Rio City Cafe

Even better than it looks!

Rio City Cafe

1110 Front Street

Sacramento, CA

With a sepia-toned Instagram filter, any photo taken in Old Sacramento may very well trick the casual observer into thinking it was taken during the height of the gold rush - so long as Round Table Pizza isn't in the background.

In Old Sacramento you can buy taffy out of barrels, take horse-drawn carriage rides, and enjoy events like the annual Jazz Festival.  Plenty of scrumptious cuisine is also available, and I chose Rio City Cafe for a recent Sunday brunch with some pals.

We came for bottomless mimosas and bellinis, but stayed for the gorgeous weather.  Dining riverside in Sacramento can be a treat, and the view from the restaurant's cafe this particular morning was spectacular.  Sunlight bounced off the water and onto the H Street bridge, glistening in all its glory and capturing our attention until we noticed a boater violently bludgeoning something inside his boat.  We crossed our fingers and hoped it was a fish as our waitress approached.

Even that little episode couldn't deter me from my goal: a meal of gargantuan proportions.  I looked down and stared at my Crab Cakes Benedict with just the right amount on hollandaise sauce atop two crispy cakes.  English muffins sopped up the sauce, lightly garnished with tomato and green onion, and all the while my home fried potatoes and onions were largely neglected until then.  A side of fruit was completely ignored.  Sorry, melon slices!  I had to save precious stomach room for more bellinis.

Soon enough, I felt borderline comatose and the bludgeoning boater was nowhere to be found.  The next order of business was to stroll around Old Sac to work off some of the calories…or to find some taffy for dessert…