Over the last four days, I've been getting tips that Meet & Eat on Freeport Blvd. had opened. Their new sign prominently announced their location, and cars filled the parking lot.

I stopped by during my lunch hour today to discover that they're not quite open yet, but I was able to get a quick preview. (Apparently, their sign was supposed to stay covered until they were ready to open, but Mother Nature had different plans and the recent storms forced their hand.)

The space was still a work in progress with workers busily assembling furniture and working on the finishing touches. However, they had turned what was a decaying and empty space into a handsomely-decorated neighborhood spot. It felt like a modern version of a soda fountain.

The staff present weren't ready to commit to an opening date, though barring any hiccups, my guess is that they'll be open well before Thanksgiving. They were also still finalizing the menu and weren't quite ready to share.

I live in Land Park and I'm excited to have a new neighborhood spot with ample parking to frequent. Meet & Eat is owned by the same family who run the very solid Cafe Dantorels. I look forward to giving this new restaurant a try.

When it opens, Meet & Eat will be located at 3445 Freeport Blvd.

Click here for all posts about Meet & Eat.

More News:

Café Dantorels - Having lived in Land Park for well over 7 years now, I’m a little embarrassed that it’s taken me this long to try Café Dantorels in neighboring Curtis Park. This café has been on my “to try” list for years and I finally had just the right opportunity to walk over on a recent Saturday for lunch. Liz Conant in Sac Foodies.

Twelve Rounds Brewing Company - The kitchen is also a work in progress. Murphy partnered with the owners of The Red Rabbit to run the food program, which will focus on small plates, mostly charcuterie. That won’t happen until sometime next year. In the meantime, customers can order food from nearby Evan’s Kitchen and Hot City Pizza, and food trucks make regular appearances as well. Marybeth Bizjak in Sac Mag.

Willpower killer: Fallin' Off d'Wagon, Hook & Ladder Manufacturing Co. - Every week, it seems, I vow to cut back on cocktails and yet every night there I am again, ready to drink the day's stresses away. Hook & Ladder has the perfect remedy for this dilemma, the aptly named Fallin' Off d'Wagon ($9). It's a simple concoction—just bourbon and an apple-ginger shrub—with a full flavor profile. Rachel Leibrock in Sac News & Review.

Can new owners break curse that has killed three similar restaurants in their space? - Sacramento Pizza Co. is filling a restaurant space where at least three other pizza shops have failed. One of its owners knows what you're thinking. "You can call us kind of crazy," said Anay Patel, co-owner and general manager of Sacramento Pizza Co. at 2700 E. Bidwell St. in Folsom. After months of preparation, the business begins its soft opening on Sunday. Sonya Sorich in Sac Biz Journal.

Beer Run: Pangaea’s beer dinner speaks of Sacramento’s surging scene - I just experienced one of the best beer events I have ever attended in Sacramento. I’m referring to the $120 per person beer-pairing dinner at Pangaea Bier Cafe in collaboration with Russian River Brewing of Santa Rosa. Here was a cozy neighborhood pub in Curtis Park partnering with a craft brewery widely considered one of the best in the world. It was a fundraiser for breast cancer awareness, featuring Russian River’s acclaimed Framboise For A Cure, a tart and fruity barrel-aged sour that is sold only in October. It has become an annual tradition and a great community endeavor in Santa Rosa, with all proceeds from this limited-release beer going to Sutter Breast Care Services of Santa Rosa. Blair Anthony Robertson in the Sac Bee.

Here are the 15 most popular Sacramento happy hours of October 2015 (based on page views) on Cowtown Eats:

1. BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse (Last month's rank: 1)
2. Bento Box (Last month's rank: 2)
3. Chicago Fire (Last month's rank: 6)
4. Zocalo (Last month's rank: 3)
5. Fat's Asia Bistro (Last month's rank: 7)
6. Magpie Cafe (Last Month: Unranked)
7. Cheesecake Factory (Last month's rank: 10)
8. Ruth's Chris Steakhouse (Last month's rank: 5)
9. Broderick Restaurant & Bar (Last month's rank: 13)
10. Hook & Ladder (Last month's rank: 11)
11. Bottle & Barlow (Last month's rank: 4)
12. Burgers & Brew (Last month's rank: 9)
13. Buffalo Wild Wings (Last month's rank: 15)
14. Shady Lady Saloon (Last month's rank: 12)
15. Lucca (Last Month: Unranked)

Thanks for visiting Cowtown Eats! We had more than 51,000 page views and more than 20,500 unique visitors.

I also want to give a special shout out to Cask & Barrel, Hook & Ladder and Ernesto's Mexican Food for generously sponsoring Cowtown Eats and keeping the lights on here. 

Here are the 15 most popular Sacramento happy hours of September 2015 (based on page views) on Cowtown Eats:

1. BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse (Last month's rank: 1)
2. Bento Box (Last month's rank: 3)
3. Zocalo (Last month's rank: 2)
4. Bottle & Barlow (Last Month: Unranked)
5. Ruth's Chris Steakhouse (Last month's rank: 4)
6. Chicago Fire (Last month's rank: 5)
7. Fat's Asia Bistro (Last month's rank: 6)
8. Firestone Public House (Last month's rank: 7)
9. Burgers & Brew (Last month's rank: 14)
10. Cheesecake Factory (Last month's rank: 8)
11. Hook & Ladder (Last Month: Unranked)
12. Shady Lady Saloon (Last month's rank: 11)
13. Broderick Restaurant & Bar (Last Month: Unranked)
14. Oak Park Brewing Company (Last Month: Unranked)
15. Buffalo Wild Wings (Last Month: Unranked)

Thanks for visiting Cowtown Eats! We had nearly 46,000 page views and more than 17,250 unique visitors.

I also want to give a special shout out to Cask & Barrel for generously sponsoring Cowtown Eats and keeping the lights on here. 

Here are the 15 most popular Sacramento happy hours of July 2015 (based on page views) on Cowtown Eats:

1. BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse (Last month's rank: 1)
2. Zocalo (Last month's rank: 2)
3. Bento Box (Last month's rank: 3)
4. Chicago Fire (Last month's rank: 5)
5. Ruth's Chris Steakhouse (Last month's rank: 4)
6. Fat's Asia Bistro (Last month's rank: 6)
7. Burgers & Brew (Last month's rank: 9)
8. Cheesecake Factory (Last month's rank: 13)
9. Lucca Restaurant (Last month's rank: 10)
10. Paesanos (Last month's rank: 8)
11. 33rd St. Bistro (Last month's rank: 5)
12. Shady Lady Saloon (Last month's rank: 15)
13. Firestone Public House (Last month's rank: 12)
14. Hook & Ladder (Last month: Unranked
15. Chevy's Fresh Mex - On the River (Last month's rank: 9)

Thanks for visiting Cowtown Eats! We had more than 69,000 page views and more than 29,750 unique visitors.

I also want to give a special shout out to Cask & Barrel and Hook & Ladder  for generously sponsoring Cowtown Eats and keeping the lights on here.

California's Austin, not The New Oakland.

That's how 7x7, a popular San Francisco's Web site that celebrates "trailblazing spirit and to maximize every moment in this magnificent place," describes Sacramento.

(FYI - The site's name is a reference to the roughly 49 square miles within San Francisco's borders.)

7x7 writer Garrick Ramirez is actually pretty spot on with his recommendations for those venturing from 90 miles down I-80.

Among his dining suggestions:

Preservation & Co: "Take home Sacramento-priced bottles of the shop's housemade sriracha, pickled beets, and the killer bloody mary mix that made them famous."

Ruhstaller: "The real joy comes from visiting their hop farm in nearby Dixon. Haybales, wooden spool tables, rustic shelters and sunset campfires lend a magical setting."

Coin-Op Game Room: "Old-school favorites like Roadblasters, Simpsons, and AC/DC pinball sport handy cup holders for the huge selection of craft beers."

Shady Lady Saloon: "Hidden inside a historic masonry building, this unpretentious cocktail bar plays up the city's Gold Rush past with bordello chic interiors."

Federalist Public House: "A lively crowd assembles for pizzas and pints at this modern beer garden comprised of white shipping containers, a bocce court and rooftop garden."

Also featured are Ginger Elizabeth Chocolates, Devine Gelateria, Bottle & Barlow, Temple Coffee and Hook & Ladder.

This is the second time in recent months that Sacramento has been featured by a SF-focused publication.

Read the entire story on 7x7.

More News:

Alcoholic boba tea now for sale at Lazi Cow in Davis - If you’ve ever wished you could get drunk on tapioca milk tea, get ready to find fulfillment in Davis. Lazi Cow (407 G Street) shut down for a few months this spring for a major remodel. The boba shop held its grand re-opening in June with cow print walls, a large cow sculpture that doubles as a bench, a swing—why not? Janelle Bitker in Sac News & Review.

Get ready for more doughnut ice cream sandwiches - The Parlor built a following -- so much, in fact, that this week the owners confirmed a Roseville location is in the works. It will be at 1490 Eureka Road, in the Eureka Ridge shopping center, and is scheduled to open in late July or early August. Sonya Sorich in Sac Biz Journal.

Roseville tapioca shop closes - Fans of Tapioca Express in Roseville will have to get their fix elsewhere. A sign outside the store at 1132 Galleria Blvd. says it's "closing indefinitely" Thursday. Sonya Sorich in Sac Biz Journal.

Dining review: In Roseville, ASR’s food does not match its ambition - Roseville’s ASR Restaurant & Lounge, which measures 11,000 square feet when counting a patio outfitted with cabanas and a VIP section, unfortunately leans more rule than exception. Though admirably thorough – open every day, the restaurant serves lunch, dinner and late-night bites – it falters at the detail level, on such key matters as flavor combinations and consistent service. Carla Meyer in the Sac Bee.

Fish Face kicks off Sacramento's poke trend - Fish Face is chiefly a to-go poke stand, inspired by the shops that dish out raw fish salad by weight in Hawaii. There, you’d stare at pre-made combinations—kimchi octopus, sesami tuna, spicy shrimp—before making a decision. At Fish Face, you build your own salad. Janelle Bitker in Sac News & Review.

I know this is a little late in the month, but I wanted to post this anyway. Here are the 15 most popular Sacramento happy hours of January 2015 on Cowtown Eats:

1. BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse
2. Bento Box
3. Ruth's Chris Steakhouse
4. Cheesecake Factory
5. Chicago Fire
6. Zocalo
7. Fat's Asia Bistro
8. Lucca Restaurant
9. Firestone Public House
10. Buffalo Wild Wings
11. Burgers & Brew
12. Hook & Ladder
13. LowBrau
14. Chevy's Fresh Mex - On the River
15. Logan's Roadhouse

Thanks for visiting Cowtown Eats! We had more than 78,000 page views and 31,350 unique visitors.

I also want to give a special shout out to Strings Urban Kitchen for generously sponsoring Cowtown Eats and keeping the lights on here.

#StandWithInsight @insightcoffee pic.twitter.com/pZpvn7vVvj

— Cowtown Eats (@CowtownEats) February 12, 2015

For the last month or two, a local carpenters union has spent day after day picketing Insight Coffee and Magpie Cafe for being the future tenants of Powerhouse 16, which the union says isn't paying high enough wages. (Representatives of Powerhouse 16's contractors deny that assertion.)

Since Cowtown Eats first wrote about this issue, other reporters have also covered the story.

First, Ryan Lillis in Monday's Sac Bee:

Magpie and Insight aren’t building their new digs; they’ll simply be tenants. Bay Miry, the developer building 16 Powerhouse, said the project didn’t receive big public subsidies and therefore wasn’t required to use union labor. But he said his workers are getting “standard market-rate wages” and are being treated fairly.

The union isn’t buying it. In a lengthy written statement, Scott Littlehale, a Local 46 spokesman, said Insight and Magpie haven’t demanded that carpenters building the new shops get paid wages and benefits meeting area standards. “The people who construct the buildings that are the bones of our community won’t sit idly and watch the middle-class American dream slip away,” he wrote.

Read the entire story in the Sac Bee.

Sac News & Review's Jordan Venema covers some of the customer reaction.

It is questionable whether or not the Local 46 demonstrations effectively communicate the wider issue, let alone the issue at hand, which involves 16 Powerhouse. When Local 46 claims that businesses like Insight and Magpie are morally and economically responsible for contractors to provide standard area wages, it raises the question: What are the degrees of separation between a business and its responsibility for standard area wages?

Because Magpie and Insight are popular locally owned businesses, images of the Grim Reaper picketing their storefronts began showing up on Facebook and Twitter last week. “There is a court of public opinion, and we believe that 98 percent of people are in our camp,” Ryan said of the conversation on social media....

A few blocks away on Tenth Street, local photographer and downtown Insight regular Nicholas Wray stood out front with union protesters for hours last week, holding a sign that read “I [heart] Insight.”

Read the entire article in Sac News & Review.

Now, fellow restaurants have taken to social media to show their support for Magpie Cafe and Insight Coffee.

We <3 Insight & Magpie is not a crime #sacramento #picketers http://t.co/RpdoHgtsSU

— HOT ITALIAN (@hotitalianpizza) February 12, 2015

@MagpieCafeSacto @hotitalianpizza #grouphug

— Mother (@MotherSac) February 12, 2015

I went to Insight Capitol Cafe to show my support for them on Thursday, and I'm going to try to get a seat at Magpie for dinner on Friday. If you can, you should support these two local business too.

More News:

Sacramento Bee readers name their own ‘Tater Tops’ - Sacramento can’t get enough french fries, it seems, a snack that has become a cultural icon in a myriad of styles. Everyone, of course, has a favorite...Meanwhile, here’s a sampling of readers’ french-fry recommendations: Jacks Urban Eats, Lobrau, Willie's, Capitol Garage, Buggy Whip & Adamo's. Allen Pierleoni in the Sac Bee.

Refreshing Find: Locally Crafted Silk Road Soda - Roseville’s Silk Road sodas were inspired from traditional Persian family recipes, and the company likes to refer to them as “Mediterranean refreshers.” Light and gently carbonated, the sodas boast clear, pure flavors of cucumber (really—and it’s delicious), fruity pomegranate, and palate-enlivening mint, with just enough sweetness to enhance the flavors, not smother them. Kira O'Donnell in Sac Mag.

Sophisticated Farm-to-Fork Fare at The Firehouse - Sacramento is home to a number of talented, innovative chefs whose menus are a flavorful celebration of our region’s agricultural bounty. Some of the most dazzling and sophisticated farm-to-fork cuisine in the city can be found at The Firehouse in Old Sacramento, where chef Deneb Williams is plating up an enticing array of seasonally inspired dishes. Kira O'Donnell in Sac Mag.

Liquidology: Sacramento’s newest juice shop - I dropped by Liquidology – Sacramento’s  newest juice shop last week, just before their grand opening celebration. Located on H street at 46th, Liquidology serves local, organic cold pressed juices and a raw foods menu made by Chef Brooke of Green Boheme. Julie and Jeff, the owners, were wonderfully sweet and friendly. They prepared a flight of juices for me, which will also be available at the shop.  They were amazing. Lots of interesting combinations and spicy nuances. I particularly enjoyed the less fruity ones – because I’m that girl who is watching her carbs. Elizabeth Welsh on Girls on the Grid.

Mooyah Burgers targets the family affair - Our burgers were helped by heaps of toppings that added flavor and heft. Though the 5.3-ounce patty gets 310 of its 430 calories from fat, the well-done meat seemed a bit dry and definitely underseasoned. We should have added a Hebrew National-brand hot dog, or a salad with turkey, beef or chicken tenders. Uh, chicken tenders on salad? The double-cooked fried-to-order french fries are a menu star, long batons of hand-cut Idaho russets prepared in a “six-step, 24-hour ordeal.” Portions are huge, and the fries are dark, crispy-creamy and well-seasoned. Allen Pierleoni in the Sac Bee.