Despite challenging times, Ernesto’s Mexican Food in Midtown will celebrate 20 years in business next week, and owner Pauline Jiménez said the key to success has been focusing on quality food and service. “We’re a neighborhood restaurant,” Jiménez said. “I’ve lived in the community for 50 years, and I think for the past 20 years we have been a staple here, and we are still going strong.” For 13 of the past 20 years, Jiménez said, Ernesto’s – located at 1901 16th St. – has been listed as best Mexican restaurant in Sacramento Magazine and has received other recognition in local contests. The business opened Nov. 18, 1991 in a space that was best-known for a Chinese restaurant, The Golden

Sept. 16 marks the anniversary of Mexican Independence Day, the date in 1810 when Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, a Mexican priest, held an early morning mass and rang the bell of his church to encourage his people to fight against Spain for their freedom. The call signaled the official beginning of Mexico's war for independence. While Hidalgo was captured and executed the next year, Mexico won the war a decade later and became its own country. The event is often confused with Cinco de Mayo, which is more popular in America. This date commemorates the Battle of Puebla, which the Mexican army won against the French on May 5, 1862. It is mostly celebrated in the state of Puebla, and though some

It's that time of year again - time for "Best Restaurants," brought to you by Sacramento Magazine. After reading the readers' picks for each category, it made me wonder whether the results would be different for readers of The Sacramento Press. Our focus has been primarily on events and coverage of things in the Grid, whereas Sacramento Magazine covers a larger demographic including the suburbs. There were four categories that stood out to me in Sacramento Magazine's Best Restaurants: Best Burrito, Best Pizza, Best Burger and Best Coffeehouse. I live in the Grid and therefore have my own biases about restaurants that live in Downtown and Midtown. I prefer restaurants in this area to tho