Jimboy's Tacos

1420 29th Street
Sacramento, CA 95816
(916) 452-6451
Website

I was visiting friends recently in Sacramento, and was told there was a "down and dirty" local fast food fix I needed to try. They serve the "tacoburger," and these friends were absolutely correct.

First of all, this local chain is called Jimboy's Tacos. Swoon. It was love at first sight. Speaking of sights, check out the "scenic drive" sign marking the drive through. Delicious AND a sense of humor? How could this go wrong?

From their website listing of Tacoburger: "A unique Jimboy’s product.   A savory all-beef patty blanketed with melted American cheese, lettuce, fresh tomatoes, pickles & our special tacoburger sauce. Grilled in a corn tortilla and topped with our trademark parmesan cheese. Have it without the sauce for a full gluten-free meal!"

Not sure why the tacoburger sauce has all the gluten, but who cares! See below.

A fried corn tortilla with all the trimmings. This was way better than you would think. That tacoburger sauce does something magical to tie the whole thing together, so gluten-free warriors beware. Cheesy, mustardy (and apparently full of wheaty goodness), it tranformed this into a complete meal. The ingredients were put together correctly, and the sprinkle of parm somehow just worked. Not to mention the pickle slices. A perfect mashup.

Check out the patty tucked into its corn tortilla carapace. I am already craving another one of these. Well done, Jimboy.

PDQ Deli at Tahoma Market

6937 W Lake Blvd.
Tahoma, CA 96142
(Lake Tahoe-ish)
(530) 525-7411
Website

When anyone tells you that you can't get a good sandwich outside of the Philadelphia area, you should believe them. Time and time again, I am let down by poor imitations and this is just another example of why you should NOT ever go into a sandwich shop outside of the Northeast corridor with high expectations. Unless you're setting the bar at Subway.

I hadn't realized this before setting out to eat at PDQ, but it's a Wisconsin-based chain with shops mostly in and around Madison and Milwaukee with one outpost in California - right on Lake Tahoe. I guess that's why the locals are none the wiser - it looks and feels like a good old fashioned mom-n-pop deli.

It's deceiving, yes. But when the views are this breathtaking, who really cares what you're eating, right?

Wrong. I always care what I'm eating. I took my two sandwiches up to the top of the peak and by the time I sweat out most of the previous night's booze, I was ravenous and couldn't wait to get down on some mouth-watering pesto bread filled with turkey and cheese.

But the bread was bland and the thick slices of turkey must have been sitting out for who knows how long. If your deli meats aren't sliced fresh to order (and you don't see a deli slicer on premises - hindsight is always 20/20) then there's no reason to ingest it.

They are big sandwiches, so it's a pretty good value, but when you can't even taste the cheese, mayonnaise or the pesto in a pesto themed bread, you're better off chewing on some cardboard for free. The bread was soft, almost like white Italian sandwich bread, which is probably why they're getting a one cheesesteak rating (I was hesitant in giving any).

Everything I mentioned above goes for their jalapeño cheese bread and roast beef. More thick-cut, old and flavorless deli slices surrounded by regular white bread and some old tomatoes and romaine.

I really wanted to like it, but after discovering the PDQ convenience store chain, it's nearly impossible to say anything good about these sandwiches. Yes, I may have made a mistake in choosing this as a blog site...

Obviously it's a long way from Wawa (and even Sheetz), so until the rest of the country can figure out how to combine gas stations and fresh & tasty sandwiches, I'll just stick to what I know.

Chando's Tacos

863 Arden Way
Sacramento, CA 95815
(916) 641-8226
Website

On a recent trip to Sac-town, I was looking for something that just isn't the same on the East Coast. And that thing is West Coast Mexican food. Chando's was just what the doctor ordered (well, not really, because I ate three meals' worth of somewhat greasy food in one sitting).

Much like the beloved cheesesteak stands in Philly, Chando's was a walk up window, but they also featured an outdoor grill, at left. The entire area smelled like deliciously charred meat.

I decided on an al pastor torta, a carnitas burrito, and a steak mulita. I would have gladly eaten everything on the menu.

The carnitas burrito was packed with traditional ingredients, and smothered in sour cream.

The mulita was basically a corn tortilla quesadilla with steak, cilantro, onion, guac, and salsa inside. Delicious and a bargain at $2.50.

The torta was also a winner, tucked nicely into a crispy roll, and perfectly portioned with just enough cream and guacamole to keep it moist. This type of quick stop Mexican food is found locally in food trucks, and I certainly wouldn't mind bolstering the traditionally Puebla-style Mexican in South Philly with a bit of West Coast grab-and-go flair.

So if you're out there and looking to open one up, let me be the first to know.

La Bonne Soupe

920 8th St
Sacramento, CA 95814
(916) 492-9506

While I was out in Sacramento for work recently, I made it a point to try some places that were well-known in the city. This one was a soup cafe that was popular with workers from the Capital.

They offer a variety of homemade soups, and some pretty interesting Euro-inspired sandwiches.

I went with the blue crab bisque. It was nicely spiced, not overly heavy with cream, and had a solid amount of blue crab chunks.

I also got the highly recommended brie, apple, and fig sandwich.

This was served with matchstick apples and was nicely toasted, resulting in a deliciously gooey brie and fig melt.

This was a great little lunch spot, and if you are in the Capital area of Sac-town, I highly recommend it.

In-N-Out Burger

2001 Alta Arden Expressway
Sacramento, CA
(800) 786-1000
Website

It's no secret that In-n-Out is amazing. What I wouldn't do for one in our area. Luckily Shake Shack does an okay job of scratching that itch. However, any chance I get, I am going for the elusive West coast chain, with their druid-like secret menu.

One of the reasons they always hit the mark: a lot of people are working there at all times. And every single person is always working. Obviously this would never happen in Philadelphia.

All of the employees are always somewhat happy too (again, never in Philadelphia).

The pink lemonade is one of the highlights, besides all of the really great other stuff.

Enter, fatso numero uno. Given my general aversion to sweets, I skipped the shake. But I more than made up for it with my order.

First, was a double double burger. Two meat, two cheese. I had it cooked "animal style" which means the patties are fried in mustard, and secret sauce is added in addition to fried chopped onions. I also asked for chopped chiles on it, lending a beautiful zing of vinegar and a hint of heat to this heavy, delicious, and oh so decadent meal. It was phenomenal.

Now for the fries. In order to squeeze every single drop of artery clogging deliciousness out of this once-in-a-great-while treat, I ordered the fries well done, and served "animal style" as well. Hell.

What it basically comes down to is that the burgers are amazing. The fries are also good, but given a "one or the other" scenario, however remote the chance of that would ever be, I would go double double for sure. Now just bring an In-n-Out to Philadelphia, and we can all die happy. And even more quickly.