Tori's Place — Restaurant in Sacramento

Tried this place several years ago and it was amazing. It is far from me, but I was finally in the area and was excited to try it again. To say the least, it did not go well:

I called to place the order for pickup. They said it would be ready in 20 minutes. I get there in 30 minutes and they said there were still orders ahead of me and it would take another 20 minutes. I am not mad because I understand that it's a busy day, but I do wish they gave a more accurate time frame over the phone.

After 25 minutes, I go up to the window to see if my order is ready because they haven't called my name yet. There is another customer in front of me. When I come up to the window I tell them my name and (without looking at me or telling me what's going on) the employees look at each and have a conversation and leave the building. I'm very confused and I look to see where they are going and I see them flag down the customer who was originally in front of me, who was already in her car, and I see them take her food back. I see them come back to the building and I ask "Did you give my food away?" Their response to me was "I don't see the problem" with a frustrated look on their faces and an attitude. They continue to basically yell at me as if it was my fault that THEY gave my food away to the point that they even called Ms. Tori herself to come speak with me.

Ms. Tori is completely amazing and such a kind soul. I told her that I apologize that she had to come out and talk to me and I calmly explained the situation and she looked shocked and told me "that should NOT have happened and I am so sorry about this." She took my food to the back and made sure everything was all good. If you are to go here for anything, I would say go to support her because she is a wonderful human being.

As Ms. Tori is working on my food, I hear another customer come up for their food and says "when I get to the car I'm going to check if everything is in there." In which the employee told him, "the other person did not even leave yet" (talking about the other customer they had to chase down to get my food). That upsets me because now they are lying. They did not see me watch them leave the building and chase down the other customer who was already in her car leaving with my food! The other employees at this establishment and young and do not have any customer service skills whatsoever. I'm upset that they were so argumentative with me in the first place and then they start lying to other customers about what happened and probably lied to Ms. Tori too so they would not get in trouble.

FINAL STRAW - I finally get my food and I'm hoping all is well because as long as I have good food then I'm happy and could give this place another chance in the future since the food was (from what I remember) so good. My family and I start eating:

-Red Snapper: So dry and had an old fish smell to it. I could not finish it. -Onion Rings: Again, really dry. Overcooked. Very crispy. Could not finish it -Mac and cheese: Really good. I would recommend. -Hot link: Good. -Cornbread Pancake: Amazing. Besides coming here for Tori, also get the cornbread pancake. Highly recommend.

-Fried chicken: Unfortunately, this was my final straw that I could not forgive and will not be returning. As my family started pulling apart the fried chicken, underneath the skin was a long black hair. It had to be cooked with the chicken somehow since we did not find it until we were pulling it apart to eat. Pictures attached for proof.

There were too many issues to forgive this place and the last issue was the final straw and the cause for this review. Sadly, I will not...

Tori’s Place, 1525 Grand Ave. in North Sacramento’s Del Paso Heights neighborhood, had 17 violations on Thursday, May 1.

Health inspectors shut down the restaurant, which specializes in Southern comfort food, due to live rats and other evidence of a rodent infestation.

Inspectors saw one rat crawling from the top equipment shelf in an unapproved back dry storage area onto the roof, and another rat on an electrical line behind a two-door household freezer/refrigerator in the same dry storage area.

Two live rats were spotted crawling on beams overhead.

There were more than 160 rat droppings throughout the facility, the May 1 report said, including on the floor behind a broken ice machine, in the front register area, on a dry storage shelf that held clean pots and pans in the kitchen and behind the “cat’s food and litter box.”

Bulk flour in the dry storage area was left uncovered.

The restroom door was unable to self-close.

A cooking pot was stored inside the mop sink, and inspectors observed a sticky fly trap on the ceiling in the middle of the kitchen.

The facility was missing a food manager’s certificate at time of the inspection

Tori’s Place was reinspected on Friday, May 2, and passed with a green placard.

A Sacramento Bee reporter reached out to Toni’s Place on Thursday but the owner was not available...

Don't let the location or building appearance fool you, this is the best soul food in Sacramento. Tori is doing her thing quite well, and she takes pride in her restaurant and in her local community. It is not a wealthy community and that makes it's success so much better. If the neighborhood or decor is a deal breaker, then keep your narrow behind at home so everyone else can get their delicious food faster.

I love that every time I come here I see black people, hispanic people, asian people and white people... all standing in line to order or happily waiting for their big order while eating a sample of delicious gumbo. This is a true hub and monument of the community.

I see several unjustified low ratings here since my original post 3 years ago... likely from sad single unsuccessful women who don't know their history AT ALL and who couldn't boil a pot of water if their life depended on it, let alone prepare a dish that can stand up to this place. Either open your own restaurant and show us what you got, or keep your hateful disrespectful skilless cheap opinions to yourself.

Everything on the menu is worth the price. Only my late grandmother's cooking was better, but only slightly. These folks know what the hell...