The 10 Best Restaurants In Elmhurst Sacramento

A historic residential neighborhood in the Eastern part of California’s capital city, Elmhurst is best known for its large trees that provide shady canopy for the area. Whether you’re living in the lovely neighborhood or just visiting, our guide to the best restaurants in Elmhurst, Sacramento, is sure to come in handy.

1. Sunshine Cafe

Cafe, Restaurant, Fast Food, BBQ, Korean

A cute little family-run business Sunshine Cafe offers a wide range of fresh breakfast and lunch items to suit anyone’s taste buds. From coffee and breakfast in the mornings to sandwiches, salads, burgers, and wraps, to Korean BBQ and sesame chicken over rice, as well as different specials everyday. Sunshine opens at 7:00am for breakfast until about 10:30am, after which they dish out the hot and cold sandwiches, specialty salads, and various Asian-influenced dishes in their daily specials such as Kobe beef sandwiches, Soba noodles, and teriyaki chicken with steamed vegetables and rice. The café is small, so seating may be limited during peak lunch hour. Many like to call in advance and order for pick up so that their food is ready upon arrival. The staff is always friendly, the restaurant is clean, and folks love the adorable Korean family running the café.

2. Café Lumiére

Cafe, Asian, American, Pastries, French

Specializing in fresh croissants, pastries, and coffee, Café Lumiére provides the community with a friendly, welcoming environment in which to relax and enjoy the café’s tasty products. Along with every fresh baked good under the sun, Café Lumiére serves gourmet coffees and an extensive breakfast and lunch menu. Everything at Café Lumiére is made fresh and competitively priced. Guests can choose from a large selection of cinnamon rolls, cookies, brownies, croissants, and more. From the café’s special giant cookies to their bite-sized cookies, every pastry is made from Café Lumiére’s own unique recipes that you’ll want to share with your family and friends as soon as you try them. With amazing stuffed hash browns, French toast, ham and cheese croissants, and Asian sesame salads, Café Lumiére pleases everyone’s taste buds both morning and afternoon in an always fresh and clean environment.

3. MoMo’s Meat Market

Butcher, Market, Restaurant, BBQ, Halal, Fast Food

If you’re looking for some delicious, perfectly seasoned and smoked BBQ so good it doesn’t even need sauce, there’s no better place in town to go than MoMo’s Meat Market. The husband and wife duo who run the place are extremely nice, polite, and welcoming to all. People follow the incredible smells of the smoked meats into the cozy store, where there’s several seats for those who want to eat in or relax while waiting for their food. First-timers can ask for some samples of the delicious meats, and the staff will happily provide a generous slice of tri-tip, piece of chicken, entire rib, or couple of pieces of hot link. People can also sample the rich, soft and smoky collard greens with little pieces of mild sausage. MoMo’s offers either a BBQ Plate or a BBQ Sandwich, which can come with ribs, tri-tip, chicken, or links and sides like the popular pepper jack mac & cheese and the red beans & rice. It’s best to get to this little taste of the American South early because they often run out of their most popular items later in the day.

4. Broadway Bakery Café

Bakery, Cafe, Restaurant, Fast Food, Dessert, American

A Sacramento breakfast, lunch, and catering restaurant, Broadway Bakery Café is a family-owned and operated business that has been committed to nutritious, great tasting food, superb service, and affordable prices since its opening in 1987. The restaurant uses only the freshest ingredients and each day bakes fresh muffins, scones, cinnamon rolls, croissants, breads, and cookies. Specialties include freshly made salads and sandwiches, as well as the freshly baked pastries, and during the summer the restaurant even offers Friday BBQ grilling burgers, dogs, and tri-tip. Especially popular are the tuna sandwich, the pizza, tri-tip tacos, breakfast burritos, Hawaiian chicken panini, spaghetti, lasagna, and made-from-scratch soups, just to name a few. People love to try a different item on the expansive menu on each visit, knowing that everything the restaurant cooks up will be fresh and delicious. John, the owner, is noticeably very dedicated to his business, and patrons love the always friendly and personable staff, as well as the exceptionally quick service.

5. Louie’s Restaurant & Catering

Restaurant, Chinese

Louies Restaurant & Catering, Sacramento

Louie’s Restaurant & Catering features fine Cantonese cuisine prepared with the freshest ingredients and an emphasis on the harmonious blending of color, aroma, flavor, and texture, in both a single dish and a course of dishes for a meal. The restaurant’s cuisine can be characterized by the use of a combination of mild and simple spices. Signature dishes include the Imperial Seafood, Pecan Prawns, Crispy Chicken, and Mongolian Beef. The atmosphere is comfortable and relaxing, and at the service counter, there are built-in steam tables that feature over 12 hot entrees for guests to choose from at lunch, including a daily chef’s special. The restaurant also offers a great large banquet room perfect for hosting special events, thanks to the fantastic buffet-style setup and consistently excellent service.

6. The Shack

Restaurant, Fast Food, Belgian

The Shack has been serving East Sacramento since 1931, a true piece of Sacramento history, this little spot was one of the first walk-up restaurants in the city, the site of one of the first drive-ins, and later the first drive through. California Governor ‘Sunny Jim’ Rolph was said to have had his first beer after prohibition in The Shack’s beer garden (now the kitchen). Back when Highway 50, now Folsom Blvd, was one of the main roads that led to Sacramento, Doc would sell up to 30 barrels of beer each day. Today, The Shack has over 100 beers in bottles and on draft, and it has been voted ‘the best place to drink a Belgian Ale.’ In addition, patrons can find ⅓ pound burgers, one of the best steak sandwiches in Sacramento, freshly roasted turkey, amazing steak fries and onion rings, great pastrami reuben sandwiches, fish and chips, seasonal small plate dinners, and weekend brunch with fantastic mimosas. The restaurant’s outdoor patio offers plenty of seating, which is especially great for trivia night, when the place can get packed.

7. Boon Boon Cafe

Cafe, Restaurant, Thai, Tea , Vegetarian

Located on the corner of Stockton Blvd and Broadway, Boon Boon Cafe proves that looks can be deceiving with its modern, clean and cozy interior and some of the best Thai food in town despite being tucked away in a run-down complex. Boon Boon uses only the freshest ingredients in all of its dishes, picking out top quality products such as fine jasmine rice and Omega-3-rich Canola oil. With both meaty and vegetarian choices, Boon Boon Cafe offers incredible food at reasonable prices, always with prompt and friendly service. Patrons rave about the restaurant’s tasty curries and soups, as well as the rice and noodle dishes. A customer favorite is the crab fried rice, which includes rice cooked to perfection and plenty of real crab, giving it a unique and delicious flavor. The restaurant offers a wide selection of seating with plenty of tables so that guests never have to wait long to be seated.

8. Giovanni’s Old World New York Pizzeria

Restaurant, Pizzeria, Italian, Fast Food

Giovannis Old World New York Pizzeria, Folsom Boulevard

Giovanni’s Old World New York Pizzeria opened its doors in August of 2001 with the goal of serving truly authentic Italian American pizza, just like that in New York’s Little Italy. This type of pizza is completely made from scratch using the best and freshest ingredients possible and cooked on a hearthstone at a very high temperature. In addition to the restaurant’s specialty of authentic Italian New York pizza, there’s also made-from-scratch calzones, lasagna, Sicilian fire roasted whole chickens, wings with Old World New York Pizzeria’s own hot sauce, and salads. The most popular pizza by far is the Da Bronx Bomber, which is topped with fresh ricotta, garlic, tomato sauce, black olives, mushrooms, red peppers, salami, pepperoni, bacon, and sausage. Patrons also love the restaurant’s lunch special deal, which includes either two slices of pizza and a soda or one slice, a salad, and a drink for a great price. They’ve also got amazing beers on tap like Ballast Point, Jack Rabbit, and Green Flash, making the restaurant the perfect gathering place for family and friends.

9. Three Sisters

Bar, Restaurant, Mexican

Authentic flavors and fresh ingredients have made Three Sisters a staple of Sacramento dining. With a full bar, large portions, and friendly service, Three Sisters is perfect for a family meal, a visit with friends, or a night out on the town. Everything on the restaurant’s menu is made from scratch to bring guests the most authentic flavors, and there are 150 types of tequila to choose from for the perfect margarita to complement any meal. Patrons love the cool vibe the place, complete with funky Mexican art and old doors, and the service is always extremely friendly and prompt, with staff offering great recommendations to anyone who asks. Three Sisters is the go-to spot of many locals for a relaxing authentic Mexican lunch or dinner with friends and family, so the place is often packed with regulars. They’ve also got a nice patio perfect for enjoying sunny weather with some of the best margaritas around. In addition,

10. Español Italian Restaurant

Restaurant, Italian

As Sacramento’s longest serving restaurant, Español celebrates a tradition of fine cuisine that goes all the way back to 1923 when it was located on J Street and served traditional cuisine from Europe’s Basque Region. In 1952, the building on J Street was sold, and Español moved to Old Sacramento into a commercial hotel at 3rd and I Street. Several years later, in 1959, the restaurant was bought by Babe Luigi and his brother Mario, and with the new owners, a name and cuisine change followed, and Español Italian Restaurant was reintroduced to Sacramento. The Luigi brothers have been serving the residents and visitors of Sacramento true Italian specialties ever since. Five years after adding the Italian flair to Español, the redevelopment in Old Sacramento caused the popular restaurant to relocate to its present location. Today, the restaurant continues to be run by the Luigi family and remains one of Sacramento’s best Italian restaurants. Patrons fall in love with the delicious minestrone soup served in a giant tureen at the start of every meal, the hearty portions of tasty ravioli and spaghetti with meatballs, and the spumoni ice cream dessert. The restaurant is an extremely popular spot, always filled with folks who love the old fashioned atmosphere and home cooked Italian meals.

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