The Distillery

This was my first or first in a long time visit to the Distillery. Met some friends there for lunch. They have lots of hearty options like hot and cold sandwiches. All of us got their famous steak sandwich. The half order is one steak sandwich for $ 11 and the full order is two for $ 15. Both have sides like fries which were good, lentil soup, A simple house salad and believe it or not cottage cheese. That is a new one for me. The steak is tender and garlicy and salty. Bun was soft and tasty. Every bite was delicious. No gristle in the meat either! Didn’t have an adult beverage but the house iced tea is very good. Service was on point.
2-​hour parking is plentiful on neighborhood streets. Just make sure you don’t Park on the street cleaning side from 8am-​12pm.
I’ll definitely come back to this fine established Sacramento restaurant and bar!!!

Wow great vibes at this hole in the wall. Spotted this on a drive and made a u-​turn. Ended up staying for a few hours and making a few friends along the way. Karaōke was getting set up within a half hour of me and my buddy showing up and by the time we left someone had sang ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ there was also a James Brown Cover along with dance. Great for large parties as the tables provide perfect spacing here. The bartenders are super friendly and the drinks were on point!
Great place to drop in on a Saturday night :)

Best Karaōke experience I have had in years! Rob (KJ) has a great sound system and he takes the time to adjust for each singer. The bartender (Alice) kept the drinks flowing and the patrons? Very open & welcoming to us travelers. I wish The Distillery could move to my home town. Karaōke every night!

I went here on a busy second Saturday night. It was my first time to a karaōke bar. Scenery is fine, cozy bar-​like, and spacious if it weren’t so packed.
Problem I had with this place started when a blue-​haired waitress took my order: I asked for a Bloody Mary because I’d been craving one all week and she said «no, because I don’t want to go through the kitchen to find all the stuff.» So I went to the other end of the bar. The man who was serving that side, when I asked him later in the night, had no problem making my drink, and my boyfriend and I were sure to tip him well. That said, when I asked for a Grasshopper he shook his head no. I saw he had crème de menthe, crème de cacao, and I assumed he had cream. So perhaps he didn’t know what it was? Anyway, not the best best bar service ever. That said, he was nice and the drinks were fine.

My favorite place to karaōke! Week nights are pretty chill. Good drinks, great karaōke dj, and a shorter wait list to sing. Weekends are a different kind of fun, often packed full of people, but with a much longer wait list. All in all great fun to fit any mood just depending on the day of the week.

This is half star at best. one beer on tap?!? And it’s Miller high life! I’d rather drink a bar rag. Best bourbon on the shelf was Bulleit. such potential and a great name… such a disappointment.
Bar tender was nice though. I can’t help but think he could do so much better as I heard him trying to give suggestions for a drink to a customer. Sorry can’t polish a turd.

Today was a horrible experience. KJ Dennis was whack on his ordering for karaōke. There had been more than an hour and half that passed by and he had doubles of people coming up… It was unfair and that they need KJ Rob or someone else who makes the rotations fair. Super disappointed today, but KJ Rob never lets me down 5 stars for him.
Definitely not worth tipping If that’s how he basis on who gets to sing. Not coming back as long as he (KJ Dennis) is here. For sure

I went here for the first time because my unit wanted to eat here. They recommended the «half and half» which is half French dip/​half steak sandwich lunch. The sandwiches are ginormous so it’s actually two freakin’ good size sandwiches. I was only able to eat half of each sandwich. It came with creamy horseradish sauce and a nice big cup of a jus. I kept alternating between the roast beef and steak because each of them was delicious on their own merit. I liked the steak sandwich because it was a good hearty beef-​ness. The roast beef was good because the meat is thinly sliced and I just love the horseradish mixing with the meat and a jus. It came with fries and side of salad or soup. OMG… can you say #I’msofullthatIcan’tstandit? I’ll be brining the BF back here for sure. Then we can have a cocktail with our num-​nums!!!
Job well done Distillery!!!
Oh, the service was excellent too. The food came out quick.

Ended a night of birthday party shenanigans here because soooomebody HAD to karaōke. That’s probably when you find yourself here — stumbling in drunk and calling around for a taco delivery (no food late night) while you simultaneously yell at the DJ about playing «country roads» so you can make your debut to the big time by singing in front of the 6 people in the place.
On the positive, they are chill about letting you have tacos delivered. They also pour the wine glass very full and the service crew kinda has this «I don’t give an F» attitude that is great when you’ve definitely been on better behavior.

What can I say? This local bar delivers it all! On 12/​12/​2015, I decided to come to the Distillery due to the SantaCon visits, and boy I was totally on hooked! As I entered, the atmosphere is quite relaxing and comforting inside. The concept is very light and bright filled with old school wall décor and San Francisco paintings on the wall. The bar side on the other hand, is totally better to enjoy in my opinion. I can see two vintage cash registers working properly as I can hear the «cha-​ching» sounds, and arrays of top superior drinks from beer to cocktails.
The employees are totally outstanding because it’s family owned! I totally appreciated for my first visit to this place a great friendly vibe, so I have no cons at all.
As for the drinks, I ordered a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale in a glass bottle, and this beer is totally good. Very bitter, yet in a fine brewery taste. On second thought, I haven’t got a chance to eat their foods despite this place operates for breakfast to lunch only. I’ll be back next time to try it out in the future.
One of the cool things that the Distillery have is karaōke! Yes folks, you can sing your favorite songs at anytime all night long! I’ll try to sing it next time if I can bring more friends to enjoy the happy hour pleasures too.
Parking can be difficult to park. You can park it at the nearest surface street parking if it’s available. Otherwise, you can ride a bike, walk, or use public transportation easier without the hassles.
In the end, The Distillery is the finest local bar and karaōke place ever made in the Midtown neighborhood! A worthy visit! My rating: 4 solid stars.

A classic Sacramento bar.
This place has been around for some time. Stereotypical, cool bartenders, karaōke very frequently, several big TVs, and always a diverse crowd. You should check it out FOR SURE if you’re looking for a classic, casual place.
I like to imagine my grandfather coming here back when it was brand new in the mid 1950s.

My SAC-​resident daughter and her main, turned my wife & I on to this karaōke bar…
BAR 4 STARS: clean, well-​lit, establishment. Initially a weak well drink was served, my wife’s Manhattan, but after the bartender got through the slam, the 2^nd one was correctly made and at strength! Side note: during the slam, the bartender conveyed some stress, probably since the door ID check staff was to show at 9p. We came in between two large groups prior to 9p, on a Saturday night! But he got through his multi-​tasking, and his attitude was more of a seasoned pro after that …
KARAOKE 5 STARS: As des-​driver, I knew what I wanted to sing during KJ-Monica’s set-​up time prior to 9:00p start. Instead of closing the place, we two would be leaving before 11:00p to return to SJ. So I turned in my two (optimistic?) selection slips, taking the opportunity to ask about rotation theory for first-​timers to this place. A polite Monica explained a «just» rotation system, IME; so I sat down and waited for the actual results…
My 1^st rotation slot was 4^th (Fifo accurate), with efficient singer transitions of enough time to take the mic and stand next to the personal singer lyrics-​display. Multiple full HD screens are also positioned about the bar for a quite engaged audience of many accompanying (no mic) singers, a few dancers and the rest, talkers & onlookers. My Distillery karaōke veteran daughter sang a few slots later (also Fifo accurate), and the opening rotation of ~20 singers finished smoothly…
At the end of that 1^st rotation, and start of the second, KJ-​Monica was deftly fielding new requests, questions and a few changes. It’s so much fun to sing w/​your grown kids, so I approached Monica to substitute my 2^nd selection (a solo, now 3^rd in rotation), with w/​my daughter’s rotation choice adjusted for duet. Monica swapped my daughter’s then solo selection with mine, and changed hers to duet version without a hint of annoyance! BRAVO — a great attitude, a personable Monica knows her rotation software & edit capabilities! I later requested deletion of my 2^nd song (for both time & fairness), right after our fun Dad & Daughter duet — again, no sign of annoyance.
BOTTOM LINE: a clean, well-​lit, efficient and popular place with what looks like many regulars, it would be easy to «short the tourists» on both drink & song — I recently had such an experience with another daughter at McDonoughs in Savannah, GA. Aside from the minimal staff slam at the start of this Saturday night, neither was in evidence. Unable to spend enough time this evening, I’ll return some other time to close the place — the Distillery offers a great karaōke experience, perhaps all BAR+KARAOKE 5 STARS when I stay until closing?! I do feel a bit lucky to get what would have been two (x2) song selections in our time up to 10:45p… got to drink & sing 2x quickly, before driving back!

Not a bad place to come to, to hang out with friends and listen to people playing Karaōke. I’d never been here before or had ever heard of it, so I didn’t know what to expect. It’s seems to have been here for some time, based on the décor, and how shape in which the flooring and bathrooms are in.
We got here on a Friday night about 9:15 to meet up with a friend for her birthday. When we went inside there was barely anyone in there, including my friend which made it a little awkward. But granted it was still pretty early in the evening, so we sat at the bar and socialized while the Mets (unfortunately) lost to the Dodgers. When you walk in to the right is the bar, to the left is a small area with tables for 4 person seating, and karaōke and DJ section. Behind the bar to the right is a outdoor patio area, and too the back of the establishment is a larger seating area and then the bathrooms down the hall.
My friend arrive about 20 minutes later and by then the place was a little more lively, as a large group of people had arrived about 10 minutes before that. Eventually myself, my friend and her other friends and family sat in the back area where there had several large tables to that could sit everyone. While we mingled, every so often some one got up to sign in between the other Distillery patrons. Eventually we all got hungry, and one of the people from our group ordered pizza which the bar tenders allowed up to bring in; which I thought was pretty cool. Since they stopped serving food there, sometime earlier in the day.
OVERALL: A small place that gets livelier at the night goes on, and that is good to socialize and have a good time with friends. While you watch them and others hit or miss at Karaōke! lol

I’m a creep. I’m a weirdo. What the hell am I doing here? Getting a bomb ass Irish Coffee, that’s what. MMMMM yasss.
What keeps me coming back?
Gnatty ice of course!
You had to be there.
You have to be here! This is the place to be if you want karaōke. Here you can have your karaōke 7 days a week! It’s a great bar hop stop, so work it in to the rotation! You may even meet local legends, or up and coming Radiohead Harmonizers. Gentlemen, if you have taken a nice lady out on a date and don’t quite want it to end yet, pop in here and sing her some tunes. Or, if she’s into it, she can sing you some tunes. Or butcher a Fleetwood Mac song. Not like I am possibly at all referring to myself.
I’m a fan of the folks that run this place. Older lady bartender is hilarious, keeps it real, takes no shift from anyone, and makes a mean whiskey sour. Dude bartender also moonlights as karaōke star, too bad he’s a Dodgers fan. Regulars are hilarious and really friendly. Drinks are on the cheap but strong side. Just how I like ‘em.
I haven’t sampled much of the food but I can at least tell you the steak fries are delish.
Regardless of how it looks on the outside, the Distillery is a good, safe choice for your night on the town. Safe as in trustworthy, and safe as in no riffraff need apply.

It’s been a long time since I bothered to write a review, but this place truly deserved the 1 star. Food was OK, drinks were OK, but the attitude of the employees was AWFUL. Long story short– we went on a Sunday for some karaōke fun. The place was so dead; it felt like a library in between songs. We cheered on our group as they sang their songs, and the 50+ yrs-​old bartender literally came out and shushed one of our friends. If I were reading this I’d probably assume we were out of control, but I assure you we were just having the normal fun we have at Pine Cove or used to have at Hamburger Patty’s.
This place is anti-​fun. Spend your money and time elsewhere.

FINALLY! I have lived in Sacramento since 1990 and I have FINALLY been to The Distillery and tried the vaunted steak sandwich. Sad, but true…
Hubby decided to correct this injustice last weekend… also, he was getting tired of hearing me whine how HE’D been there with his friends and buddies and co-​workers and how I was being completely dissed because I was apparently not ranked high enough in his world to be taken to lunch at this place (the ol’ «squeaky wheel» line of attack… works every time!).
Anyway, the inside of the place looked exactly like I thought it would; dark, low ceilings, old school. Nothing wrong with that! Our server was a nice lady. Nothing wrong with that! We came in focused on steak sandwiches, but this place does offer breakfast and lunch items as well. Nothing wrong with that!
So, when you order steak sandwiches, you get two sandwiches, which you can order as both steak, both french dip, or one of each. Nothing wrong with that! Of course, being my first time, I got one of each. Hubby got both steak. Our sandwiches came out in about 10 minutes… awesome! And they were delicious… of the two, I like the french dip best.
I can now check The Distillery off my list of SacTown eateries I have yet to patron… I’d share my list with you, but I don’t wanna be embarrassed. When it happens, you know I’ll let y’all know on Unilocal :)

This place is a hole in the wall. I haven’t been here during the day but I came here on a Monday night.
Nothing extremely exciting but it was a group of friends and I and we took over the place. We came for the karaōke and we conquered. They offer karaōke 7 days a week from 9pm-​1pm.
There is a one drink minimum but they have great deals on beer that it’s not even an issue.
The bartender is great and nice. And the DJ for karaōke, Rob, is great too. He has an amazing voice and people should come here to watch him sing Marvin Gaye. No joke.

Rewind to last weekend and our 5-​bar jaunt across Lavender Heights: we walk (stumble?) out of the Merc, I can *just* make out of the flashing lights of the Distillery’s marquee, and I mention (slur?) to B that I’ve never been to the Distillery. He was shocked and immediately changed our course.
After the friendly kid at the door carded us, we walked in and plopped down at the bar. The nice lady at the bar served us our rum & cokes right away as we listened to a guy finish up his karaōke song. B asked if I just wanted a quick drink then we could move onto the next place– then 2 girls started singing «White Lines», we looked at each other excitedly and immediately started singing along. Oh yeah, we’re hanging out for a while at THIS place!
It’s a casual, divey atmosphere– the kind of place where I would feel comfortable enough to butcher my way through some kareoke songs (which I did NOT that night… you’re welcome, public). There’s a little side patio for smokers. The drinks are cheap and the bartendress was chatting and cracking jokes with us the whole time. I would come here again for sure!

The distillery is always a fun low key place to hang out downtown. This time was not that much different, however, there was an awful smell coming from the bathrooms. Not just like someone had dropped a deuce but like raw sewage. Maybe a busted sewer line I’m not sure but we had to cut the evening short due to the smell. Hint… hint…get it fix!

This is a karaōke night review. Didn’t order any food here because I was meeting my friend Mitch who is a karaōke night regular here. He introduced me to the head bartender there as well as the KJ Spectra. The interior reminds me of Marie Callender’s with a bar in the front but that’s kind of cool because, really, how many more of these kind of places will be around in the near future?
I drank bottled pear cider all night as I figured that I shouldn’t really expect a fancy beer variety or cocktail list. I put my name into the rotation early and I think I got my name called after all the regulars went up. This was actually my first time singing public bar karaōke. I usually am in the private rooms where I can judged by dear friends for my singing. After I did my version of Summer of 69, most of the patrons were high fiving and shouting words of encouragement towards me. Or at least, I think it was words of encouragement…
I wouldn’t mind coming back here but it seems that this is a good locals singing hangout and now that I know where it is, I may come and join in the fun again.