The Hangry Herd BBQ & Beers — Restaurant in Rancho Cordova

A few months ago, I was in search of a venue for my birthday that would fall in November. I had seen an ad on Facebook one day advertising free rental space for events and it was right down the street from my boyfriend's. A cute little winery and it had great Yelp reviews - which is usually my go to when discovering a new place. I wanted to check it out in person before committing, but I didn't know how the process worked. So I e-mailed to show interest and ask about availability for the date I was interested in. Danny got back to me quickly, but I didn't catch his e-mail and then just happened to be in the area the next day so decided to stop by and check it out. It was super cute and the staff were very kind and welcoming. I let them know I was considering it as my birthday venue and they were able to grab one of the managers so that I could discuss how it would work, availability, etc. Danny was very nice and attentive and straight forward about there being another party the same day I wanted, but that they would accommodate if I wanted the earlier spot.

It was not surprising to find out that it wasn't completely 100% free...it required a $100 holding deposit and then they said they would refund $75 back after the event and keep $25 for administrative/booking fee. Honestly, it was reasonable and for all that they provide I thought it was more than fair. Before ending my meeting with Danny, I asked if it was possible to sample the wine and he quickly brought me 3 small tastings. The wine was good- not the best I have had, but not the worst and I was mainly looking at the space.

They allowed me a room to put the food and cake in (they allow any outside food to be brought in). They also had the couches and some tables usable for us. Note that the fee above doesn't reserve the whole venue (it's a bit more if you want the whole space exclusive to your party...otherwise it's also open to the public). Since it was a Sunday - it wasn't really busy at all- so we had pretty much all the space to ourselves. There were a handful of random people that came in, but they sat in separate area.

I got there half an hour early (before they opened) and was able to set up and the winetenders were very sweet. When my party officially started, they played my Spotify playlist that I sent (they do require that it is all clean lyrics, since it is still open to public). Also note that they do not allow any drinks to be brought - alcoholic/non-alcoholic. They have a good selection of both, so you will be set there.

I loved their wine slushies and they even fancied them up with a cute little gummy on a toothpick. They offered a white and a red option. The white was my favorite. I believe they said they rotate flavors too.

I had a great time and appreciate them letting me host my birthday there. I look forward to them growing a bit more and offering more alcohol (they said beer is to come) and food options. I would go here for a fun event like trivia or karaoke too if...

BEST WINE ADVENT CALENDAR EVVVVVERRRR First of all this company is the BOMB. WAAAAY back in October I reached out - and instead of some cold, generic reply I received an actual message - she said 'ASK AWAY!' I had so many questions - I waited patiently for these to go on sale online (OK who am I kidding? I obsessed, tossed and turned each night - worried in my head and out loud to my patient husband, who nicely said you have stop talking about this calendar my dear) FINALLY when I was able to purchase, I still obsessed...until one day. One chilly, windy day a FedX driver pulled up and as he looked over to our house - BAM I was standing right next to him. His words 'wow you came out of your house so fast I didn't even see you standing there' I said - 'um I have been waiting for this arrive for what seemed like a life time! The packaging was beautiful. REALLY professional on all levels (I notice these things because I am an artist and graphic designer lol) The wine is VERY good. I bought a wine advent calendar last year from the UK, the wine was just MEH.....LOVE the idea of wine TUBES. and Each window is paired with 'about the wine' and pairings - it makes the whole experience WAY more fun. I gave my son and his girlfriend one for christmas so they count down with us - and we talk about the wine (at the last second I almost kept theirs, and that way I could have had TWO wine tubes each night but that darn elf on my shoulder said 'stop being selfish Suzanne...." hehe glad I listened. To make a short story long, THIS was the best purchase of the year - I hope they continue to offer on line each year because I HATE fighting people in lines, ugh. I cannot wait to buy some blue wine this summer and have guests over just to hand out goblets of blue :)...

Went today (Sunday) for the 3rd day of their soft opening. They ran out of all the meat they planned to serve all weekend on Friday night which means they rushed cooking new meat for the rest of the weekend, and you could definitely tell. Im definitely giving them the benefit of the doubt seeing at it is their soft opening, but I think instead of rushing the product they should have cancelled the rest of their reservations for the soft opening.

We ordered a platter with brisket and pork and then a half slab of ribs. Sides were mac and cheese and baked beans. Sides are definitely on the small side.

Brisket - 1/5 it was totally not what I was expecting. No smoke flavor whatsoever. It definitely looked and tasted like it was rushed and not at all what others got on Friday night.

Pork - 3/5 could have used more smoke flavor and seasoning. It was decent though. Definitely has potential.

Ribs - 4/5 touted as fall off the bone, they weren't. But the smoke flavor was definitely there and it was by far the best meat out of the 3. Could have used longer on the smoker in my opinion.

Baked beans 4/5 - husband liked em, said they had good flavor but they needed to be cooked longer as the beans were kinda crunchy.

Mac and cheese - 4/5 good flavor, needed to be hotter.

In my opinion, bbq meats should stand alone on the flavor of the seasonings/smoke and not need to the usage of bbq sauce. We definitely needed sauce to even eat the brisket. We've been to numerous prestigious Texas BBQ joints and had high hopes for this place since the owner studied under the owner of Franklin's BBQ. This trip left us unsatisfied, but we'll be back once they're established more...