Morgan's Mill Cafe in Woodland, Ca

 

Morgan's Mill has become a frequent Saturday tradition for my family as it provides excellent food and drink in a relaxing and beautiful environment. It's location in Woodland is a bit tucked away, but it is definitely worth finding. Morgan's Mill has plenty of charm and you'll leave with a satisfied belly!

Food -
The menu at Morgan's Mill isn't very large. There are a good amount of coffees, but the food selection is limited to a few (but very good) items.

If you're into coffee, Morgan's Mill is definitely worth checking out. The coffee here is smooth and well prepared. Jenn, in particular, really loves the coffee here as it has a more mild feel to it as compared to places like Temple or Philz. It certainly doesn't kick as hard, so if that's what you're looking for, this place may be the place you need to go for your coffee fix!

In terms of food, you can order a variety of waffles, avocado toast, a breakfast burrito or sandwich, and pastries. The pastry selection comes from Woodland's own Zest West - which is a GREAT pastry location.

The hot items are very well portioned and will definitely fill you up. I also have found that the ingredients used are very fresh. Though there aren't too many items, the items that are offered are of a very high quality. I'd happily come here for any of their food items than a standard breakfast nook with a larger menu.

Service/Atmosphere -

The service at Morgan's Mill is friendly, but what really sets Morgan's Mill apart is the atmosphere. There is a very large outdoor area with different types of seating to enjoy. You can sit a traditional cafe style tables or on patio furniture style seats. It's a large area so social distancing can be easily achieved.

The inside of Morgan's Mill is beautiful as well. There is a rustic feel to the interior that is welcoming and very picture worthy!

Price -
You would think that the prices here may be on the upper end of the spectrum, but it's actually the opposite. The food and drink here are moderately priced - especially for the portions that you receive. Taking the family here on weekends and getting the bill I am always surprised at the total cost - it's always lower than I thought it would be!

Special Tips and Recommendations -
I really love the breakfast burrito that they have here. Unlike the kind that you might find at a greasy spoon, the burrito here is clean tasting and won't leave you bogged down for the rest of the morning.

Bottom Line - 
Morgan's Mill is a wonderful place to start the morning. If you're in Woodland, it's a MUST-GO! 

Letter Grade

A

The beautiful exterior or Morgan's Mill.

Pastries are from Zest West.

Go and Find Wings Plus Plus!

I was driving around Sacramento this morning and decided to use Yelp to find a nearby location to eat at. I wanted to try something that I hadn't had before and came across a very well-reviewed wing restaurant called Wings Plus Plus. It's in a location that isn't easy to find, but boy am I glad I did! The food here is phenomenal!

Food -
My favorite wing place at the moment is Fire Wings, but Wings Plus Plus may be better! There are plenty of flavors to chose from, and on my visit I tried the cajun ranch and buffalo sauces. The wings were cooked PERFECTLY. I'm always a bit weary at wing places because there are times when I get bad quality wings. That's not the case here. The chicken meat was perfection!

I've actually been looking for a great buffalo sauce for a while now. Sadly I hadn't found one that I liked. Like I said, I'm a fan of Fire Wings but I don't care for their buffalo wings. The ones here are the best I've had in town so far. I tried the mild version and they were nice and tangy without a gross aftertaste. Score!

The cajun wings were excellent as well. It was a nice combo to put cajun seasoning with the coolness of ranch. I'd never seen that before and I'd definitely get it again.

The meals come with both veggies and fries! The fries are very crunchy and come to you piping hot. The meal deal comes with a soda, but I elected to go with a boba milk tea. YES YOU HEARD THAT RIGHT... boba milk tea! As this place is Asian owned, you can get a variety of milk teas here... and they taste good. The golden milk tea was just right in terms of sweetness and creaminess.

If you're feeling like other foods besides wings, they have burgers as well as Asian food to select from! The menu is quite vast, but the quality of my first meal here has me itching to try more items.

Service/Atmosphere - 
Wings Plus Plus is in a sort of run down strip mall with awkward parking. If you're not looking for it, it'd be hard to find. And that's too bad because more people should come and try this place out. The exterior and interior aren't anything too special, but the dining area is clean and well lit.

Service was ok. I didn't get the super friendly welcome like at a fast food place, but the cashier took my order without too much interaction. If you're into less talk, this might be a good thing.

Price -
I found the prices of the food to be extremely reasonable. You can get combos in a variety of chicken wing pieces, which is great. I'd say that the cost here would be about $10 a person - maybe a little more if you want to explore the menu options.

Special Tips and Recommendations -
When you come here, don't miss the first entrance to the long and skinny parking lot. The parking lot only allows cars to go one way so make sure you get in that first entrance!

Bottom Line - 
Wings Plus Plus is an excellent place to get your wing fix! I think I've found a wing place that I'd happily go to over even Fire Wings. I hadn't heard of this restaurant until today, but now that I know about it, I'm definitely recommending it to all my friends!

Letter Grade

B -

Very reasonable price for this meal.

This here is the cajun ranch wing. See the ranch!

The fries come out super crispy.

Feel like a milk tea? Yep, you can get one here.

Great wing restaurant in this old plaza.

The Morning Fork is a Busy Place!

The Morning Fork is a diner located in midtown Sacramento. It has a retro vibe that is really inviting. On a Saturday morning expect to wait around 30-minutes before being able to get a seat. It's quite popular with customers just waiting around outside on the sidewalk to get in. There are plenty of breakfast items to select from on the menu with good-sized portions that should fill you up!

Food -
The menu at the Morning Fork is quite tantalizing. I think most people would be able to find something on there that they would want to try. There's everything from omelettes to burgers. I heard the pancake at Morning Fork is very good. Sadly, I wasn't in the mood for one... but maybe I should have gotten one anyway because I saw someone at another table get it and I immediately wanted to reach my fork over and give it a taste.

The breakfast that I did have was of the savory variety. I ordered the breakfast sandwich and I've got to say that I was a bit underwhelmed. Looking at it is impressive. It comes open-faced with a perfectly cooked sunny side up egg on top of the burger patty. Once put together though... the taste is a bit one-note. The texture has that same quality as well. What should be a mountain of flavor ends up being a bit muddled. It's probably because everything in the burger has a similar texture. For example, the bacon they use is nice and thick, but it doesn't have any crunch. It sort of just mixes in with all the other ingredients. There also isn't any sort of veg on the burger (besides cooked onions) so that freshness that it needs is lacking.

I actually found the other dishes to be this way too. While they all looked amazing, the taste lacked complexity. I was just left wanting a bit more from the food.

To wash it all down I tried the almond seltzer water. It sounded very interesting as I've never had or even seen a drink like that before. It turned out to be very sweet with a heavy almond extract taste. Again, it had one-note to it when I wanted something a bit more refined.

Bottom line for the food is that it looked and sounded better than it was. I won't say the food is bad - because it isn't - but I was expecting more from it.

Service/Atmosphere - 
I'm a big fan of the atmosphere here. It just has a really cool retro vibe. The service was also pretty friendly. Never were the servers pushy or had a bad attitude even though the restaurant was bursting to the seams with guests.

The biggest issue is with the wait times to get in and to get food. I'd say from the time we got seated to the food arriving was a little over 30-minutes. And that doesn't include the wait time when we got there. We actually tried to reserve a table via the Yelp app, but the restaurant was saying that it wasn't working. Bummer.

Price -
The portions here are generous and large, but the price is also a bit on the higher side. I'd say that if you'd like a full meal it'd be about $18 or so per person.

Special Tips and Recommendations -
If you're coming here on a Saturday, you can sign in and then head on over to the Sac Farmers Market just a couple blocks away to kill the time!

Bottom Line - 
The Morning Fork has such an awesome feel to it, I just wished that the food experience was on par with the vibe. It's a nice place for breakfast or brunch, but there are certainly other options around Sac that might trump it.

Letter Grade

B -

Morning sausage.

The menu is highlighted for your convenience.

If you like really sweet drinks, this almond seltzer water is for you.

Doesn't the egg look absolutely perfect on the top of the burger?

The omelette creates a nice blanket for the main ingredients.

Tealicious on Freeport is New and Improved!

I recently visited Tealicious on Freeport Blvd. I had never been there before, but apparently the restaurant has recently undergone some improvements. With a name like Tealicious, you might think this is a boba tea place. While they have milk teas and drinks, there is much more of a focus on food items here.

Food -
You'll find a bevy of Asian dishes here at Tealicious. The hot pot and ramen are heavily advertised on signs outside and in pictures on the inside. I was very curious about the ramen (as it is a Japanese dish) so I went for it. I'd have to say that the flavor for it was good... but it wasn't ramen. This definitely was a Chinese take on ramen as the noodles were more in line with Chinese noodles as well as the taste. It was ramen in look alone. It sucks if you're wanting some legit ramen, but it really is its own thing. And if you look at it that way, it's not half bad.

My family ordered a few other dishes off the menu. The braised pork dish was absolutely killer. With some rice it made for an amazing entree with a sauce to die for. The sauce was both savory and sweet. The meat was tender and really had that melt in your mouth quality to it.

My least favorite item that I got on my visit was the crispy tofu. I've been looking for a really good crispy tofu dish but haven't found it yet. The one here had a bland taste with tofu that wasn't crispy enough.

But back to positives... the drinks here are really great. The signature tea with real fruit in it is excellent and refreshing. If you are looking for something a bit different, I recommend the ginger milk tea. It has a very Asian taste that I thought was wonderful. I haven't had a drink like this before as no other places have something like this.

Service/Atmosphere - 
The restaurant is decorated very nicely. The wood look is trendy and a good choice. You can tell that this recently renovated restaurant has gotten a huge makeover for the better.

The servers were very nice. You could kind of tell they were really trying to make a good impression so that you'd come back though. Well, I'd rather have that than bad service.

Price -
Some of the drink prices are a little bit higher than you might think - such as the signature all fruit tea which is about $6. But the food and everything else is very reasonable. You can expect to pay in the ten dollar range per person for dishes.

Special Tips and Recommendations -
Check out the specials that they have here. Currently, the ramen is buy one get one 50% off during lunch and the same goes for hot pot during dinner hours.

Bottom Line - 
Tealicious is an excellent choice to satisfy your Chinese food cravings. Their entrees are very good and their drinks are excellent. All of this at a decent price point! I'd definitely come back for more!

Letter Grade

A

They probably have the nicest signage in the entire plaza.

The interior is very nicely furnished.

Kid seems to like the menu here.

Ramen?

A real Chinese noodle dish.

Melt in your mouth pork.

The tofu was just meh.

This fruit tea drink is so good!

Sweet Bird @ The Golden 1 Center

I'm heading up to the second floor of the Golden 1 Center to give Sweet Bird a try! It's a concession stand that features not only delicious fried chicken options, there are sweets to be had here as well. I gave both a try on my visit upstairs during the last Kings game.

Food -
I'm starting to find out that the places at the Golden 1 Center are BIG into tots. Now that I think about it... is there any place that I can get some actual fries here? All the places have had tots... I'm going to have to do some sleuthing the next time out.

Anyways, I ordered a chicken biscuit, but I think things got mixed up and I ended up with a chicken fingers and tots basket. No biggie. This was an excellent filling meal to get at a game. The chicken fingers were hearty and well breaded. I got my choice of sauce to dip them in. I went with BBQ sauce. The BBQ sauce at the Golden 1 Center has been great every time I've had it so that was my natural choice. The chicken fingers came with tots so I got a big mess of ketchup and went at it. It was delicious.

There are a number of desserts to purchase at Sweet Bird, but I chose to go with the churro fries because they sounded very unique and enticing. Well... as it turns out these 'fries' are just what a longer churro cut up into smaller pieces would be. These do have a more french fry consistency though as they are softer and less crunchy than many other churros I had. I personally prefer crunchy churros but this was by no means bad. I especially enjoyed the churro fries with the two dips they gave me. I had my choice of chocolate or caramel. OMG the caramel was soooooo great! I even ended up dipping some chicken fingers into it. That was a good life choice.

Service/Atmosphere - 
Ordering on the second level of Golden 1 is a bit different than the lower level. At Sweet Bird, there aren't roped off lines to form, but the area in front of the stand is large enough that ropes aren't needed. I got to the stand well before the game and had many open cashiers to visit.

Price -
Sweet Bird is your typical concession stand and so are the prices. Things aren't cheap at the Golden 1 Center, but there are certainly more expensive places to go than Sweet Bird.

Special Tips and Recommendations -
Chicken fingers and tots is probably one of the easiest and least messy things you can get to watch the game at your seat. If you're looking for ease at the game, this item may be your best bet!

Bottom Line - 
Sweet Bird brings a mix of sweet and savory to the Golden 1 Center experience. Though chicken fingers may seem like a plain item, its ability to fill you up and be very delicious makes it a winner. If you wanna pony up a bit more money, get a nice sweet finisher at this very same place.

Letter Grade

A-

Go to the upper concourse to find Sweet Bird.

Check out those churro fries right there!

Chicken tenders with tots.

Wayside Noodles Vietnamese Restaurant

Amongst a row of restaurants near the big AMC movie theater in Natomas you'll find Wayside Noodles. To be honest, I had no idea this was a Vietnamese restaurant until I took a closer look at their sign. The name sounds more like they'd serve some sort of quick American pasta. Anyways, this is definitely a place you can order pho. And wow, I've had pho for the 2nd time in a week! That's definitely rare for me!

Food -
The menu at Wayside Noodles is pretty extensive with many, many items. There are a lot of appetizers, rice dishes, and different types of soups. But since this place has noodles in its name, I was going to try their pho.

The pho here at Wayside Noodles is good. Not great, but it definitely can hit the spot. The pho was presented well and the meat that was inside was left a little rare so that it could finish cooking in the hot broth. I felt that the pho had a good, fresh feel and taste to it. Honestly, I wasn't expecting too much as the Yelp ratings for this restaurant were on the lower side of things, but I would happily come here for pho any time!

The disappointment came with the other two items I ordered. I'm a big fan of Asian crispy salt and pepper tofu. A good version of this dish has a nice crisp outer shell with smooth tofu on the inside. The salt and pepper should make every bite explode in your mouth. That wasn't the case with this dish. The tofu was mushy and had a strange texture. It was more chewy than anything with a bland taste. I ended up just leaving this appetizer 95% unfinished.

My other item as a simple glass of Coke. As many know, my biggest vice in life is Coca Cola. I just love the stuff, but if it loses its fizziness, I'm not a happy camper. Well, the Coke here was very syrupy and lifeless. I was done after a couple of sips.

Service/Atmosphere - 
I came for lunch and the restaurant had a nice, bright atmosphere. Nothing really stands out about the restaurant itself, but it is relatively pleasant to eat in. The highlight of my trip to Wayside Noodles was the cashier/waitress. She was very nice and made sure to make my dining experience a pleasant one.

Price -
Prices here won't break the bank, but I'd say some of the appetizers are a bit on the pricey side. The tofu dish that I disliked was $7! I'd say that's a big high, but overall for the pho it's pretty moderate.

Special Tips and Recommendations -
If you would like a drink such as milk tea, I'd definitely skip the ones they have here and walk down a little bit to the boba tea place. You'll get a much better drink there.

Bottom Line - 
I enjoyed the pho, but just about everything else except for the service here left me wanting more from it. I'd say that Wayside Noodles is a pretty average Vietnamese restaurant that locals can visit if they really want to get a bowl of pho.

Letter Grade

C

Wayside Noodles is kind of an interesting name for a Vietnamese place.

The menu of items you can order is quite extensive.

Finish cooking the meat inside the hot soup broth.

This fried tofu needs some improvement.

Big Cheese Dog House @ The Golden 1 Center

Anyone here a fan of cheese? I know I am! Well, if you love cheese then Big Cheese Dog House at the Golden 1 Center might just be the ticket to a delicious meal while enjoying a basketball game. The items here feature cheese as their star attraction. This location on the concourse also features a large amount of sweet desserts to satisfy anyone looking to finish off their savory meal. 

Food -
Pulled pork grilled cheese sandwiches (or the regular variety), hotdogs, and nachos... these are the main items of interest at Big Cheese Dog House. All of these items feature cheese and, if you like, chili as well. On my visit to Big Cheese I chose to try their standard grilled cheese sandwich and a chili cheese hotdog.

The grilled cheese sandwich was pretty well made. I make a pretty mean grilled cheese sandwich, so it's hard to impress me. More often than not I've found myself disappointed in the grilled cheese creations at places I've visited. Thankfully, the one at Big Cheese is pretty simple - and that's what makes it good. The bread is nice and buttery crisp and there is a decent amount of cheese inside it. That's really all you need! I was surprised to find out that you get a side of deliciously seasoned chips to go along with the sandwich. It was a nice addition!

The chili cheese hotdog was very difficult to eat because it was extremely messy. There was so much chili and cheese in it that I couldn't even find the wiener! It almost like a man-which type sandwich at first. This item packed a ton of flavor, but it was just too difficult for met to handle. At a game, I'd have to bring back tons of napkins back to my seat in order to feel like I could get cleaned up after eating it.

I didn't get a chance to try the desserts, but it was surprising how many different varieties there were. They had cakes, tiramisu, and tarts all available. It was actually quite a stunning amount of sweets to choose from. For a place that serves up carnival-like foods, these refined desserts ready for consumption were quite surprising.

Service/Atmosphere - 
Like most of the large concession stands at Golden 1 Center, Big Cheese is easy to navigate with many cashiers ready to take your order. The set-up is modern and looks good. The menus on the screens are bright so you can easily figure out what you'd like to order.

Price -
The grilled cheese sandwich and chips at $8 was a very nice deal I thought. This is something I'd definitely get again. The big messy hotdog I got was $9. Overall, I think the prices here are just a smidge lower than the other places around the arena.

Special Tips and Recommendations -
If you're going to go for the chili cheese stuff, make sure you get plenty of napkins and a fork/knife combination. Don't use your hands! It's a huge mess and you'll thank me for this suggestion later!

Bottom Line - 
The food here at Big Cheese may be the best value for your money at Golden 1 Center. The taste is there but things can get out of hand if you're not careful handling your meal!

Letter Grade

B+

Getting ready for some cheesy goodness.

Where is the wiener? It's buried under all that meat and cheese.

Stretchy cheese in my grilled cheese sandwich.

The name really says it all.

Pushkins AMAZING Gluten Free Restaurant

Can gluten free be done right? Pushkin's Restaurant answers with an emphatic YES! Everything at the restaurant is gluten free. There are a ton of 'bread' options available... all fine for folk who are allergic to gluten or want to avoid it in their diets. The restaurant is located in midtown and has a modern and chic vibe. It's definitely a place to check out and see what the fuss is all about!

Food -
If you didn't know any better, you'd think you were at a traditional brunch restaurant. There's muffins, sandwiches, scrambles, and everything else you would see at your everyday brunch place. The catch here is that all the food is gluten free or vegan with a good selection of dairy free food as well! For folks that cannot have gluten, Pushkin's Restaurant is a godsend.

All the food made here at Pushkin's Restaurant is crafted with care. Even the ketchup is their own house made concoction. The food is presented well and looks amazing. Having the food look good is important, but when push comes to shove, it's all about the taste.

Good thing that the taste is certainly there. The flavors are great and you can find whatever it is you are craving for brunch here. Want sweet? Yup! Want savory? Yup! They have it here.

On our visit we ordered a nice variety of different food. I got a chance to try their crispy chicken sandwich as well as their breakfast sandwich. As for the Crispy chicken, I enjoyed the flavor, but it wasn't the crispy fried chicken sandwich that I was expecting it to be. It didn't have all the heavy breading on it. Rather it was a thinner piece of chicken that had some good flavor, but was a little on the dryer side.

The breakfast sandwich was a bit more on point with the bacon being a star. I got the chicken sandwich with fries which were absolutely perfect. The breakfast sandwich came with hash browns that look like fried pillows. Excellent tasting pillows.

The buns were the items that would really make or break these items. Gluten free buns have a certain mouthfeel to them. Rather than being soft with some chew, gluten free buns and bread tend to break apart quickly in the mouth. The bread items here at Pushkin's had some of that quality, but to be honest it was probably the best gluten free bread that I've had thus far. They've done a great job here.

In terms of drinks, we got some fresh squeezed orange juice, iced tea, and a latte. If you're into mimosas or other beverages of that ilk, there is a menu full of them for you to enjoy!

Service/Atmosphere - 
The restaurant is beautiful and well designed. The overall feel combines that of nature with modern sensibilities. You can really tell that a good amount of thought went into making this place a destination.

Service was good, but because there were so many people trying to get in and the place was packed, the service did end up slowing down a little. It's understandable, but unfortunate.

Price -
You'll definitely be paying a premium to eat all this gluten free goodness. Our total bill at the end of our meal was $80. With a small OJ being $4 and us ordering plenty of side items, the bill will begin to hurt if you splurge a bit.

Special Tips and Recommendations -
To avoid having to wait too long, you can go online and join their waitlist. It's a great idea to do so because it tells you how long the current wait time is. My family came in early and were able to get seating quickly, but by the time we were done the wait time was up to 45 minutes!

Bottom Line - 
Pushkin's Restaurant is well worth a visit. Even if you're not allergic to gluten, checking out Pushkin's selection of gluten free foods is an experience to have. With all the choices on the menu, you might forget that Pushkin's is a totally gluten free place!

Letter Grade

A

Nature and modern elements come together at Pushkins.

This basket of baked goods was about ten bucks.

All these baked goods look really appetizing.

Even more appetizing baked goods.

My crispy chicken sandwich.

Tofu scramble... no egg at all!

Jenn enjoying herself some coffee.

*Bleep* King 4 for your Vietnamese Noodle Fix in Davis

Be careful of how you say Pho King 4! If you say it wrong, you could get yourself into a bit of trouble! Pho King 4 is a Vietnamese restaurant across the street from the UC Davis campus. It's one of only a few places in town where you can find Vietnamese style food - specifically pho. If pho is what you want, then Pho King 4 is a place you'll have to consider going to.

Food -
The main item to order at Pho King 4 is the pho. If you're unfamiliar with what pho is... well... I suggest you find a good pho place and try it out! It's a Vietnamese noodle soup with white vermicelli noodles accompanied by different types of meats and veggies. The broth is clear and comes to you piping hot. A cold plate of jalepanos, sprouts, and mint comes alongside it for you to toss in if you so desire. Lots of flavors combine together to make pho a wonderful taste experience.

A good pho is full of flavor and character. Sadly, the pho at Pho King 4 is pretty average. It's fine for what it is, but if it's your first time trying pho, I would skip it and go elsewhere for a first experience. The broth here isn't full of flavor and everything is just a bit bland. I ended up adding a lot of sauces to my pho in order to make it have more flavor.

I can't say that the food here is horrible... it isn't! If you're in a dire mood for pho, Pho King 4 can scratch that itch for you. If you're a student, the restaurant is close enough that you can just walk on over from campus easily.

Pho King 4 also offers spring rolls, rice dishes, and some other Asian cuisine. To go with my order of pho I tried the pork spring rolls. Pork spring rolls should have an extremely savory BBQ'd taste. But just like the pho here, the flavor is on the lower end of the spectrum. I found myself smothering the spring roll in the sauce it came with in order to add some much needed flavor.

Service/Atmosphere - 
The restaurant has an older vibe to it - it's certainly not fancy or very nice. It's a bit dingy, but it's probably never going to change. So I guess you get what you get!

As for the service, I found it to be adequate. Pho King 4 was having some brisk business but they were attentive to us when we walked in and we were seated in a timely manner. Everything was prompt and there were no issues with customer service. It was good!

Price -
Prices at Pho King 4 are moderate. For around ten bucks you get a big bowl of pho. They also have a big sign in the front that says sandwiches for $4. I'd say that Pho King 4 is generally a good value if you're looking for a meal to fill you up.

Special Tips and Recommendations -
The toughest thing about Pho King 4 is actually getting to it. It's located on a street that doesn't allow cars and much of the parking around the restaurant is for residents with special permits only. If you're there on a weekend, I suggest parking on the street right next to UC Davis and then walking over to the restaurant.

Bottom Line - 
Pho King 4 is a no frills Vietnamese restaurant that delivers nice portions at decent prices. It's a good restaurant for students to visit and it's also one of the few Vietnamese restaurants in town.

Letter Grade

C

Careful how you say the name!

'Small' bowl of pho.

'Large' bowl of pho. There's XL as well but no 'medium' size.

Pork spring rolls and peanut sauce.