The Northside Bar + Cafe is the latest go-to for eats and drinks

BY ALLEN PIERLEONI

For owner Jasmine Peterhans, opening the new Northside Bar + Cafe has been a step-by-step project played out over the past year. “It’s been a process,” she said. “There were a lot of starts and stops.”

Now, after an extensive remodel, the bar-cafe is the newest destination along Del Paso Boulevard.

The renovation of the building “went from the top down,” Peterhans said. “We re-roofed it, replaced the ceiling, replaced Sheetrock and wood, overhauled the electrical system, updated the plumbing, refurbished the floor, sandblasted the walls and added wood wainscoting. Then we cleaned and painted the shell that was left.”

Now the space is a showcase of art-filled concrete block walls, hanging LED lamps, porthole windows, exposed beams and a reddish-colored sapele wood bar (a hardwood similar to mahogany) hand-crafted by Peterhans’ brother, a wood artist in Berkeley. The bar area connects to a dining room, which leads to an outdoor patio.

A neighborhood bulletin board is on its way, where “we’ll post notices from local establishments about upcoming events,” she said. “We merchants are all in this together and would like to increase the traffic between our businesses.”

As for food service, “We’ve stuck to reasonably priced made-from-scratch bar bites,” Peterhans said. The menu shows burgers, roasted-pork sliders, mushroom quesadillas, fried mac ‘n’ cheese balls and hot wings.

“We’ll be expanding the menu with sandwiches, salads and vegetarian options, and we’ll begin lunch in April,” she said. “The outdoor patio will be a great place this spring and summer.”

Peterhans is envisioning her creation as a bustling neighborhood bar with a customer base from all the surrounding neighborhoods. “Everyone is invited, and it would be wonderful if we had people coming off the Light Rail for happy hour, or people visiting from other parts of the city.”

Her “regulars” base is already established, a group that’s been coming to the location for 25 years when it was previous bar-grills – Callison’s, Eclipse, Silk, Little Galley.

What brought Peterhans to the boulevard from her Oakland home and office-administration background?

“A lot of happenstance,” she said. “I was looking for a change and was ready for an opportunity to do something different, and thought Sacramento would be a good fit beyond just moving here and finding another job. When I found this location,

I decided I could make something happen.”

The boulevard is growing, and now Peterhans is part of it.

“I’m excited,” she said. “The location is prime, it feels like an unexplored historical neighborhood that’s getting new attention. There’s a lot of room for growth, and what’s here is improving.”

Northside Bar + Cafe

1011 Del Paso Blvd.

916-900-4125

www.northsidebarcafe.com