Basic Urban Kitchen & Bar

112 Pacific Street
Roseville, CA 95678
(916) 749-4641

This place is always on our yearly rotation. With a really amazing happy hour, it's a great place to drop in after work for a super thin crust pizza and a cocktail. It is more bar than restaurant and sometime is can be very empty. But the staff is friendly so grab a seat and the place will fill up around you.

It was our largest attendance ever! 22 drunks made up of regulars, sometimes drunks, family and quite a few first timers and out-of-towners. NakedBob even imported some cycling friends from Washington.

Their pizza is rolled out on a cookie sheet so you can imagine how big they are! Their thin crust and toppings, ranging from mashed potatoes to white sauce, always hits the spot. The only bummer is that they staff light so 1-2 bartenders and a couple guys in the kitchen and that's it. You can to wait a while to get your stuff and this night, they only had bottled beer which they started running out of later in the evening. I stick with the hard alcohol and they don't run out of that.

Topic for the evening:
Pop-a-squat or cop-a-squat when referring to squatting down to take a leak. Our finally tally was 9 to 8. Not exactly definitive.

And we had a poem from visiting Washingtonian cyclist too:

I drink beer
because I'm here.
I have no fear
of the broccoli spear.
I brought all my cycling gear
and hope I can steer
the long road that is near.

Hot Italian, Birth of RobotGoBen

1627 16th Street

Sacramento, CA 95814

(916) 444-3000

The birthday boy was craving pizza and what better place to go than Hot Italian for a large party. Usually we have a hard time getting a table big enough since they don't take reservations so this time we did something completely different. Group rental!

For $20 per person (hold judgement until the end), we got the huge round table in the back that comfortably handled our group of 14. They filled the giant tub in the middle with ice to chill our wine, prosecco and water and brought out two bucket-sized salads for the table.

As we were busy talking and drinking bottles of wine and carafes of beer they just started bringing out a chef's selection of pizzas. Four at a time until we called uncle. Which means we ended up eating 12 pizzas and 2 dessert pizzas as well. It was an unbelievably good value, everyone could talk to each other and we sort of forgot there was a whole restaurant of people around us.

The birthday boy ended up being gifted quite a lot of booze too and that all ended up in the ice tub display. We enjoyed ourselves so much we practically shut the place down after they started putting chairs on top of tables. If you have a group of 12 or more, I highly suggest giving this a try.

Gatsby's Diner

2598 Alta Arden Expy # 3

Sacramento, CA 95825
(916) 977-0102

We happened upon this place back in September of last year and had a great time chowing on some of the juiciest burgers in town. They closed early and we ended up spending some quality time with the chef and server.

Since then that douchey blonde guy on the Food Network aired his show featuring Gatsby's and they are packed with people! When I called in the reservation for 14 they remembered us and were excited that we were coming back. Even going so far as to yell out greetings when we walked in.

Even better, when we showed up and needed a table for 18 and there wasn't a single other open table they still were cool about it and helped us out. Burgers for 18? Damn we are just trouble.

This place is one of the few that will actually cook your burger to order even if you like it still mooing a little. So when chef told us they would all be medium well (since it was such a large party), we were kind of disappointed. I understand why they do that since it's one guy cooking and keeping track of almost 20 burgers is sort of impossible, but it still sort of sucked. When I finally got mine, it was a perfect medium so no complaints here.

The burger was just as juicy as we remember. Some folks were split on whether these are better than the Hideaway in Curtis Park or not. Either way, they are tasty. They only have bottled beer so they started running out part way through dinner, but lo and behold, someone made a beer run and Blue Moon was available by the time we got our food.

Our advice? Definitely check this place out if you like burgers. Just don't bring 17 of your friends with you.

Jamie's Broadway Grille

427 Broadway

Sacramento, CA 95818
(916) 442-4044

This place in an institution and we have never been! It's a dive bar with good, all homemade food. A lot of people complain about the prices, but we thought they were about right for the quality of meat this guy is using and the effort he puts into smoking all his own meats.

So back to the beginning. It's a windowless building on the industrial end of Broadway. You can see two freeways and there isn't much else around. They finally added a sign so you aren't just looking for the tiny green awning over their front door.

I knew they didn't take reservations but wanted to give them a heads up that there were 14 of us coming. They were nice enough to say they would make us some space and honest enough to tell me that if I could "shave off a couple of people" that would be better. I love the honesty!

A few of us showed up early and had drinks at the bar along with a half order of calamari. That half was a ton and it came with super yummy fries! I would come back for that alone.

We ended up in the back room (yes, they have one), all by ourselves and made an awkward cross with our tables and crammed ourselves in. Our server was fabulous and fun and friendly. The bartender kept coming in and sassing us - which we love. And oh my god. The food was so good!

Onion rings are huge and have real onions. Brisket sandwich was falling apart tender. French onion soup was thick and rich. Everyone loved the clam chowder and the full order of garlic steak sandwich was enough for a second meal. This is good old fashion good food. Stick to your ribs food that you forgot you missed.

Dear god, for your own good, get your ass down there. Soak in the charming divey-ness, take it down a notch and bring your appetite. These are real people and they rock.

Ten22

1022 2nd St
Sacramento, California 95814
(916) 441-2211

We've been meaning to try this place out for quite awhile. They just participated in Dine Downtown Week and their menu looked pretty damn good and after a write up by Poor Girl Eats Well, I was really sold on trying it.

It has a street front location in Old Sacramento and the interior is beautiful! the tables are nicely spaced so you don't feel like you are sardines and the open kitchen is fun to watch. They made a giant table for our group of ten which was just super nice of them.

Their bar, which is comfy and fun to be at, has an amazing beer selection. So many so, that it was almost overwhelming. The bartender was on it! You tell him what you like to drink and he'll bring you a new beer that you'll love. And if you get wine, it's served in your own cute glass carafe. That's some classy shit.

Everyone seemed to like their food. They love their bacon so that can't be bad. The burger was said to be okay. The calamari was good. The bacon bloody marys seemed to be loved by all. And they had a BLT pizza which seems like a great idea.

Now, I've got two complaints. Mind you, I came straight from happy hour at the Grange so I might have had some high standards in my pea brain. They have a Foursquare special when you check it, but they won't honor it. Waiter said that is "should have been taken down". Either way, if you have a promotion out there with no expiration date, you should honor it. And I had a fabulous conversation on Twitter with them so they are obviously at least somewhat use to the social media realm. That was the first "no".

Then someone tried to order a fig cocktail that was on their menu and he said, "oh we don't make that anymore". They are paper menus. Either make what you are offering or update your damn menus! They are paper for a reason. Now, that could have been avoided by a more tactful server but our guy was just okay. So minus points for the service. Waiter service and for overall customer service.

Bottom line, I would still go back but would hang out with the knowledgeable and friendly bartender and get some appetizers at the bar.

Oshima Sushi & Fugu Lounge

2071 Natomas Crossing Drive
Sacramento, CA 95834
(916) 515-1958

Back in the young days of North Natomas, this was a humble little sushi restaurant and the only one in the area. They done some major redesign with the place and added on the Fugu Lounge part so now you have a restaurant half and a swanky bar/lounge half. It's not as terrible as it sounds...

Since we are lame and didn't make reservations we ended up in the back of the lounge area. Honestly, it was kind of fun. The white booth, low tables and movable ottomans make for a nice atmosphere. The thumpy, thumpy music didn't fit in with a sushi place but I have to admit it was fun.

The only downside to the space was the lack thereof. When ordering plates of sushi that require a soy sauce dish, bottle of sake, and water glass we started running out of room on the small table very quickly. Admittedly, that area was not designed for 10 people to eat a full meal so I can't hold it against them.

The sushi is good and not terribly expensive. In my opinion it's the best in Natomas and better than a lot of other places. They also have some really good happy hour deals and a half-price sushi deal in the afternoon on weekends. They also go all out for football games. I know, I know, it seems like a weird mix again, but it seems to work.

Carmelita's Mexican Restaurant

4071 Howard Street
Fair Oaks, CA 95628-7138
(916) 961-3327

We came here couple of years ago for Robot GoBen's birthday. This is usually one of our favorite places because their sauces are expectionally good. This time around it was still good, but not as good as in the past. Green enchiladas were just a little less flavorful and the mole was kind of average. We still drank our weight in margaritas, which are nice and strong. And their salsa is fantastic with their thick, toasty chips.

We had a huge 14 drunk group this Thursday with friends of TheJenny, and Shooter's better half, et al. Mr. Chem & NakedBob yucked it up all night long like teenage girls at a sleepover. And one of our guests brought a huge bag of meyer lemons to share! We're so lucky.

So all in all, we will be back to give them another chance to rock our socks. They have rocked them before and we have faith they've still got it in them.