I ♥ Sacramento {Nopalitos Southwestern Café}

Nopalitos Southwest Cafe
5530 H Street
Sacramento, CA 95819
(916)452-TACO(8226)
nopalitos@nopalitoscafe.com

It isn’t unusual that I will try a new (to me) place in town and find that it is so good that I am mildly ashamed of myself for not going sooner. I have never felt more ashamed of myself for not going somewhere sooner as I was when I finally stopped in at Nopalitos Southwestern Café. Lily and I had a rare mommy and me time where it was just the two of us so we ventured out for some breakfast. I have been driving past Nopalitos and not stopping in for twelve years. My sorority in college (Yeah, I was a sorority girl. Whatcha gonna do about it?) had a storage unit down the street that we went to all the time. And I never stopped in. I commuted down J street for a couple years. And I never stopped in. I have lived a scant 10 minute drive away for the last five years. And I never stopped in. Oh the breakfasts I have missed out on! And I, not unlike Ron Swanson, love breakfast food. Though maybe not as obsessively as he does. I mean, I have yet to hang framed breakfast food art in my office, but I’m not dead yet so you never know.

Lily and I shared a smoked bacon scrambled eggs plate with bacon, eggs, potatoes and two huge slices of extra crispy bacon all for $6.50. Reasonably priced for a moderately sized breakfast. Not sharable with the husband or the boy kid, but certainly sharable with one (but not both) of my girl kids. I very much enjoyed the salsa bar, though neither the medium or hot salsa seemed to pack any punch. I’ll reserve final spiciness judgment for another visit since house made salsas could vary depending on available ingredients, I suppose. Don’t worry I’ll be going back to make sure for you.
Probably what I loved most about this place was that it had a real lived in, community vibe. We sat outside and within minutes we were having a conversation with the nice couple across from us who said they visited regularly, the food was great and that I made them feel old (I was wearing my dad’s 1976 high school letterman jacket. The man graduated the same year and was mildly perplexed that he could have a daughter my age and grandkids. Ha!). Nopalitos has been a pat of the East Sac community since 1992 and I hope that it’s there for quite a bit longer.