Best restaurant meals I ate around Sacramento in May | Food reporter’s notebook
Head to downtown Sacramento for a creative pizzeria paired with natural wines, to the Elk Grove border for halal Laotian noodles with a kick or to Yolo County for cheese and honey at one-of-a-kind pollination station.
These were the top meals I enjoyed around the Sacramento region in May. All reviews were first published in my free weekly newsletter; sign up for future ones, along with more restaurant news, at bit.ly/bee_food_drink_newsletter.
Pizza Supreme Being
Downtown Sacramento’s hottest pizzeria is Pizza Supreme Being, Ben Roberts’ creative outpost just south of the Capitol. PSB, as it’s known to fans, is cutting-edge infused with a hefty dose of Americana nostalgia, a place where a bespoke natural wine called “Pizza Grease” was served alongside a recent Jimboy’s Tacos-inspired pizza special.
For a dollar inserted into an arcade claw machine, customers can try to grab coupons for a soft serve ice cream cone, a slice of pizza or even a sweatshirt bearing the words “Sacramento is just Sacramento,” Roberts’ memorable quote to conclude a New York Times article praising the city’s restaurant scene.
PSB’s Hawaiian ($5 per slice/$34 per pie) makes a strong argument that pineapples do, in fact, belong on pizza. The key is that Roberts slices fresh pineapple, not the syrupy canned version, into thin sheets and cooks them in the oven alongside jalapeño slivers and cubed Spam. Esquire recently named it one of the best Hawaiian pizzas in the United States; at the very least, it’s the best in Sacramento.
Pepper slivers aside, the Hawaiian pales in contrast to PSB’s heatwave ($5/$37), a mouth-burner that hikes up the Scoville scale on the back of fiery coppa and Zab’s hot honey. The crispy-bottomed sourdough crust is chewy throughout, ripe for dipping in a cup of housemade ranch.
Salads and sandwich specials went beyond typical pizza parlor fare as well, such as lamb chopped cheese ($16) on a house-baked sesame hoagie roll that riffed on New York City’s bodega creations. Fresher elements such as citrus-garlic aioli, cucumber slices, iceberg lettuce and red onion effectively counterbalanced the shaved merguez sausage with provolone.
Address: 1425 14th St., Suite C, Sacramento.
Hours: 12-8:30 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday, closed Monday and Tuesday.
Phone: (916) 917-5559
Website: https://www.pizzasupremebeing.com/
Drinks: Natural wine is a focus, along with craft beer.
Vegetarian options: Many.
Noise level: Relatively loud.
Outdoor seating: Many tables stretched over two patios.
The Hive Tasting Room & Kitchen
You’ll want to eat and drink everything at The Hive Tasting Room & Kitchen. Call it a “honey-do list.”
The Woodland restaurant and shop is an ode to all things honey, from jars of royal jelly to a mead bar and savory-sweet food menu. Ishai Zeldner founded the family’s honey business under the name “Moon Shine Trading Co.” in 1979, and grew it from a home project to a Winters storefront to The Hive, a 20,000-square foot facility that produces Moon Shine honey and also sells other bee-adjacent products from around California.
Ishai’s son Josh Zeldner is The Hive’s “nectar director” these days, flanked by his sister Shoshi and mother Amina Harris. Chef Diego Wilk leads the food program, whipping up small plates for customers to enjoy on The Hive’s 2-acre grounds as bees buzz by Mexican Palo Verde trees’ yellow flowers.
The Napoletano flatbread ($20) may be the heartiest item on The Hive’s current menu. Four slices of oblong pizzetta were topped with roasted pear and portobello mushroom slices, half-melted Gorgonzola and Moon Shine’s California Black Button Sage honey, all of which were propped up nicely on a chewy crust.
Honey and cheese are natural bedfellows, a harmonious match that sang in The Hive’s whipped goat cheese and coriander honey dip ($15) with batard toast slices. Tangy, feathery and sprinkled with microgreens, the whipped Laura Chenel felt uplifted, not drowned, by a restrained drizzle of Moon Shine’s California Coriander honey, as with the truffled burrata caprese ($16) salad’s orange blossom honey and Séka Hills olive oil.
Address: 1221 Harter Ave., Woodland.
Hours: 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, closed Sunday and Monday.
Phone: (530) 668-0660
Website: https://zspecialtyfood.com/the-hive-in-woodland-2/
Drinks: Got a need for mead? This is your place. Craft beer and wine also available.
Vegetarian options: More than half the menu is vegetarian, including a brie batard toast with honey-apricot-cherry spread, Mediterranean eggplant rolls and a chopped quinoa salad.
Noise level: Generally quiet outside of a Friday concert series.
Outdoor seating: Plentiful.
Namaste Sacramandu
Unimpressed with Sacramento’s Nepalese food offerings, Muna Khatiwada and Sajal Nepal opened Namaste Sacramandu in 2022 in Arden Arcade. Along with chef Yogya Raj Kharel, who went to South India to master Chicken 65 and emerged with a grasp of dosa and Manchurian dishes, the Nepal natives have established one of the Sacramento region’s better Nepalese and Indian restaurants.
The framed artwork of goddesses and countrysides adorning Namaste Sacramandu’s walls, coupled with the sounds of flutes and sitars emanating from the speakers, creates a soothing ambiance in the understated restaurant looking out on Fulton Avenue. It’ll lull you into tranquility — right up until the flavor-packed, reasonably-portioned dishes come out.
Take Newari choila ($10), tangy grilled lamb or chicken tossed with onions and red bell peppers. Coated in a reddish-brown marinade of Sichuan peppercorns, mustard oil and roasted garlic, it’s a vibrant representation of a lip-smacking appetizer traditionally made by Newar people, a group native to Khatiwada’s home in the Kathmandu Valley.
A dozen varieties of momo ($10-$14 for eight), Nepalese dumplings filled with chicken or a paneer/onion/cabbage mixture, come served on a charcoal board with a tomato chutney enlivened thanks to fenugreek and mustard seeds. I recommend the kothey momo, pan-fried to a buttery crisp on one side and left steamed and soft on the other.
Durbar fish curry ($18) is a house specialty, a favorite of Khatiwada’s mother that she learned from chefs in Hyderabad. The South Indian-inspired auburn dish became popular after being served in historic Indian and Nepalese rulers’ courts; today, it’s a delightfully bouncy, joyful rendition of slow-cooked tilapia served with saffron basmati rice.
Address: 1148 Fulton Ave., Suite A, Sacramento.
Hours: 11 a.m.-3 p.m. and 4:30-9 p.m. Wednesday-Monday, closed Tuesday.
Phone: (279) 345-2444
Website: https://www.namastesacramandu.com/
Drinks: Domestic and South Asian beer and soda, and a surprisingly well-rounded, affordable wine list.
Vegetarian options: Many.
Noise level: Medium-quiet.
Outdoor seating: None.
KB’s Thai Hut
The cozy atmosphere at KB’s Thai Hut, Katherine Chanhthathep and Thouie Bounmy’s halal Thai/Laotian restaurant near Sacramento’s southern border, can lull you into a noodle-induced fog. But there’s plenty of low-key heat as well, waiting to kick your taste buds upon request.
Bamboo-covered walls and orange puffballs hanging from the ceiling surround KB’s mellow dining room, where small plastic water cups are painted silver and dishes are named after Chanhthathep’s many nieces and nephews.
I threw in a late order for Nicka’s nam khao ($13) as an afterthought. It ended up being our table’s favorite dish. A crispy, crunchy Laotian rice salad meant to be scooped into lettuce cups, it shone thanks to fermented beef chunks (pork is typically used at non-halal restaurants) that cut through the conciliatory backdrop.
Loi’s pad lo-lay crazy noodles ($13) were more familiar. Egg noodles stir-fried with red bell peppers, onions broccoli and Chinese broccoli were smothered in a sumptuous garlic-chili-soy sauce along with chicken, beef or shrimp. Two out of five on KB’s heat scale was plenty strong for me without completely overshadowing other components of the dish.
I was excited to try Pung’s pho Lao ($13), a regional variation that’s often sweeter than the Vietnamese noodle soups. While I enjoyed the garlicky beef meatballs, hefty shrimp and full bowl of noodles, the mild, opaque broth needed lots of condiment add-ins to take on a full flavor.
Address: 8055 Elk Grove Florin Road, Suite F, Sacramento.
Hours: 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. and 3:30-8 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday, closed Monday.
Phone: (916) 681-8286
Website: https://www.instagram.com/kbs_thai_hut/
Drinks: Tea, lemonade, sodas and housemade concoctions with condensed milk or dragonfruit.
Vegetarian options: Many.
Noise level: Quiet.
Outdoor seating: None.
