Chris N.'s Profile

As far as a quick stop for dinner goes, this place is money.

They've got a nice variety of crepes, which are quite filling, and the side of potatoes is always appreciated. The half-sandwich and soup combo is also worth noting.

The only problem I've got with this place is that they don't take credit cards. They've got an ATM in the back (complete with a note-worthy fee), but come on people, it's the 21st century. Who still uses cash?

Honestly.

Still, good stuff.

Everybody knows that this place has the best burgers in town. If I'm not mistaken, that guy from the food network, "Guy", even declared that it's perhaps the best burger in the country.

As a vegetarian, I wouldn't know.

But I will say that their gardenburger, complete with the trademark "skirt of cheese", is absolutely fantastic. Like, seriously amazing.

Of course, it (along with the normal burgers) is probably awful for you, and will bring on indigestion (and probably a heart attack) with repeat visits, but damnit, it is tasty.

Its limited capacity can make it difficult to get an order in, and they could be open later, but I guess that's part of the charm of the place. It always seemed like the "best kept secret" in Sacramento that everybody already knew about. Soon they'll have a new location (thank you, lawsuit), which may or may not have an affect on the ambiance... but hey, at least you know you'll be getting a damn good meal.

While I do enjoy the occasional glass of wine, I wouldn't consider myself a wine bar person. There's a lot you need to know about wine to be a wine bar person, and I know very little of it. However, I didn't feel out of place at 58 Degrees.

They have an impressive selection of wine and a knowledgeable staff (who were surprisingly unpretentious), and a comfortable couch-heavy atmosphere. A classy joint that isn't trying to be more than it is. I wouldn't normally go to a wine bar to watch sports, but I caught one of the World Series games here, and it actually made for a good time.

They also have an impressive wine store attached to the bar. The place is pricey, and you can easily rack up a bill if you're not careful, but if you're looking to classy-up your night, this is a great stop.

I've gone back and fourth on this place for a while. Basically, I feel that it's your typical 3-star Sacramento bar. Kinda dark, kinda smelly, decent beer selection, free popcorn... all around not a bad time, really. But it wasn't necessarily a choice destination (despite it's close proximity to home... always a bonus).

Upon further visits, I found more and more to like about it. Last week I partook in a Xoso-hosted flip cup tournament, which was, without a doubt, a good time. After our team promptly lost, we discovered that they have fold-out beer pong tables in the back and plenty of fresh cups for the usin'. Pretty darn sweet, if you ask me.

They're also well known for their karaoke nights, which tends to draw a crowd. Some of the finer karaoke I've seen around town, and the crowd is usually good n' drunk and ready for some sing-alongs.

Finally... and this is really a mixed blessing... the breathalyzer machine they have in the back. For only $1, you can discover just how well you've been doing so far that evening. Nice if you're thinking about driving home... dangerous if you're with a competitive group (see: flip cup tournament).  

If they had some more big TV's, I'd be willing to drop in to watch football more often, but that is one area that they are lacking in.

But hey, I've started to warm up to the place, and would be willing to make it more of a regular drop-by on the weekend adventuring agenda.

Generally I enjoy Jimboy's. Granted, it's greasy and everything is fried, but it's pretty darn tasty. Today this location got on my bad side though, and I'll tell you why...

I ordered a quesidella. When my order came up, there was an enchilada waiting for me on the tray. The woman explained that she pushed the wrong button when taking the order, but didn't offer to correct it. I decided that I could handle an enchilada instead and wasn't going to ask her to fix it, and started to take the tray, when she said that there was a $1.60 difference between the cost of the quesidella and the enchilada. I figured she was saying that she owed me $1.60, so I said don't worry about it. No... she was saying that the enchilada, which she accidentally gave me, cost $1.60 more, so I owed her $1.60. The manager then came over and insisted I pay the extra money.

I said no, and that if they were gonna charge me extra, then they can go back and make what I actually ordered and paid for. She then waved me off and told me to just take it.

They screwed up on my order, and asked me to pay the difference. I was dumbfounded. I like Jimboy's, but this one just lost me.

This place always sounded like fun. I mean, brew your own beer? Outta control! In all fairness, I have never taken part in the brewing aspect of this establishment, so I can't judge them on that. I have, however, consumed a fair amount of beer and food at the place, and for that I give them two stars.

Maybe I just did a poor job of choosing a beer, but every time I've been there, the beer I've had to drink was barely consumable. I mean... I really had to want to get drunk to gulp that swill down. Again, possibly my fault for selecting a beer that I was unfamiliar with... but I am a lover of beer, and it's happened several times, so...

But really upset me, and this got me straight-up fussy, was their appetizers. A crew of us dropped in for a happy hour following an art walk, and we ordered 4 or 5 appetizers for the group. None were all that great, and I seem to remember thinking that "Sacramento's Best Onion Rings" left a whole lot to be desired.

But what really pissed me off was their "nachos" (and I use the term loosely). Well, first the waiter spilled chips all over someone at our table (after spilling his beer on him... it was a rough night for the guy). But following that, I had a lot of trouble figuring the nachos out. How complicated can nachos be, you ask?

Well, they weren't really nachos. They were a bowl of chips, and a plate of things to dip them in. Only, most of the options weren't really dipable. You cannot, for example, dip a chip in a sliced avocado. Sliced avocado is great, but you can't dip a chip in it. Even the beans were hard as a rock, like they were fresh out of a Tia Rosa can. There was a dab of nacho cheese on the side of the plate, but it was minimal and unimpressive. Most of the chips ended up getting dipped into the artichoke dip (which wasn't all that great either). These weren't nachos... these weren't really anything.

The simple fact that they claimed that this atrocity was "nachos" is reason enough for me not to return. Unless I got to brew some beer... cuz that kinda sounds fun.

I will admit that I went back for a happy hour, and it was pretty nice. We were the only ones there, but the beer was cheap and they didn't charge us for a table. The happy hour menu had an interesting variety... although we got both the fries and the tacos, and neither was very good. Cheap, but not good. Still... I got a good buzz and played pool for a few hours, and it only cost $12. Tough to argue with that.

I had walked by this place for years, on the way to other bars, and was always deterred by a $5 cover. "Why does this little place have a cover?" I would ask. I just figured there was something special inside that was only meant for the rich and prosperous. Unwilling to pay the cover, I always went on my way.

Then one night, I found a $20 bill lying in the gutter as we were passing by (not unlike how Charlie got his Golden Ticket money in Willy Wonka)... Figuring it was perhaps as sign from above, I used the $20 to get myself and my cohorts into the establishment.

I got a beer, sat down, and immediately began to wonder why I paid to get into this place. It is what I thought it was- a coffee shop that serves beer. They had "live hip-hop" going on (seemed more like karaoke to me), which was more of an encumbrance than a perk. They did have beer in big bottles, which is always fun, but really all it does is make it take longer for me to drink up before I can leave.

The location of this place makes it perfect for a stop-along-the-way drinkery, but there's no reason that I should be paying $5 to get in the door. I don't know if they charge a cover every night, but it seemed to be going on every time I passed by. Lose the entry fee and I'd give it another chance.

I've eaten here a few times now, and I've decided that I really like the place. Especially the fries, which they have 4 or 5 options to chose from. The milkshakes are equally impressive, and the beer selection is worthy of note. Banana bread beer? Out of control!

The best part about this place is their late hours. Good post-last-call food is hard to come by in this town, and if you aren't in the mood for pizza, you're usually out of luck. This is a nice option, especially with its close proximity to R-15 and Shady Lady.

It's a welcome addition to that block, with some quality sober-me-up food.

Now... as a rule of thumb, I generally don't hold fast food restaurants to high standards, especially when they're on the outskirts of small towns. But heck, this one bothered me, for a handfull of reasons.

The place wasn't crowded, not even a person in line, yet it took a good 15 minutes to get our food. Along with that, all the trays were warped and bent at weird angles, making them impossible to eat off of.

After this, I wasn't surprised to find the bathroom in sub-par shape. Apparently a pipe had burst in the roof, because water was dripping from a crack above the toilet, leaving a puddle on the floor and an awkward urination scenario.

I grade Burger Kings on a curve, but I gotta say this one was sad, even for them.