With all the new frozen yogurt shops popping up around town, I must admit that I have officially become a froyo-fanatic. So, you can imagine how excited I was to hear that Yummy Yogurt Café was opening in Westfield Plaza, just a few blocks away from our office! Yummy Yogurt’s Grand Opening will be this Thursday from 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m., with a ribbon cutting ceremony by Council Member Rob Fong at 12 p.m., snacks, and yes, 20% off froyo for all attendees. See you all there – I’ll probably be first in line!
More Burgers Coming to Sac!
If you read Sac Foodies regularly, you know that we love our burgers: Squeeze Inn, Burgers & Brew, The Counter, Nationwide Meats, Tower Café – even Tapa the World – if they’ve got a burger on the menu, we’ve probably tried it! So when we heard that a new burger chain called Smashburger would be opening up seven locations in the Sacramento area, you can imagine our excitement! Here’s what we learned:
According to this article from the Sacramento Bee, Smashburger is a Denver-based burger chain and Sacramento will be the first California location with at least two opening this year! The concept for Smashburger is premium ingredients at affordable prices – just what we think diners are looking for these days. The menu will include five types of burgers including a $5.99 cheeseburger, Haagen-Dazs milkshakes, salads, chicken and four-bottle buckets of beer for $10.
So we want to know – have you tried Smashburger? If so, tell us about it by leaving a comment below!
If you’ve never been to a Smashburger, you can start by checking them out on Facebook and Twitter today.
Tickled Pink(berry)!
Could it be true?! I just read in the Sac Bee that Pinkberry (worth visiting for the catchy Pinkberry remix) may be coming to Sacramento. I first enjoyed the trendy Hollywood treat in San Diego (no, not Hollywood – they’re everywhere but Sac!) with one of my favorite Austin colleagues. We were staffing a conference at the Convention Center and I spotted the location across the street. For days we walked by and I said we HAD to try it before we left. Finally, on the way out of town, I jumped out curbside while Allison did laps in the rental car. We were not disappointed. My perfect combination is the original (described on the Pinkberry web site as “soft swirls of chilly bliss with a distinct pouty peak”) with raspberries and chocolate chips (raspberry and chocolate is pretty much my favorite combination for any dessert). I’ve since enjoyed the treat in New York City and at Santana Row in San Jose.
For the record, I fell in love with “tart” yogurt growing up in San Jose. Sweet Retreat is the one food stop I must make every time I visit home. What do I dream of when I’m not in town? You guessed it – original with raspberries and M&M’s. It’s so different than any other yogurt shop I’ve ever visited. The yogurt and toppings of choice are thrown in to a giant (and very loud) mixing machine that combines all the ingredients until it spews out a perfectly blended treat guaranteeing your favorite flavors in every bite. Yogurt heaven.
As for local tart yogurt, I was lucky enough to stumble on Top This! in the R Street Corridor following a yummy dinner at Burgers and Brew a couple weeks ago. I was thrilled to see sour vanilla on the menu and topped it with raspberries and DARK chocolate chips. It was delish and will definitely satisfy my tart yogurt craving locally…until Pinkberry comes! (Above photo courtsey of Flickr user donnjmck).
Have a favorite place to get tart yogurt? Tell me!
Burgers & Brew: Sacramento Preview
We all love Burgers & Brew in Davis so we were more than excited when we heard that the Sacramento location was finally open! I was already impressed when I heard about the specialty beers that they’ll be serving but I got even more excited when I took a drive by the 14th & R Street location and saw the abundance of patio space too! Not only that, but there are a few other new businesses opening on the same block, including the Shady Lady Saloon, a 30’s-style-inspired restaurant and bar. I’m planning to visit the new Burgers & Brew later this week, so a review will be coming shortly. But in the meantime, leave a comment below and let us know what your favorite order is at Burgers & Brew!
Buona – whati?
I’d like to think I can speak English fluently and Germish (my affectionate nickname for the German/English hybrid we sometimes speak at home) quite well. But when it comes to Italian, I’m hopeless. So when a friend invited me to attend the grand opening of Buonarroti the other night, I knew the first task at hand would be learning how to pronounce the restaurant’s name and finding out what it means.
Partially due to my lack of Italian language expertise, and partially as a reflection of the delicious food we devoured, I would have assumed that Buonarroti meant something along the lines of “decadent” or maybe “sophisticated.” For all I knew, it could have meant “rich in flavor” too. Any of these words or phrases could easily have been used to describe our dining experience. When it came time to order, we were still playing a guessing game.
Luckily, everyone in the group that I was with paid close attention in kindergarten so we were all fans of the “taste and share” method. I ordered the Buonarroti Salad and was pleasantly surprised – it was hearty enough to feel like dinner but light enough to appease my salad craving.
Among the other favorites at our table were Caprese Salad, Gnocchi, and the Butternut Squash Ravioli Special.
In addition to the food being excellent, head chef and owner Daniel Alcantaro could not have been more of a crowd pleaser. Alcantaro and his wife seamlessly floated from table to table, entertaining guests and providing background on each dish.
So what does “Buonarroti” mean? Well, it’s Michaelangelo’s last name, of course!