Sacramento isn't renown for being a hot spot, so imagine my surprise when a few weeks ago the New York Times had a whole piece on Sac in their Sunday travel section. Featured prominently in the NYT article is the downtown burger joint Willie's, whose owner cashed in the corporate life to run the restaurant.
Willie's recently opened a location at the corner of Fair Oaks and Arden Way, walking distance from where I grew up in Carmichael. So of course I had to check it out and see what the fuss was all about. Willie's is well known for burgers, chiliburgers, and tamales. A lover of tamales, I ordered the one shown above while a friend ordered the Tommy burger. The line was slow getting to order, as the young gal taking the order chatted up the equally young guys ahead of us. Once our orders were taken however, they came up quickly. (I have had the reverse experience on other trips to Willie's - no line to order, lots of apparent disorganization by the grills, and much too long a wait getting my order.)
My tamale was excellent. So good that on several subsequent trips, that's all I've ordered. My friend's Tommy burger was, according to him, also very good and precisely what he recalled a Los Angeles Tommy's Joint burger tasted like.
Details:
Downtown location -
2416 16th St
Sacramento, CA
916-444-2006
Carmichael location -
Corner of Fair Oaks and Arden Way
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