Español Restaurant

I love this place. I’ve been coming here since I was a kid and it’s my favorite! It has a cozy feel and the food is amazing. I love having bread, soup, salad, an entrée, and then coffee and ice cream! Their marinara sauce is so yummy and I love their spaghetti & meatballs and ravioli. The servers all treat you like family and I love that!

Came here on a recommendation from a friend. Little Italian place with some old school atmosphere. The minestrone soup, bread and salad were delicious. My wife and I both ordered the Chicken Parm. The breading around the chicken was burnt black. They just destroyed the dish. The chicken inside and the sauce were actually good but the breading made it inedible. The pasta side plate had an awful meat sauce. Almost like they used spoiled meat. Also inedible. This isn’t the worst part of the evening. That would be our waitress. She seemed as if she had worked there for 40 years (maybe she had) and was in a hurry to get you in and out as quick as possible. She was rude with a smile. She looked at my empty wine glass 3 times and never asked if I wanted another. Tossed the soup bowl and bread on the table and walked away. Same with the salad. She brought our burnt up entrees out and never came back to ask how we were doing or if we needed anything. She finally came back over when it looked like we were done and asked if we wanted our ice cream that comes with the dinner. Never asked if we wanted coffee or a different dessert. They weren’t particularly crowded and people weren’t waiting to be seated so why so rude and in a rush? I saw most of the other waitresses happily serving there tables and being very attentive. I guess we just lucked out and got the miserable one. We want to bring the kids there and give it another shot. Just won’t order the torched up Chicken Parm or sit in the witches section…

My family has been eating here for over 60 years; so let that, first, be a testament to the quality. Espagnol has some of your basic, amazing, old school Italian-​American favorites. It’s definitely Italian-​American, i.e. cheese ravioli, lots of delicious butter pasta, spumoni, and fried catfish. It’s all done so well, and it’s a great place to go with older relatives or to host an event (as in less than $ 15 a head). We’ve had birthdays, memorial services, and many family lunches here. It’s your standard family style minestrone, salad, and a main (with a side of spaghetti and marinara or butter pasta), followed by ice cream. My favorite entrée is the fried catfish.
If you’re feeling nostalgic for an old school Italian American meal that is ridiculously cheap, get a crowd together and come on in.

My daughter and I ordered the fried raviolis and were terribly disappointed. My husband and mother’s veal was only okay. The overall cost wasn’t worth what we received and I have never been so disappointed in my meal when I have eaten out. I’m not sure if we caught this place on an off day, but I won’t go back to find out.

Pleasant, casual Italian eatery on Folsom in East Sac. Décor could really use a little update for sure, but I like to think its all part of the charm here. The service was excellent, with prompt attention and friendly staff. The food itself was fine, I had the cheese ravioli with marinara sauce, I ordered the full dinner option, which came with unlimited minestrone soup and a dinner salad, both very good. Sliced French bread with butter was also served with our meal. Ice cream is included with the full meal choice, along with coffee or tea. All in all, not bad, we would definitely enjoy a meal here again. The restaurant has its own parking lot as well. And a bar to the left of the entry area as you walk in, with many old interesting framed photographs to look at by the hostess stand area.

This is a little family owned Italian restaurant. We first came here probably 5 years ago and have loved it ever since. They do a 4 course style dinner. After you put in your order for your main entrée they bring out soup/​salad then after that they bring out pasta. By the time you’re done with the pasta, you’re stuffed so you have to take your food to go but not until you’ve had dessert. They offer vanilla, chocolate, or spumoni ice cream!

Wow! Look no further! Amazing food, soup to die for! Seriously bucket list this place. Portions to satisfy and beyond. Excellent and friendly servers. Makes you feel like you visited family in Italy! If I could give more stars I would. Stop reading and get there now!

Coming to a neighborhood establishment that’s been around for a long time, I was expecting to be wowed, and it was just really forgettable and not delicious. We came on a Friday night around 7:30. They were quite busy, so the service was really rushed and not at all warm or welcoming.
I first ordered the cheese pasta and asked if I could have half marinara and half pesto, to which she replied that it would cost me «a few dollars extra,» so I just chose one. That seems silly if they already have the sauces prepared. I ordered the complete dinner which included soup and salad. The soup was bland and very forgettable — I’m so surprised that people on here raved about it! Maybe it was an off night. The salad was drowned in Italian dressing and wasn’t anything special. My raviolis were soft and nice, but really bland, and the marinara sauce was also really bland.
My husband said his meat sauce and meatballs were also just average.
The décor feels like you’re in a grandmother’s house, including the time-​capsule out-​of-​date furniture and accessories. I really don’t think we’ll be back.

I’ve been here several times before but always as a part of a group banquet. This time we got to order off the the menu and the fare did not disappoint. I had the ½ ravioli and ½ spaghetti and meatballs. My wife the cheese ravioli. Both were excellent. As always, the meal started with a tureen of their excellent minestrone followed by their also excellent salad. Both are served family style. When the main course arrived I hungrily devoured it, leaving no evidence of its deliciousness behind. My wife made a dent in her ravioli but enjoyed it reheated the next day. The simple ice cream or spumoni dessert topped off an extraordinary meal. Our server was very attentive and met all our needs (we were a group of eight.)
We are only too eager to return.

I have been eating their food since I was a child growing up in East Sac, but only finally got to go in and sit down in the restaurant as an adult for the first time this week — had a great meal with the veal stew! Great staff taking care of my table, and the bread was delicious as well. Definitely planning on going here again.

The food wasn’t horrible or so bad I couldn’t eat it. It was mediocre. I enjoyed my salad and soup more than my entrée the chicken cacthitore and polenta. Great atmosphere and very nice staff. For a mom and pop shop I was hoping for better tasting food. But I would rather go to taste of Tuscany or viscontis. :(

What a huge disappointment! We’ve been seeing this place for a while going to Corti’s and finally decided to try it. What a huge mistake. The service is bad for the price. Can you believe its $ 23 for 2 tiny, tiny pieces of veal? Of course it includes soup and salad and if you both don’t order the soup and salad then all you get is a little bowl of soup and a tiny salad. The pork chop A La Carte does NOT come with ANY starch at all! Can you believe that? The kids Veal is $ 12!!! I always thought Italians give large portions but you better eat first if you come here for dinner. Its so obvious the owner is in it for the money only. Also, BOTH the men and women bathroom is not working so you either go into the kitchen or use the Porto Potty in the backyard! Really? No class for an expensive restaurant. Will never go back to get ripped off.

I’ve been going here for many years and think it’s just about my favorite restaurant in Sacramento. The food is great, old fashioned Italian/​Americano mid-​century comfort food made with tradition and love. The staff works really hard and are sincere and friendly, if slightly frazzled from the breakneck pace. While you wait for your table (it’s a very popular place), you can enjoy breezy conversation and a cocktail in the full bar, and they’ll come and get you when your table is ready (no stupid buzzer things to carry around). This is not Haute Cuisine. There are no TV screens in the dining room. They do, however, have a bunch of those glass grape bundles all over the place like your grandma had, which, admit it, is refined, weapons-​grade awesomeness. The wait staff uses normal language that is understandable to non-​restaurant professionals, which is an increasingly rare perk here in know-​it-​all farm-​to-​forkville. The food is consistent, well made, reasonably priced, and delicious. The giant tureen of soup they bring you contains minestrone that is addictive to such an extent it makes heroin look like chewing gum. My wife and I had our wedding dinner/​reception in the back room and it felt like the nicer parts of Scorsese gangster movies: Love, fun, music, wine and lots of great food with efficient, smiling staff making sure EVERYONE is happy. By the time you leave, even on your first visit, you will feel like part of the family.
You should turn off your computer right now and go over there. Tell them I sent you. They won’t know what the hell you’re talking about, but it would be funny for me, and what else really matters?
Espanol is a gem. I’ll go at least once a month until they put me in a box.

The taste and service deserve a five star review but portions make it a three. The minestrone soup, house Italian salad dressing, and marinara sauce were delicious. My grandma ordered the catfish and my mom ordered the chicken parmesan. Both were excellent. The spaghetti and meatballs came with only one meatball though with a charge of $ 0.95 for extra meatball. That was disappointing. If the order came with three meatballs, I would have given five stars.

This place is random. It’s called Espanol yet serves Italian. They have turkey and stuffing one day a week on special and corn beef cabbage on anther day.
Went for lunch. Limited menu but they make everything you want if you ask for it. I asked for Alfredo sauce and they made it happen. Salad dressing and everything is homemade and the food was great and for a great price. Definitely down home. Good food for the value.

Great food, the minestrone soup was great too. But I really wanted the chicken cacciatore with polenta but they didn’t have it available. And they were out of prime rib as well :(
Good olé Italian restaurant atmosphere

I have been going to Espanols since I was a kid. This is a great place to meet family and enjoy simple Italian cuisine. The minestrone soup is one of the best in town. I love picking up soup and bread during the winter time. My favorite menu item is the cheese tortellini with half pesto sauce and half alfredo sauce. The meals come with soup, salad and ice cream. The sourdough bread is super yummy. My husband and I use to live in the neighborhood and walked there for lunch or dinner. I miss those days — so we try to drop by a few times a year.
Oh and on Friday, they also serve clam chowder soup — so we love to get both types of soup for our table. I highly recommend this old favorite!!!

I went here for the first time today. It doesn’t look like anything special from the outside, but don’t judge a book by its cover. Inside its comforting, and almost feels line your eating in someone’s home. It’s a very warm and inviting atmosphere.
They have a decently priced lunch menu a and start you off with soup, salad, and bread. The soup had a great flavor, and is served family style. Next comes the salad, which is nothing fancy, but their italian dressing is AMAZING!!!
I had spaghetti and meatballs for lunch, which wasn’t anything other than ordinary italian food. Your lunch comes with supmoni ice cream, and we ordered a side of cannoli which was so delicious!
I recommend the soup, salad, and canoli while you are here.

I went to dinner with family on a Saturday at 6:15pm upon my cousin’s suggestion. The crowd is mostly senior citizen crowd. Each table offer Free bread and butter on the table with they refill drinks. It took awhile to get our order since the friendly waitress had several tables. I ordered their famous fried half chicken a la garlic dinner plate with soup, salad, ice tea, ice cream, and pasta. My mother ordered lasagna a la carte and it was kinda dry and lack of cheese. My brother ordered chicken parmigiana a la carte and it was in small portion and it didn’t taste good. It was nice to try something different in Sacramento.

I came in here on a lark the other day for lunch. It’s a quaint little place with a very traditional setup. A quiet bar separated from the dining area, a family style restaurant setup, and great food. I had the turkey special. It was tasty, the turkey was moist and the portions were generous.
The minestrone soup was delicious — and they made sure you could have seconds if you wanted it. Salad was crisp and fresh — the blue cheese dressing was ok — no chunks of blue cheese (but what can I say, I’m a cheese snob!).
The turkey and stuffing — well I know where I want to eat next Thanksgiving! The stuffing was delicious — appears they oven bake it. The ousides were crisp, the insides were tender, moist and full of flavor.
All you can drink iced tea, and a small dish of ice cream for dessert — all wrapped up in one price that didn’t break the bank.
Service was great — pleasant and prompt. They don’t act like it’s a «job» to be nice. They just are. Patient, helpful and with a smile. I walked out with a full content belly, and a smile on my face. I can see why they’ve been in business so long. They work at it.
I want to go back and try the bar — and the cannoli!
Their own parking, which these days seems to be quite a luxury in that area.
Try it, you won’t be disappointed. This isn’t fancy schmancy high class dining, this is really good food from a nice family restaurant.

So my mother wanted to stop in for lunch yesterday. From outside, I didn’t expect the place to be very good, but I decided I was willing to give it a try.
Once I got inside, I had an immediate change of opinion. I was greeted by a very friendly lady who turned out to be my server/​hostess. She brought me a menu and I looked it over.
They had a decent wine selection although I don’t drink during the week. They also had a decent menu selection with decent prices.
I placed my order and my server was very friendly/​attentive. She explained the menu and specials to me which doesn’t happen a lot with small restaurants in Sacramento.
While I was waiting for my food, I realized some people that work there at the table next to me, folding napkins and talking about life story’s. This gave the place a real Italian family style feel. I looked around at the decorations and the place reminded me of being in NY. It was very clean and inviting.
The server brought out our meal and the food was amazing. I ate until I was stuffed and it was a lot of delicious food. Minestrone soup, salad, bread rolls and lasagna, ice cream for desert.
After that, we thanked our server for the wonderful meal. I was happy I decided to go in and get a bite to eat there. Everything was wonderful. I hope to be back soon and I would highly recommend it.

Pretty good… a little pricey, but decent American-​Italian food. I enjoy the all you can eat soup and bread, and while the spaghetti and ravioli were good, they were nothing special.
The staff was good, so thought I’d bump it up to a 3. Again, decent food, but pricey for what you get.
A similar restaurant in terms of portion size and price, but much tastier and bigger menu, is Vince’s in West Sacramento. I believe Vince’s has the same model idea for how a restaurant should run, but I believe they are more successful. Of course, that is only one man’s opinion.
As a history buff, I wholly appreciated the owner taking the time to explain to me why a restaurant called Espanol served Italian food. Interesting, but you must find out on your own.

Espanol was exactly what I expected. Disappointing, as truthfully I was hoping to be wowed by some authentic, or at least somewhat memorable, homestyle Italian food. What I got resembled what Noni would have taken out of the freezer and reheated for her surprise guests.
I am charmed by the atmosphere. We went at about 4:30, which probably added a few years to the average age of the diners. I like that, there’s something comforting about dining with mostly retirees to me. Maybe in some ways it reminds me of eating at my grandparents’ house, a very comfy spot indeed.
The waitress called us «Hon» and seemed familiar with quite a few customers. There was a jovial group celebrating a birthday at the next table. We had fun listening to them rib each other over past exploits.
We ordered an appetizer of fried raviolis that were brought to the table five minutes after they were ordered. Great if you’re in a hurry, not so good if you were hoping for something that didn’t have microwaveable in it’s description.
Meals are generously started with a giant bowl of very tomatoey minestrone, served up family style. The standard iceberg out of the bag side salad was brought as well. I wasn’t impressed with the dressings as some other reviewers have been.
Both of our entrees were passable, just not the least bit interesting. The BF’s lasagna was right up there with a Stouffer’s item. Thick noodles, generic tomato sauce, and a lack of cheese does not equal a delicious version.
My veal parmesan suffered the same lack of cheese, and was bland beyond belief. Unless you compare it to the side of pasta that was served with it. No seasoning, no melt in your mouth tenderness to the meat, pasta pieces that were glued together… just blah.
I will give them kudos for having spumoni. I think the BF instantly forgave the lasagna debacle as soon as that sweet pink and green concoction showed up. It’s included in the price of the meal.
What an unfortunate disappointment. Started on J Street in 1923, Espanol has some commendable restaurant history in Sacramento. It just needs a little love in the kitchen.