The Downtown Sacramento Partnership recently announced a new ReImagine Activation Grant Program, offering micro-grants to downtown businesses and supporting organizations looking to utilize spaces safely and with social responsibility.
The program also hopes to support local artists – of all genres and platforms—in their efforts to increase the cultural offerings in downtown Sacramento.
The program allows restaurants to apply for a city permit to extend their dine-in service to public sidewalks, streets, and parking areas. This will enable restaurants to adhere to social distancing regulations and reach nearly 100% serving capacity.
Sacramento is showing ingenuity and flexibility to reopen restaurants.
Paragary’s in midtown Sacramento, for example, was one of the first eateries to apply and receive a permit. The city erected barriers on the sidewalk outside the shop and the owners have already set up tables and chairs.
This type of flexibility and accommodations are helping Sacramento’s restaurant scene get back to business.
Countless businesses have been shattered by the coronavirus pandemic and Gov. Gavin Newsom’s “stay at home” order The hotel industry might be hurting most of all.
Travel has come to a complete standstill. Weddings have been postponed or held at private venues. Conferences have been canceled. All this leaves Sacramento’s hotel owners struggling. According to Visit Sacramento, the city’s convention and visitors bureau, this time of year, owners expect properties to be at 85% capacity; now they are seeing occupancy rates as low as 6%.
Sacramento hotels are finding creative ways to fill their empty rooms.
Some hotel owners have found creative solutions to fill
their rooms and generate revenue. The Hilton
Arden West is offering rooms as temporary office space for workers who are finding
it difficult to work from home. The Hampton Inn closed, and the owner moved the
guests to a nearby sister property, a Holiday Inn Express. He is rationing limited
work hours among the housekeeping staff. The owner of a California
Inn in Rancho Cordova is in negotiations with Sacramento County officials
to lease the rooms as housing for the homeless.
Thousands
of hotel workers have lost their jobs. Before the crisis, the hospitality
industry employed more than 10,000 workers in greater Sacramento. John
Kehriotis, owner of the Embassy Suites in Old Sacramento, and part-owner of the
Sacramento Kings, said he had to let go of three-quarters of the riverfront hotel’s
employees.
New York’s Fashion Week is winding down and Sacramento’s style scene is upping its game. The city is filled with clothing spots offering unique fashion finds. Here is a list of just a few local businesses worth checking out.
Sacramento’s trendy fashion businesses have a lot to offer
1st
Go 2nd (hand)
The Article Consignment Boutique in East
Sacramento is a vintage and consignment store that is a must for any shopping
fan. Buying second-hand is not only fun, but it reduces the environmental impact of clothing,
saves a lot of money, and creates a style that is unique and authentic.
Know Your
Heart
Heart
Clothing Boutique is a favored women’s clothing spot, offering a practical
and whimsical wardrobe for any occasion. Comfort and style come together seamlessly
in this cozy store where the staff is eager to help customers find just the
right look.
Go Krazy
Krazy Mary’s, also in East Sacramento, offers up-scale fashion that is forward-thinking and user-friendly. It’s sister store, Sugar Shack Boutique, networks with local artists and designers to curate an affordably unique collection of clothing.
Find an Outlet
Folsom Premium Outlets has more than 80 different outlet stores. With something for everyone, this is the perfect place to go for shoppers only looking to park once. There are also a few cafes and shake shops on the campus perfect for an energy boost during shopping sprees.
Downtown
Sacramento is now home to a new – and eccentric – bakery.
Odd Cookie Bakery Cafe and Bar has moved into the old home of the Bar Rouse on 9th Street near J Street. An opening is set for mid-December.
cupcakes topped with crispy bacon
The locally owned business will offer unexpected food and drink combinations: cupcakes topped with fried chicken, deep-fried calzones, sweet and spicy cocktails, and so much more. Traditional treats will also be available for less adventurous eaters. Yum!
Over 7,000 new residents moved to Sacramento last year alone, making it the fastest growing Californian
city. These newcomers are likely enjoying cheaper rents and warmer temperatures
alongside all the funky, good old-fashioned weird stuff Sacramento has to offer.
As the city’s director of tourism, Nick Leonti, says
“Sacramento is about 80% weird stuff.” So whether
you are on your way in or out of Sacramento, you should definitely check these
out:
Home of the Martini– just a few miles out of Sacramento, you’ll hit Martinez, the birthplace of the classic cocktail, the Martini. Cheers.
Jelly Belly Factory– located at 1 Jelly Belly Lane, this place is wall-to-wall jellybeans of the most delicious kind. Once you have donned your paper hat, you can walk along the factory floors to watch the magic happen and hear the fascinating history of the Jelly Belly craze.
Osaka-Ya has been making manju and mochi since 1963;
they are one of the three remaining manju shops
in Northern California. But it is also a snowcone heaven. The storefront
is a tiny shop tucked away near the freeway on 10th Street. From a small window
next to the shop’s entrance, they sell snow cones that run from “extra small”
(about as big as your face) to “extra large” (major brainfreeze potential).
Leonti explains that the city’s “history” of weird, stems from the gold rush, when scrappy adventurers from all over the world arrived in droves. Today, that quirk remains alive and well.
At the end of last month, Sacramento witnessed the launch of ‘Waitr,’ a food delivery app. Sonny Mayogba (a Sacramento native and the company’s CMO), has been instrumental in bringing this app (based in Louisiana) to Sacramento.
Initially only the Sacramento and Roseville regions will be privy to this service. One of the most unique (and attractive) features of this is the set delivery fee of $6.99. As Mayogba pointed out: “No minimums, no maximums and we don’t charge extra for delivery zones. Delivery fees can run up to $15 on other platforms, and we don’t do that.”
With the lowest fees and data-rich technology, restaurants can become smarter with the app. They own a driver network and is the only firm that actually conducts face-to-face interviews with their drivers as well as full FBI background checks. Drivers are also allowed to keep their own tips and set their own schedules.
In addition, Waitr offers each restaurant the option of a photoshoot, in which the restaurant can keep the photos and use them marketing, again something other vendors in the industry do not do.
Six or seven years ago, downtown Sacramento was an uncertain spot for businesses to thrive. As such when Ruhstaller was opened – the brewing company owned by JE Paino – no one knew what the future held. Indeed, Paino recalls the neighborhood at that time being “not at all cool” and somewhat dangerous. They seemed to be going the wrong way as they came in since most businesses were leaving.
But it seems like it evolved. Once the construction of the Golden 1 Center came to an end, the neighborhood really began to pick up. As such, Paino just signed a long-term lease on another basement space in the area on the Bay Miry residential and retail project at 726 K Street. The building has a lot more character than where they currently are but still has the feeling of a basement. Featuring a brick and exposed steel grand staircase, it is just one block away from where the current one is, but m arks a big step up.
For example, a lot of other exciting places are now about to open up there like Solomon’s (the much-talked about new Jewish deli), and Buudai (the new dumpling house), making Paino, “honored and humbled [to] be a part of it.”
This news marks a total joy for those in Sacramento trying to make it while encouraging pride in the area. As Paino pointed out, “We can tell people the story of Sacramento. And I think one of the reasons we’ve dug our heels in and said, ‘We’re not leaving!’ is that there’s a side of Sacramento that can’t be told by folks from Las Vegas or L.A.”
A new café is hopefully sprouting up. Sacramento’s Curtis Park has an office building which is hoping to have its application approved for creating a family-friendly café at 2750 24th Street.
If it meets city planning guidelines, the Craft House will be 4,300 square feet and will feature indoor and outdoor seating as well as a sound wall to stop any noise generated from outdoor seating impacting the neighborhood, which is largely residential. It will be open between 8 am and 8 pm so as not to “negatively impact the local residents,” while at the same time, bringing together “locals, providing a sense of community.”
There will be other green initiatives at the café such as a green screen which will reduce light from windows. A trash enclosure will be placed on commercial zoning (the building being zoned for office use so will thus require a zoning administrator restaurant permit).
Property records show the owner as being Rainbow Montessori’s Larry Rodenborn who purchased the building in July of last year for $560,000 from the Northern California Lions Sight Association.
Sacramento is going to be privy to a weekly food truck event by Off the Grid. Usually this event does not extend to Sacramento but this year it has expanded its activities. It started performing these events six years ago, by founder Matt Cohen who explained that Off the Grid “run[s] almost 60 reoccurring markets all over the Bay Area.” This is the first year it is getting to Sacramento.
The first one of these events took place on Sunday 12 June from 11 am to 4 pm at River Walk Park and featured 22 local food vendors with a wide variety of cuisine. Anything from top quality burgers to Indian, Chinese, Mexican and more!
The reason Sacramento has now been included by this event is because, Cohen said, that it has a reputation for being a farm-to-fork region. He further explained that: “Sacramento is doing its own thing that is representative of the produce and the lifestyle that’s happening in the area. And I think what we’re trying to do is just put that as much forward as we can and have it be an experience that feels authentically from Sacramento.”
