Magpie Cafe - TheJenny's Birthday

Magpie Cafe

1409 R Street #102

Sacramento, CA 95811

(916) 452-7594

We love Magpie! We first came here in August 2009, then came back in December. It's one of the few places that are on a more-than-once-a-year rotation. It was TheJenny's day of birth celebration and she has just the bestest taste in places!

We took over the restaurant with a near record 17 drunks! Four of them were very welcome newcomers that we hope come back...even after our long conversation about plushies and furries. (Google it. But not at work.)

I couldn't even keep up with what everyone was having, but here are some highlights. White bean & kale soup. Grilled wild mushrooms and white bean spread. Duck gnocchi. Penne with peas, mint & asparagus. Steak tartare. Shrimp & crab louie salad. Vegan chocolate mousse. Carrot cake cookie.

The best part of the night was the gift that Jarla hand-crafted as TheJenny's birthday gift. A papier-mache mounted havalina head. It's even covered in quotes from the Royal Tenenbaums. That damn Jarla is really making the rest of us look bad.

Journal tidbits:
"He was the master boner." Scribby, regarding Bump at Thankskiester
"This just in...beer is delicious." - C. Pants

Rivercats Baseball at Raley Field

400 Ball Park Dr

West Sacramento, CA 95691-2824

(916) 376-4700

I'm not going to lie, I know nothing about baseball. What I do know is that for $20, you can hang out with your friends, eat tasty stadium food, have some beer and enjoy a warm spring evening in a great ballpark.

Who did we play? I have no idea. I do know that by the 2nd inning (look, I know a word!), the other team had scored 10 runs. And that's when I checked out and got some more food.

There was a smaller crowd of just seven drunks, but with $2 beer night in effect and Blue Moon on tap, we were having all sorts of fun. If you doubt the copious amounts of food we consumed, here is the list:

gourmet nachos

regular nachos

cotton candy

3 corn dogs

3 pretzels

hot dog

burrito

merlino's fruit freeze

churro

2 glass of Blue Moon

10 glass of $2 Bud Light

The drinking was on the low side, but in our defense we had a pregnant drunk who was not pulling her weight.

Shooter was by far the most informed baseball fan and every time he shouted something odd, we had to have him explain it to the rest of us. My favorite... "Can of corn!"

Play ball!

-- Post From My iPhone

Holy Chick n' Waffles

10113 Folsom Blvd #D

Rancho Cordova, CA 95670
(888) 786-1648

This place came to our attention from someone we know on Twitter. One day he posted a picture of his chicken & waffles and we were intrigued! We have had this amazing combination at Sandra Dee's before but since it's actually in their name, we just couldn't pass it up.

It's located in a strip mall along Folsom Blvd and yes, time has sort of forgotten this area. There's not a whole lot else in the area, so just make a special trip to have the best chicken and waffles in Sacramento!

The staff are friendly, if a little bit disorganized - but who cares! They have 5 beers on tap and will be getting wine soon. The Po Boy menu are all $5 items including the chef's choice chicken and waffles. Some people got a leg and wing, others got 2 legs. If you are picky about your chicken parts, you can order specific ones for only a couple of bucks more.

The chicken is freaking delicious! It comes out flaming hot, just salty enough and spiced to perfection. It sits on top of a fluffy cinnamon flavored Belgian waffle and collects all those little crispy pieces of batter of the chicken.

Other folks got BBQ chicken and tri tip. Their sides are pretty good as well. Collared greens, mac & cheese made with pepperjack, even chicken gravy. When you can walk out of a place full and your bill is $10 (including a beer), you really just can't complain.

Most of us have been craving this since we walked out the door. We'll be back.

Before...

After...

Dad's Kitchen

2968 Freeport Boulevard
Sacramento, CA 95818
(916) 447-3237

The saga of Dad's Kitchen continues. We were lucky enough to visit this little gem in Land Park back in September of last year before they closed down and reopened with a new owner. Since then owner #2 shut it down again and it reopened a little while back with owner #3. From very biased accounts, owner #2 kind of sucked and owner #3 seems to be doing right by the joint, so far.

In our opinion, the place may not be the same for the die hards, but for the casual visitor it's back to what we expected. Improvements to the porch means you can actually see your food at night and the menu changes didn't break our hearts.

They still have a nice selection of local and craft beers on tap (Monkey Knife Fight, and Two Rivers Blood Orange Cider were two favorites). And they are still slinging pitchers of PBR! Sandwiches were fresh and tasty and the servers were super friendly, had character and were very cool with our snarky little LexieBot, even bringing her food quickly and first.

They forgot some of Nairbies food, but were very cool about it - so no harm, no foul. I think overall this place is going to do just fine. Still local and family friendly but with enough character and sass that it won't get boring.

On a final note, I suck because I took no pictures that night. Instead I delight you with this treasure on display in the Sutter Hospital waiting room in Davis, CA. Who thought this was a good idea?