La Bou, Truxel and Arena Blvd, North Natomas

For the two people who ever went there, the Arena Grill and Waffle House has closed and reopened as a La Bou. It's a comical story actually... the Inderkum family used to be affiliated with the La Bou on West El Camino in Natomas. They left to open the Inderkum Cafe which they sold. The new owners turned it into the Arena Grill and Waffle House which is now a La Bou. What goes around comes around.

The new La Bou location has been open just a few days and it shows. We've been twice now and they seem to be struggling to work out the pastry kinks. All of La Bou's normal delicious pastries are on the menu but the North Natomas location is lacking in volume. On our last trip we found the pastry case with less than 10 items at 8am on a weekday. Time to up the order friends!

In our group we had a turkey and cheese croissant, a ham and cheese croissant and a chocolate chip muffin. Both croissants were served warm, light and flakey and delicious. The muffin was overpowered by some serious almond extract. There was no hint that it was a chocolate almond muffin on the tag or when we ordered it. We wondered if someone has messed up the recipe. It was so decidedly bad that the five year old with us wouldn't touch it.

The coffee was La Bou's typical fare, steamed well and served at a delightfully drinkable temperature. On our first trip, the barista poured my latte into a for-here mug and topped it with an inch of perfectly frothy foam. On the second trip, my drink was served in a to-go cup, despite me specifically asking "for here." The coffee was still done very well but the barista obviously had recently transferred from a different coffee house. While steaming milk, she asked a coworker "Do you put one or two shots in your americano here?" and "Do you put whipped cream on your mochas automatically." I think the for-here mug was a completely new concept for her.

The standard La Bou lunch menu has been slightly pared down at this location. According to the menu board, you can get a few sandwiches and salads but not the larger selection. We hope they choose to expand to the full menu when the location has been open longer.

This La Bou location is only open during the day and closes up shop at 3pm. If you're looking for a casual business meeting, a nice and quick weekend breakfast or grab and go on the way to work, this is a decent option. The building has windows on 3 sides, making for a perky location to read the Sunday paper. Parking is plentiful and as in the past three rotations of the place, it's not crowded.

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Buckthorns, Rush River Drive, in the Pocket

I've been by Buckthorns several times on my way to one of my favorite places for a lazy mom, Super Suppers (which by the way, is a great place to grab dinner and pretend you cooked). Yesterday I had some free time so I stuck my head in to see what Buckthorns has to offer.

Buckthorns could use a little remodeling inside. It had a slightly old, dingy feeling and looked like a fresh coat of paint would serve it well. I obviously bothered the barista by coming in to order a drink. She paused her conversation with friends just briefly for an abrupt "Yes". I ordered an iced tea and checked out the rest of the shop.

Buckthorns serves Java City coffee and appears to also have Bella Bru bakery goods. They also had some individual slices of cakes in clamshell packaging. The desserts looked fine, but nothing really jumped out of the case and enticed me. The bakery case was nearly empty with a few sad muffins and scones left from the morning. If you're hunting down some Gunther's fruit freezes or ice cream, and don't want to drive to Franklin, here's an option.

My iced tea arrived un-iced. I'm not sure if they made hot tea and dumped it in the cup and melted the ice or not. It had one small piece of ice floating on the top. I turned to ask the barista for more ice but she had already gone in the back again to finish chatting with friends. I decided to go ahead and take my warm iced tea instead of bothering her again. The fixins bar was dirty and had sugar spilled all around. I quickly grabbed a straw and hit the road.

Buckthorns offers free wi-fi and had many empty chairs inside and out. Overall, it seemed that you could go in and use the wi-fi and order or not. Nobody seemed to care about much of anything inside.

Unless you're at Super Suppers and need a drink or you're desperate for free wi-fi somewhere, I'd skip a return trip to Buckthorns.

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Java City 18th and Capitol, revisited

I've been slacking, I know. Most every day since November has been consumed with toy shopping for Not Made in China. Now that the holidays are over, I'm back out and about again reviewing coffee for the greater good of Sacramento.

Per a loyal reader's request, I visited the Java City at 18th and Capitol again to check out the remodel. Our previous review of this Java City was lukewarm at best but we discovered shortly after that the store was about to undergo a full remodel. So to be fair, here we are again.

The new look has a very modern, crisp feel inside. It is updated and no longer reflects the banana republic sort of cargo coffee feel. There are high bar tables near the windows as well as several couches and comfy chairs. The free wifi is a huge bonus, as are the plugs scattered around the walls for plugging in your laptop. The new espresso machine is sleek and clean and the layout by the registers is much easier to navigate than before. The bakery and chilled case are nearly identical to the Java City Natomas and have a decent selection of premade sandwiches and salads. Assuming they follow the same protocol as Natomas, they are all premade early in the same day so you can grab and go for work.

My cashier was very friendly and in a great mood for the morning. She was polite and friendly without slowing down the line. I ordered my usual nonfat latte and a raspberry scone. When I mentioned I was staying, she put the scone on a plate, a nice touch over the paper bag. I was disappointed however, when my coffee still came in a paper cup. If my scone is for here, can I have a for-here cup too please?

My latte was traditional Java City fair. I do like the thick foam with tiny bubbles that the baristas painstakingly produce for each drink. But consistently across the brand, the espresso leaves me feeling like it was not nearly as carefully crafted. The shots tend to be bitter and heavy, overshadowing the richness of the milk.

I loved my scone. I don't know who the new baker is but the scone was delectably delicious. I finished it and wanted more just to pop the crusty sugared top in my mouth. It was completely worth the extra hours of yoga I'll have to put in this week.

Overall, the new remodel was worth the money and effort- bringing Java City into the newer, upscale midtown feel. It'll be a great place to finish up a date night or hang out after a show. Enjoy dinner at one of the many restaurants in the area and wrap up the night with a coffee and your date will thank you. If you're in the area in the mornings or looking for a place to work, the atmosphere during the day was very conducive to plopping down your laptop and getting busy.

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Ettore's, Fair Oaks Blvd.

Ettore's is a long time favorite of many locals who are in search of delicious pie, baked goods and wedding cakes. Inside you'll find a very local atmosphere with lots of people who hang out every weekend or have reoccurring work meetings there. I happened to be one of the people having a meeting at Ettore's. I was stunned at how busy it was at 8:45 in the morning on a Thursday. The parking lot is small and it was really difficult to find a place, but it was totally worth every trip around of the lot.

The pastry selection alone is enough to send you into a happy breakfast coma. You can choose hot breakfast like eggs or omelets or stick with the pastry case chock full of cinnamon rolls, turnovers, muffins, danishes, coffee cakes and more. Much more. I opted for my standard blueberry scone and I was not disappointed. It was full of fresh blueberries; no frozen little drops here. The texture was a perfect doughy but not too crumbly consistency.

The one place I think Ettore's could have done a little better was with directions inside. I wanted a pastry and a latte but I honestly couldn't figure out how to order it. One counter with a register said "Bakery", the other with a separate register appeared to only be "Express". I tried to order a latte, clearly confused the woman behind the register and quickly switched to regular coffee. She handed me a cup to fill myself but was still very obviously confused. I stayed for my meeting and still didn't see anyone order espresso. Yet there was a very lonely espresso machine behind the counter.

The coffee was fresh brewed, hot and in a thermos, not a warming pot, which is good. It was passable but nothing really exciting- just a cup of coffee. It would have been a fine accompaniment to any of the scrumptious desserts in the case.

I have to recommend Ettore's for the desserts and pastries, despite not actually trying their espresso. The lunch and dinner menu was surprisingly varied and they have wine by the glass or bottle as well. It would be perfect for families on the weekend, a take out pie to pretend you made yourself, or the perfect finish to a great date.

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