Restaurant Reviews

2004 WINNER
Best American Food

2006 WINNER
Best American Food

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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