Best of Sacramento Party 2015

The young people that work the starbucks in the convention center are rude nasty and sweat in the coffee. They stand directly in front of our coffee coughs, sneezing, wiping their noses. Making joke about urine in the coffee… that short haired blond manager gets a laugh from their disgusting manner.

The Husband and I attended our first Best of Sacramento Party this year because I had won some tickets to the event and have always wanted to go and check it out. Traffic/​Parking was crazy because of all the people, but I got a good tip from Karen K so we ended up parking in a parking garage a few blocks away for only $ 2 and avoided most of the cars.
We arrived relatively early, a little after it started at 5:30pm, and had no troubles getting in. Our tickets were taken and we were handed a plate (for food samples), a wine glass (for beer/​wine samples) and a bag to carry everything in.
We walked into the main hall in the convention center and it was HUGE! I was immediately surprised on how many booths there were in such a large space. We grabbed a few samples up front (Hoppy Brewing Company Beer, Red Tail Beer, Rick’s Dessert Diner Cake, De Vere’s Soup, Ernesto’s Mexican Food, etc) before most of the crowds and the lines started. There were some rather large lines for the more popular booths, so we skipped those. The Husband isn’t a big fan of lines.
Unilocal had their own booth set up with the Unilocal wheel and Unilocal prizes. It was nice to see them having some presence at a local event.
There was a large stage in the middle set up for bands, and one did perform while we were there. The acoustics weren’t good in such a large space, so whenever they were playing, it was almost impossible to talk no matter where you were in the room. There was also a dance floor and plenty of tables to sit and relax.
We stayed for about an hour because around 6:30pm, the people really started coming in and the lines for all the samples got really long. I’m glad I got to go this year, but probably wouldn’t go again because of the crowds, and I don’t think there really would be anything new or different to see in the coming years.

Too much of everything!
This is my first time attending this event, and i had a tremendous night! I got there around 5:30pm and was excited to line up and get into the doors. The line was long but it moved fast so there wasn’t too much waiting. When we got inside i was like wow! Its in a big room like 2x the size of a Costco but with the same kind of vibe. It was bright inside with floors like costco, but samples of the food was more hearty, bigger portion, plus the wine and beer tasting offer from the booths.
A lot of nice set up from most of the booths, they were organized, friendly and you can help yourself with multiple servings. Some most remarkable booths i like is the thunder valley served from high steaks, the presentation was nice and they had some bomb appetizers. Rio city café served up some bomb jambalaya! it was bursting with flavors and it was hearty too! Barwest had served some moist and juicy beef short ribs! these short ribs reminds me of korean style which was a little sweet and deliciouso! Mikuni was another booth to remember serving some fresh nigiri sushi! Salmon, to fatty salmon, tuna, and edamame! Mikuni’s line was way long after an hr into the event! While waiting in the long lines for minkuni, we swerve to round table and had a few slices of their gourmet vegetarian deluxe cheesy pizza! mmmm! After all these food samples it was time to hit up the dessert stations!
For desserts there was ricks desserts cakes! i went a little bit over board with this booth and had a gotten a piece of each cake they offered! Mint chocolate, red velvet, strawberry lemon, and espresso. My favorites were the espresso and the red velvet. Sharis berry was there to offer 3 chocolate dips but for me its a hands down for white chocolate, and i chose grapes and man was it soooo sweet and yummy! I saved most of my desserts til the end and paired it with lots of red wines! the booth right next to thunder valley served up some fancy fancy chocolate cones dipped with peanuts on the outside and filled with a rich chocolate pudding in the inside, which was surprisingly fantastic! At the end of the event i ended with leatherbys traditional vanilla ice cream and melted caramel, i was soooo bloated i nearly had to be rolled out of convention center. lol…
So much wineries there, i was overwhelmed and was bummed we couldn’t find silver oaks. The most memorable one i can remember was nello winery, who served up some triple digits bottles of red wine. The one i tasted was preserved for 7 years in a wooden barrel and it was called a meal just that glass. I learned how to swirl it around the cup, where to hold on the cup, sniff, then sip and swoosh inside the mouth, then swallow. At the end of the night i learned a lot about the wines and felt like a pro when i left the event. Including some breweries such as stella who served up some ice cold beer if your thirsty. The line for stella was too long to wait in line for, i just skipped and head straight to the blue moon booth. Crispin cider from the blue moon stand was my fav drink of the night. My night was crispin!
Some cons and improvements are to have a map of where everything is placed at so we can easily find the booths. We had a hard time finding silver oaks and unfortunately we couldn’t find it and experience it. A side note for the vegans and vegetarians there isn’t much choices, because a majority was topped with meat. I felt like there was more desserts than the hearty foods.
Some tips are to wear some comfy shoes or flats because dress code seemed more casual than cocktail attire. The environment was more bright and casual than a low dim light and elegant. Loved the lights because it made the pics come out great and we got to see what we were muting and crunching on. Some things i really enjoy besides food and drinks are the 2 massages, one massage from massage envy and the other by serenity body. Also loved the mikes camera booth, with a professional photographer and a picture printed for us to keep memories!
Parking is a hassle since its in the busiest section of downtown on a week night where the traffic is bad. The parking fee everywhere is high and hard to find street parking. I just took the bus straight to downtown to skip all that hassle.
Overall it was a wonderful fin event with a little bit of this and that and next thing you know your bloated. It was a great pleasure to stop by the Unilocal booth and say hi to Alex L. and take a quick pic too. Hopefully i will be able to attend this wonderful event again and its always a party when there are foods and drinks. Thanks for reading and have a great day! syoy!

This was my very first Best of Sacramento party & hopefully it won’t be my last! My husband’s work gave us tickets literally an hour beforehand (he had to give a few walk arounds at his works booth).
We jumped on Über, which ended up working out great because I hear (& saw) that parking was somewhat of a nightmare. We walked inside & there sooo many people, booths, lines (lol) & a lot of happy faces! There were a lot of booths w/​delicious bites of food… A couple of my faves were the little pulled pork sandwiches, shrimp on a (maybe) Brussels salad, & green chile chicken soup. There were sooo many wine & beer vendors pouring their best… Oak park brewery, Crispin Cider & Stella Artois to name a few. Please believe I kept my glass full :) The music was bumpin & everybody seemed to enjoy the different booths & all they had to offer!
It was great seeing Sacramento come together for a great cause & to see everybody having a great time while doing so!

Best of Sacramento 2015 did not disappoint. More than 125 of the best restaurants, wineries, breweries, dessert venues, entertainment, businesses working together for the soul purpose of raising money for the March of Dimes. Tonight’s event was held at the Sacramento Community Center in the heart of down town. After receiving our wine glass and plate we were off to the races. Some of the restaurants here this evening were «Firehouse, Mikuni, Round Table Pizza, Season 52, High Steaks & Red Lantern from Thunder Valley Casino, Fahrenheit 250 BBQ, Crawdads on the River, plus many more! My favorites were Mikuni with their salmon nigiri sushi, Crawdads on the River with their Korean Short ribs and Jambalaya, and Thunder Valley casino with their bacon wrapped shrimp!
There was so many wine and beer vendors here tonight! Too many to mention but believe me you won’t be disappointed! Non alcoholic beverages was provided by Pepsi Co. Coffee was provided by Starbucks, and Temple Coffee, and San Francisco Gourmet Coffee.
Always leave a little room for dessert. Fat Cat Scone, Melting Pot, Brittle California, Leatherbys Family Creamery are just a few of the fabulous dessert vendors here tonight.
Entertainment was provided by Hip Service, Blackburn Bullet, and Super Huey/​Apple Z.
It was fun watching Alex L. working so hard on the Unilocal table. Alex working his magic on the prize wheel. Giving away all kinds of Unilocal Swag!
It was great seeing our Unilocal buddy Jenni T. And her husband Ryan!
Sorry we missed Alex T, Olivia S. and Bridget. The Best of Sacramento Party is a must party to attend! If you enjoy eating, drinking and dancing all night long, then this is your party! So Mark your calendar for next years 2016 Best of Sacramento Party! See you there!

My first Best of Sac Party… glad I went to check it out.
I’ve heard of these parties for years and have always wanted to go, but they usually fell on a day that conflicted with work… until tonight. My last minute ticket was a hefty $ 110, but hey it’s a tax write off for a good cause (March of Dimes). And there’s wine.
This year it was held at the Sac Convention Center. Parking (and traffic around the venue) was a hot mess. The Esquire garage wanted $ 21 flat… I kid you not. So I ended up parking a couple blocks down by the capitol and walked it.
Lines inside were looooonnnnngggg for things like Stella and Mikuni. I saved those for later when things died down. There was actually a diverse selection of eats — from bbq pulled pork sandwiches, jambalaya and chile verde, as well as sushi and crab puffs (just to name a few). Thunder Valley brought out the big guns and had the most impressive spread. Quite a vast array of sweets… cakes, fudge, ice cream galore.
The drinks were a flowing. Several wineries from El Dorado and Lodi. Blue Moon brought their truck out and had quite a selection (including some delicious ciders). There was even organic fresh juice to cleanse the palette before more wine.
Random vendors galore. I scored everything from a tote bag from Ernestos to a free car wash from Quick Quack and massages from both Massage Envy and the great Bassil Kamas. I should also note that a familair face was at the Unilocal booth as well ;)
Music was entertaining and diverse. A different band every hour. Hip Service was worth it.
Definitely a fun event, but room for improvement. For starters, a map/​layout of the event would have been really appreciated and would have helped to spread the crowd around. There were several people in line (but not sure for what) in almost every case. It also would have been nice to have higher signage (like at the fair) so you can get a better look at what you’re in line for since a tablecloth sign is easily blocked by the crowd in front of it. Also, there really wasn’t a lot of non-​meat eats and more seating was necessary.
All in all a good time. I’m glad I went and checked it out. People watching was especially entertaining. If you’ve never been to a Best of Sac Party you must try it… at least once ;)

We’ve attended many of these Best of Sac parties in the past. Last year was the first year in a long time it wasn’t held. I actually spoke with someone about that last year to confirm that!
The year before last it was held at Thunder Valley for a couple years. You would think ahh that’s a great venue but it’s actually small and it was split in half. Tent outside & separate area inside. Parking wasn’t a issue though.
This charity fundraiser to benefit the March of dimes is not exactly cheap but come on people it is a fundraiser.
Parking downtown can be an issue though! That I didn’t look forward to!
On to the great stuff since we have been here before we normally come early and leave early bc man it gets crowded! But this time we knew more people attending this event plus our favorite live band Hip Service is playing at 9 so do we stay? Of course you bet!!! We partied on and you should too bc man you don’t want to miss out on the Party of the Year!!! Freebies, great food, drink AND live music. Now time to PARTY!!!