Looking to save 50% off your afternoon hit of caffeine? Peet's Coffee & Tea is offering 50% off any beverage made in the store after 12 noon through Oct. 31.

Offer is not valid at airport, supermarket or BART locations, and can't be used for bottled drinks.

Click here to get the coupon.

Local Peet's Coffee can be found at:

• 19th and R (Safeway parking lot)
• 20th and J
• Alhambra and Folsom (next to Fed Ex Office)
• 37th and J

Cafe Plan B, which opened at the end of February at 20th & Capitol (next to Jack's Urban Eats), got its first visit from a major critic - Sac Mag's Kira O'Donnell.

But the most unusual aspect of the restaurant is its lack of traditional waitstaff – patrons simply select their meal (including beverages) from a Presto touchscreen tablet located on their table (which, by the way, offers games to play if you’re feeling bored). Standout menu items from my visit included ethereal, doll-sized raviolis stuffed with Compté cheese and drizzled with crème fraiche; a dazzling butter lettuce salad embellished with toasted walnuts, Roquefort cheese and sun-dried cherries; and a velvety, elegant crème brûlée.

Read the entire post in Sac Mag.

Ally Gaffan on A Girl & Her Fork also paid Cafe Plan B a visit.

I've always felt a great dining experience can mainly be gauged by three things- a relaxing atmosphere, friendly and efficient service and delicious food. When my friend Misa and I stopped in on Friday, Plan B Café delivered strong on all three counts. The owners of the new bistro have really spruced the place up.

Read the entire post on A Girl & Her Fork.

I've eaten there once - during the week of their soft opening, and loved the place. It's a little pricey, but still a good value for your meal. I also appreciate their tablet-based ordering system. Between ordering the food when you were ready and paying for it right away, I feel like it shaved 7 to 10 minutes off my lunch visit, which is crucial if you're on a tight schedule.

One of my co-workers at there this week and came back raving about the food. I can't wait to give it another try.

More News:

Pete’s Restaurant & Brewhouse: Pizza, Burgers and Beer, Oh My! - The Pete’s Chicken Combo with bacon, red onions and artichoke hearts was ridiculously addicting, and the thick dough was just hearty enough to stand up to the pizza’s creamy garlic sauce. Adding a dash of crushed red pepper flakes didn’t hurt either. Jennifer Resnicke in Style Mag.

More burgers coming to Sacramento? - Another fast-food franchise is eyeing the Sacramento market. Checkers Drive-In Restaurants Inc., which operates nearly 800 Checkers and Rally's locations nationwide, wants to have three to five restaurants in the Sacramento region by 2015. And within the next five years, the burger chain hopes to have 15 to 25 locations here. Sonya Sorich in Sac Biz Journal.

Sugar surge: Three new sweets shops opening in Folsom - If you have a sweet tooth, there’s no shortage of options in Folsom. The city is welcoming at least three new dessert shops. Featuring Fluffy Snow Desserts, Candy Mine and Sugar Daddies. Sonya Sorich in Sac Biz Journal.

Coconut Midtown Thai Restaurant, which replaced Luck BBQ and Negril Island Grill at 25th & J, opened earlier this month serving fresh, but affordable Thai food.

I visited the restaurant on Friday evening for happy hour (natch) and found a surprisingly busy restaurant given the fact that it had only been open a couple weeks.

In a short interview with the owner Nan Pangpanga, she told me that she came to America from Thailand in 2005. In Thailand, she had a bachelor's degree in accounting and finance and a master's degree in management. In Thailand, she had an import/export business, and tried to sell Thai silk across the world. Unfortunately, she soon realized she couldn't compete with China.

After she moved to America, she worked in restaurants, most recently at Thai Paradise in Folsom. While she was working at a restaurant, she took her analytical mind and analyzed what people ordered for a month. That helped her shape the menu at Coconut Midtown.

Pangpanga's goal is to get as close to organic as possible. (She would do fully organic, but many ingredients aren't certified as organic since there's not the demand for that yet in the Asian market.) She also notes that while her price point is lower than her competitors on the same street, she still uses expensive ingredients like rice bran oil. (A subsequent search on Amazon shows that rice oil's about 37 cents an ounce, whereas canola oil is about a third less.) She also stressed that the restaurant was vegan friendly.

While I didn't get a chance to try it, the dish that intrigued me was the Spicy Thai Burger. She says that Thai herbs are mixed into the ground beef. It's not a combination that I would have created on my own, but I'm optomistic that the unique taste will work well together.

I tried their happy hour chicken sa-tay skewers, their organic fresh rolls and the pot stickers. I thought the skewers and the rolls were real winners, while the pot stickers were decent, but unremarkable.

Coconut Thai Restaurant is located at 2502 J St. You can find them online at http://www.coconutmidtown.com/ or on Facebook.

More News:

Farm-to-Fork Tower Bridge Dinner to include many Sacramento movers and shakers - While proceeds from the dinner are being used to fund free public events during Farm-to-Fork Week — including a cattle drive held Monday near the state Capitol and a festival coming up Saturday on Capitol Mall — the Sacramento food community has debated the exclusive dinner’s ticket cost and overall benefits for months. “We’re trying to generate money in order to do the free cattle drive and free festival,” Mike Testa, senior vice president of the Sacramento Convention & Visitors Bureau, said of the dinner. However, scoring a much-coveted ticket to the Tower Bridge feast may have been more difficult than originally thought — at least as far as John Q. Foodie is concerned. Carlos Macias in the Sac Bee.

High on F2F Dog at LowBrau - I snacked on a sausage sandwich at Low Brau last night. It was one locally delicious dog...For my tastes, the red, green and yellow tomatoes that topped the dog were chopped too big. I had to tuck and smash them between the sausage and the roll. But a small matter. Chewing on the kitchen’s knife skills gave me time to think about Ray Yeung’s heirloom tomatoes. I enjoyed them in a salad at Hook & Ladder on Monday and I’ve seen them on many Sacramento restaurant menus this season. Ed Murrietta on Sac Biz Lunch.

By now, The Rind's developed a reputation for being a top notch destination for your wine and cheese needs. Every time I've been there, it's been busy, and each time, they've been better than the last.

Sac Mag's Kira O'Donnell paid them a visit and found many things to live.

I ordered a cheese board on a recent visit. It included Marcona almonds, a scrumptious cherry jam and three cheeses, including two from Sonoma County’s Bellwether Farms: creamy, buttery Carmody and Pepato, a semisoft sheep’s milk cheese made with feisty whole peppercorns. The third was Cowgirl Creamery’s Red Hawk, a bold triple-cream cheese with a beautiful red-orange rind. Other outstanding dishes included a salad of locally grown greens and beets and a crusty grilled cheese sandwich showcasing Fiscalini clothbound cheddar cheese, served with a vivacious roasted tomato soup that tasted deeply and satisfyingly of Sacramento summer.

Read the entire review in Sac Mag.

Click here for their happy hour menu.

More News:

Original Pete's adding brewhouse restaurants in Rocklin, Woodland - Original Pete’s Restaurant is expanding with new brewhouse restaurants in Rocklin and Woodland. They will both be Pete’s Restaurant & Brewhouse concept, which have a wider and more diverse menu than the Original Pete’s Pizza, Pasta and Grill restaurants. Mark Anderson in Sac Biz Journal.

Midtown Sacramento’s Starlite lounge sparkles to life - With bright-red lipstick, a red-plastic flower tucked behind her ear and animal-print tattoos down her shoulder, Shannon Cannon exudes the rockabilly aesthetic even more than her bar, The Starlite, which officially opens today in midtown Sacramento...Before becoming The Starlite, the two-story bar was the Townhouse Lounge. And along with a hearty scrubbing, the space received a spritz from the 1950s. Janelle Bitker in the Sac Bee.

Jerad Nutall, the chef at Gatsby's Diner when they were featured on Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, has joined West Sac's Vierra Farms as their on-site caterer.

I ran into Chef Jerad a few weeks ago when I was visiting Vierra Farms to load up on black watermelons. Chef Jared - who also runs the produce stand at Vierra Farms - told me that about 9 months ago, he left Gatsby's Diner after a nearly 4 year run and sold his interest in the restaurant. Running a restaurant didn't let him spend enough time with his young child, he explained.

Prior to working at Gatsby's, Chef Jerad worked at River City Brewing Co. (alongside Tuli and Restaurant Thirt13en chef Adam Pechal), Esquire Grill and Culinary Specialists, the catering arm of Mulvaney's B&L. In total, he's been cooking for more than two decades.

With his new job at Vierra Farms, Chef Jerad has started doing special Farm to Fork Brunches. (What's more farm to fork than eating at a farm?) The first brunch drew 50 diners, despite only having a week to publicize the event.

The next brunch will be Sunday, Aug. 11 from 10 to 2 p.m. Advance tickets are $30 for adults and $10 for children, with 50 percent of the proceeds benefiting the River City Food Bank. Those purchasing the day of will pay an additional $5.  The price of the brunch also offers either sangria of mimosas.

While the menu's not online, Chef Jerad described one dish that I can't wait to try. As his take on ketchup and eggs, he plans on starting with an heirloom tomato, scooping out enough to crack an egg inside and cooking that over a wood fire. (Note: the menu's not online so I don't know if it's changed. But even if it did, it gives you an idea of the creativity behind his dishes.) Actually, due to space constraints, the entire brunch will be cooked over a wood fire.

While we're talking about Vierra Farms, they've also become an event space. You can hold either an indoor event inside an old farmhouse or a larger, outdoor event on their giant lawn, where they can set up picnic tables or long "Italian-style" tables.

If you can't make it to the brunch, they're planning a Pre-Harvest Hoedown on Saturday, Aug. 31.

For more information, visit VierraFarms.com and for Chef Jerad's catering company, visit Facebook.com/FlyingBoarCatering.

More News:

Pete’s Restaurant & Brewhouse: Pete’s goal is simple; good food and good beer - Life’s too short to eat bad pizza. This is basically the mantra of Original Pete’s Restaurants, who have been serving praiseworthy pizza to the greater Sacramento area since 1987. While I have childhood nostalgia for Original Pete’s, I had not yet patronized their newest incarnation (in 2006, they partnered with Firestone Walker Brewery, created handcrafted brews and opened Pete’s Restaurant & Brewhouse). To remedy the situation, I recently visited their Granite Bay location. Kelly Soderlund in Style Mag.

Local Summer Produce Showcased at OneSpeed - Interested in savoring ripe, beautiful produce from the region’s small farmers in a restaurant setting? Visit East Sac’s OneSpeed, where chef/owner Rick Mahan builds his menu around locally-sourced products. On a recent visit to this very popular eatery, I devoured the kitchen’s fabulous, summer-in-a-bowl heirloom tomato gazpacho, embellished with chopped serpent cucumbers from Capay Valley’s Full Belly Farm, and enlivened with a dash of sherry vinegar and olive oil crafted in Lodi at Corto Olive Company. Kira O'Donnell on Sac Mag.

Mayahuel is one of the few high end downtown Mexican restaurants. Between its fresh food, innovative cooking and great drink list, they're a sure bet if you're near the Capitol and looking for an upscale Mexican meal.

• $10 for $20 at Tequila Museo Mayahuel. Offer expires on Wednesday.

More Deals:

• $12 for $24 at 2H at Bunz & Company in Roseville.
• $19 for $43 at Bulls Restaurant & Bar.
• $10 for $20 at Pete's Restaurant & Brewhouse in Natomas.
• $12.50 for $25 at Firebird Russian Restaurant in Carmichael. Offer expires on Sunday.
• $15 for $30 at Susumu Japanese Steakhouse in Roseville. Offer expires on Saturday.
• $10 for $20 at Cool River Pizza in Rocklin. Offer expires on Monday.
• $10 for $20 at Baja Fresh at Howe 'Bout Arden. Offer expires on Monday.

Pete's Restaurant & Brewhouse in Natomas (located at the corner of Del Paso Road & Gateway Park Blvd, just east of Truxel) was robbed on Saturday night. Per the official police report:

Officers responded to a report of a robbery at a business.  Three suspects entered the occupied restaurant, ordered the customers and staff to empty their wallets.  The three suspects fled with money and wallets from the customers, and money from the business till.  All three suspects were possibly black males, thin builds, approximately 5'9"-6' tall, young adults and they were all armed with handguns.  Two of the suspects were wearing dark hooded sweatshirts, and face coverings.  One suspect was wearing grey sweatshirt.

Natomas Buzz did a little more reporting and added that the alleged crime occured at about 10:45 p.m. on Saturday night.

Pete's Restaurant & Brewhouse has additional locations in Midtown, Granite Bay, Folsom & El Dorado Hills.

Read the entire story in Natomas Buzz.

More News:

Espanol restaurant closed? Nope, it's 90 years old and thriving - Let's spike this rumor before it spreads: No, the venerable old-school Espanol restaurant in east Sacramento has not closed its doors. "This is our 90th year in business and things are going well," said Perry Luigi this morning. He co-owns the restaurant with family members. "We've held our menu prices for at least years and still serve family-style dinners." The cause of the confusion: El Dorado Savings vacated the space next door to the Espanol to move across the street, into the Sav-Mart shopping center. Temporarily occupying the empty building is Liberty Tax, which will camp there through tax season. For those driving by on Folsom Boulevard, it may look like the Espanol has closed. Allen Pierleoni in the Sac Bee.

Zinfandel Grille - It’s practically impossible to live in Sacramento and not notice one local hot spot, Zinfandel Grille on Fair Oaks Blvd. Acclaimed for its Mediterranean-inspired menu and extensive wine selection, Zinfandel Grille has been a Sactown favorite for more than 25 years,,,Both of our beautifully presented entrées were incredibly tasty. The generous portion size and burst of flavor coming from every dish left us happy and filled with delight. We ended our night by clearing our plates and feeling more than satisfied with our wonderful meal. Ana Marie Aguas on Sac Foodies.