Bodega Kitchen & Cocktails

Description and review of Bodega Kitchen & Cocktails, a Caribbean inspired restaurant/bar located in the Pocket neighborhood of Sacramento.

Bodega Kitchen & Cocktails opened in August, 2022.  I took note of its opening as I have good friends that live in the Pocket and the neighborhood is sadly deficient in venues to dine.

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Bodega Kitchen & Cocktails

Three friends and I recently decided to check out Bodega Kitchen & Cocktails on a recent weekday.  The restaurant and bar is located in a corner of the Grocery Outlet strip mall on Riverside Blvd. near Florin Road.

Two of our friends were already seated in the tropical inspired dining room when another friend and I arrived.  We grabbed a paper menu from the bar counter area nearest to the door and joined them.

We were the only patrons in the dining area during our visit that late afternoon, although the bar area was doing a good business.

Bodega Kitchen & Cocktails is a counter service establishment.  After looking over the menu, we returned to the bar to place our order.

Menu

The Bodega Kitchen & Bar menu is compact. The menu offers eleven “small plates” and six “mains”.  Small Plates range from the $8 French fries to the $19 mussels and chorizo.  The Mains offered range from the $14 Doubles to the $21 Pan Fried Prawns.

Bar

The bar is full service, offering beer, wine and tropical cocktails ranging from $9 to $13.  Party-sized pitchers of cocktails ($35) and buckets of beer ($18) are also available.

Local wines on the menu were the Bogle Chardonnay (Clarksburg) and Haarmeyer’s St. Rey Chenin Blanc (West Sacramento).  Also on the wine list were two wines from Portugal, one from South Africa, and one from France.

A notation on the menu urges one to “Make a Friend!” and to “Take $10 off a bottle of wine from Bodega when you share a glass with a new friend”.

Happy Hour is from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Review

We all opted to have a glass of the Bogle Chardonnay ($8).  None of us were really hungry, but we did want to sample at least two items from the menu while we were there.  We shared an order of empanadas (3 beef picadillo) and the Special of the Day – a pork dish topped with fresh salsa.  Unfortunately, I do not recall its name, and the dish does not appear on the menu.

We were all of the same mind that both the empanadas and the pork dish were excellent.  The beef empanada filling was a one of the best I have had to date.   Additionally, the savory chunky fresh salsa served over the tender pork had us asking our friendly server about the recipe.  He shared that all the pickled items on the menu were made in-house.

Service

The staff were all friendly, and we were cheerily greeted when we arrived.  After placing our order at the bar, we were served our beverages in short order.

There was, however, what felt like an extended wait before our food order made its way to our table.  Good thing we were not particularly hungry.

To Sum Up

All in all our visit was a good experience.  Given that the empanadas and pork dish were both hits with our party, returning to further explore the menu is definitely on all of our “to do” list.

Comments on Bodega Kitchen & Cocktails?

What has been your experience at Bodega Kitchen & Cocktails?

Bodega Kitchen & Cocktails Snapshot:

• 6401 Riverside Blvd., Sacramento, CA 95831
• (916) 898-2231
• Days/Hours: Closed Tuesday; Monday (3:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.); Wednesday – Sunday (10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.)
• Happy Hour: 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
• Parking: Shared strip mall parking lot
• Online Ordering for Takeout & Delivery

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