Steamed up

Momo support: Glenn Miller, owner of Momo’s Meat Market (5776 Broadway), found his beloved barbecue spot’s front window had been shattered last Tuesday. Next door, at Supreme Barber Lounge, racist vandals had smashed mirrors, stolen clippers and spray-painted the N-word and a backward swastika on the wall.

After seeing the damage, Isaac Gonzalez immediately set up a Facebook event to support Miller. The day after the attack, patrons stretched around the block as Miller grilled tri-tip, ribs and chicken on his three huge BBQs.

“I realized, we got to respond right now,” Gonzalez said. “We can’t wait. We don’t tolerate it.”

Sacramento Police Capt. Jim Beezley showed up Wednesday and said he had been among the first to report to the scene on Tuesday. He and others had told the “rattled” barbershop owner to “take an hour” as they got to work sweeping up glass and cleaning the graffiti off walls.

Councilman Eric Guerra testified to the unity and diversity of his district. On his street alone, he lives beside Chinese, Irish, Korean, Italian and South African neighbors.

“This kind of ignorance is not okay,” he said. “In Tahoe Park, we do not agree with any anti-Semitism, any racism. If you want to work hard as a productive member of our community, then we’re going to support you.”

The event brought out roughly 300 people. Melissa Barton, founder of the sewing school Sewcial Sacramento, wanted to teach her toddler-aged son to reject hate, even before he’s “old enough to talk.” Rachel Gregg, a vegetarian, had purchased cake to show her support. Noting that she had learned about the event on Facebook, she explained that as a transplant from Missouri she acts as a bubble-popping bridge between regions.

“I have a lot of family members that have a conservative bent that I would say is underpinned with some racism,” she said. “And then I have my multi-ethnic community. And everyone interacts. It’s important to expose people to the genuine logic of people from different places on the political spectrum.”

And accompanied by his African-American girlfriend, “meat fan” Eric Patton came wearing a Trump 2016 hat, hoping to combat “stereotyping” of the president’s supporters. A frequent customer, he wasn’t even sure he’d buy lunch on Wednesday. He just wanted to give money to help Miller rebuild his business.

“It’s a bullshit, terrible thing that happened,” he said. “But (when) people come out and support something like this, it just overpowers the negativity and the evil. Especially with barbecue, I’m a meat fan.”

On his busiest day of the new year, Miller lugged full armloads of food back and forth from the grill to his kitchen. As he flipped hotlinks, Miller’s voice grew heavy as he reflected on the past couple of days.

“I’m humbled,” he said. “The response has been heart-warming, overwhelming. I can’t thank these people enough. I’m glad I live in Sacramento.”

Robo-tap house: At the newly opened Zpizza (6601 Folsom Boulevard), customers can custom-pour 30 beers—sourcing locally from Track 7 Brewing Co., New Helvetia Brewing Co., Device Brewing Co. and Sac Union Brewery—with its futuristic iPourit system that tracks consumption with scannable wristbands.

Supervisor Thomas Reilly says their pizza is also “stand-alone good.” Maybe. But it’ll likely be the second priority of nearby Sac State students as they peruse the tap-topia.