Sammy’s Astro Club

This bar is a reminder of why Asian people should never have more than $ 5,000 in the bank, lest they blow it on lacquered wood-​paneling and fountains. This place looks like a cross between a Kool cigarette ad and John Wayne Gacy’s basement.
You can smoke inside, which wins. Beer is also cheap, which wins again. Also, it seems this place never gets crowded past the point of three old drunks and a mangy dog, which wins further.
Sammy is a class act, though he kicked me and my pal out at 9 pm. I think it’s because having good looking white people in his bar scares off the regulars. Whatever, stay gold Sammy.

My favorite Chinese food joint growing up had the coolest velvet wallpaper. Well, Sammy’s has the same exact walls! This place is super cool. There is just a warm feeling you get with the owners and the patrons. Everyone there is very friendly and Sammy always has a big smile on his face. It doesn’t hurt either that the drinks are cheap and have a nice kick. Bonus points for having «Xanadu» on the jukie.

in an effort to be a real sport johnna and i went back at 9:15 last friday night. closed… again. ugh.

Sammy is one of those no-​frill dives which seem to systematically disappear from Sacramento especially within the grid. Hidden in the quiet side street off Jefferson, the strip mall Sammy’s gets pretty lonely in the evening and its only companion is the pizza place 2 doors down. With many bars in the downtown area are starting to add on sale taxes rather than include them into the drink prices, I am now more likely to cross county line and over the river to drink.
The best of what a true dive is all about. Owner operated, friendly owner, awesome regular customers, junk box with records and only takes quarters and of course, cheap drinks. The only downside is that for a person who are sensitive to 2^nd hand smoke, you may have to step outside to get some fresh air in intervals because they allow indoor smoking.

Escape from hipster yuppie gentrification. The Astro Club is a real cozy Dive. I dig Sammy, his funky décor, the fountain and the half circle bar. Despite the slightly lingering smoke smell this place is surprisingly clean even down to the bathrooms, pride in ownership, talk about class!

CLASSIC dive bar. Although I am not a smoker, I somehow cling to the belief that bars are an appropriate place to smoke. I kind of enjoy that aesthetic in a dive bar, frankly.
Hokey décor, leaning heavily toward Asian Rock Garden (you can’t even pull up a stool to the piano bar because of the decorations around the base).
STRONG drink from Sammy. $ 4. You can get a lot more here for your buck than you can at Ella (but no hand-​made tonic water).
No clue why it’s Sammy’s ASTRO Club — I could not discern anything «astro» about the joint. Maybe from the smoke haze of our long-​haired tattooed leathery-​cowboy-​hat wearing fellow drinkers.
Come over here after a divine dinner of Indian delights at Pooja (two doors down). The juxtaposition is grand. The world is a wonderful place, I tell ya.