CHOW 2008: Sacramento dining guide

Let’s say you were plopped down in this town almost a year ago with little to no information to go on regarding great places to eat. You’ll discover some spots on your own, friends will steer you to more, the dining expertise of food critics like SN&R’s Kate Washington will expose still others, and the waves and waves of advertisements you’re force-fed from TV, radio, junk mail, billboards, the Internet, bathroom-stall placards and, yes, even newspapers like this one, will supply slews of new nominees.

But it will never seem quite right.

You’ll keep revisiting the ones you first discovered over and over because they reside within your own personal comfort zone. Your friends, though you love ’em to death, can come up with some real clunkers. One man’s shoe leather is another’s filet mignon, after all. Washington, who everyone should love to death, can be spot-on to some and off the mark to others—in the very same review! As one staffer just said of the subject of one of her recent positive reviews: “That craphole!?!” He was shouted down by others who think the place rocks. And so it goes.

As for the ads (at least we love ’em to death) … well, come on, let’s face facts: Some have learned over the years to tune out advertising. It’s why God invented TiVo. Fortunately, what you have before you is a handy-dandy guide to dining advertisers who frequently appear in these pages, establishments you may have missed but shouldn’t have.

Combine your local knowledge of area restaurants with a dash of your friends’ recommendations, a liberal sprinkling of Kate’s reviews, a whisper of ads from places other than SN&R and a healthy, heaping helping of this guide, and you, my friend, can brag of being a bonafide Chow hound.

Bon appétit!

Sales Project Manager: Rosemarie Messina
Copy Editor: Kimberly Brown
Designer: Kate Murphy
Web: Kelsey Falle