Rainy days and waffle fries

Rubicon Brewery had the honor of hosting Katrina and I for a late lunch on a rainy Sunday. In what was an unfamiliar territory for a Granite Bay native like myself, eating in downtown Sac was something I rarely did.

But there was something about the rain that made this restaurant even more local-feeling than what it was supposed to be. In a seat yourself restaurant, Katrina and I grabbed a window table facing the overcast city.

Quickly after sitting down, fans at the bar cheered after a big play in the Raiders-Chiefs game.

I hate the Raiders, but I felt at home.

Our waitress brought over the extensive menu where 20 things looked delicious. You could compare the menu to BJ’s or a Chili’s, but Rubicon had some local touches to their beers and burgers.

Then when I decided to figure out what I wanted to eat, I noticed an item on the menu that was boxed in. I searched around the menu for more of these items. Only a select few had a box around them. 

What could this mean?

I took it as special. So I went with it. “I’ll take the pulled pork sandwich,” I said to the waitress. Always been a fan of pulled pork sandwiches in the past, but this one had to be unique. Katrina went with the chicken pesto sandwich. 

While we waited, we were able to relax by the window and watch some of the football game. I didn’t order a beer, but Katrina did. So I took a sip of hers. Her Monkey Knife Fight beer was not bad. A little bitter for my taste, but could go really well with the food we were about to devour. The wait didn’t take long.

The waitress set my plate down and I immediately focused on one thing and one thing only - waffle fries.

Waffle fries?!? I haven’t had waffle fries in years. I already knew this was going to be a fantastic meal. Then my eyes glanced to the right of the waffle fries. There it was. My pulled sandwich was just sitting there on its freshly-baked bun ready for the food review.

I took a bite and fell in love. I also felt like I had an alternate idea of what the box around the menu item meant. I definitely had a little kick to the sauce. Was it boxed in for “spicy”? I’ll never know. But I could handle the slight spiciness that it carried. The combination between the sandwich and waffle fries with ketchup was definitely a comfort meal.

With comfort food on a rainy day, came good hospitality. Our waitress took good care of us throughout our whole visit and she made it feel like she knew what she was doing. With a spicy pulled pork sandwich, my body went through two glasses of water. 

Our time came to a close after we hit our food comas. All we wanted to do at this point was take a nap. That’s a sign of a good meal. What also is a sign of a good meal is the price for the check. Only $8.99 plus tax and tip for a good quality meal. For a college student, I can deal with that.

But to anybody else that is strolling by midtown on any given day, Rubicon Brewery on Capitol and 20th will always be highly recommended by me. Heck, you probably should go out of your way to try Rubicon Brewery.