Kimio Bazett doesn't remember exactly when he and buddy Jon Modrow came up with the idea to open a bar. It might have been while Modrow was sharing his misery over the lack of human interaction he found in his job as a genetics researcher working on fruit flies. Or it might have been one of those golden afternoons spent bombing down sugared white slopes at a Tahoe ski resort. Modrow on skis, Bazett carving turns with his snowboard. Whenever it happened, the result was one of Midtown's most popular and laid-back watering holes -- The Golden Bear. "We were two people who made a huge effort to make a dream become a reality," Modrow said last week. "The idea came from the kinds of places I

I was out and about the day before Christmas Eve and as usual looking for something to eat when I came across Sweetwater Restaurant and Bar. The restaurant stands on a decent piece of midtown real estate with a good amount of foot traffic through the neighborhood. Upon walking in you are immediately facing the bar. Since there is no podium or hostess we sat ourselves and our server Jo Beth promptly came by with menus. One of the first things I noticed was the extremely bright lights which took so much away from what would have otherwise been a very welcoming room. I’ve been in emergency rooms more dimly lit. The crowd was quiet and average at the bar most likely due to the fact it was s

Some people are still scratching their heads over Whiskey Wild Saloon. As recently as two weeks ago, regulars posting on yelp.com wrote to ask what had happened to the tavern, where for two years, people danced on the bar and drank $2 "train shots" whenever trains rolled by. "Did this place officially close?" wrote someone who stopped by, only to find the place dark and the front doors chained and bolted. The bar at 1910 Q St. closed over the summer for reasons that aren't clear. The owners surrendered the bar's liquor license to the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control on Sept. 9. The bar closed at least a month earlier, according to its MySpace page, where someone post

East Sacramento has a new hangout: The Corner Restaurant & Bar, which opened its doors for business last Friday.     "I want this to be a place people want to come and hang out at," said owner Joel Thompson. "As cliche as it sounds, I hope The Corner will be a place like the 'Cheers' bar 'where everyone knows your name.'"     The Corner is located down the street from Sacramento State University at the corner of 57th and J streets in the historic building that was home to the original Shakey's Pizza until the mid-1990s. The Thompson family opened the restaurant with the goal of creating a family-friendly place where students, parents and kids alike could enjoy reasonably priced food

Happy hour is alive and well in the Downtown Sacramento area on Thursday nights. While there are countless restaurants offering discounts on food and drinks for varying days and times, eight of the grid's Thursday happy hours stood out from the pack. Heading off the list is the Dragonfly Japanese restaurant. Located at 1809 Capitol Ave. and voted "Best New Restaurant" by SN&R, the Dragonfly offers some impressive deals during happy hour. Running from 3 to 6 p.m. and 9 to 10 p.m., the restaurant offers half-off sushi rolls, $2 sake bombs, $3 drafts and half-off well drinks. Another good place to kick back and enjoy some good deals on food and drinks is Level Up Lounge at 2431 J St. Their

Tonight, the Shady Lady Saloon will have two guest bartenders, Erick Castro and Owen Westfield of San Francisco's Bourbon & Branch. Bourbon & Branch has a set of house rules that coincide with the simplicity and no-funny-business attitude of the Shady Lady: No use of cell phones No photography No standing at the bar Please speak easy (or quietly)   Don't even think of asking for a Cosmo Please be patient as the drinks are labor-intensive Bourbon & Branch used to be the location of the JJ Russell Cigar Shop which operated as a speakeasy from 1923-1935, complete with a password that needed to be uttered to gain admittance, a trap door that opened and led down to the bar and five s

I see you all the time at Tupelo Coffee House, but you don’t know me. We both like it that way. Neither of us will exchange a word, but I have created your brief back-story for my own entertainment. It is fiction, but this is the nature of our relationship. I have 900 Facebook friends, and I frequent all the same spots, but I do not know anyone. We work here, meet here, and play here. When home is where the couch is, we spend most of our waking hours out and about; returning home only to crash for the night. Time is calculated in semesters, leases, and rental agreements instead of years or friendships. Neighbors have come to represent mysteries rather than faces or lives. Forgotten are t

A mouthful of gin spews into an open flame sending a ball of fire several feet into the air and the heat from the blast can be felt from the audience. With the fireball's deafening sound, Kris Laidlaw, bartender from GV Hurley's, draws the whole room's attention as well as a round of applause. Earlier, this article previewed Wednesday night's cocktail competition, which took place from 6-8 p.m. at Lounge on 20. To add to a base of Broker's London Dry Gin, the competitors used ingredients as diverse as frozen papaya to Peruvian chili peppers to edible flowers. Ali Mackani, owner of the Lounge on 20 MC’d the event and interviewed the 10 competitors for the nearly 100 people who showed up.

Anything goes Wednesday night when eleven area mixologists will mix drinks in a cocktail competition with only one rule: the drink must include Broker's London Dry Gin. But aside from that, contestants will be putting in anything and everything else to express their creativity and win a cash prize. The event host, Lounge On 20, will open doors at 5 p.m. and the competition will begin at 6 p.m., with a specially priced cocktail menu being served all night. It is sponsored by Broker's London Dry Gin and company Director Andrew Dawson will be one of the four celebrity judges along with Joe Anthony Savala of Z´calo, Darryl Corti of Corti Brothers, and Mike Heller of the Heller Company. Alma

While many local businesses are shutting their doors, three ambitious Sacramentans are putting their heads and money together to open a new saloon in Sacramento, The Shady Lady. Garrett Van Vleck, Jason Boggs and Alex Origoni first met working at various Paragary restaurants. After months of searching for the right place, the three took to the old Wonderbread factory and named it after the nickname for the first bar that Origoni went to when he was in school. "That's one of the things that hasn't changed through our entire two year process of doing this," Van Vleck said. The trio has gone through countless menus and concepts, but the name Shady Lady has been one constant. None of the

 de Veres Irish Pub, located on 15th and L has recently opened up. Yesterday there was an event where locals sold hip new clothing, anywhere from hats to snowboarding gear, out on the patio. While visiting the clothing event, I was able to experience the pub for my first time. Inside the building is incredible. It is lined with dark wood, giving it the Irish feel, while maintaining a totally classy look. The beer selection is great and tasty. I managed to try the BLT sandwich, potato leek soup, and the lamb sliders. All were delectable. I carried my refreshment to the patio with me, while I browsed some of the great deals. Jay Gatlin of Hell-Bent Sales, was selling snow boards and gear,

The speed with which development in the downtown/midtown grid takes place can be snail’s pace slow, or lightning fast. Here’s an example of the latter. One week ago, I drove past the corner of 15th and L and checked out the progress on that corner, where the old Firestone tires store used to be. There is going to be a California Pizza Kitchen on the corner, and upstairs, Mason Wong has already quietly opened his gorgeous new lounge, Mix. But downstairs, one week ago, the commercial space to the left of those two businesses was bare bones, construction workers doing all that behind the scenes work that civilians can’t really fathom. Electrical, plumbing, etc. But last night, on my way to