Explore Sacramento’s top Michelin star restaurants known for their culinary excellence and distinctive dining experiences. The article showcases renowned establishments like The Kitchen and Michelin-starred The Waterboy, celebrated for their innovative menus and impeccable service. Discover why Sacramento has become a destination for food enthusiasts, offering a blend of local flavors and international influences. Whether you’re seeking fine dining or a memorable gastronomic adventure, these restaurants promise exceptional quality and ambiance in California’s capital city.
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Michelin Star Restaurants
The Kitchen
With one Michelin Star to its name, Randall Selland’s flagship restaurant, The Kitchen, represents a lot more than just fine dining. The Kitchen will treat its diners to a five-course meal, which they can choose to enjoy with or without a wine pairing. While the menu changes regularly depending on the ingredients available, some stand-outs have included pan-roasted duck breast with red quinoa and rhubarb, herb-basted Alaskan halibut cheeks and smoke-roasted mole short rib.
- Price: $$
- Michelin stars: 1
- Address: 2225 Hurley Way, Sacramento, CA 95825
- Type of food: Seasonal
- Must-try: Chef’s Tasting Menu.
Michelin Bib Gourmand Restaurants
The Michelin Guide awards the Michelin Bib Gourmand honours to restaurants that aren’t necessarily classed as fine dining establishments, but still meet a few of the other criteria assessed when compiling the guide. Below, you’ll find a few more Michelin Guide Sacramento restaurants.
Frank Fat’s
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Frank Fat’s is perhaps the oldest Michelin esteemed restaurant in Sacramento. This Chinese-American jewel has been owned by the same family since 1939, making it over 8- years old. A trip to Frank Fat’s will feel as though you’ve been transported to another era, as a retro bar serves up mean martinis during happy hour. The dining room is an elegant one, and the servers are all dressed to the nines, ties and all!
This restaurant has a decidedly old-school ambience and the menu feels like a bit of a throwback too – but in a good way! Diners can expect the likes of traditional Chinese dishes like yu kwok (crispy pork, beef and water chestnut dumplings) and Peking duck paired alongside American classics like banana cream pie. Everything at this restaurant is beautifully executed and will undoubtedly make for a delicious meal.
- Price: $
- Address: 806 L Street, Sacramento, CA 95814
- Type of food: Chinese-American
- Must-try: Peking duck, banana cream pie, garlic-chilli green beans.
Camden Spit & Larder
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While this list focuses mainly on Michelin Star restaurants in Sacramento, another excellent option for diners looking for a flavourful experience is Camden Spit & Larder. This eatery combines the magic of Downtown Sacramento with uptown London. This foodie haven is unlike any other. Chef Oliver Ridgeway applies his British culinary expertise with farm-fresh Californian ingredients. It’s the best of both worlds!
The restaurant’s atmosphere is quite striking too. The dining room features impressive floor-to-ceiling windows, a gorgeously polished bar, and a lovely outdoor dining area that overlooks Capitol Mall. Just as its name suggests, Camden Spit & Larder serves up delicately roasted meats, which are a staple of the dinner menu. You can end your meal on a sweet note with some traditional English desserts that will leave you longing for more!
- Price: $
- Address: 555 Capitol Mall #100, Sacramento, CA 95814
- Type of food: British-American
- Must-try: Prime rib and potato rosti, banoffee pie.
Bacon & Butter
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Bacon & Butter – is there a restaurant name more enticing? As if the name is not enough to have diners queuing up to get a seat, this eatery promises good, old-fashioned American breakfast and brunch. And it certainly delivers on that promise! There are no fancy frills at Bacon & Butter, but the restaurant doesn’t need any of those at all.
Diners can look forward to indulging on flapjacks, cinnamon rolls and crispy potatoes, and of course, plenty of bacon and butter too! The food tastes like exactly what you’d get on a Sunday morning at grandma’s, and is made using fresh, local ingredients. Bacon & Butter has been open since 2012 and ever since then, has made a point of sourcing all of its produce from suppliers within Sacramento.
- Price: $
- Address: 5913 Broadway, Sacramento, CA 95820
- Type of food: Classic American
- Must-try: Egg, bacon & cheese biscuit sandwich with bacon gravy, flapjacks, kitchen sink.
Zocalo
Another honourable mention in the Michelin Guide for Sacramento is Zocalo, a Mexican restaurant that serves up all the classics but with a modern twist. While the restaurant itself is set right in the Capitol Mall, it’s still quite upscale and adds a touch of elegance to the ambience. This eatery celebrates true Mexican hospitality, which is reflected in its authentic cuisine and extraordinary service, as well as in the community partnerships it has built and sustained. Zocalo also has a sprawling outdoor patio that is perfect for when you’re looking to dine in that Californian sunshine.
- Price: $
- Address: 1801 Capitol Avenue, Sacramento, CA 95811
- Type of food: Mexican
- Must-try: Puebla-style chicken enchiladas, carnitas, Mango Fresco margarita with tajin salt rim.
Sebastian is a former hedge fund trader who worked only to indulge his true passion – food.
He has dined at over 240 Michelin-starred restaurants around the world, savoring culinary masterpieces and understanding the stories behind them. He now advises restaurants on menu design, decor and holistic diner experience.