramento, which serves as a hub for the
Capital Region’s Brazilian community.
Neighborhood Favorite: Elena’s Kitchen & Catering
A Carmichael deli offers a culinary tour of the former Soviet region
To walk along Elena’s deli counter is to explore the diversity of
the former Soviet republics.
Neighborhood Favorite: Aria Afghan Restaurant
A former translator brings Central Asian flavors to North Highlands
Aria Afghan Restaurant in North Highlands serves a cuisine that
hails from the crossroads of South and Central Asia,
including one dish that takes over 10 hours to make.
Neighborhood Favorite: Chévere
A Salvadoran restaurant in Arden Arcade attracts a vegan fanbase
One year into the pandemic and two into its existence, Chévere
has managed to hang on with a combination of flexibility and
dedication to its craft.
Neighborhood Favorite: Naija Cuisine
Sacramento’s only Nigerian restaurant gets a boost from TikTok
Fufu is a West African staple food made from boiled, pounded
cassava or other starches, and it’s trending on TikTok.