The 10 Best Restaurants In Sacramento's New Era Park, California

In a cozy little place with a lovely fenced patio out front, Sampino’s Towne Foods serves up amazing homemade pastas and sauces, delicious sandwiches, and fresh salads to both locals and visitors with a love for authentic Italian cuisine. Inside, guests find several glass display cases full of Italian foods, meats, and cheeses, as well as loaves of bread sitting on the counter and wines lining the wall, setting the mood for an incredible Italian meal. Out on the patio, beautiful white linen-covered tables complete with vibrant red placemats create the perfect environment for visitors to sit and watch people go by, all while enjoying popular dishes like the meatball sandwich, sampanini, fresh lasagna, or Le Rustique, a sandwich composed of Prosciutto de Parma, melted brie, caramelized onions, balsamic vinegar, and garlic aioli on delicious bread. The restaurant is mostly a lunch or early dinner kind of place, but if you’re looking for an exceptional dining experience, you won’t want to miss out on the incredible eight course dinners they offer once a month on special Friday nights. The dinner menu changes each month but is always exquisite and requires a reservation to be made in advance.

If you’ve got a hankering for good old Southern comfort food when in the Sacramento area, Sandra Dee’s Bar-B-Que & Seafood is the place to go. The restaurant is set in a quaint 1925 brick building painted with the owners’ favorite musicians, and the lovely scenery is eclipsed only by the ambiance created within. Sandra Dee’s is a family-owned establishment from top to bottom, with Sandra Dee and her husband Jeffrey working in the kitchen, as well as both their sons and two daughters along with one nephew in employment. The delicious food always comes out hot with plenty of flavor and seasoning, and the portion sizes are big enough for two meals. Fans of the classic chicken and waffles especially love Sandra Dee’s version, which comes with decadent red velvet waffles. They even have a full bar with a fantastic drinks selection and a great Happy Hour, all-you-can-eat rib tips on Wednesdays, service that is always friendly and efficient, and sometimes guests have the opportunity to chat with the wonderful Sandra Dee herself.

Founded by a Korean family excited and eager to share its family recipes and traditional foods with its Sacramento neighborhood, Aura Korean & Japanese Restaurant is proud to be the very first Korean and Japanese fusion restaurant in the area. With professional chefs who have mastered the art of creating traditional Korean and Japanese dishes with a modern twist, Aura offers a wide variety of favorite Korean and Japanese plates, as well as many fusion and unique style dishes found only at the restaurant. People know Aura as the place to go when they’re craving some savory and sizzling galbi, spicy tofu stew, amazing homemade kimchi, a tasty seafood pancake, or bibimbap. The restaurant also has many beers on draft including IPA, Cider, Blue Moon, and Sapporo, as well as many large Korean and Japanese bottled beers in addition to soju, sake, makgeolli, and wines. Patrons love the cozy, clean, and relaxing atmosphere, complemented by the extremely friendly and welcoming staff who provide amazing service.

For over 20 years, Moxie has offered an unparalleled dining experience, earning its place as a top destination restaurant in Northern California. Located in a very secluded neighborhood, Moxie provides the feel of a casual yet classically elegant environment, where the food is as enticing to the palate as it is to the eyes. Serving everything that swims, runs, or flies, and even honoring special requests from its guests, Moxie has become known both for its incredible food and its superb service. An ideal spot for birthdays, anniversaries, and other special occasions, the restaurant attracts patrons who love the dark, romantic candle-lit setting and the numerous daily specials. In addition to the excellent menu, the restaurant offers to let each guest choose to order anything they want, as long as the necessary ingredients are in the kitchen. People have enjoyed eating everything from delicious crab potstickers to fresh green salads to savory pork loin with mashed potatoes, as well as outstanding halibut, golden crab cakes, seared ahi, seafood pasta, stuffed mushrooms with chicken, Chilean sea bass, and jambalaya. Even the desserts are exceptional, with amazing options including creme brûlée and carrot cake. Adam, the owner, provides all guests with personal and friendly service, making everyone feel like family.

Known for its delicious made-from-scratch brunches and cheap bottomless mimosas, Easy On i is a popular, cozy local spot on weekend mornings. Once you’ve got a table, you’ll find that the servers are all incredibly nice and friendly, and the food is more than amazing. Especially popular menu items are the Hot Mess, composed of eggs and two meats of your choice on top of a biscuit and covered in gravy, the croissant breakfast sandwich with eggs and hot link sausages, the blueberry pancakes, the breakfast burrito, the chicken fried steak and eggs, and the crispy Southern chicken and waffles.

The country’s premier fondue restaurant franchise, The Melting Pot, opened its doors in Sacramento in July of 2003, and in the years that the restaurant has been open, it has become the first restaurant of choice for fondue in the area. Fondue is a fun and interactive dining experience, and for more than three decades, The Melting Pot has defined the niche across the American dining scene. At The Melting Pot, fondue truly becomes a memorable four-course dining experience, where guests can dip into something different and discover all the ingredients for a unique dining experience including a relaxed atmosphere, private tables, friendly service, fine wines, and of course signature fondue dinners. The Melting Pot of Sacramento offers semi-private dining for parties of 16 to 44, perfect for celebrating a birthday, an anniversary, a sweet sixteen, bridal and baby showers, wedding rehearsals, or holiday events. It is also an ideal location for meetings and presentations, with a built-in projector screen and projector readily available. Whether it’s your first or fiftieth time, the restaurant’s servers are always friendly and helpful, always ready to answer all the questions you may have about the way the unique dining experience works.

A popular top-notch restaurant for reliably tasty dishes, great cocktails, and an inviting dining atmosphere, Lucca Restaurant & Bar offers sacramento a California-Mediterranean-influenced menu with reasonably priced and recognizable menu choices graciously served in a classy, comfortable setting. The restaurant offers a vast selection of drinks, appetizers, and entrees, with favorite dishes including the cioppino, the chicken saltimbocca, the braised beef short ribs, the spicy penne, and the duck confit, in addition to amazing desserts like the chocolate-caramel tart and the chèvre cheesecake. Guests are also big fans of Lucca’s amazing cocktails, well-crafted and made one by one. There is also a beautiful and spacious back room that people like to reserve for events like wedding rehearsals or business meetings, in addition to a gorgeous outdoor patio complete with hanging lights, plants, and the sound of flowing water in the background, making it the perfect spot to enjoy a warm evening.

A friendly family owned and operated establishment, Tank House BBQ and Bar features a full bar along with classic barbecue food including brisket and ribs. It highlights a wide array of local craft beers and a large outdoor patio that backs up to the historic water tank house of midtown built in 1881. Visitors fall in love with the perfectly cooked tender brisket, satisfying and full of flavor, as well as the stellar ribs, delicious sweet and barbecue house sauces, and hot links that really are hot. The restaurant’s version of mac and cheese is also exceptional, bursting with cheesy flavor, and the delectable tots loaded with pulled pork and gooey cheese are a complete knockout. People are often surprised by the stylish decor and excellent presentation of the dishes, given the casual bar atmosphere, but Tank House is a cool and trendy spot to enjoy some fantastic barbecue and quality beer. Offering several combo meals, Tank House ensures that all of its guests can get the most out of their barbecue experience at a great price.

Since 1987, the Pete’s brand of restaurants has been serving up quality lunch and dinner to the greater Sacramento area. Each Pete’s is individually owned and operated, and therefore reflects the truly unique personalities of its owner and the community it proudly serves. Offering excellent lasagna soup with turkey sausage, great beer, nice tables on the street, a small bar, friendly service, and tasty pizza, the location on J Street is a hit with neighborhood residents. People love the spinach ravioli, custom salads, chicken mushroom sauté, burgers, and buffalo wings. In addition, they have fantastic desserts including cheesecake, monster-sized cookies, seven layer chocolate cake, and a baked apple dumpling with vanilla ice cream. If you’re a sports fan, you’ll love the abundance of flat screens around the place that will never let you miss your favorite game. If you’re a parent, there’s even a great little play area for the kids. Pete’s is especially popular at lunch, when they offer great lunch menu specials for fantastic prices.

With a strong belief in the fundamental principles of Japanese culinary tradition, Zen Sushi uses only the freshest seasonal ingredients to create food that is bold in its simplicity. Nothing is ever overcooked, as all of the restaurant’s dishes are served in varying degrees of rawness. The first thing people notice upon entering the restaurant is how modern and spacious it is, with giant windows providing the perfect lighting, and a sleek bar area decked out with white couches, blue lights, and high tables. Service is phenomenal, as the staff are welcoming, attentive, and efficient. Patrons love the wide selection of creative sushi rolls, sashimi, and other Japanese dishes, that all come out fast and fresh. Favorites include the barbecue albacore, the city roll, the seafood nachos, and the zig zag roll. The restaurant also stocks a good selection of beer and offers some great wines and cocktails, including sake bombs.