Kupros Bistro will hold a soft opening this weekend. The restaurant and tavern will open with a limited menu Friday and Saturday in a 100-year-old Midtown house at 1217 21st St. On Thursday, owner Stephen Tokuhama, General Manager Hugo Herreros and chef John Gurnee led new employees through wine and food tastings. Kupros will be open from 5 p.m. - 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday. The kitchen will be serving a limited snack menu from 5-10 p.m. "Tomorrow, we'll have a little soft opening to test the kitchen and fire up everything," Herreros said Thursday. "It's just an introduction of what's coming. It's not the whole menu." The establishment will close Sunday and Monday, then reopen Tuesda

A recycled clothing maven has come full circle, opening a new Midtown store just steps away from her first job in the business. After growing up in the central city, Elizabeth Kelley opened her second Freestyle Clothing Exchange Saturday at the corner of 21st and L streets — about half a block from where she got her first job as an ironer at Cheap Thrills costume shop. Kelley opened Freestyle at 2101 L St. as a sister store to her first resale shop, which opened in Citrus Heights in 2007. The return to Midtown feels like a return to her roots, she said. "I really have a lot of love for that area," she said. "It's like my home." She was just 19 when she started working at Cheap Thrills.

Come join us live as we watch the 3rd Annual Midtown Cocktail Week Competition! Judges include esteemed mixology experts: Julio Bermejo (Tommy’s SF), Chris Macias (The Sacramento Bee), Reza Ezmali (President of USBG SF), Dave Nepove (VP of USBG national and Treasurer of USGB SF, mixologist for Southern Wine and Spirits), Yelp Judge Tanisha B. (Awarding “So Good When It Hits Your Lips” Award). The participants mixing up their specialities this year include: Matt Nurge (Shady Lady), Ryan Seng (Grange), Chris Tucker (L Wine Lounge), Dominique Gonzales (Zocalo), Renee Dominguez (PRG), Chris Dooley (Ella), Atique Rahman (Lounge on 20), Russell Eastman (Golden Bear, Shady Lady, Red Lotus) So c

On Saturday, August 7, Midtown Sacramento played host to the Foursquare Pub Crawl. Organized by Sacramento's Midtown Business Association in order to promote the new Midtown brand, the event featured teams from a number of Midtown establishments. Team leaders were chosen because they were Foursquare Mayors of the participating locations. Foursquare is a dynamic new social networking application that allows users to know what business are close by, what establishments are trending based on the presence of other Foursquare users, see tips published by other users, and even see maps to help guide them to where they want to go. For businesses, Foursquare allows them to know who is visiting

The owners of Cornerstone Restaurant in Midtown may soon return to court to avoid eviction after the planned renovation of a nearby church has stalled. Since December, Kwang "Joe" Jang and his brother-in-law, Danny Leung, have been fighting eviction at 2330 J St., where they've operated the restaurant for 16 years. Four months ago, the property owners agreed in court to give them until Sept. 1 to move out. But work has yet to begin to convert an old church at 23rd and K streets into a new home for the restaurant. Getting the necessary permits from the city has taken longer than expected, Leung said Monday. "We're probably going back to court," he said. "We (will) try to stay longer, un

  The River City Gators announced the signing of a contract with the Midtown Girls cheer and promotional service group.  Midtown Girls Founder and Director Erlynn Rose Holyfield was named Director of the Gator Girls dance squad. Due to confidentiality provisions, terms of the deal were not immediately available.  However, River City Gators Co-Owner Jason Kang said, "We welcome Erlynn and her squad to the River City Gators family.  We're excited about the new team and the upcoming season.  There are a lot of great improvements in the works.  We think the community will love the new dance team and all of the things we'll be announcing over the next few months." Kang continued, "This is an

  The Resurrection Men performed at Harlow's on Friday, August 6. In between a solo musician opener - Josh Howell, and DJ DNA closing with and a sort of 90's club classic revival, the brothers Calloway rocked the house. This was the band's first major club appearance in Sacramento. It came just a week after they performed at The Golden Bear during the California Automobile Museum's Car Cruise and Show in Midtown. The crowd was a mix of Sacramento and Bay Area fans.  One fan, Daunish Aboobaker, came all the way from Seattle.  He happens o be the brother of bass player Nadeem Aboobaker, aka Chester Calloway.  Asked about seeing his brother in the crowd, Nadeem said, "I was really surprised

Posted by chriso What is up with the drastic rise in graffiti?? I went out on my bike today and hadn’t been out for about 4 months and i see tons of new graffiti around downtown. I saw about 1-2 ft high black lettering on a NICE HOUSE around 15th & V…it made my heart sick, It makes me think that it is only a matter of time before my house gets hit, our alley (V,W) is already getting plenty of new graffiti. It is such a shame and makes our city look so trashy. What can I do?? Dear chriso, I spoke with the Sacramento City Senior Code Enforcement Officer who is the supervisor of the graffiti abatement section and forwarded your complaint. He told me that graffiti problems are definite

A Shingle Springs couple is working to open 32 massage franchises in the Sacramento and Stockton areas over the next four years. Terri and R.J. Cicchetti signed a deal to develop more Massage Heights locations less than two years after opening their first franchise in Roseville. They plan to open at least one more in the area themselves, but are primarily searching for other people to open the franchises, Terri Cicchetti said Friday. Massage Heights offers a monthly membership program that enables a client to get a one-hour massage session from a licensed massage therapist for $50 and additional hour-long sessions for $40 that month. Membership requires clients to pay for six to 12 month

Since the birth of the nation there have been great American heroes from Tom Payne to Lil’ Wayne. The next chapter in heroism starts now in an epic 5,700+80 mile journey for love and country – for USA and mopeds. Steve Rosen, proud resident of Midtown Sacramento and proud designer and owner of a custom ‘USA: A-OK’ vintage pedal start moped – is making an attempt to get himself and his transport to the far-off Swiss alps for an 80-mile race at the face-melting speed of 30km/h (20 mph). He will be the only American participant in the competition, the Red Bull Alpenbrevet. While Rosen is dedicated to winning, he also wants to spotlight his nation, and his community and to build permanent tie

Sacramento, CA   The CAM Car Cruise and Show snaked through the streets and captivated downtown Sacramento Saturday evening. Saturday evening, car enthusiats from all over Californina gathered at the California Automomobile Muesuem (CAM) to stage for a downtown cruise and auto show that would cover several streets. If you were downtown Saturday evening after 5 P.M., you may have seen the very long line of vintage, classic and modern cars that snaked through the streets of downtown, from CAM all the way up to 28th and J. Streets were closed from J over to L, beginning at 22nd and over to 25th. Bands of different genres were playing on each street as folks enjoyed the wide variety of cars

Posted by venegasn My mother has been trying to force my 27yr old brother to leave her house. He has been there for 6 months. He is a Crystal meth addict, loud, abusive, dirty and just a complete nuisance. She has called the police on him because he repeatedly steals her truck and he has no valid drivers license. He was arrested but released two days later and she woke up one day and there he was again. She’s changed the locks, but he always manages to get back inside the house somehow. He yells at her that she cannot do anything about it and he will never leave. She’s afraid of him and has asked me for help. I hope there is a legal way to get him out. She has a daycare license and she i

On Friday, July 30, the Sacramento Mountain Lions Cheer and Dance team finals were head at Barcode on Arden Way at 9pm.  The event was originally scheduled to be held at Venue Events Center located at 1417 R St. at 8pm, but a power outage reportedly due to a blown transformer under SMUD control forced a last minute schedule and location change. Noticeably distressed, dance team Director Lindsay Shoemaker scrambled to secure an alternate location.  Demonstrating why she is in fact the team's leader, when put to the test inside the eleventh hour, she found a way not only to come through, but to create an even better atmosphere.  Barcode, despite being a fair distance away from midtown Sacra

Tex Mex Bar and Grill is expected to open in Midtown next month following construction and money delays. Co-owner Mike Keolanui and partners postponed opening the spinoff of his downtown Texas Mexican Restaurant after finding electrical, plumbing and other problems during renovation work inside a 50-year-old building at 2326 J St. Tex Mex had been expected to start offering Texas-style cuisine with a Latin twist three months ago. The space had most recently held Toreros, but Taco Loco had operated there for years. Work was halted until two weeks ago so the partners could focus on opening their two other new restaurants, Bulls in Sacramento and El Dorado Saloon in El Dorado Hills, this s

The city of Sacramento is back at the drawing board — literally — on its efforts to set up a streetcar connecting to West Sacramento. A new study to plan the streetcar route in Sacramento has received $310,000 in federal grant funds. An additional $90,000 from a local source will help pay for the study, according to a July 27 report from the city’s Transportation Department. The City Council signed off on the new funding Tuesday night. “What we’ll be doing now is looking now more broadly at the best routes for that system on the Sacramento side,” Councilman Steve Cohn said Wednesday. In the most recent plan, the streetcar would run from West Sacramento City Hall, across Tower Bridge an

In an era dominated by MP3 players and downloaded music, two music lovers are confident other fans are hungry for the real thing: vinyl, and lots of it. Dal Basi, a longtime Tower Records music buyer, and his partner, Nich Lujan, are banking on the importance of being able to touch your music collection. They are opening an independent vinyl specialty store, Phono Select Records, in Midtown in early September. "Digital music is so soulless," said Basi, 42. "Fast food is kind of like an MP3. You're getting what you need for the moment, but it's not something special." Basi and Lujan both use digital audio players. But the most devoted music fans are into the entire "organic" experience:

With the preliminaries complete, the Sacramento Mountain Lions cheer and dance team will hold the final qualifying round on Friday, July 30 at Venue Events Center located at 1417 R Street, next to Burgers & Brew.  Beginning at 8pm, the final round is open to the public, with an after-party to follow shortly thereafter. The preliminaries were held at the Venue Events Center on Saturday, July 24, from 1-5pm.  With nearly 60 registered participants appearing, many of whom who also participated in the recent Sacramento Kings dance tryouts held at the California State Fair.  Those tryouts were held at Cal Expo the previous Saturday and Sunday, and it seems the Mountain Lions tryout atmosphere

Posted by mmax, My car has been broken into 3 times in front of my house. What can I do or who do I contact? I feel like I’m being targeted. Dear mmax, There are several things you can do to help you prevent yourself from becoming such a target. First and foremost, don’t leave anything in your car. Take it in with you. Even an ashtray full of change is a target. People leave wallets, spare keys to their vehicles/houses, briefcases and other things that an opportunist may steal. If the crime is in progress, call 911. Be able to describe the suspects, what they are wearing, whether they have a bicycle or other mode of transportation, and any other physical characteristics that you can des

The Sacramento Mountain Lions dance team will hold the first round of tryouts for the second half of their planned squad tomorrow from 1-5pm at the Venue Events Center located at 1417 R Street between 14th and 15th in between The Shady Lady and R15.  The squad is a professional adult dance and promotions group that will represent the Sacramento Mountain Lions football team at all home games, and at a variety of community events.  The preliminary session features a variety of compulsory activities including everything from taking head shots to learning a unique choreographed routine. With only 6 days before the finals, participants will go through interviews and judged performances before

Krazy Mary's owner Mary Kawano said the store is thriving after its return to her home turf in East Sacramento. The boutique moved out of Midtown earlier this summer to a store at 3230 Folsom Blvd. — almost right back to the same place where the business opened 10 years ago. The contemporary designer store opened at 3200 Folsom Blvd. in 2000. The store was the first to carry premium denim and other fashions in the area, she said. The East Sacramento resident said she moved her first store out of her neighborhood and over to 2527 J St. in 2005 after competitors including Dara Denim and Barby K opened in Midtown. "That's where our market was," Kawano said. "I've always missed East Sac, 'c