Just last week I was grousing that there were no good Southern restaurants in Sacramento...and lo and behold, my friend Janine posts on FB today that there's a restaurant opening up on 6th Street (near Southside Park) that plans on serving contemporary Southern cooking. Who says the universe doesn't grant small wishes? Anyhow elated, I checked out their website, got an address (1915 6th Street) and went to investigate. Apparently, the new joint will be called, "South Restaurant and Bar," and will be occupying the building that used to house the Sacramento Tofu Company before it relocated.
The owners are a husband and wife team, Ian and N'Gina Kavookjian, who have extensive experience in the restaurant business including most recently a catering company and Eight American Bistro in Granite Bay. According to their website, they're looking to make South into an energetic neighborhood joint and serve, "...traditional family food, unpretentious, with no gimmicks, and no crazy science. At South we are not trying to reinvent the wheel, we are just trying to express 200 years of our family’s story on a 12” plate." Sounds good to me. The menu currently is divided into "new school" and "old school" dishes and shows some of my favorite Southern plates- fried green tomatoes, chicken and Andouille gumbo, shrimp po' boys, crispy fried chicken and beignets. I can't wait!
When I contacted the owners by email, I was advised that the tentative opening date is scheduled for September 10. In the meantime, you can peruse their menu here: South Menu. It appears that South plans to be open for brunch, lunch, happy hour and dinner. ☺