Bowinkle's Drive Thru — Restaurant in Rancho Cordova

This was my first time going to Bowinkle's in Rancho. I've been curious about them for some time because their menu resembles a mom-and-pop restaurant that I used to work at many years ago, even including the Mexican food station. I decided to start my experience off by trying the fish sandwich, pastrami sandwich, and deep-fried mushrooms.

The mushrooms were awesome, because they were JUST like the ones I used to enjoy at Pop's Drive-in in Bakersfield. This isn't gourmet food, so you can't compare them to a big chain restaurant, but these mushrooms were so delicious and nostalgic to me. The ranch dressing is awesome too. I thought I was going to get runny cheap, bulk-bottled ranch, but instead I got a thick, creamy ranch dip.

As for the fish sandwich, that was awesome too. I liked the size of the fish portion and the fact it came with all the produce, just the way I used to have it at Pop's. Except instead of a square fish patty on a round bun, Bowinkle's fish sandwich was a longer piece of fish on a 5-6" roll. I will definitely be ordering this again.

As for the pastrami, it wasn't technically bad. I feel like most everyone else will actually enjoy it. The flavor and portion was fine, and the pastrami was fairly lean, which I like. But some of the pastrami pieces were super thick. I've been searching everywhere to find a pastrami that is like Togo's, but without the crazy price. At both Pop's Drive-in and Togo's they slice the pastrami really thin and cook/soak it in a delicious brothy juice. I love thin, lean ribbons of pastrami that have a little bit of moisture from the juice when you put it on the sandwich. So I might order a pastrami from Bowinkle's again, but I would REALLY order them often if the meat preparation was changed slightly.

(I forgot to take pictures) I'm definitely going here again and trying more of...

It's all about the food. Not much space or atmosphere here. Drive thru audio was not very good. In both directions. But the menu is huge, the prices aren't too bad, and the quality of the food is really good! Kids cheeseburger, chicken sandwich, zucchini and pina colada smoothie were all fantastic, if you like that kind of food. They have too many items to list. Salads, desserts, chicken, drinks, tacos, burritos... Something called a gaggle pack i think it was? If you have 3 ppl that want mexican, burgers, and a salad - go here and save time. The ranch was suspiciously, unbelievably thick. Almost like cream cheese. And VERY rich. But was good, in moderation. The guy working wasn't the smoothest operator. Sum miscommunication and repeating. Idk if he was the owner, or part owner, but i got the impression he was truly appreciative of our business, and we were happy to support a small business with a very funny name (we mostly went cuz it was small with a funny name lol). But please, PLEASE do something about your sign. You are losing SO MUCH business, having a sign that no one notices. It doesnt need a phone number in 2025, everyone has a phone. It doesn't need to say drive thru TWICE. Make it as big and bright as possible, with bright white or colorful led lights, and large clear colorful pics of your best selling, or most profitable items. I guarantee you will IMMEDIATELY start to make back any money that you spend on the sign Also, real blended frozen fruit smoothies with honey would be great! Mango, strawberry...

I finally had a chance to stop by... they just opened a few weeks ago. The front was fairly small, only two tables, but the kitchen must have been much bigger... you can't see it, but you can hear the burgers sizzling!

I was reading the menu as the couple in front of me ordered (very minor wait), but when I got to the register, I still didn't know what I wanted... the menu is rather big, plenty of choices, many standard items but a few I'd never heard of before, so I asked what she recommended. Instead of giving the pat answer of, "It's all good," she actually told me the top three popular items: mushroom burger, BBQ bacon cheeseburger, and a French burger.

Now I've heard of the first two, but I've never heard of a French burger, so I asked what it was. She said it was a regular burger on French bread. If that's a regular burger I'm impressed! The patty was large, round, and thick. Well cooked, hot all the way home, and yet still juicy. Lots of good, crunchy onions, just the way I like it.

When my wife saw the burger, her only comment was, "Where'd you get THAT?" Apparently I should have gotten a second one. I'll have to do that next time, and there WILL be a...