Restaurant Reviews
No Ja-Fakin’
Jamaicans are fewer than 0.1% of the local population. But that’s enough to make Sacramento home for two Jamaican restaurants that bring home the flavors, culture and joy of the Caribbean island’s cuisine.
Rockyaad Jamaican Restaurant on Fair Oaks Boulevard doesn’t look like much from outside. But open the door and find an expansive, brightly lit dining room full of sound, color and the smells of Jamaican cooking.
The cuisine shares many ingredients with its Caribbean neighbors, such as plantains, rice and beans, brightly flavored fish and chicken, and long-stewed beef. But Jamaican cooking is a speciality all its own.
Top Tier
Aiona brings together Mediterranean cooking, world-class beverages and a seasoned kitchen staff. Open since April, it already feels like an established part of the scene.
Aiona is the newest restaurant from sommelier Elizabeth-Rose Mandalou and her husband, Chef Deneb Williams. The couple is the force behind Allora in East Sacramento.
Casa Magnifico
Casa Lola, a new Mexican restaurant Downtown, is more than a solid place to eat. It’s more than a spot with extraordinary service, more than a restaurant run by pros.
More than all that, it’s a lot of fun.
When I told my wife Casa Lola reminded me of Disneyland, she said, “Like in a bad way?” No, I said. In the best way.
It reminded me of the imagination, service and entertainment value of an in-person Disney event.
Every wall, plate, seat and light fixture at Casa Lola feels like it was imagineered.
Floor-to-ceiling murals with jaguars and hummingbirds seem to pop right off the walls. A Spanish-style veranda hangs over the passthrough, overflowing with bougainvillea and palm fronds. Heavy wood and leather-strap furniture look straight out of Acapulco.
Taste Of The Islands
Hawaiian cuisine, with emphasis on fresh fish, bright flavors and tropical attitudes, is a growing part of the food landscape. Two new outposts feature a taste of the islands and make for fine casual eating.
Make Fish Market, a grab-and-go restaurant, focuses on Hawaii’s most recognizable culinary export, poke. Unlike most poke places, Make Fish features more traditional Hawaiian preparations that need a little time to marinate and come together.
Make Fish delivers poke bowls and something novel: the sushi burrito. Imagine a sushi roll with all the ingredients on the inside and about four times the size of your standard sushi roll. It’s stuffed with rice and poke and sauce and marinated seaweed salad and more.
Double Delight
The term “beloved” gets thrown around too much with small businesses. Lou’s Sushi and Vic’s Ice Cream earned it.
Lou Valente worked 30 years behind local sushi counters. Regional publications called him the best in town a decade ago. But disagreements with partners closed his restaurants.
Now Valente is back. His new place, next to Low Brau at the MARRS building in Midtown, lets him sling his boundary-breaking hand rolls and present a phenomenal cocktail program developed by his Low Brau partners.