Esquire Grill

We made a last-​minute reservation for a special occasion, and had a perfect dinner. Service, food, presentation, and décor were all great… elegant, warm, and unpretentious. Will definitely return.

I ordered the salad special which was grilled asparagus, grapefruit, feta, & Marconi almonds. It was delish! My mother had the shaved beet salad. The portion size was perfect. We each finished our salads. For lunch we split the braised boneless short rib sandwich with fries. It came with pickled red onion, wild arugula, jalepeno & horseradish mayo. It wasn’t as spicy as I thought it would be, but maybe it was best that way for my mother. The French fries were hot, crisp & thin. Too much for me to eat! I need to save room for dessert! I always get the same dessert whenever I come here. We completed our lunch by sharing the banana cream pie. It’s the best. Light crispy flaky crust, vanilla cream, fresh sliced bananas topped with fresh whipped cream. The clincher is the drizzle of caramel sauce. Yummy!

The steak sandwich was magnificent. It had a red wine rub and was tender and moist and made me want to come back for more over and over!

NOT HAVE AGAIN: The shrimp and crab louie was just ok — nothing special. It had a big half «bowl» of iceberg lettuce with a fair amount of crab and shrimp. If you do order, ask for extra louie dressing because they provide only a very small amount in a thin line around the iceberg lettuce.
HAVE AGAIN: Still a great location for going to the Broadway Music Series.

Good thing we showed up 2 hours before showtime — — and that’s without waiting for a table. Our first waiter — — great… then he left and we got some other guy that must have been wearing cement. Food was definitely not worth the price. He was gone so long with my credit card I had to check to make sure there wasn’t any unauthorized charges! There are too many great restaurants downtown to waste your time and money here.

This was where my group was having dinner. I suppose it was chosen because it’s a short walk to the Capital.
Service was slow, inattentive, and, uh, slow.
Food was mediocre.
So many good places to eat in Sacramento and they had to put us there.
Wasted evening.

We came here for dinner prior to hour show and the waiter was prompted and attentive. He want to know if we were going to the show at 8pm, so our meal was not late. We had a party of four people and the food was amazing. Five stars for the pork chops, but overall the entire dinner was delicious. The food and service was excellent! We will be back.

This is a great restaurant to go to if you’re on your way to a show at the Community Center. The location is convenient and the staff has it completely dialed in as far as timing to get you an amazing meal in a timely fashion. Showed up without reservations (I don’t recommend this) but we were seated on the patio with no problem. The patio was actually kind of an oasis compared to the din inside. That said, we were never forgotten and had excellent service from Richard. We had the oyster appetizer and the salmon and the chicken and everything was delicious. This isn’t my first time at the Esquire, but it won’t be my last, it has always been a great destination for pre-​shows, NYE and birthdays.

Always love the Esquire but had quite a shock when i saw this $ 18 Reuben sandwich arrive at my table on St. Pat’s Day!
Katz iconic NYC deli Reuben is the large one. Esquire Grill the smaller…

I’ve only checked out the bar and the bartender was accommodating and cool. I hear they have a new cook there who’s kicking ass. I’ll be back moin.

I recently visited Esquire Grill on Friday night, before the Book of Mormon play. I was with my wife and two other couples. Play nights are especially busy at all restaurants near the theater, particularly at Esquire. We had a 6:15 reservation. The place was PACKED! This could be a concerning detail for people trying to make an 8:00 play, but the Esquire staff made it seem like it was no big deal.
Once we finally decided on what to order, the food came fairly quickly, considering how busy it was. We all ordered something different. I chose the braised short ribs, and they were amazing! In fact, Chef Pedro did an amazing job with all of our dishes. Once the food came, conversation stopped as we were all enjoying our food. Our server was keeping a close eye on the time and brought our check to the table a little early so we could make the play. We had to rush out the door, but it was our own fault.
Overall a great experience at Esquire. I’ll be back again, for sure.

Popular spot for government workers and conference attendees. Conveniently located near the Hyatt Regency and across from the Capitol.
Though it was nice, it does read typical and nothing really stood out.
I ordered the Mary’s chicken with mashed potatoes and brussel sprouts. It was good, but nothing to brag about. Pinot Grisio for a drink.
The star of the evening, however was the banana cream pie. Not the typical slice. It was a mini pie with delicious crust, great banana recipe, and just a touch of whipped crème. It was a great dessert and a perfect ending to my otherwise typical diner.
Service was wonderful. I would go again simply out of convenience, but I think there are other restaurants much more worthy for exploration.

Wet and apple salad great. Roasted chicken the most moist piece of chicken I have had in a restaurant in a long time. Au jus outstanding. Mashed potatoes no flavor. Brussels sprouts boring, also no flavor. Bread has to be asked for. not automatically given. Fruit crips small but the best part of the meal.

Having lived in Sacramento almost all my life, I’m very surprised that I had never been here. Well, decided to change that on Valentines day.
The menu was pre-​fixe that day.
I selected the scallop for my amuse bouche, halibut for my entrée, and the crème brule for dessert.
The scallop was OK, not overly cooked.
The halibut was wonderful, nicely seared on the edges and sides and nice and moist in the center.
The kumquat crème brule was also wonderful, not too sweet and a bit tangy with the kumquat.
The décor was top notch, nice dark wood and unique light fixtures. This would be a wonderful place for not just a special occasion, but any date night.
Would definitely come again.

I had an absolutely fabulous meal at Esquire last night! I went with a group of friends to celebrate one of our friends birthdays and was really impressed. We had a later reservation so the dining room had plenty of availability but there were a few large parties obviously enjoying themselves.
We had a drink at the bar first, the bartender made us one of the best drinks I’ve ever had (concocted on the spot for the birthday girl– this guy knew his stuff). The wait staff, our waitress, Brandy in particular, was very attentive and we were seated at a table where we could see what was going on in the kitchen, which was an unexpected surprise. Many tables had good views of the kitchen, which, in my honest opinion, provides confidence in what and how you’re being served, we couldn’t hear what was going on but you could tell they were working like a well-​oiled machine.
We started with the grilled artichoke, oysters and deviled eggs and a special salmon chicharrone (
.God.) it was salmon, fried salmon skin and roe, hands down my favorite thing I’ve eaten EVER. The artichoke was cooked perfectly and served with a delicious aioli. The deviled eggs were superb, and the oysters were fresh and hearty.
I ordered the Pappardelle, an oxtail ragu served with fresh flat noodle pasta, the sauce was robust, the meat was incredibly tender and I seriously almost licked the plate! If I hadn’t been wearing white, I might have actually done it! My friends ordered specials; the filet mignon which was a perfect medium rare and served with some delicious sauces (not sure what they were, but certain they were delicious!) and the scallops with risotto, which were cooked with precision. I tried it all!
And dessert was awesome! We had a decadent chocolate surprise coated with a chocolate gnache, vanilla ice cream and a banana cream pie that was out of this world!
I will definitely be back! I can’t wait for the weather to warm up and dine on the patio, maybe do some people watching on K st. The Kay is becoming quite the happening place to be! I’ll be sure to make a reservation ;)

My work has both ordered from and dined in for lunch at the Esquire several times in the last few months just because of its close proximity to our office. Myself and my vegetarian co-​workers (there are 4 vegetarians in the office) find it so frustrating that Esquire Grill neglects to put ANY vegetarian entrees on their menu.
The chef will whip up a pasta with whatever vegetables are available, but why not put a thoughtful vegetarian entrée on the menu, or, a more extreme notion — have a couple veg options to choose from?
Also, while getting food to-​go here is timely, when we’ve dined in the service has taken ages and eaten up our work hours. My office will be exploring other options in the area going forward.

This was my first time at Esquire Grill. It’s a great location for dinner if you’re catching a show or event at Sac Convention Center.
We made 6:30 reservations to make the Sac Speakers Series at 8pm. We had enough time to review the menu, eat dinner, and finish a drink without feeling rushed.
I ordered the shrimp & crab salad that sits in a multi leaf layered iceberg lettuce bowl. The amount of crab was generous and is not overpowered or hidden with the mayo-​based mix. It was light, yet filling. Boiled egg and radish slices garnish the side.
The menu doesn’t overwhelm you with options. Instead it serves the basics: chicken, salmon, pork chops, which were all ordered by my dinner companions. They all said it was great and didn’t leave a spoonful behind.
Service is great and friendly!

I came here for the 3-​course iEat summer menu for $ 30. For the first course I had the corn soup. The soup was served with popcorn on top of the soup. I have never had soup with popcorn on top, but the popcorn created a nice contrast to the creaminess of the corn soup. I opted for the grilled swordfish for the main course. The dish was served with house-​cured chorizo, fennel, and cranberry bean ragout. It was very tasty! For dessert, I had the peach upside-​down cake. I could have eaten an entire tray of the cake. It was so good I was very tempted to order second helping.

Yet another $ 30 iEat 3-​course summer menu brings me back here, ran July 6^th-​17^th. Parked in the Esquire IMAX garage with validation came out to $ 5 total. Reservations on Opentable were easy, didn’t have any show to attend so no rush in particular for the meal.
Menu options:
FIRST COURSE
Chilled Melon Soup
Seared Halloumi Cheese
Confit Pork Belly
MAIN COURSE
Pan-​Seared Diver Scallops
Wood Fire Grilled Flat Iron Steak
Summer Fettucine
DESSERT
Lemon Verbena Crème Brulee
Chocolate Mousse
Boyfriend ordered the cheese starter, steak, and chocolate mousse. I didn’t try any of those but they did look good. In terms of my order, the melon soup (just call it gazpacho already!) was sweet but balanced with the salty pepitas and cheese. I also went with the scallops. At first I was sad that there were only two total scallops on the plate, but after cutting them into bite-​size pieces proved to be quite a lot of meat! The cous cous and avo coulis were good, I didn’t really get the taste of the squash or gypsy peppers much. Lastly, I had the crème brulee. While the chocolate mousse was garnished with mint and lovely berries, the brulee was torched and… that’s it. Not even a mint leaf or some lemon zest or candied peel! Presentation was lacking just a teeny bit there, but otherwise every bite was definitely lemony. Well done. I forgot to mention we were celebrating an anniversary when I made the reservation, in which case they probably would have taken a photo for us to take home as they did on my birthday earlier in the year. Overall, I was happy with the meal, always have a pleasant dining experience at Esquire Grill.

This is a casual and comfortable restaurant bar in downtown Sac. I had a really good salad. I always like to have a salad of some sort when I dine out. Sometimes people think it’s boring but that’s ok. It’s good for you. Yes I know pizza and fries are good too but I just don’t have the heart to eat that way.
The salad was fresh and good size. I like my dressing on the side (which the server remembered to do). Some places smother a salad with dressing and to me it’s a soggy mess. It’s a good location if you are staying downtown and walkable from many different directions. It’s nicely taken care of and clean. I think anyone could come here and find something on the menu they would like. Prices are moderate. Nice bar with sports on flat panel.