The Gateway Bar

Tried the Gateway Bar at SMF for lunch. I wish I hadn’t overlooked this place before. The portabella mushroom sandwich was wonderful and full of flavor. Our server Devanie was helpful with suggestions and friendly. It was a great place to relax before going through security. The food was as good if not better than food choices on the ‘secure’ side of the terminal, and it was far less crowded and hectic. I’m going to plan my airport timing better so I can try it again.

Who honestly takes the time to write a review about a airport bar/​restaurant? Those who are impressed and grateful for others reviews so they could find this place! If you have to eat in the Sacramento airport this is the place! Great food, good bar selection and top notch service. Hats off to Joyce! I’m sure he job is not easy but she tackles it with grace kindness and a personality that makes you want to make this your regular watering hole!

Joyce is the best! Hands down best spot in the airport. This location is just before the terminal tram and accessible to the public. Much better food and way fewer people than the standard gate bars and restaurants.

Well, the décor is nice and the bartender is friendly, but thats about all this place has going for it. I asked the bartender what the best sandwich was on the menu and she quickly told me to get the Icon. It is just a fancy name for a Gyro, and if you like dog food as gyro meat, then this is the sandwich for you. The meat was paper thin and you could tell that it was processed and packaged in bulk. Worst of all it tasted like they microwaved it. The «pita» type bread tasted very BLAH! They charged me 12 bucks for this pile of vomit! I have actually had better food at my daughters middle school cafeteria, this place is cool for drinks, or if you would like to catch a game while you are waiting, but so far what I have tasted is an abomination to food. So, if you find yourself at the Sacramento Airport, do NOT get this vile item.

I have exchanged many dollars for liquor with this establishment over the years and have always been satisfied with the friendly barkeeps. Today, I had a two hour delay so I rolled the dice on breakfast. Ordered the «Rover» breakfast burrito. It is loaded with egg, cheese, bacon and fries. Delicious and filling! I’ll start exchanging dollars for food more often.

The last fe visit I met with rude bartenders with a very limited inventory and high prices. Still, they are the only game in the non secured area and did help pass the time. Today they are closed! Why would they close ar 6:30 pm on. a Saturday night? As hard as Sacramento tries, it just isn’t capable of world class. One billion for blah…

I always stop by this place when I fly out of Sacramento International. The food is usually good but this morning we had the worse experience. The guy who was running the morning shift had ZERO personality. He sat there for ten minutes watching tv while I was looking right at him. When he finally came over to take our order he made it seem like it was a bother to him that we were there. The food took forever to come out, and when it did, it was a hot mess. I ordered the Rover (which has eggs, french fries, chorizo and bacon) mine only had egg whites and bacon. I spent $ 10 and only got half of what I ordered. We had to ask for drinks and again he gave us nothing but attitude. He didn’t bring out any napkins, utensils or condiments. When I asked for the check he just slammed it face down on the table. He was serving everyone in the restaurant with the same poor attitude. I didn’t get his name but here’s a brief description: Tan skin male in his mid to late 30’s. Shaved head, no visible tattoos or piercing. Standing between 5’10″ to 6’0″ tall. Avoid this place at any cost.

The Stack appetizer is delicious! Friendly waitress, good ambiance. Great way to start any trip on the way to Southwest out of town!

Came to Gateway Bar to wait for my sister on the day of the world cup final about 5 mins before the kickoff. Nice bar– clean, 3 flat screens, a bar top plus some tables. We took 2 seats at the bar and glanced at a menu. Draft beer $ 8.25 for 16oz… Even for Coors Light. Seeing they have mixed drinks we decide to ask about prices before ordering. A server greets us and my boyfriend asks the price range for the mixed drinks. She turns and asks and the bartender, about 15 feet away at the other end of the bar, who barks out «ID» at us. I’m a bartender too so I get IDing everyone but I would NEVER bark «ID» at customers. So after making sure the server checked our IDs the bark-​tender answers our question– $ 9. Again, $ 8.25 for a draft Coors and $ 9 for a mixed drink.
So we order a tropical punch and mojito and 10 mins go by and our drinks come. The bark-​tender puts my drink in front of me and blurts out «that girl doesn’t work weekends» and walks away… I dont get it. Is she in trouble for trying to answer a question before asking for IDs? Anyways, my drink is good but my boyfriend drinks his and makes a face. I try it and taste that she forgot simple syrup. The bar is filling up and the bark-​tender is obviously stressed– growling «uuuugh» and slamming the cooler doors, spilling more draft beer the is getting in the glass (hence $ 8.25), and even yells out «thank you sir even though I didn’t really help you»… Not really impressed. When we got her attention and asked for more simple syrup she said «oh that’s what I forgot to put in your drink!» Weird. So you knew you forgot something and served it anyway? No straw test? I wouldn’t be coming back. Not even if waiting on someone to land.

Nice bar; clean, nice seating, and a couple tvs to watch game on while waiting. Bartender was nice enough.
Only complaint was price. Geez, $ 20 for two beers! I know, it is the airport but how do they get away with that?

Nice little bar! At first i was thinking that terminal B before security did not have any bars, as i arrived early to pick up my BF i was disappointed… to my delight I found The Gateway Bar! The bartender, whom i don’t remember his name, was awesome! He recommended the fry’s, which looked delicious, but since i wasn’t there long I declined. I will definitely be going back as I get to do another pick up from the airport soon.

located inside of Terminal B upstairs on the 3^rd floor before you catch the tram over to security. Stop in and have a drink or two to refresh yourself. They do serve breakfast, lunch and appetizers that are good. I ordered the BLEU, which is chips with bleu cheese with bacon bits on top yummy. Never tried the Bloody but they says it’s great!
Servers very nice!

Wow… I ordered the «Rouse»…which is two eggs any style, sausage patties or bacon, French fries and toast… because of my gluten issues they substituted fresh fruit instead of toast… the fruit consisted of fresh raspberries, strawberries and blueberries… yum
The fries were extra crispy and dipped in egg yolk… mmmmm…the bacon was over cooked just the way I like it… it’s just too bad this place is in an airport…
The staff was friendly and knowledgeable…

Great service and terrific food. I got the burger (the cheese and bacon are cooked into the hamburger — yum) and the garlic fries as well as a few beers. Service was spot on, crowd was fun (as fun as you can get in an airport) and def. not a bad place to kill some time. Yea, it’s expensive but again it’s in an airport. I recommend this place and will be back!

Airport food used to consist of four-​hours-​ago Pizza Hut, yesterday’s French fries, and a roast beef sandwich featuring a grade of meat a half-​notch or so above Alpo — and it was all high-​priced because, really, where else are ya’ gonna go? Mercifully, some smart marketing folks decided at some point to make a run at quality, and airport eateries started getting better. At Sacramento International, this triggered a welcome revolution, as evidenced by the arrival of places like The Gateway Bar.
Make no mistake, the prices are still high – we paid $ 30 for a chicken sandwich, a breakfast burrito, a hot chocolate, and a cup of coffee – but the food was good and the setting comfortable. On the menu, restaurant management decided to go for a little mystique by giving the dishes whimsical names like «Opulent,» the sandwich, and «Gild,» the burrito, which featured chorizo, egg, cheese, guacamole, caramelized onions and French fries. There was also «Crisp,» a salad, and «Earth,» a vegetarian sandwich, among a number of other unique names.
If you’d still rather have a personal pan pizza for your $ 10, well, God bless you.

I’d give it a 2.5.
Stopped here to get lunch before my flight out. The waitress seemed a bit all over the place, forgetting things. I ordered the salad but said I could not have the pecans, when I got it it was literally overflowing in them. I had to send it back. When I got the replacement, the tomatoes that were part of the salad were awol and had to get those replaced… My family’s meals were better but I’d probably just wait until after security to get lunch next time.

Ordered a chicken, cheese, bacon, avocado sandwich on an onion bun. Substituted a small side salad instead of french fries. Paid almost $ 13, greasy bun way too much mayo or whatever sauce they used. I thought it was a good idea to order a sandwich in terminal rather than the plane. The salad was the only fresh thing I ordered. Disappointing dinner.

Buy a brew, eat what you want!
SITREP
I like these peeps. First off, they are very customer friendly and realize that you aren’t at the airport «for the relaxing environment.» In fact, if you are there for any extended period of time, it usually SUCKS… sitting uncomfortable seats, waiting for your flight which has been DELAYED TWICE to Seattle, extending out your airport stay for another 2 hours.
SETUP
This is where «The Gateway Bar» comes in. It provides a very comfortable environment for you to chill and decompress. Granted: if you aren’t there to make any purchases (such as buy food and/​or drinks), you probably should go chill elsewhere — but if it isn’t crowded, you can get away with sitting at the bar, tipping a $ 1 for a glass of ice water, and watching some sports/​news on the Tele.
EMBEDDED
When those delays have occurred, this is when I realize I have time to do some serious WiFi’ing. So instead of sitting at one of the uncomfortable computer stations on the stool seats along the causeways through the terminals, I just plan on «setting up shop» at «The Gateway Bar» for a couple of hours. First I might get a sandwich or salad from Jack’s — or I might get nothing — and then I head to The Gateway Bar and set up my computer, order a Sudwerk from the bartender, and then I’m set.
UNFAIR REVIEWS
I just have to say that whenever I see reviews that blast a place about a single-​item — and let’s just hypothetically say in this instance it has to do with the price of a GLASS OF WINE — the reasonable person would ask beforehand (that is, if they don’t know) how much the glass of wine is. A server can not always know what a patron knows and does not know, because any patron can show up again and order a drink that they already know the price of. In this instance, I always say, «Let the Buyer Beware!» The onus is on YOU to ask for the price of an item before YOU ORDER it.
FRIES
Did I mention yet how awesome their fries are? I didn’t? They have awesome fries!
THE LOWDOWN
Awesome fries! Awesome drinks! Awesome chill time while waiting it out at the airport!

The salad was really nice and the small batch winery offering were very tasty. HOWEVER, there were NO prices on the menu for these wines (or any others) and
we just assumed that they might be $ 8 – 9 glass. Our 2 meals were only $ 19 together and we got a bill for $ 53.00! Our wine was $ 17 a glass — truly outrageous — prices should have been listed and we should have been warned. We felt REALLY ripped off. Won’t be back.

Before going through security at the Sacramento International Airport’s (SMF) Terminal B, be sure to stop by The Gateway Bar. This new, trendy and chic lounge was the perfect place to wind down after a long day of work.
A simple, one-​page menu consisted of basic breakfast items (oatmeal, omelets, French toast) to gourmet burgers and garlic fries. More notable was the beer and wine list. I liked the presence of local California brews on draft such as Racer 5 IPA, Sudwerk Hefeweizen (from Davis!) and Trumer Pilsner, as well as local bottled brews of Anchor Steam, Boont Amber Ale, Langanitus IPA and Eel River Organic Blonde. I decided to pick a small batch California cabernet from James Judd San Miguel Vineyard ($ 15 a glass). It was smooth and deep bodied.
Recommended!