Many a Saturday evening are spent in a bar anyway, so why not liven the experience every third Saturday with the Old Sacramento Speakeasy Tour? Led by Downtown Sacramento Partnership guide Shawn Peter--who developed the tour out of personal interest, and by scouring archives and historical documents--attendees get a glimpse at Prohibition-era life in Sacramento, all while sipping beverages in a few of Old Sacramento's speakeasiest saloons. Tickets are $10, drinks not included. But, never fear: there's time at each stop to purchase and consume drinks of your own. Watch out, though, those cobblestones and boardwalk sidewalks can be tricky! The next tour is Saturday, October 19 October 20,

The owners behind a new restaurant and bar set to open in West Sacramento have plans that are both unpretentious and ambitious. They want to serve basic bar food at a reasonable price, and help spur development in a neighborhood that could use a boost. Broderick, set to open at 319 Sixth St. in October, will be a working-class bar with stiff drinks, big portions and a no-frills, no-nonsense approach, according to manager and co-owner Chris Jarosz, who is also the operator of the Wicked ‘wich food truck. "It will be real American bar food," Jarosz said. "No Nouveau California cuisine, no fusion this or that. It's just going to be pure, unadulterated, old-school Middle-American bar food: h

The Pour House held its grand opening on Friday – Midtown's newest bar features taps at tables with whiskey and beer, sandwiches from the Coast to Coast food trucks and decor reminiscent of a Prohibition-era speakeasy. The bar/restaurant will be open from 11 a.m to 1:30 a.m., serving lunch and dinner, with plans to add a Sunday brunch soon, according to operator Trevor Shults. Shults said he was going for a "rustic, older vibe" that utilized the historic nature of the building and its location at 1910 Q St, next to railroad tracks. "The design, I feel, complements the building well," he said Wednesday. The interior is divided into two rooms with distinct designs. The front room is open

Capitol Beer and Tap Room opened in Campus Commons Friday, and now owner Ken Hotchkiss is ready to share his love of beer with Sacramento. “I’ve been chasing great beers for 20 years,” Hotchkiss said. “It made sense to me to open a place like this.” The taproom and bottle shop is located in a sprawling retail and restaurant complex on the corner of Fair Oaks Boulevard and Howe Avenue, about 2 miles from Sac State. The front door is within a few yards of Tokyo Fro’s and Bandera on one side, and Ruth’s Chris Steak House on the other side. So what makes this place stand out? “We offer quality beer on draft and a quality bottle shop,” Hotchkiss said. “We have a nice patio, a great tasting

Does the grid have too many bars, and do those bars show enough respect for the residents around them? That's been a hotly debated question in the grid for years, and it came up during last week's Sac Press Live chat when I asked local historian and author William Burg to respond to a reader's comment that he was a "Not In My Backyard" activist. "That particular epithet is offensive and inappropriate," he said. "If you have standards – if you feel that some project isn't good enough for your neighborhood, then that's what you get slapped with." Here's the video of my question and his response:   Burg said that he enjoys nightlife in the grid, but he thinks many bars don't show eno

From Old Sacramento’s ‘prohibition style’ speakeasies, to the Man Men era of Downtown’s dueling politicos and backroom deals, Sacramento has a long history of working hard and playing harder. The Downtown Sacramento Partnership’s (DSP) new Cap City Sips happy hour promotion celebrates just that, the art of balancing business with a splash of pleasure. This summer, DSP and local downtown businesses have joined forces to create a budget-friendly happy hour promotion for the Downtown District. Each restaurant or bar participating in Cap City Sips will offer a happy hour menu every Wednesday from 3-7pm featuring $2 beers, $3 wine, and $4 cocktails. The deals will continue each week all summer

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. The Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services and the Sacramento Press joined forces to host the inaugural Eat to Feed the Hungry, which features 15 Sacramento restaurants, cafes and bars. Using social media, community members can “check in” at one of the sponsoring businesses using Facebook of Foursquare, and then order food and drinks. For every participant who checks in, the business will donate $1 to the SFBFS. If people check in with a photo, the businesses will double their donation, with a cap of $500 per business. Sacramento

There’s nothing cooler than ordering a beer at the bar, walking over to the jukebox, and plunking a quarter into it. Especially when there’s no music playing at all. When the song kicks on, an atmospere is being created. The old school jukebox in Sacramento is becoming an endangered species. Replaced by the internet jukebox, or the “Downloaders” as Irene Doner, owner of the Tallac Lounge calls them. Can you imagine Fonzie banging his fist on an internet jukebox? Not cool. Bad music can ruin a good time at a cool bar. You’re sipping a pint of Newcastle and some drunk chick in a yellow Juicy tracksuit dominates the room with five songs in a row from Pink. Lets get this party started, right?

Shady Lady Saloon will add a new white whiskey to its menu called Original Moonshine Clear Corn Whiskey, and to help introduce it, a cocktail competition will be held at 6 p.m. Monday. White whiskey is different from other whiskey in that it hasn’t been aged in the barrel, or if it has, it’s not for very long, Shady Lady co-owner Jason Boggs said. There are no guidelines for the competition – just that the bartenders use the Moonshine corn-based whiskey as the main spirit. Three judges will decide which cocktails win first, second and third prizes, with rewards of $500, $300 and $200, respectively. The three judges are Chris Dooley, head spirits director  bar manager at Ella  L Wine Lo

Tonight, the Downtown Sacramento Partnership (DSP) is adding a new twist to the Friday Night Concerts in the Park. Concertgoers can now compete for prizes in a series of challenges and receive special Concert Deals at local businesses on their mobile phones via the SCVNGR app. Participants start by downloading the free SCVNGR app for iPhone or Android. To play, look for the “Friday Night Concerts” trek and complete a series of quick concert-themed challenges to earn points. Challenges consist of snapping pictures, answering trivia questions, and social check-ins by bumping phones with friends. Challenges will rotate each week throughout the concert series giving players more chances to wi

A few more changes are in the works for the Second Saturday Art Walk in an effort to reduce problems and increase the focus on art, city and business leaders said Wednesday. The changes will take effect in April, when the event's crowds are expected to grow as warm weather returns to Sacramento. The city's Second Saturday safety team has come up with some modifications in the wake of a fatal shooting in September 2010. The biggest change is a requirement that vendors, musicians with amplified sound and other street performers who are set up on public property – primarily sidewalks or closed streets – operate from 4 - 8 p.m. Live music is part of a growing music scene that has emerged on

For some time now, K Street has been wavering between its past life as a Sacramento hot spot and its future as a wilting has-been. The busy street is clearly an institution from 9 to 5, but despite the Crest and the constant stream of events, city planners have been struggling to pull in a real evening crowd. The news is out that a team of fairytale Bay Area developers has joined forces and created Dive Bar, Pizza Rock and District 30. This nightclub-pizza-bar trio hopes to entice the masses for some good old K Street entertainment and after-hours. But is this Bay Area vibe a bit of a stretch in grabbing the attention of the average Midtown resident? Even worse is the grueling task of con

Using seasonal ingredients, robust liquors and festive garnishes, bars across Midtown are preparing to fight the bitter cold by adding some new innovative concoctions and classic holiday favorites to their menus. Designed to warm the belly and lift the spirits, here’s a look at some of Sacramento’s tastiest winter cocktails. Shady Lady Saloon 1409 R St. Hot Buttered Rum $8 1 pound softened butter ½ pound brown sugar ½ pound super fine white sugar 2 teaspoons ground nutmeg 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 2 teaspoons ground cardamom 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 2 teaspoons ground clove 1 ½ ounces dark rum Hot water (enough water to fill an Irish coffee glass or mug) Mix that by h

“Once, during Prohibition, I was forced to live for days on nothing but food and water.” ~W.C. Fields     The 18th Amendment, which banned the sale, manufacture and transportation of alcohol in the United States, was ratified on Jan. 16, 1919. As a result, drinking in the United States stopped almost completely. Drunk and disorderly behavior went the way of the dodo, crime rates sunk like a turd in a jug and America became an idyllic utopia full of stolid, sober, upright men and women who had finally been saved from that liquid Mephistopheles which had held them captive for so long. "Is this Heaven?" people were known to ask one another. "No, it's just government-mandated Prohibition" s

The key to successful and safe hip hop events in Sacramento is to focus on the music, an expert panel said Tuesday. Sacramento needs club owners and promoters to give hip hop artists doing good music a chance – working together rationally to overcome stereotypes or solve problems. What the city doesn't need is people who bring turf wars or personal drama into clubs, said hip hop artists, promoters and a historian gathered at the Crest Theatre. One panelist, rapper B-Smoove, acknowledged that problems can arise if gang enemies who normally don't cross paths suddenly wind up at the same club. He’s established a reputation for hosting problem-free hip hop nights by reminding his audiences t

Nightclub safety will be discussed at upcoming workshops offered by local business organizations. The Downtown Sacramento Partnership, Midtown Business Association and Old Sacramento Business Association are hosting two sessions this month.They are part of a series aimed at educating bar and restaurant owners and staff about their responsibilities, as well as state laws and city regulations. The free workshops are open to businesses, DJs and club promoters in Old Sacramento, downtown and Midtown. Rapper B-Smoove and other experts in Sacramento's hip hop scene recently agreed to lead a panel on managing hip hop nights so that they stay free from the violence that shut down clubs like Ele

Cancelation of the long running Exotic Erotic Ball in San Francisco? Are Sacramento's Exotic Ball ticket sales going to be down due to the economy? It seems as Halloween is upon us many Sacramentins are looking for more economical night time parties this year and I thought I would take the time to give out some information on some upcoming night time events in the Sacramento area that wont break your wallet. Saturday Night: The 5hundy.net / calpubcrawl.com group will be having there annual pub crawl starting in midtown, then snaking its way into Old Sacramento. The Crawl starts at 6.30 at Shady Lady and ending in Old Sacramento at River City Saloon  & Vega's.  Details at http://www.ca

If you aren’t one of the lucky fans who will actually be at the 2010 World Series, then you’ll probably be like the rest of us rooting for the Giants at local watering holes. Don’t worry though, there are more than enough flat-screens and drink specials to go around. So pull up a stool, grab a beer, and pick one of the places below to cheer on the Giants!   Basic, 112 Pacific St., Roseville 5 flat-screen TVs $1 shots every time the Giants score Brew it Up, 801 14th St. 4 HD flatscreen TVs, 2 additional CRT TVs in bar World Series specials: $4 3 Olives flavored vodka cocktails $3 Kraken dark rum and Cokes $10 64-oz pitchers of Brewery Fest beer Buffalo Wild Wings, 6301 Sunrise Blvd., C

Can there be anything better on a mid-October Friday night than some smooth, mellow jazz music conveniently placed in a stylishly intimate club? If you're underage – probably. But for those applicable, the show will be about the genius of jazz. Collaborating with orchestras including The Sacramento Philharmonic, selling out concerts and Jazz festivals across America and Europe, The Brubeck Brothers Quartet, featuring Daniel and Chris Brubeck, will be filling up the evening with plenty of reasons to ditch out on Netflix and that cheap bottle of wine. These versatile musicians, accompanied by guitarist Mike Demicco and pianist Chuck Lamb, have been received nationally for their contagious

Sacramento’s “hospitality zones” became classrooms Thursday night. Nearly two dozen people visiting Sacramento for the California Downtown Association’s 2010 annual conference took a walking “Nighttime Economy Tour” through parts of Old Sacramento, downtown and Midtown. Most in the group help manage downtown business districts. Stopping in bars from Vega’s at Old Sacramento’s historic waterfront to de Vere’s Irish Pub near 15th and L streets, people learned best practices, as well as what to avoid, to successfully set up and manage hospitality districts – concentrations of bars, restaurants, café-lounges and other entertainment businesses. Officials with cities and business improvement