Renewal

Rock the Kasbah: You probably think Kasbah is a hookah bar.

Tanya Azar and Debbie Chang acknowledged this perception when they officially took over the place, located at 2115 J Street, in June. Now, the owners are making changes and pushing a new image: a dining destination that just happens to offer hookah.

The Middle Eastern menu remains largely intact, though Azar reimagined every dish and added a few more, including an expansive mezze platter ($16.50); a tagine with kefta, beef and lamb meatballs ($14.50); and a vegetarian kabob ($12). Dishes taste brighter, fresher, with more herbs and different spice profiles. In general, Azar says her recipes are more true to what you’d actually get in the Middle East.

While in her early 20s, Azar joined her family in Bethlehem to open a restaurant. When she moved to Sacramento 10 years ago, Kasbah reminded her of it.

“My mom, aunt and grandma were all great cooks,” she says. “I grew up in the kitchen, basically. My mom passed away two years ago so it was really cathartic to take over the restaurant, take over the recipes.”

Azar and Chang have both worked at Kasbah for 10 years, moving from servers to bartenders to managers and, now, owners. Kasbah was previously operated by the owners of Tapa the World.

Azar and Chang intend to keep what they’ve always loved about Kasbah—the lively yet intimate atmosphere, aided by lots of tapestries, low ceilings, candlelight and belly dancers—but ramp up the food and bar program. Kasbah already boasts a wide array of imported liquor, wine and beer, but Chang hopes to add craft cocktails soon.

Tacos over burgers: Goldfield Trading Post (1630 J Street) recently ditched its food menu—mostly burgers, sandwiches and other grub appropriate for a country bar—in favor of tacos, mulitas and burritos from Elk Grove’s Flako’s Takos. The offerings are a bit slimmer at Goldfield compared to Flako’s flagship, but its most unusual items are present: the mariachi taco ($3), with bacon-wrapped shrimp, and quesapizzas ($13), giant quesadillas topped with parmesan.

Fancy: El Dorado Hill’s Sienna Restaurant expanded into Roseville in the former Crush 29 space (1480 Eureka Road). The American restaurant—steak, fish, pizza, burgers and so forth—looks notably upscale, with a large patio equipped with fire pits and hundreds of hand-blown glass bubbles floating above the bar.