North American eateries
Ratings are on a scale of 0 to 24.
The scale used to be 0 to 10, so restaurants written about
before 2012 may have only had their ratings adjusted by formula and
not by hand (hence all the 2s, 5s, 8s, etc.)
The scale works as follows:
PRO 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 |
pro 15 14 13 12 11 10 |
mixed 9 8 7 6 5 4 |
con 3 2 1 |
CON 0 |
An asymmetrical 0 to 24 scale may not be intuitive, I
realize.
But as a rule of thumb: a double-digit score means I liked it, while a
single-digit score… less so.
Also, as you might expect, scores from many years ago may not be very
reliable, so do check the dates.
CA Central Valley
For all those folks in So-Cal who yearn to move to
Nebraska but would miss the smog too much.
Click on the column titles to sort the entries!
Name |
Cuisine |
Address |
Last update |
Score | |
Tower Cafe | Eclectic | Broadway & Land Park, Sacramento | 2024-01-02 | 14 |
Ellie picked out this place for her birthday, and it turned out to be a winner. I got an “East African veggie burger” that came with a very tasty cashew curry dipping sauce, and she got a combination plate whose “petite slice” of French toast turned out to be like half a loaf—it was basically a bread pudding. One to go back to the next time we’re out that way. |
Todo Un Poco | Mexican and Italian | Laguna Main & Laguna, Elk Grove | 2009-04-14 | 14 |
This strange
establishment's menu is half Mexican, half Italian, with a Punjabi
pizza thrown in for kicks. I got the Relleños Oaxaca, an
enormous plate of chiles relleños and fried bananas
smothered with black beans, cheese, multiple salsas and a light salad.
Certainly worth checking out should you find yourself in Elk Grove. |
Taste of India | Indian | Tracy & CA-58, Buttonwillow | 2005-12-16 | 14 |
This is a nice Indian restaurant
with good food. If it were in the Bay Area I would give it a mild recommendation and
probably forget all about it. But it is not in the Bay Area. It is in Buttonwillow.
Buttonwillow! Let's enjoy that again: there is a very nice Indian restaurant with
genuinely good food — not "good for I-5," but genuinely high quality —
in fricking Buttonwillow. Oh brave new world! |
Ettore’s | Bakery | Fair Oaks & Stebbins, Sacramento | 2023-07-22 | 13 |
This place quickly became a must-stop while I was working in Sacramento: I was wowed by the strawberry chocolate pie, the florentines, the almond crescent cookies, and pretty much everything else I tried.
On a more recent visit during a road trip, though, I did get a couple of relative clunkers: the apricot danish I got was average and the “puff pretzel” was a bit of a misfire. |
Abyssinia Restaurant | Ethiopian | Fulton btw Hurley/Marigold, Sacramento | 2017-07-30 | 13 |
Better than average Ethiopian: the collard greens, normally my least favorite part of a veggie combo, were much less bitter than usual, and while I wasn't thrilled by the soupy green lentils, the very fact that the combo included this non-standard item was a big plus as well. |
Fresh Medi | Mediterranean | Fulton & Larkspur, Sacramento | 2017-07-22 | 11 |
I was not expecting much when I went in — the place looked pretty rundown — but I tried the "Mediterranean nachos" out of curiosity and they were much better than I expected. I mean, yeah, they're just pita chips with toppings, but there was more synergy than I thought. In particular, I had some trepidation because I don't normally like feta cheese, and yet the feta sauce was really good. |
Osteria Fasulo | Italian | Portage Bay btw Russell/Hudson, Davis | 2006-06-21 | 11 |
Negative points for
foisting a "complimentary cocktail" at me that made my table stink of alcohol until I
had them take it away. Negative points for a menu that had about 10% as many vegetarian
options as the sample menu that lured me in. Negative points for taking an hour and
forty-five minutes to finish serving me a small meal in an empty restaurant. So why is
this a four and not a zero? Because the pan-seared gnocchi were the best I've ever had. |
Ciocolat | Dessert | B & 3rd, Davis | 2006-06-15 | 11 |
Many, many mousses; also cakes and chocolates and
scones and things. Plus some real food which I haven't tried. |
Chando's Tacos | Mexican (taqueria) | local chain, Sacramento | 2017-07-20 | 9 |
High quality stuff, and I was initially thrilled to see three different types of veggie tacos, but apparently this place doesn't really do beans at all and their absence was strongly felt. |
La Cocina de Chuy | Mexican | Eureka btw 11th/Magnolia, Redding | 2021-07-27 | 8 |
I got a veggie taco plate here that wasn’t terrible, and was even a notch above my meal in Rogue River, but was certainly a very far cry from the veggie taco plate at Tacos Sinaloa. |
Taqueria Davis | Mexican (taqueria) | L & 5th, Davis | 2017-11-08 | 8 |
Here I got nachos that, among the usual toppings, came with a thin red sauce and some rather dried-out black beans. They still delivered the standard nacho experience: unequivocally tasty at first, then pretty gross by the end. |
Crepeville | Crepes | C & 3rd, Davis | 2006-06-12 | 8 |
I got a crepe here with avocado, spinach, sundried
tomato pesto, and provolone. It was pretty good — a little rubbery, maybe. |
Bistro 33 | American | F & 3rd, Davis | 2006-06-09 | 8 |
Sort of like a toned-down TGI Friday's with
higher-quality food. |
Curry Paradise | Indian | Harbor Pointe & Stillwater, West Sacramento | 2017-08-14 | 6 |
This grade is generous; I gave this place an extra point because I'd never had egg curry before. But everything else was sooo bland. Getting freshly made garlic naan was nice in theory, but it was sharp and bitter. And I left with a stomachache. |
Cafe Bernardo | Breakfast/lunch | D & 3rd, Davis | 2006-06-13 | 5 |
The "eggs Bernardo" were a little gross, but
perhaps other items are better. |
Tapa the World | Tapas | J & 21st, Sacramento | 2005-10-29 | 5 |
This was my first experience with tapas.
Luckily, later ones were better. "Pan-fried potato cubes with a spicy tomato sauce"
turned out to be French fries with ketchup. The romesco sauce on my grilled vegetables
was purely decorative. I wanted dessert but wasn't offered any. Good times! |
Raja's Tandoor | Indian | 3rd & A, Davis | 2017-05-18 | 4 |
All-day buffet. Pretty dire. Broccoli close to raw, naan inedibly stale, lots of cold stuff. I guess I could have gotten by on dal and rice pudding, but keeping this out of the red is generous. |
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