Randy Paragary’s
Zinfandel Grille at 705 Gold
Lake, Folsom, is a far cry from his 1969 entry into the Sacramento
restaurant business with Parapow Palace at 30th & O Streets. The
Parapow catered to the hippie, happening (now baby boomer) crowd and
served beer, wine, juice, organic sandwiches, and peanuts (shells on
the floor). The Parapow’s primary attraction however was
not
the food but the local rock, blues and folk music talent that played
there.
The same baby boomers attracted to Parapow will find Paragary’s
Zinfandel Grille to be much to their liking - trendy without too
much edginess and sophistication without the snobbery. Spouse and I
dined there with another couple on a recent Saturday evening about
6:00ish which is just before the big dinner crowd descends. We were
seated almost immediately in a booth with cloth-covered table and
cloth napkins. If we had to, we could have endured a wait in the
full-service bar The bar looked cozy without being too small, has a
regular bar and tables with bar-high stools, a television tuned to a
sports station (on low volume thankfully) and a nice view onto
Leidesdorff and old town Folsom. As it was though, our booth gave us
plenty of elbowroom. The dining room was filling quickly, but we
noticed that we were able to carry on our conversations in a normal
tone, which is unusual these days in a lot of restaurants. Our
server appeared immediately with menus and a wine list. Wait staff
here is generally young, with white shirts and black pants/skirts,
well-groomed, and friendly. Our server returned within a few minutes
to read us the specials and take our drinks orders – a manhattan,
and two glasses of Lava Cap Winery merlot (from El Dorado!) The
drinks were delivered quickly – manhattan got a thumbs up, as did
the wine. A few minutes later (but not too soon), we ordered our
entrees – a grilled steak, salmon, prawns and risotto, and chicken
breast. All came with the house salad of mixed greens with a
vinaigrette dressing and crumbled feta cheese. The dressing was
refreshingly light leaving the greens to be enjoyed for their
freshness. A bread basket of several varieties of fresh-baked, warm
bread was delivered with the salads.
Entrees came
in perfect timing so that we could relax and enjoy our meals without
feeling rushed. All entrees and sides were served hot to the table
by our server who was ever-attentive without hovering. The
presentation on the plates was artful and we appreciated the light
touch of garnishes. The beefeater of our group was intrigued by the
steak’s seasoning and asked our server about it. Balsamic vinegar
was used as a glaze along with other seasonings. The steak appeared
darker, but was actually cooked to a perfect “medium” as
requested. It had a nice marbling for tenderness and juiciness. Side
of mashed potatoes was hot and lightly seasoned. Our salmon diner
was impressed with the portion size and moistness of the steak. The
vegetable mix side was in a creamy (maybe basil?) sauce. Our
prawn-eater confessed to having had the same dish on a prior visit
and found it again tasty. We all sampled the lemon risotto that came
with the prawns and voted it excellent. The chicken breast entrée
had a nice flavor with a slightly spicy coating (not breading) to
the pieces.
We decided we were too full for dessert although we saw some very
tempting choices being delivered to other tables. Maybe next time.
Zinfandel Grille is a comfortable venue for dining and we’ll
remember it for more special events because it is especially nice
and we wouldn’t want to indulge ourselves too much. We give it
high ratings for its service, menu selection, extensive wine
offerings, ambience, and particularly its acoustics. We were also
happy to be able to hear each other (one of our group has a hearing
impairment) and not be rushed through this very pleasant dining
experience.
Price: $15.00 to $22.00 per entrée
Style: California cuisine (but not too trendy)
Rating: 5 (out of 5)
Reviewed
by MyFolsom community member Terry
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not
the food but the local rock, blues and folk music talent that played
there.
e
in perfect timing so that we could relax and enjoy our meals without
feeling rushed. All entrees and sides were served hot to the table
by our server who was ever-attentive without hovering. The
presentation on the plates was artful and we appreciated the light
touch of garnishes. The beefeater of our group was intrigued by the
steak’s seasoning and asked our server about it. Balsamic vinegar
was used as a glaze along with other seasonings. The steak appeared
darker, but was actually cooked to a perfect “medium” as
requested. It had a nice marbling for tenderness and juiciness. Side
of mashed potatoes was hot and lightly seasoned. Our salmon diner
was impressed with the portion size and moistness of the steak. The
vegetable mix side was in a creamy (maybe basil?) sauce. Our
prawn-eater confessed to having had the same dish on a prior visit
and found it again tasty. We all sampled the lemon risotto that came
with the prawns and voted it excellent. The chicken breast entrée
had a nice flavor with a slightly spicy coating (not breading) to
the pieces.