Burgers & Brew

Burgers & Brew

1409 R Street

Sacramento, CA 95811-6672

(916) 442-0900

It's been over a year since we have been back here (July 2009 visit). The place is always busy with smallish tables - so get friendly - and really good burgers! They have a great selection of interesting beers, quality food and an overall fun environment.

I opted for a BLT this time and it was full of thick, crispy bacon with butter grilled bread. Terrible for you, but very delicious. All the burgers were devoured and if you get a side salad it is a more than generous heaping of fresh leafy greens.

We had a good size crowd of about a dozen drunks including two that we met in Iceland and happen to live right around the corner. They are proper drunks. We approve.

And here is your bonus tip. If you happen to have time to kill, stroll on down to the Shady Lady for some happy hour specials and order up the duck confit tots. That's right, handmade savory tater tots in duck fat with little pieces of crispy duck skin to finish it of. Freaky good.

Tsing Tao

8675 Auburn Folsom Rd
Granite Bay, CA 95746-6202
(916) 791-7990

Our very own Jarla used to work here in high school. Pretty sure she got the job because she was short and therefore fit in quite nicely with the staff. Tsing Tao is a very unassuming strip mall Chinese restaurant that has been in Granite Bay before the wealthy people moved in... yes, it existed before that.

It's what you would expect, paper place mats, typical decor, and a fairly predictable menu, but damn is the food tasty! Jarla says it tastes the exact same as it did when she worked here, so I think they should keep it going.

We had sizzling rice soup, pot stickers (some of the best I have ever had in the Sacramento area), foil wrapped chicken, broccoli beef, sweet & sour pork, pork fried rice, chicken chow mien, and the best of all -- burma chicken. The burma chicken is deep fried chunks of meat (eat this one here for best taste), that is covered in sauce that is just heaven. Salty and just a little sweet, we couldn't figure out what was in it but couldn't stop eating it.

Beer and wine menu is limited but who cares when the food is so yummy. Go here for the food, not the ambiance and your belly will thank you.

Bonn Lair

3651 J Street
Sacramento, CA 95816
(916) 455-7155

Small group week always leads us to Bonn Lair. And I have no idea what happened this week. Sometimes when I miss a week I can recreate it in my mind from the journal entries but damn, they're weird. It's a whole lot of talk about sausages, nipples, Patrick Swayze, Russian accents, an onion-licker and a narwhal. I was more confused by the time I was done and now I fear nightmares.

I'm glad I was in Iceland.

Masullo Pizza

Masullo Pizza
2711 Riverside Blvd
Sacramento, CA 95818
(916) 443-8929

With large communal tables (all made out of one tree), small space, friendly staff and no other way of cooking besides the wood oven stove, Masullo does a lot with just a little. Now we could get into an argument (even within our group) as to which pizza is better, Masullo or Hot Italian. But let's keep our eye on the prize - the pizza is delicious!

They have a nice selection of mostly arugula based salads that really pack in the spiciness of the greens with a salty, creamy component that makes them delicious. They have a rosemary bread appetizers that doesn't seem like much, but is absolutely addictive especially with their olive oil to dip it in.

We found out, a little too late that they were doing a half off bottles of wine on Thursday. Would have been nice to know that before we bought a round of glasses to start, but oh well. Live and learn. Their wine selection is small but has pretty much everything you need including tiny bottles of prosecco. They also have some local Two Rivers Cider on tap and some decent beers.

Now for the pizza. I'm a huge fan of sauceless pizza, but most people think I'm crazy when I want to order it. Come here, order the Eileen, and you will be a convert. Mozzarella, oyster mushrooms, bacon, cream, sage and black pepper. We had a few with sauce and a few without. All of them were delicious.

If you are lucky enough to be there when the Italian waiter Andrea is working you will love him. The owner come out and thanked us for coming which was a nice touch. They also just recently started serving lunch. All and all, you need to trek out and visit this tiny little space. The parking is limited, but it's such a nice atmosphere and dishes us such yummy food that you'll forget about all that as soon as you walk in the door.