Then Plaza Hof Brau clearly is not for you.

However, if you're like me and you appreciate good food no matter what - especially if it's affordable - the old-school hof brau at Watt and El Camino (next to the 24 hour Country Club Lanes bowling alley and the now-closed Tower Records) fits the bill.

Although their specials change on a daily basis, their meat and potatoes are their...meat and potatoes.  Fresh prime rib being carved up on a constant basis serves as the backbone of the menu, and mashed potato sides are available to accompany that main course.  Ordering is done cafeteria-style, you get in line and have your meal set up as you like it, then pick up a soda or coffee on the way to the cash register.

On my Friday evening visit, I went for a 1/4 lb.  prime rib sandwich au jus (around $5.49).  The au jus is served in two cups, one for dipping, and the other to collect spillage - very convenient, and a sign of just how much of the sauce one gets served here.

I've had French dip/au jus beef sandwiches before, but few lend themselves to savoring the way this one did: the slice of meat was mellow enough to melt in your mouth, yet retained a distinct beef flavor.  Essentially, comfort food for the 20th and 21st centuries.

The sizable contigent of senior citizens and the ancient photos of Sacramento on the walls attest to this restaurant's venerability - Sam Gordon founded this hof brau as one of his dining enterprises in the late 1950s.  But this is definitely not just for the over-fifty set, as people of all ages also partook in the delicious selections.

Plaza Hof Brau's old-fashioned charm isn't trendy or fancy - it's simply effective.  And with daily operating hours until 11 PM, you can dine in late after a long day, unwind, and then maybe go bowling next door afterward!

http://flickr.com/photos/hanneorla/91575117/

According to http://home.pacbell.net/hywaymn/tower_bridge_history.htm this was a Depression-era project, built in 1935 to serve US Highway 40 and US Highway 99W.  24 years younger than the I Street Bridge to the north (also still in use), the Tower Bridge not only provides the best access from points west into downtown, but also gives motorists a beautiful view of the State Capitol as they enter the city limits.

Coming from Davis or San Francisco, the bridge is accessed by taking the US 50/Business I-80 left exit off of mainline I-80, and then exiting off at "Downtown Sacramento/Jefferson Boulevard" and using the left flyover ramp.  Leaving downtown Sacramento, Capitol Mall westbound serves as easy access right onto the historic structure.

Work is planned later this year to widen the sidewalks of the bridge and make it more pedestrian-friendly, so the crossing may not be open to traffic at times.

Well, when it does double duty as a bit of a public park in the middle of the Sacramento River, that's why I'm listing it.  The boat-shaped structure seamlessly integrates functional design with a concern for aesthetics, with great views of downtown, the Tower Bridge, recreational boaters, and the waterfront itself from what is a de facto pier.

Here's a great night view of it:
http://www.tommyersphotography.com/detail.asp?PhotoID=2027

Access to the structure is always free, and generally is open during daylight hours - a good place to relax after a long day of studying or working.  It is located right off Jiboom Street (from I-5, take the Richards Boulevard exit and go west towards Jibboom then south on it; from downtown, take I Street west and make a right onto northbound Jibboom) and also can be easily accessed on foot or by bike via the American River Parkway, which continues on to Old Sacramento from here.

Maybe it's the mixture of inventiveness and simplicity that gets me coming back in, the unique mango-cheese-and-chciken Rainer panini (grilled sandwich) and great clam chowder and Caesar salads exemplifying this aspect of the menu.

Maybe it's the fact I always get great Shirley Temples at both places.

Maybe it's recognizing some of the employees after having been to the original restaurant so much since 2003, and the Davis location from right after it opened.  I have even biked twice all the way out from Davis to East Sacramento (back before the Bistro came to Davis) just to eat some of my favorite dishes.

Maybe it's in how I don't have to take leftovers from either unit - I usually finish all the food I order without hesitation.

Or maybe it's simply this: when you can have a classy, but casual meal for just a few bucks more than if you had gone to a Denny's, how can you not like the Bistro?

---

Having been to the East Sacramento unit, the Midtown Sacramento location (a very recent opening) and the Davis location (opened in 2005), there are several minor differences between the three to note, though in general the menus are the same.

The original location at 3300 Folsom Boulevard generally plays smooth jazz on the PA, has extremely low lighting, and is difficult to park at (I often will park on 33rd or on N Street) due to a small lot.  Last few visits there have included a couple of pasta dishes I've not seen anywhere else, the linguine with clams in a cream sauce (delicious) and a soothing tomato-cream sauce cheese tortellini special.

At the Davis location on 3rd and F Streets - a conversion of the former City Hall - a few different appetizers are offered (such as calamari), and the vibe is a little lighter, probably due to the college crowd in town.  (Music here tends to be more adult-contemporary on the speakers.)  Like the original location, the parking lot is tiny, thus making street parking a more viable option.

The Midtown Sacramento unit at 16th and K has a few new items as well.  I tried the mini-Monte Cristo sandwiches on my one visit in December; very tasty if a bit sugary (but not too heavy).  The decor inside is less stately and more "modern," a bit flashier, yet not overly bright inside.  Due to the more densely packed space (Bistro 33 Midtown is on the first floor of a building, as opposed to a standalone structure like the other two), valet parking is offered - actually using the old Firestone tire store's garage nearby on L Street.

Davis's location does offer one major advantage to the Sacramento units: it is open past midnight several days a week to accmodate the young adults in town, practically the only thing other than Pita Pit to operate on such late hours in downtown Davis.

More information:
http://www.sro-inc.com/
http://www.33rdstreetbistro.com/home.html

Although there are plenty of fields around here, I've personally visited two, Davis Paintball Center in town and Midway Paintball Extreme on the north side of Vacaville (a 15 minute drive west via Interstate 80 and Midway Road).

Davis Paintball Center (which is where I first tried out the game) is operated by one of XSV's team members, Micah McGlocklin.  Built on the site of a former landfill, several different fields are offered (large "castle" field, smaller field with a small one-room building in the middle, a NPPL-regulation airball field), and games are held on a near-constant basis on weekends (open for walk-ons 9-4 Saturday and Sunday). 

Midway, out in Solano County, has a slightly different set of fields (airball, hyperball, a "Western"-themed field, and one other that escapes me at the moment), and is a bit more organized in terms of when the walk-on games occur.  I personally prefer the terrain there, which appears to be a little more well-maintained, though the dry grass and brush at Davis Paintball Center may be well gone by the time I check it out again.    Midway does have similar hours to Davis, though some times in the year, they will offer Friday night sessions as well. 

Both offer rental packages in the $30-40 range, with players who provide their own equipment getting in for $15 (not including refills of CO2 or high pressure air).  And for those with large groups, renting out an entire field of play is possible at any time.

More information:
http://www.davispaintball.com
http://www.midwaypaintball.com/

For those interested in paintball equipment, I've been to several different paintball shops in the region.  The two that come to mind are:

Rage Paintball in West Sacramento, the closest to Davis: http://www.rage-paintball.com/
Predator Paintball in North Highlands on Watt Avenue, about 35 minutes from town: http://www.predator-paintball.com/

For more information goto:
http://www.daviswiki.org/Hoa_Viet

The University recently finished building a high end performing arts center, called the Mondavi Center (named after the California Wine mogul Robert Mondavi). The center is visable from the freeway (I-80) near the Highway 113 interchange, and resembles a large, multi-million dollar cardboard box. However, the Center has state of the art acoustics, and regularly books a variety of both elegant and modern musicians. Going to the Mondavi Center is usually a swanky affair, where the ushers are uniformed and even the most frazzled of academics sports a tie.

Unlike the main Jackson Hall, the Studio Theatre in the Mondavi Center hosts smaller shows and student works. Often they are less expensive (or free) and showcase the UC Davis Theater and Music Departments. These departments regularly host various artists and showcase their student works as well. As such it is never hard to find something worthwhile to watch.

For more information on the Mondavi Center: http://www.mondaviarts.org/

For more information on the Theater Department: http://theatredance.ucdavis.edu/current_season/index.html

For more information on the Music Department: http://music.ucdavis.edu/events/events.php

Photo courtesy of the Davis Wiki: http://www.daviswiki.org/

There are many gorgeous art deco theatres scattered around the greater Sacramento Area. There are the Tower and the Crest Theaters in Sacramento. Davis also has one of these beautiful old theatres,The Varsity, and last winter it was renovated and reopened as an indie movie hall. Since then it has been showing first run art house films, and this fall they introduced a midnight movie series on Saturday nights.

The Varsity is a lovely theater to visit. Located in the middle of the downtown area, it is within walking distance of the train and bus depots, a wide variety of restaurants, bookstores, clothing stores, etc. One could easily make a nice evening of walking around downtown, seeing a movie, picking up an ice cream cone, and looking for a new book to read across the street at the Avid Reader.

In addition to the Art Deco interior, the Varsity's concessions are affordable, the staff is friendly, and the theatre has affiliated itself with local muscians and radio broadcasts. Beginning January 19th, the Varsity will be showing "Volver", the latest Pedro Almodovar film which features Hollywood starlet Penelope Cruz. Almodovar is a spanish director well known for other films such as "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown".

For more information on the Varsity, go to: http://www.thedavisvarsity.com/

For more information about the Varsity's history, see: http://www.daviswiki.org/Varsity_Theater

Photo Courtesy of the City of Davis: http://www.cityofdavis.org/