SactoMoFo 4, the next installment of the wildly popular food truck event, will be held on April 21 at 8th & W Streets, reports Chris Macias in the Sac Bee.

Tentative plans also call for a first-ever beer garden, which would highlight local craft beers and microbreweries over that same ol' Miller Light. Additional mobile food vendors are expected to be announced soon, including the debut of a Sacramento food truck which specializes in Indian food.

Sacto MoFo organizers also plan to highlight a couple of issues facing the mobile food movement, both locally and around the state. AB 1678, recently introduced to the California State Assembly by Bill Monning (D-Carmel), would prevent food trucks from operating within 1,500 of schools. The legislation, supported by California Food Policy Advocates in their fight against childhood obesity, has since caused an uproar with food truck operators and consumers alike.

Read the entire story in the Sac Bee.

SactoMoFo 4 will also be a food drive for Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services, so please bring canned & other packaged food items to donate.

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What happened to the best dish of the year? - When I reviewed Lounge ON20 several months ago, I named its charcuterie plate as the best dish I had encountered in the past year. So, what happened since then? I stopped in at Lounge ON20 recently with that question in mind, wondering what the kitchen was doing with its already stellar charcuterie plate. The answer: to remain the best, you have to keep pushing forward. Blair Anthony Robertson in the Sac Bee.

Dining review: Isabel's Taqueria & Pupuseria is long on quantity, low on price - The food here is delicious, revelatory, plentiful and affordable. And it's part of the culinary mosaic that makes Sacramento a great but underappreciated food town. The strongest segment just might be the area's myriad ethnic restaurants that offer lively cooking, new or familiar flavor sensations and great prices. Blair Anthony Robertson in the Sac Bee.

In this month's Sac Mag, their Dollar Wise Gourmet talks about turning happy hour into a full meal.

Fun fried finger foods are still traditional happy hour grub. But these days, happy hour is being redefined, with some menus featuring such fare as grilled chicken skewers, flatbread and hummus, even salads. (Yes, really.) With some careful ordering, it adds up to a meal—not to mention a steal of a deal. Here are four local examples, tested in each case by a pal and me. (In other words, everything serves two.)

In her story, she featured Paul Martin's American Bistro, 3 Fires Lounge, Lucca Restaurant & Bar and Piatti Ristorante & Bar. Read Cathy Cassinos-Carr's entire article in Sac Mag.

Let me give you a few more of my recommendations:

• Morton's: This happy hour isn't cheap. But I love their three sliders for $7 during happy hour. A full meal.
• Gallagher's: For those whow want to spend a little less, they have one steak slider and a couple steak fries for just $2.

That's just a couple that I've done recently, but certainly not a comprehensive list. Do you have a favorite happy hour that's a meal replacement? Leave your ideas in the comments below..

Jimboy's in Folsom to give away tacos - The refurbished Jimboy's Tacos restaurant at 708 E. Bidwell St. in Folsom will celebrate its "grand reopening" on Saturday with free tacos. Officials of the Roseville-based company said the outlet will give two ground beef tacos to every person stopping by from 11:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. that day. Mark Glover in the Sac Bee.

Sacramento Beer Week Highlights From Scott Executive Director, Sacramento Beer Week - The third annual Sacramento Beer Week gives you the opportunity to try hundreds of beers from your backyard and from around the world from February 24 to March 4.  This year is marked by several additions to the family of Sacramento breweries and a number of larger events catering to thirsty beer fans from Sacramento and beyond. Here is a selection of Beer Week highlights – go to SacramentoBeerWeek.com for the full schedule – or download the SBW mobile app to guide you to more than 300 unique events including food and beer pairings, brewery showcases, pub crawl, beer fests and more! In Midtown Monthly.

In an editorial in Wednesday's paper, the Sac Bee says Assemblymember Bill Monning's "Ban on food trucks near schools goes way too far."

AB 1678 seeks "to regulate private businesses that aren't on school grounds and that serve customers who aren't students....

"If legislators want to combat obesity, there are other proactive, helpful ways: encouraging and funding programs that get healthy local produce into school cafeterias, helping schools plant vegetable gardens, enhancing public education on good nutrition for children."

Read the entire editorial in the Sac Bee. Photo is a screenshot from USAToday.com.

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The Kitchen, former Sacramento chef receive James Beard nominations -  While the movie industry has its Academy Awards, the James Beard Foundation Awards represent the restaurant and food world's top honors. This year's crop of nominees features some rare Sacramento flavor vying with the country's top restaurants for these awards. Chris Macias in the Sac Bee.

Restaurants pledge donations to Sacramento Food Bank this week - It's "Eat to Feed the Hungry" week in Sacramento, with 15 top local restaurants each pledging $500 contributions to support the Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services. From today through Sunday, the participating eateries have promised to kick in $1, to a maximum of $500, for every diner who checks in first at the restaurants' social media sites. Participating restaurants are Cafeteria 15L, Dive Bar, Ella, Gogi's Korean BBQ, Golden Bear, Ink Eats and Drinks, Level Up Lounge, MIX, Pizza Rock, Red Rabbit, River City Brewing Co., Sandra Dee's Bar-B-Que & Seafood, Thai Basil and Zocalo. Andy Furillo in the Sac Bee.

 
In this week's review, Sac Bee restaurant critic Blair Anthony Robertson takes a look at Hawks Restaurant in Granite Bay:

The flavors and the combinations on the plate are broad, focused, often beautiful and, in the case of one dessert involving what I thought would be a German chocolate cake, show touches of edgy, elegant brilliance....

With its fine staff, meticulous training and attention to detail from kitchen to dining room, Hawks is doing enough to be considered the best restaurant we've got.

Read the entire reivew in the Sac Bee. (Also see Kira O'Donnell's thoughts in Sac Mag from March 2011.)

I've never had the chance to try Hawks. Mostly, it's the distance from Downtown that's kept me away, but I do have their Sunday fried chicken dinners on my to do list. I hope they rumors that the owners are looking at a space at Stockton & Alhambra are true.

(See Hawks happy hour information here.)

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The Kitchen Named Semifinalist for James Beard Award - The Kitchen Restaurant, helmed by the Selland Family, is a semifinalist for a James Beard Award for Outstanding Restaurant. (The James Beard awards are the Oscars of the resturant world.) On JamesBeard.org

Eat to Feed the Hungry debuts this week - Starting Feb. 20 and running through Sunday, community members can turn their dinners out on the town into a battle against hunger in the Sacramento region. Sara Islas in Sac Press.

The low level fight between food trucks and restaurants is a tough one. On one hand, restaurants employ thousands of Sacramentans and shouldn't have to put up with a food truck parking in front of their business day after day, siphoning off their business.

On the other hand, food truck operators are entrepreneurs who are trying to make a better living for themselves. As Drewski's Hot Rod Kitchen has proven, the food truck can be a stepping stone to a brick and mortar eating establishment.

But a new bill, AB 1678 by Assemblymember Bill Monning (D-Carmel), who happens to be running for state senate, goes too far. His bill prohibits mobile food trucks from selling within 1,500 feet of a school between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. His stated rationale is that the food is unhealthy and the trucks could be a traffic threat to student safety.

While reasonable people can agree that food trucks shouldn't be allowed to sell at any time at any place, this bill looks like an attempt by restaurants to eliminate mobile food as competition, using childhood obesity and safety as an excuse.

To put this in perspective, this bill does nothing to prevent fast food restaurants from opening up near schools.

This issue received extensive coverage over the weekend. Here's the take by Jim Sanders in the Sac Bee.

If you're looking for a way to get involved, a new group Food Truck Freedom was created late last week to fight this new bill. Find them on Facebook, Twitter or Google + to get the latest.

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Philadelphia Cheesesteak Co: Sacramento cheese-steak showdown - In the universe of food, it’s a question on a par with the existence of God and the meaning of life. And, like those timeless puzzlers, a definitive answer can be elusive. Perhaps, like the Holy Grail, the quest is more important than ultimate success. So who really serves the best Philly cheese steak? A final answer won’t be found below, but the results of some preliminary questing will. Greg Lucas in Sac News & Review.

Check it Out: Cantiga Wineworks Zinfandel - I was surprised and delighted by a unique Zinfandel I tried recently while dining at a favorite restaurant in Truckee called Pianeta. Kira O'Donnell in Sac Mag.

If you missed out on last week's Wicked 'Wich half off week, they're back with another one this week for their delicious food truck sandwiches. Read my Instant Reaction to their food truck from their first weeks.

If you're wondering where you can catch them, this is their schedule for this week. (Food trucks kind of get into a schedule where they hit the same spots week after week. But check first before heading out.)

Mon . . . 5th and N St
Tues . . . EDD building at 8th and N St
Weds . . . 2995 Foothills Blvd, Roseville
Thurs . . . 5th and N St
Fri . . . 12th and O St

• $10 for $20 (New Groupon users | existing users) at Wicked 'Wich. Offer expires on Friday.

More Deals:

• $15 for $30 at Esther's Cupcakes across from Loehmans Plaza on Fair Oaks. Offer expires on Thursday.
• $6 for $12 at Original Perry's off the Mack Road exit on Highway 99. Offer expires on Sunday.
• $10 for $20 (New Groupon users | existing users) at Red88 Noodle Bar in Downtown Davis. Offer expires on Thursday.

Looking for more deals like this? Check out the Cowtown Eats guide to saving 50 percent at good restaurants.

On my way home from work last week, I spotted Drewski’s Hot Rod Kitchen parked in front of the Monte Carlo. Drewski’s Hot Rod Kitchen is Sacramento’s newest food truck – a grilled-cheese focused gourmet mobile food vendor.

Longtime blog readers know that I have a soft spot for food trucks. The food is cheap and good, the people are entrepreneurs trying to make it a very tough industry in a difficult economy and their food is generally not available at a restaurant in the area.

Drewski’s Hot Rod Kitchen – like Mini Burger Truck – fits this description exactly. According to the Sac Bee’s early profile of Drewski’s Hot Rod Kitchen, owner Andrew Blaskovich “has run his own private catering company for the past six years, feeding such clients as Sacramento hard rock stars the Deftones, and events at the Hyatt Regency and Nordstrom. Blaskovich also worked in the kitchen at the Hyatt before starting his own catering company.”

What will receive less love from me are established businesses who use the food truck to expand. I understand that they are just trying to make a buck in this world too, and I respect that, but those more corporate food trucks (I’m looking at you, Jack in the Box) don’t excite me like the local entrepreneurs do.

Back to the review. Ordering only for one, I selected the Tricycle, a grilled cheese sandwich with aged havarti and extra sharp cheddar on sliced French bread ($3); a Korean short rib taco ($2); and was given a half dozen garlic and rosemary tater tots to sample ($3 for a full order).