Looking for an excuse to go out with the girls, or a new spin on a date? Check out these unique brunch specials in Sacramento that are sure to make your mouth water. Tower Cafe Located on 1518 Broadway. Brunch hours are from 8 -11 a.m. Monday through Thursday, 7 – 11 a.m. Friday and 7 a.m. - 3 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Tower Cafe takes pride in its “Madame Cristo.” It is a new version of French toast, loaded with swiss cheese and ham. “French toast is our most popular dish, and people love it so much that our chef decided to make another version,” Manager Ruben Reveles said. Breakfast cocktails are also served during brunch hours. “La Frida” is Tower Cafe's version of a Mimosa, whic

The 12th annual Sacramento Film and Music Festival opens its SummerFEST program tonight by honoring another long time Festival director.  This year's Film Arts Service Award will be presented to Cecile Mouette Downs, director of the Sacramento French Film Festival.  Cecille has worked previously for the Film Department of the French Embassy in New York City, and as a Press Officer for the Conseil Supérieur de l'Audiovisuel in Paris. She has a master’s degree in history, is a regular contributor to “France Today” magazine, and was the 2010 recipient of the Arts Executive of the Year Award from the Sacramento Arts & Business Council. This is the fifth Film Arts Service Award to be presented

Big Brothers Big Sisters has partnered with eleven celebrated Sacramento restaurants for “Cocktails for a Cause” in July. These eateries are lending their best mixologists to create refreshing, innovative cocktails to generate funds for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Sacramento throughout the entire month of July. Beginning Friday, July 1st and continuing throughout the entire month, DeVere’s Irish Pub, District 30, Dive Bar, Ella Dining Room and Bar, Grange, L Wine Lounge, Lounge on 20, Mulvaney’s, Pizza Rock, Red Lotus and Zocalo will be serving a delicious cocktail, aptly named the "Big Brother/Big Sister" or something similar. Every one of these eleven Sacramento hot spots will c

Dive Bar owner George Karpaty is expanding his business territory. Two months after opening the mermaid bar and two other businesses on Sacramento's K Street Mall, Karpaty is in the final stages of negotiating a lease for a fourth concept in El Dorado Hills. The San Francisco nightclub owner previously said the bars and gourmet pizza restaurant he opened in Sacramento early this year were pioneer concepts he would like to take elsewhere. Karpaty is now talking with folks in Santa Monica, Hollywood, Las Vegas and Oakland about opening versions of the K Street businesses there, depending on space available. He and Pizza Rock partner Tony Gemignani are also working on plans to open Pizza R

It’s been two weeks and Pizza Rock has established itself as serving K Street’s nightlife with late-night food and entertainment. This hot spot located between District 30 and Dive Bar is getting many positive reviews for their quick delivery and, of course, Tony’s pizza-throwing skills. Co-owner Tony Gemignani is reaching out to the younger pizza eaters of Sacramento by offering weekend cooking classes for kids. What better way to enjoy a gloomy Saturday afternoon than to spend it in the kitchen cooking up some comfort food? Ten children reserved their spots for this week’s cooking class with Jay Sherman, Pizza Rock’s other acclaimed pizza-spinner. Sherman began the class with a very i

On Wednesday night, Dive Bar held its grand opening. The "New K Street" has been covered ad nauseum here and (and here and here and here. . . .) and elsewhere. George Karpaty's new "entertainment complex" is big news, and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about, so I put on my press hat, my dance pants and my shiniest shirt and headed over. The block was already bumping when I arrived a little before 8 p.m. I went to Dive Bar first, but my contact was nowhere to be found, the mermaids had yet to arrive and the bar was seatless. I decided to to take my leave and begin my night with a beer at the pizza "joint" next door. Pizza Rock was bustling. The huge dining room was close to packe

Sacramento residents greeted the city's newest entertainment spots – a mermaid bar, a gourmet pizza restaurant with acrobatic pizza tossers and a high-end dance club – on K Street Mall last week. Pizza Rock, 1020 K St., opened Friday following sneak previews held earlier in the week at all three businesses. Sacramento Press’ Mariel Tagg was at Pizza Rock's grand opening Friday, talking to first-time customers and getting some background from co-owner Tony Gemignani: http://www.sacramentopress.com/headline/43794/Pizza_Rock_opens_to_the_public Grand openings for Dive Bar and District 30, which flank Pizza Rock, will be held Wednesday. Community contributors Kati Garner and Ron Nabity co

K Street’s newest restaurant Pizza Rock opened Friday with success and a lunch rush that lasted past 3 p.m. “There was a line when we opened and it’s been like this all day long,” said Pizza Rock pizzaiolo (or pizza maker) Jim Hemstalk. Pizza Rock is one of three establishments opening this week on K Street. The other two, District 30 and Dive Bar, will have grand openings on Wednesday. “The turnout so far has been fantastic and the response from everybody has been wonderful,” Hemstalk said. “Everybody just raves about it as they walk out the door, so that’s a good sign.” Pizza Rock’s co-owner Tony Gemignani, internationally renowned pizza-throwing champion and chef, said the inspirati

The K Street Mall saw some unusual activity last night as the Dive Bar/Pizza Rock VIP Party came to life. Located between 10th and 11th Streets, three new development projects are reaching completion with the intention of pumping new life into the pedestrian mall area. The Dive Bar boasts an enormous salt water fish tank above the bar, complete with live "mer-people" swimming leisurely overhead. Pizza Rock offers gourmet pizzas, a full bar stretching underneath a life-size Peterbilt truck rig crashing through the wall. Pizza Rock's ceiling displays a variation on Michelangelo's "Creation of Adam" from the Sistine Chapel - in this version God is handing an electric guitar to Adam. A plush d

Three new façades add a bit of “wow” to K Street Mall. Work is close to wrapping up on San Francisco nightclub owner George Karpaty's new businesses, Dive Bar, District 30 and Pizza Rock. A month away from the expected openings, contractors applied some of the finishing touches to the exteriors Thursday. The bar, club and restaurant technically occupy one building, owned by Sacramento developer David Taylor and CIM. But the exteriors were rebuilt to look like three distinct, separate spaces – from sleek contemporary to slightly edgy to quaint, Old World charm. The façades are like book covers, designed to entice by giving just a taste of what's inside, said the project's architectural d

Sacramentans will have to wait just a little longer to watch pizza makers tossing dough and mermaids swimming over bartenders' heads downtown. The opening of a trio of new K Street establishments – Dive Bar, Pizza Rock and District 30 – has been postponed from this month to late this year. The delay has come from “surprises” that cropped up while building a structurally sound vault under the sidewalk, said San Francisco nightclub operator George Karpaty. "Nobody's really late. It's just the way construction goes," he said. "Big projects run into delays. They've done an outstanding job dealing with all the surprises." The vault will hold three electrical transformers to power the buildi

Dive Bar and two sister nightlife venues are expected to open within three months on K Street, breathing new life into the struggling pedestrian mall well ahead of other developments. San Francisco nightclub operator George Karpaty's trio of nightlife venues has been seen as competition by some at a time when local businesses continue to struggle and even close. Karpaty said he was lured to Sacramento partly by the success of nearby venues such as Social Nightclub, Ella, Grange and the Citizen Hotel. But Karpaty said he's developed concepts — a "mermaid bar," a gourmet pizza restaurant with acrobatic pizza tossers and a high-end, over-30 dance club — to further develop K Street Mall into

K Street Mall has seen some movement this month with restaurants reopening renovation continuing and a legal challenge dismissed. Big changes may still be in the works. Two restaurants -- Three Monkeys and the Crepe Cafe -- have reopened in their old spots. Work continues on the renovation of St. Rose of Lima Park and relocation of the adjacent light rail station. In addition, a judge dismissed a lawsuit contesting development of a mermaid bar and two other nightlife venues in the 1000 block of K Street. Following the suit's dismissal, San Francisco nightclub operator George Karpaty said he expects his proposed businesses would help change the city's nightlife landscape. For some time,