Tower Café — Restaurant in Sacramento

Considering this is one of (if not) the most-reviewed restaurant in the Sacramento area, there is reason as to why "Tower Cafe" has been dubbed and voted the best brunch spot in Sacramento year-after-year. For one, it is in the heart of Sacramento directly on Broadway and adjacent to 15th St/Land Park Dr. near Midtown and Land Park. Secondly, it has been an iconic piece of Sacramento dating back to 1990 where it neighbors the historic Tower Theater and the now-defunct Tower Records. I've been here quite a few times. However it has been awhile and I am now writing an updated review on one of Sacramento's most well-known brunch restaurants.

Note to many reading this review.. prepare to wait; especially on weekend mornings. However, the very generous and sizable staff did a tremendous job expediting the whole process. It is pretty simple since you let one of the staff members (at the podium outside) know how many people are in your party (in my case, just 2) and give them your phone number. You then click a link on your phone and you are placed in a queue of where your spot is. I must say, the waitlist moved quite rapidly as we arrived at 11:30am and got seated right at 12:00pm. This was great news especially since they originally said it would be a 45-60 minute wait.

We were seated at the very beautiful, prestigious, and picturesque outdoor patio. When walking through the lush outdoor landscaping, you are surrounded by a variety of trees, flowers, and a flowing water fountain as every square inch is maximized to its full potential. And this place is quite generous in size with many tables spread far enough apart where you don't feel claustrophobic. The inside seating area and café has some very quirky, eclectic, unique, and elaborate art that combines many different countries together with a universe of multi-cultural decor. Much of the outdoor greenery is brought inside with a multitude of live plants that makes this one of the most elaborate interiors of any restaurant.

Our server, Jordan Cecilia was absolutely amazing! After introducing herself to us, she gave us menus and provided us with two iced waters as well an extra cup of ice which was perfect for what was shaping up to be a very hot Sacramento day. A couple minutes later she came back and asked if we would like any drinks. I was pretty sold on their "Hibiscus Coconut Mojito" as this would be the perfect treat to get my Sunday brunch going. A few minutes pass and Jordan takes our orders.

Upon ordering, I ended up going with their "French Connection" which is a slice of their famous French toast complete with whipped maple butter, two eggs (which I requested over easy), and a British banger sausage. My +1 went with the "Chorizo Con Huevos" which was baked Mexican chorizo sausage scrambled with eggs and topped with red onions, cilantro, and jalapeños. This entrée included refried beans, homemade flour tortillas, and a side of angry green salsa. Keep in mind that this place was BUSY! But with as crazy as it was, our meals both come out in a very impressive 15 minutes.

I must say, it has been years since I've eaten their French toast and nearly two decades later, it was just as good as I remember it to be. Fluffy, sweet, and absolutely succulent, this French toast does not at all disappoint. There's a reason why people flock here just to enjoy this sweet and savory decadence. The British banger was also well above average and delicious. And the eggs provided that balance that completed my amazing breakfast. My +1 also loved their Chorizo Con Huevos as the portions were so huge, they had to take quite a bit of it home in a to-go box. And I almost forgot to mention, the Hibiscus Coconut Mojito was delish; I was almost tempted to order another but still had a busy day ahead of me.

With that said and done, "Tower Cafe" is as good as it gets when it comes to a brunch spot. They have fairly generous hours of operation being open Mon/Tue 8am-3pm, Wed/Thu 8am-9pm, Fri/Sat 8am-10pm, and...

Stopped by Town Café in Sacramento and honestly? It felt like waking up. Great coffee, solid food, people actually having thoughtful conversations. There’s an energy here—real-world energy. You can feel ambition in the room. People talking ideas, careers, moves. It made me think about just how off the vibe is back at UC Davis.

Let me be real: UC Davis is not a good choice if you’re serious about your future. It’s marketed as a top-tier UC, but that label is doing a lot of heavy lifting. The return on investment is low, and not just in salary—in people, opportunity, growth. You’ll be surrounded by students who either don’t care, are just going through the motions, or pretend they’re elite while playing it safe every step of the way.

If you’re different—more driven, sharper, more creative—you won’t thrive. In fact, you’ll likely get boxed in, slowed down, or burned out. Most people there aren’t interested in challenging ideas or pushing boundaries. They’re stuck in groupthink, campus politics, and small-minded competition. You’re not growing—you’re surviving.

The worst part? They act like they’re “top” when they’re not. It’s not Berkeley. It’s not LA. It’s not even San Diego. And pretending otherwise just sets people up for disappointment when they graduate with average credentials and zero useful connections.

Meanwhile, a simple morning at Town Café in Sacramento shows you what being around motivated people actually looks like. You feel plugged in, not isolated. Inspired, not drained.

If you’re considering UC Davis, really ask yourself if you’re willing to dull your edge to fit in—because that’s what happens there. If you want to build something meaningful, there are better places. Places with people who actually challenge you, support you, and don’t just smile while pulling you down.

Town Cafe is a shelter for me. I hope I never return to UC Davis. It is funny I can spend thousands time of money to be sidelined while at this cafe I...

Saturday Match 1 @ 12:35. After waiting an hour my party of 5 was seated. We were given 3 glasses of water. Two of us were shit on by the crows in the tree. We asked for a sanitized towel. The server brought a dry towel and told us the sanitizer was at the hostess stand and to help ourselves. After several requests we were finally given two more glasses of water which were never refilled. Yes, we asked. We requested an umbrella and were told it wouldn’t fit where we were seated by the birds. Ok….. so we continued to get shit on. No one offered us a new table or to help us at all. One of our chairs broke and we had to move and replace it. Yes. A chair one of us was sitting in broke. Yes. We had to take care of it ourselves. We did have a heater near us and when we asked to turn it on they said it was out of propane. We requested several times for it to be changed out and it was very much communicated to us that we were inconveniencing them. It was finally replaced and after a struggle it was turned on. We ordered two bottles of their Prosecco and that was basically the only time our table saw our server. When the food arrived the server dropped half of the bacon on the ground and once again we had to basically beg to get more to complete the order. Despite the bird shit treatment we received we left a sizable tip. Speaking of the bill we were not compensated in anyway for the service or lack there of. I guess maybe the 1 glass of water each for a two hour lunch was their way of saying sorry because they were so stingy with it. It was busy on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. No one doubts that but lack of staff is not an excuse to be rude to the people who come to your restaurant. If you can’t cover the tables don’t seat them. The only reason I left two stars instead of one is due to the food and that my sisters and I have a good time wherever we go. However, it won’t be to...