By admin 
If there’s one thing Sacramento is famous for, it’s our summer heat. After all, from June to September, Sacramento has been ranked the sunniest city on earth, according to the World Meteorological Organization.
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Even when the Delta breezes bring relief, some days the heat saps the appetite. When you want to cool things down, there are plenty of options of palate-refreshing food and drink. We’ve curated a list of the new, the iconic and the just plain interesting to enjoy on steamy hot days.
Savories
Cool noodles
Descending into downtown ramen restaurant Kodaiko is like entering a Hayao Miyazaki fantasy subway station. The subterranean restaurant serves up some of the city’s most sophisticated noodles, and a real summer treat is the cucumber gazpacho ramen ($22), served cold. It’s a sort of cultural marriage of Japan and Mexico, aromatic with cilantro and delivering a gentle burn from jalapenos. There’s even ice in the broth to keep it extra chill.
Kodaiko
Address: 718 K St., downtown
Hours: 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. and 4-9 p.m. Monday-Friday; 12-11 p.m. Saturdays; 12-9 p.m. Sundays
Website: kodaikoramen.com
As is often the case, the more downtrodden the strip mall, the better the food is in it. This is certainly true for Pine Tree House in La Riviera. Looking past the empty storefronts and weeds growing through the cracks in the parking lot, Pine Tree House has a homey, diner-like atmosphere and some of the best Korean food in the area. Cold noodles are a mainstay in the cuisine, and the restaurant’s mul nangmyun ($20.99) is an example, with slender buckwheat-based noodles in a cool dashi-like broth. For just a dollar more, the mack guk soo ($21.99) dresses it up with sesame seeds, seaweed and a good dollop of gochujang.
Pine Tree House
Address: 9205 Folsom Blvd. Suite D, La Riviera
Hours: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. daily
Website: pinetreehouse.twupro.com
Speaking of sesame, cold sesame noodles are an elite food on a hot day. The diminutive Taiwanese market-slash-lunch counter Taiwan Best Mart’s cold sesame noodles ($13) are a refreshing tangle of cucumbers, carrots, cilantro, scallions, sesame seeds, flour noodles and the market’s house sesame sauce. Just be sure to order specifically the cold noodles and not the ma jiang mian which, despite having the same ingredients including cucumber, is served hot.
Taiwan Best Mart
Address: 2219 10th St., Southside Park
Hours: 10:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m. Monday-Saturday; 10:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Sundays
Website: taiwanbestmartsac.com
Chilled soups
True gazpacho, in the Andalusian style, a well-blended emulsion of tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, onion, vinegar and oil, blitzed to a smooth, creamy, drinkable texture. It should be bright yet slightly rich and tangy from the vinegar. Stepdad’s has been running an off-menu special gazpacho ($9) it announced on its social media, and it’s true to form — but likely to drop off by the end of the weekend. Midtown farm-to-fork mainstay Mulvaney’s B&L has also introduced another gazpacho ($15) on its lunch menu that it will likely serve through tomato season, and while it’s made with a coarser texture, the famous Ray Yeung tomatoes, Riverdog radishes and Seka Hills olive oil all shine through.
Stepdad’s
Address: 2968 Freeport Blvd., Land Park
Hours: 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Wednesday-Friday; 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays; closed Mondays and Tuesdays
Website: stepdads916.com
Mulvaney’s B&L
Address: 1215 19th St., midtown
Hours: 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. and 5-10 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday; 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. and 4-10 p.m. Fridays; 4-10 p.m. Saturdays; closed Sundays and Mondays
Website: mulvaneysbl.com
Walking into Elena’s Cafe is sensory overload. There’s the giant deli counter, filled with salads and hot dishes from around Eastern Europe, shelves of cakes and fantastical desserts, and a cafe that serves everything from burgers to blini.
Their summer special, okroshka ($12.99), is similarly maximalist. Okroshka is a cold Russian soup, and Elena’s version contains diced cold potatoes, cucumbers, bologna, sliced radish, hardboiled eggs, and dill, and the soup, which comes in a gravy boat, is a mix of kefir and sparkling water poured over it all.
All that is chilly enough, except the okroshka at Elena’s is also served in a sparkling bowl made of solid ice. As a result, the soup stays icy the entire time, and you leave the restaurant feeling like you just walked through a freezer—not a bad sensation in the summer.
Elena’s Cafe
Address: 4604 Roseville Rd. #105, North Highlands
Hours: 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Sunday-Thursday; 8:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays
Website: elenas.kitchen
It feels like a crime to go to The Pastry Cat in Sutter Park and not try one of their many-layered, shatteringly flaky baked goods. But if you order the chilled corn soup ($9), you’ll be presented with a sun-yellow bowl dotted with crunchy croutons made out of their many-layered croissants.
The soup itself has an almost lemon curd-like acidity and sweetness, and it’s laced with flecks of fresh corn and tiny diced pieces of zucchini. Cool, creamy, and easy to eat, it’s a must-try—but be sure to get a pastry for the road.
The Pastry Cat
Address: 533 53rd St. #140, East Sacramento
Hours: 8 a.m.-1 p.m. Friday-Monday; closed Tuesday-Thursday
Website: thepastrycat916.com
Sweet things
Shave(d) ice
Hagen’s Orange Freeze has been keeping Carmichael cool for decades. Originally made and sold around the area by the Merlino family, there was great mourning when the company went under in the early 2000’s. But Temme and Toy Hagen bought an old Merlino’s store in Carmichael and started whipping up fruit freezes ($6.50) with the classic recipe. Orange is still the most popular variety, and for good reason: it’s smoother than a snowcone, more refreshing than ice cream, and has a fresh orange flavor. You can mix-and-match fruit flavors such as pineapple and banana, or try one of the dairy-based freezes, such as root beer or mint chip; you can even ask for two different flavors. They’ll even let you pick which one goes on top.
Hagen’s Orange Freeze
Address: 2520 Walnut Ave., Carmichael
Hours: 11 a.m.-6 p.m. daily
Website: hagensfreeze.com
Triple-digit heat is inevitable in Sacramento, and it’s important to stay hydrated. Many of the customers at Water & Salt in West Sacramento aim to do just that, bringing in containers to fill up with various filtered and enhanced waters, but the more fun way to stay hydrated is to have it in the form of shave ice ($5.67-10.30). A Hawaiian adaptation of a Japanese frozen treat, shave ice is fluffy and light as air. At Water & Salt, that ice, made with alkaline water, is inserted into machines that use sharp blades to turn it into delicate snow. That fluffy powder is gently patted into cups and flavored with various syrups, such as lime or strawberry. Some swear that the alkaline water makes the shave ice even fluffier and lighter.
Water & Salt
Address: 1620 W Capitol Ave., West Sacramento
Hours: 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Saturday; 1-8 p.m. Sundays
Website: waternsalt.com
A vestige of Sacramento’s former Japantown, Osaka-Ya is a traditional Japanese bakery making high-quality manju and mochi, but when the mercury rises, it’s most famous for its snowcones ($4.75-9.25). The bakery piles the ice shavings into a nearly impossibly tall vertical cone, soaked with a syrup in a variety of fruit flavors, including Tiger’s Blood, a mixture of strawberry, watermelon and a dash of coconut. Osaka-ya won’t let you pick more than one flavor, but for an additional $3, you can have a scoop of ice cream laid down as a base.
Osaka-Ya
Address: 2215 10th St., Southside Park
Hours: 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday; 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sundays; 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Mondays
Website: osakaya-wagashi.com
I scream, you scream…
Local heavyweight Gunther’s Ice Cream is famous for more than its iconic neon signage. People queue up for scoops of their favorite flavors, but canny sweet teeth should keep an eye on the restaurant’s social media to see what new creations are in the case. For August, the ice cream sandwich of the month ($5.20) is taro ice cream sandwiched between giant Oreo wafers. Oreos also feature in the ice cream of the month ($5.20 for a single scoop), crumbled into coffee ice cream.
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Gunther’s Quality Ice Cream
Address: 2801 Franklin Blvd., Curtis Park
Hours: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. daily
Website: gunthersicecream.com
Across town, fellow icon Vic’s Ice Cream has mixed up a collaboration with neighboring business Superette for a custom flavor for the shop. Superette owner Sophie Mosgrove supplies Vic’s with ingredients from her gourmet market. The inaugural effort was vanilla ice cream swirled with pistachio cream and bits of Meyer lemon shortbread, but the current iteration infuses hochija tea into the ice cream base with a crunchy black sesame swirl. Just pop into the market and pick up a pint ($12) in their wee freezer case.
Superette Market
Address: 3216 Riverside Blvd., Upper Land Park
Hours: 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Saturday; closed Sundays
Website: superettemarket.com
New kid on the block Pistachio & Cream serves up real-deal Italian gelato out of its midtown storefront at 1801 L St. #60. It churns up some on-trend flavors such as Biscoff and tiramisu, but it’s hard to go wrong with a single scoop ($6.25) of its namesake ingredient, meaty Bronte pistachios imported from Sicily. Gelato is churned more slowly than ice cream, giving it a dense, almost taffy-like chewy texture. It’s also made with less cream than ice cream, so it’s practically a health food.
Pistachio & Cream
Address: 1801 L St. #60, midtown
Hours: 6:30 a.m.-12 a.m. Tuesday-Saturday; 8 a.m.-10 p.m. Sundays; 6:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Mondays
Website: pistachioandcream.com
Shake it up
Unfortunately, you’ve missed the opportunity to wait in hour-long lines for the famous peach shakes at Whitey’s Jolly Kone in West Sacramento. Darn. The good news is that all of the flavors are outright delicious, and you probably won’t have to stand around so long. The fresh banana shake ($5.50) is a standout.
Whitey’s Jolly Kone
Address: 1300 Jefferson Blvd., West Sacramento
Hours: 8:30 a.m.-8:30 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday; closed Sundays and Mondays
Website: whiteysjollykone.com
If you need to fix your peach shake jones, though, there is an option. Everything’s Just Peachy’s Enjoli Enriquez whips up her signature peach cobbler into a milkshake ($12) any time of year. Look for the business at the Capitol Mall Farmers Market on alternating Wednesdays, and at the Midtown Farmers Market and Folsom’s Palladio on Saturdays.
Everything’s Just Peachy
Address: Multiple farmers markets
Hours: Various by location
Website: everythingsjustpeachy.com
For something a little more, shall we say, grown up, head to Fair Oaks restaurant Shangri-La, which serves boozy slushees ($15). Go with a basic margarita, or dabble in a Pebbles Punch (Aperol and gin with lemon, lime and pineapple juices, strawberry puree and a Fruity Pebbles cereal rim) or the playfully named riff on a White Linen called the Clothesline (vodka, elderflower liqueur, cucumber and lemon.)
Shangri-La
Address: 7960 Winding Way, Fair Oaks
Hours: 5-9:30 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday; 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Sundays; closed Mondays and Tuesdays
Website: shangrilafairoaks.com
Beverages
Cafe creations
Scorpio is best known for its precision-roasted coffee, ceremonial matcha and very fancy toasts. However, one beverage on the menu stands apart. The kumquat shrub soda ($5) marries the citric brightness of kumquat with the tang of vinegar, brought to life with sparkling water. The tartness and acidity of the shrub stimulates salivary gland production, making it exceedingly thirst-quenching.
Scorpio Coffee
Address: 1905 16th St., midtown
Hours: 7 a.m.-4 p.m. daily
Website: sites.google.com/view/scorpiocoffee
The first thing you notice when you enter Chloe Ca Phe is the sports car occupying a large parcel of the cafe’s floor. Work your way to the back and peruse the menu for a sophisticated selection of drinks, all using coffee and tea sourced from Vietnam. Among the cafe’s signature beverages are a shaken pho americano ($8), perfumed with spices such as star anise, cinnamon and clove, and the coconut matcha cloud ($8), extra hydrating thanks to coconut milk’s natural electrolytes. Both are exclusively available iced.
Chloe Ca Phe & Roastery
Address: 2521 Jazz Alley, midtown
Hours: 7 a.m.-5 p.m. daily
Website: chloe-caphe.com
Blink and you’ll miss this tiny cafe, and even more missable are its off-menu coffee pops ($3.25). Casa Flores makes the pops by freezing sleeves filled with its three signature flavors: sweetened americano, house salted white mocha and hasselnut (sic) praline. While the pops have a somewhat icy texture as opposed to the smoothness of a true popsicle, it’s still a refreshing way to caffeinate. Just snip off the end, squeeze and enjoy.
Casa Flores
Address: 1033 S St. Ste. #110, Southside Park
Hours: 7:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Monday-Friday; 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays
Trend alert: Chilled red wines
Rosé all day, sure, and a crisp Chenin Blanc from Clarksburg is a welcome quaff on a sweltering day, but don’t turn your back on the idea of chilled red wines. The king of chilled reds is Lambrusco, a sparkling red from the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. It suffered a bit of a bad rap in the states due to a certain too-sweet major label that shall not be named other than to note that it is self-reportedly so nice on ice. However, there are many classic producers that are making Lambrusco that is crisp, light-bodied and refreshing. One such example is on pour by the glass at Richmond Grove’s Alma Wine Bar. The Cantina della Volta BrutRosso ($9 a glass) is a bold ruby red in the glass, with aromas of raspberry and strawberry. BrutRosso is made with Lambrusco di Sorbara, the highest-acidity variety, and made in the traditional method for optimal crispness.
Alma Wine Bar
Address: 1200 S St. #B, Richmond Grove
Hours: 5-10 p.m. Mondays and Wednesday-Friday; 3-10 p.m. Saturdays; 3-8 p.m. Sundays; closed Mondays
Website: almawinebar.com
Local wine celebrity Craig Haarmeyer has been making Magpie Cafe’s house white for a while, but Magpie co-proprietor Ed Roehr requested a house red, wanting something that could be chilled. Haarmeyer chose his Nebbiolo, which is fruit-forward and chills nicely. Nebbiolo is best known as the grape behind Barolo and Barbaresco, but this wine’s grapes, grown on an organic parcel in Clarksburg, ripen entirely differently than on the foggy hillsides of Piedmont. The wine takes on a pale hue due to the fact that the grapes needed to be harvested before they developed full color, lest the sugars overdevelop and the wine end up too alcoholic. Lightly chilled, a glass ($9) will make you think differently about how you should be treating your reds.
Magpie Cafe
Address: 1601 16th St., midtown
Hours: 4:30-9 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays; 4:30-10 p.m. Thursdays; 12-10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 12-9 p.m. Sundays; closed Mondays;
Website: magpiecafe.com
Of course, not all reds are suitable for serving cold. If you want to get some reds to chill at home, Anthony Baker, wine and spirits steward at renowned gourmet market Corti Brothers recommends choosing wines that are more fruit-forward and low in tannins. The market keeps a handful of bottles in the cool case, including Haarmeyer’s Potrero Nebbiolo ($13.99), the same as is served at Magpie, Amador County winery Andis Wines’s Sciopelot ($22.99) and cans of a red blend ($10.99) from Santa Barbara County winery Margerum. Baker notes that if you’re into sweet wines, they tend to chill very well.
Corti Brothers
Address: 5810 Folsom Blvd., East Sacramento
Hours: 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Saturday; 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sundays
Website: cortibrothers.com
Vacation in a glass
If it’s going to feel like Palm Springs or Panama City, you might as well live the dream. Destination-driven bar Day Tripper first transports you to an ambiguously tropical destination, replete with live plants and an outsized fountain. Then, it transports your palate with cocktails driven by high-end bars in those places. For example, the Havana Presidente ($12), with rum, manzanillo sherry, blanc vermouth, orange liqueur and pomegranate, is modeled after a cocktail that used to be served to diplomats on arrival in the Cuban capital. The moderate pricing on the cocktails is equally refreshing to your wallet.
Day Tripper
Address: 1820 17th St., midtown
Hours: 4 p.m.-12 a.m. Monday-Thursday; 4 p.m.-2 a.m. Fridays; 2 p.m.-2 a.m. Saturdays; 2 p.m.-12 a.m. Sundays
Website: daytripperbar.com
Tiki bars are the ultimate escapist bars, and The Jungle Bird is the big kahuna of the scene here. Densely adorned with all the classic trappings – maritime decor, dim lighting and over-the-top decorative mugs – The Jungle Bird serves up both the tried-and-true classics and some original creations. You can’t go wrong with the 1944 mai tai ($15), the iconic mix of (lots of) rum, lime, orange liqueur and the sweetness of almond syrup orgeat. For something more playful, try the Dole whip flight ($25), with three frosty versions: bourbon with cherry heering, coconut rum with macadamia nut liqueur, and white rum with yuzu.
The Jungle Bird
Address: 2516 J St., midtown
Hours: 4 p.m.-2 a.m. Tuesday-Sunday; closed Mondays
Website: thejunglebird.com
Entering into the new Old Sacramento speakeasy transports you, not to another place, but to another time. With whitewashed brick walls and pressed tin ceilings, the semi-subterranean bar harkens back to Prohibition-era drink halls hidden in secret rooms to escape the fuzz. The menu is a scholarly affair, with drinks organized by decade and, beyond that, origin location. Each gets a full paragraph of history so you’re whetting your brain as well as your palate. Among the intriguing drinks is The Journalist ($18), a brisk 1930s cocktail of gin, dry and sweet vermouth, Curaçao, lemon and Angostura bitters, and named in honor of the men and women who kept the nation informed during hard times, working long hours for low pay reporting on soup kitchens.
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The 1920s Bookstore
Address: 900 2nd St., Old Sacramento
Hours: 4:30-9:30 p.m. Sunday-Wednesday; 4:30-10 p.m. Thursday-Saturday;
Website: the1920sbookstore.com
This story was originally published August 19, 2026 at 9:36 AM.