🏀 RUTHIE BOLTON, former guard for the WNBA Sacramento Monarchs:

You can get FOMO just looking at other people’s banana splits at this family-run ice cream parlor. I swear, I’ve never seen so many smiles. Their motto should be, “Leave here happier.”

🏀 RUTHIE BOLTON, former guard for the WNBA Sacramento Monarchs:

I love to run the mile-long jogging trail around the perimeter of this neighborhood park, passing the duck pond, public library and tennis courts along the way.

🏀 RUTHIE BOLTON, former guard for the WNBA Sacramento Monarchs:

Everyone cheers for the Sacramento Kings, but the Hornets (Sacramento State women's basketball), which debuted at the NCAA Tournament this year, also deserve some noise from the hometown crowd.

🏀 RUTHIE BOLTON, former guard for the WNBA Sacramento Monarchs:

The beautiful waterfront is a one-stop shop if you have kids. There’s a Ferris wheel, a train museum and old-fashioned candy shops in Gold Rush-era buildings.

🎸 VIOLET MAYUGBA, guitarist and vocalist of the Sacramento punk band Destroy Boys:

This is the place for retro videogames and punk rock, with a side of fries. Emerging bands, including mine, cut their teeth performing at this divey music venue with a vegan-friendly kitchen.

🎸 VIOLET MAYUGBA, guitarist and vocalist of the Sacramento punk band Destroy Boys:

Record-shop owner Dal Basi is an O.G. punk with a passionate knowledge of music. It shows in his selection of obscure genres, from Darkwave to unknown Sacto bands.

🎸 VIOLET MAYUGBA, guitarist and vocalist of the Sacramento punk band Destroy Boys:

The fruity “Tiger’s Blood” snow cone was my regular after-school treat. But the homemade mochi is special. I go crazy for any of the red-bean varieties.

🎸 VIOLET MAYUGBA, guitarist and vocalist of the Sacramento punk band Destroy Boys:

I owe my love of prosciutto, heirloom tomatoes and fresh baguettes to this grocery store, established in 1947. The employees always treated my grandmother with respect. I’ve never forgotten that.

🥘 CHRIS BARNUM-DANN, chef-owner of the Michelin-starred Localis:

This organization (Wide Open Walls) invites artists from all over the world to paint our buildings for a yearly mural festival. It’s fun to take out-of-towners on tours of the fresh paint.

🥘 CHRIS BARNUM-DANN, chef-owner of the Michelin-starred Localis:

The doughnuts at this late-night spot are the best I’ve ever had. I like the apple squares, but if you like old-fashioned doughnuts, go “early.”

🥘 CHRIS BARNUM-DANN, chef-owner of the Michelin-starred Localis:

When my 1-year-old daughter is a little older, I’ll take her to see Cinderella’s Coach and Mary’s Little Lambs at this classic storybook-themed amusement park.

🥘 CHRIS BARNUM-DANN, chef-owner of the Michelin-starred Localis:

I’ve seen Delta asparagus and Shasta County morels at New York’s Jean-Georges and Alinea in Chicago. Everyone wants our region’s produce, and it’s all at this market under the W-X freeway.

🏛️ SUSIE KANTOR, associate curator at the Manetti Shrem Museum of Art:

The home turf for our Triple-A baseball team, the Sacramento River Cats, is an intimate stadium where all the good seats are cheap seats.

🏛️ SUSIE KANTOR, associate curator at the Manetti Shrem Museum of Art:

I spend a lot of time at this new Southside Park wine bar and bottle shop eating mortadella sandwiches and drinking a light-bodied red or minerally white on the back patio.

🚨 PLUS, DON'T MISS:

Creative productions of hallowed musicals are mounted in an arena-style theater for 360 degrees of pure singalong enjoyment.

🚨 PLUS, DON'T MISS:

The first public art museum west of the Mississippi boasts an eclectic collection that includes the 20th-century portraits and pastry paintings of the late Wayne Thiebaud, whose first solo show was hung here in 1951.

🚨 PLUS, DON'T MISS:

Pork chop vindaloo, anyone? Chef Ravin Patel melds his Indian heritage with classical French training at his first solo restaurant, located on the ground floor of the new Hyatt Centric Downtown Sacramento, part of the city’s hotel boom.

🚨 PLUS, DON'T MISS:

This modern Japanese-style cafe, a recent addition to the city’s thriving third-wave coffee scene, makes the best espresso tonic in town.

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