Seasonal menus with fresh, locally sourced ingredients and creative bar concepts unique to each Café Bernardo location make these eateries neighborhood favorites from Midtown to the R Street Corridor to Downtown. A cornerstone of Sacramento’s legendary Paragary Restaurant Group, Café Bernardo combines an informal, European-style café environment with the quality and attention to detail that have been Randy and Stacy Paragary’s standard for decades.
Husband-and-wife owners Mark and Stephanie Miller opened Rio City Café in 1994 in a stylishly rustic building designed to resemble a steamship warehouse from the late 1800s. The concept was perfect. The Sacramento restaurant blends seamlessly with the quaint, historic charms of the Old Sacramento riverfront.
Smoked tenderloin carpaccio. Lobster bisque. Filet mignon. Veal porterhouse. Famed for perennial excellence, The Firehouse Restaurant has been a not-to-be-missed destination for more than 55 years. Housed in a building from 1853 that served as home for the Sacramento No. 3 Fire Brigade, the elegant dining spot was Ronald Reagan’s favorite Sacramento restaurant during his eight years as governor—and it’s easy to see why.
Clean, lean and healthy snacks are the point at Vibe Health Bar. Open since March 2016, Vibe’s goal is to bring healthy food and drink options to the heart of the Broadway Triangle neighborhood in Oak Park. Açai bowls are one specialty: “superfood” açai berries mixed with organic ingredients such as coconut, local honey, granola, pineapple and bee pollen.
Serendipity describes the concept of Old Soul Co. The owners, Tim Jordan and Jason Griest (shown), first met over coffee. Jordan was one of Griest’s first customers when Griest opened Naked Coffeehouse in 2002. Four years later, these two talented men formalized their ideas for artisanal breads and coffee roasting into a business partnership that advanced Sacramento’s reputation as one of the best independent and craft coffee cities in the United States.
With décor inspired by the artistry of Frida Kahlo’s masterpiece “The Wounded Deer,” this hotspot for creative Mexican food is a homecoming for restaurateur Thomas Schnetz and his brother and business partner, David. The Schnetzes grew up in Sacramento and opened their first restaurant locally before establishing a string of successful eateries in the Bay Area.
