Food History of Sacramento

Key eras

1. 1848 to 1900, the Gold Rush table

   By December 1848 John Sutter Jr. and Samuel Brannan had begun laying out the City of Sacramento, two miles south of the Sutters' settlement of New Helvetia, and Sacramento was incorporated on 27 February 1850, the oldest incorporated city in California. The Hangtown fry, an omelette of eggs, bacon and oysters, was invented in Placerville, then called Hangtown, and made famous during the Gold Rush.

   Taste it todayHangtown Fry

2. 1900 to 1960, the canning capital

   Sacramento's canneries were best known for canned tomatoes, which earned the city the nickname The Big Tomato. In 1912 Libby, McNeill and Libby built one of the largest canneries in California at 31st Street, R Street and Stockton Boulevard, and from 1931 Bercut-Richards grew into the largest independent cannery in the state.

   Taste it todayStockton Boulevard PhoStockton Boulevard Banh MiStockton Boulevard Pho Ga

3. 1960 to 2000, the Sacramento Valley table

   In 1986 Bologna-born Biba Caggiano, who had moved to Sacramento in 1969 when it had no Italian restaurant of note, opened Biba, which became one of the most famous Italian restaurants in California. The Waterboy has cooked in Midtown since 1996, its menu inspired by the cuisines of northern Italy and southern France.

   Taste it todayThe Waterboy

4. 2012 to 2026, America's Farm to Fork Capital

   In 2012 Sacramento began marketing itself as America's Farm-to-Fork Capital, and in 2017 the water tower that read City of Trees was repainted with the new slogan. Visit Sacramento's first Tower Bridge Dinner, in 2013, was led by chefs Patrick Mulvaney and Randall Selland. In the 2026 Michelin Guide, The Kitchen and Localis hold one star each.

   Taste it todayTower Bridge DinnerMulvaney's B&LThe KitchenLocalis

Immigrant influences

Chinese

Sacramento's historic Chinatown ran along I Street from Second to Sixth streets; most of it has been razed, but a small Chinatown mall and a museum of its history remain.

Mexican-American

In 2010, 22.6 percent of Sacramento's residents were of Mexican heritage; La Esperanza on Franklin Boulevard has been a family bakery, deli and market for over 50 years.

Vietnamese

Vietnamese refugees began settling in Sacramento in the 1980s, and in 2010 Stockton Boulevard from Florin Road to Fruitridge Road was named Little Saigon.

Hmong

The Sacramento metro area has the third largest Hmong American community in the United States, after Minneapolis and Saint Paul and Fresno.

Italian

Biba Caggiano, born in Bologna, moved to Sacramento in 1969 and opened Biba in 1986; she was among the city's well-known cookbook authors.

Punjabi

North of Sacramento, the Sikh community of the Yuba and Sutter area is one of the largest in the United States, and holds a parade in Yuba City every November.

Signature innovations

• Hangtown fry: Gold Rush omelette of eggs, bacon and oysters, invented in Placerville, then called Hangtown
  Taste it todayHangtown Fry
• Tower Bridge Dinner: Visit Sacramento's dinner along the Tower Bridge, first held in 2013
  Taste it todayTower Bridge Dinner
• America's Farm-to-Fork Capital: the marketing campaign Sacramento started in 2012
• The Big Tomato: the nickname Sacramento's tomato canneries earned the city
• The Kitchen: nominated for the James Beard Foundation's Outstanding Restaurant award in 2012
  Taste it todayThe Kitchen