2 Best Restaurants in Sacramento and the Gold Country, California

For a place as small as it is, this bakery-café produces a staggering array of sweet and savory pastries, sandwiches, salads, and desserts you can enjoy with a well-brewed (if not always swiftly made) coffee, espresso drink, or tea. The croissants are golden and flaky, the quiches moist and filling, and the scones large and flavorful; the breads for lunchtime sandwiches include sourdough, focaccia, and polenta wheat.

Careworn flooring, wainscoting, and a high tin ceiling lend an old-timey feel to this ice cream shop whose house-made offerings include quirkily contemporary ones like saffron-rose pistachio and blueberry matcha gelato. Double-chocolate, vanilla-bean, strawberry, and more conventional flavors from other brands supplement the Treats selections.