Sammy's Restaurant + Bar — Restaurant in Citrus Heights

My wife and I chose a nearby place on Google at random to have brunch at with a friend. I know the area and could not figure out where this restaurant might be hiding. When we arrived, I realized that it was part of Stones casino. I was admittedly hesitant at first, but we gave it a shot. Once we opened the door, we were all pleasantly surprised. Sammie's is very spacious with a very classy and modern feel. The decor it very inviting and pleasing to look at. The art and colors are beautiful. High ceilings and colored glass windows create a very enchanting ambiance. Very calm and quiet, there is a bar in the center with TV's on the walls. Somehow, the TV's are not at all distracting or intrusive. The dining room was clean and the staff seemed happy and helpful. It was open seating so we chose a spot by the window. The menu had nice options across a few catagories without being overwhelming. There was a bit of sticker shock though for sure. We ordered the duck tacos to start. I had the salt and pepper shrimp, my wife had the breakfast croissant sandwich, my daughter had lemon blueberry pancakes and my friend had the make your own omlette, choosing an all meat mixture. When the food arrived, we were all floored. The duck tacos came first. A beautiful display of mini tacos garnished with cream and cilantro. They were incredible and worth the trip all by themselves. Crispy, flavorful, elevated and well designed. There is absolutely nothing I would have changed about them. You have to try these. Each of our entrees were just as noteworthy. The shrimp dish was definitely my favorite. A symphonic blend of flavors that beats any "salt and pepper" Chinese dish I have had anywhere. I will be dreaming of this for months to come. The croissant was large and crafted with care. Grilled tomatoes, flaky pastry, savory sausage. It hit the mark better than we could have imagined. The pancakes were yet another love letter to building flavors. The lemon pancakes were just the right amount of tartness and flavor to compliment the blueberries in a way that made us all ask why this wasn't available everywhere. Finally, my friend's omlette kept the train running with wonderful execution and on the mark flavors. Once all was said and done, we agreed that the price was right and the food was a few steps above anything in the area. If they transported themselves to a trendier area of Sacramento, their food would be welcomed with open arms. Thank you Sammie's. It is good to know that we have a foodie diamond right in the neighborhood! We will...

The server was great, the casino was a bit loud which is fine if you are okay with that. It's great there was no smoking inside that I was aware of.

What I am writing this review about was the food, which to be honest was mostly okay.

We got dumplings to share, which was pretty nice. She got some kind of chicken and rice bowl, which was also pretty nice. I got the waygu cheeseburger with fries.

From the start with my first fry, I thought if the rest of the food was this good, we were in for a great night. And then I tasted the burger. It was just missing something. There was nothing special about it. I tried putting ranch on it, and that didn't do it. I tried a mouthful of the burger and a bite of the pickle, which did add some, but it just wasn't right. For beef that is supposedly of a higher quality (waygu) than your normal grocery beef, the flavor was just not there. It was as if it was just hiding. Or it wasn't seasoned enough, or the bun just wasn't a right fit for this thing.

I was disappointed. Everything else was pretty damn good, but the burger definitely missed the mark.

Then as a to-go order we got the apple pie pizza since that seemed interesting, and I gotta say, it just didn't work. A thin pizza crust with the apple pie fillings on top is a giant miss. It really needed that pie crust to bring it all together. It was basically like emptying an apple pie onto a plate and told people to dip flavorless crackers into it.

So the waygu cheeseburger was missing something, and the apple pie pizza was a dud. The rest of the stuff was great, but these 2 food options just didn't work. For a restaurant, the food is the most important thing to me, which is why I gave this overall a 3 instead of 4.

Also apparently her something sunset drink wasn't great either. She said it was good on the alcohol portion, but the flavor...

Me and my wife went here yesterday after her birthday for breakfast and where do I start. I’ve came here before for drinks but I have never ate here I’ve always been told that the food was very good so I was very excited to come here and try what they had to offer. Once we were looking at the menu the food items are very extensive and prices were a little high but everything sounded really good. Me and my wife started off with breakfast burritos which came out to actually be pretty big and very delicious. We also tried their truffle fries That were perfectly cooked and crispy with every bite. My wife also decided that she wanted to try the meatballs with bread which delicious is an understatement on how great these were the bread was nice and crispy and cooked perfectly the sauce on the meatballs was excellent. I our waiter was awesome and kept my wife’s mimosa filled without even asking and was very helpful with picking out items and offering suggestions. As we were getting it to the end of our meal our waiter showed up with a dessert for my wife as it was her birthday the day before it was ice cream in a wine glass filled with whip cream and cherries and had caramel and nuts at the bottom. It was very delicious and the portion size was crazy as me and my wife won’t even able to finish it. I think me and my wife found a new spot to come and start eating hopefully weekly because we can’t get the flavor of the food they’re out of our heads. Also for the environment I didn’t know if it was going to be super loud when we went there as it is a casino but you are pretty far from the casino floor, but even if you were on the floor the whole environment is very calm and is welcoming to everybody. Great...