The Shack

Bar, Eatery

5201 Folsom Blvd
Sacramento, California, 95819-4536
United States

(916) 457-5997 | map
eastsacshack.com
PLACE STATS
Average:
4
Reviews:
10
Ratings:
14
pDev:
11.25%
View: Place Reviews
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
 
Rated: 3.65 by BarrelAgedG from California

Apr 28, 2019
Photo of caplone
Reviewed by caplone from California

3.95/5  rDev -1.3%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4 | food: 4.25
Cool local spot with a great beer selection at more than fair prices. The food is great and the TBA is a must try. My only gripe would be that sometimes they get busy and it really slows down service.
Oct 14, 2015
 
Rated: 3.45 by Beerswag from California

Apr 05, 2015
 
Rated: 4.5 by fishthe from California

Nov 25, 2014
 
Rated: 3 by epi from California

Feb 19, 2014
Photo of jlisuk
Reviewed by jlisuk from California

3.96/5  rDev -1%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 2.75 | selection: 4.5 | food: 3.5
The Shack serves great beer at fair prices and has one of the best patios in town. Focusing on Belgian and American craft beer, with around 20 taps and close to 100 bottles, the selection changes regularly, and you can always find something new or unusual on the menu.

The food is fine, but nothing special and the service is notoriously slow during even moderate rushes, but the bartenders and servers are all very nice and are doing their best in an imperfect system. I would recommend avoiding the Shack during lunch and dinner rushes unless your are willing to wait. My only other complaint is that the Shack has odd hours that seem to change fairly often, and they often are closed at the times I most want to go there.

It's an imperfect, but unique gem on the Sacramento beer scene and I highly recommend it.
Jun 27, 2013
Photo of triwolf
Reviewed by triwolf from Ohio

4/5  rDev 0%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 3.5
A great little joint that's a little off the beaten path. I visited a couple times while I was out for a business trip and it was definitely worth it. Keep an eye out though - I drove by the place twice before I finally saw it. A pretty big selection of beers with some good draft options. The place is a little small, but the outdoor section is great. I mean you're outside drinking a beer in Cali and not paying a fortune for the experience. What more do you need? Food menu isn't that large and the food is average (and by average I don't mean bad, I mean 'meh'). But you're not gonig to go hungry. Definitely worth the visit.
Oct 13, 2012
Photo of mkotsayfan
Reviewed by mkotsayfan from California

4.03/5  rDev +0.8%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3 | selection: 4.5 | food: 3.5
Went here shortly after lunchtime on a Friday. A cool atmosphere for sure, the building has a nice nostalgic feeling to it, and there are lots of cool beer signs up on the walls. There is a good selection of beer, about 8-10 good taps and quite a few bottles, including some nice selections from Russian River. The prices are very reasonable as well, and the owner told me he was only planning to charge $5/pour for Pliny the Younger when he taps it, a more than reasonable price.

The service started out good, the owner was manning the bar and he seemed really cool and was quick to offer up samples of beer, or answer questions. After he left, service took longer than I would have liked considering there were only a couple of people at the bar and the place wasn't full, but I think that was due to understaffing, since it seems the staff were always busy.

The food was ok, I had a western chicken sandwich and it did the job, but it wasn't spectacular. They seemed to have a decent food menu but I didn't look through it very much.

Overall, a cool place to have a beer and hang out, I sat inside but they have a nice outdoor area too. I'll definitely have to come back sometime.
Feb 25, 2012
Photo of maryekline
Reviewed by maryekline from Maryland

4.95/5  rDev +23.8%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | food: 5
We went here for the first time this week on our annual pilgrimage to Sacramento. What a pleasant surprise! The proprietors were both friendly and very knowledgeable, draft selections included Affligem Noel, Allagash Curieux and Pliny the Elder and the burgers were made with house-ground beef. It was like, well, finding a world class beer bar in Sacramento. We planned to stay for an hour and ended up staying nearly three. Rich (our host that day) took the time to visit their beer cellar and dig up several potential offerings. We settled on the Mammoth 305 but could have happily had everything he brought out. Not to be missed if you're in the area and worth a drive if you're within half an hour or so. Parking is a bit tight, but it lacks only a hotel next door to become a real destination while you're in Sacramento.
Dec 17, 2010
Photo of telcontar42
Reviewed by telcontar42 from California

4.35/5  rDev +8.7%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 4 | food: 4
I went to this place tonight and it was great. The food a quite good, but could have been a little cheaper ($8-$10 for burgers and sandwiches, not too bad). They had about a dozen taps, with several nice Belgian beers, a few good american beers, including some locals, as well as PBR. They had a great bottle list, with many good american beers and a whole lot of great Belgians.

While looking over the bottle list, I commented to my friends that I would love to get the Cantillion Geuze, but it was a little pricey for me ($12 for 375ml). A bit later a customer came up to the bar next to me to ask the bartender about this lambic style that she had read about, but, while he knew they had one, he didn't know what it was, so briefly explained to her what a lambic was. The bartender then got a bottle of the Cantillion to pour her glass and poured a tasting for me and my two friends. Nothing like some free Cantillion.
Dec 04, 2010
Photo of macktbone
Reviewed by macktbone from California

4.18/5  rDev +4.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 5 | service: 3 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4
Have a good early dinner with my wife and father-in law, both of whom had beers while there. Food was quite good and the service was about what I expected. Deffinately not as bad as others have mentioned.
Beer selection was good, but I always like a bunch of taps... Ten or so with a whole lot of bottles is no doubt nice, but I love trying new stuff on tap and didn't really get that chance.
An absolute must do if in the area or a beer loving local! Good history behind the place and I would love to see more of that story rolled into to atmosphere.
All in all a great place.
Sep 04, 2010
Photo of marksweiner
Reviewed by marksweiner from California

3.75/5  rDev -6.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 2.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4
been coming here for lunch for a couple years and the beer selection has slowly gotten a lot better. Gary, the owner, has quite the passion for beer and it is showing in his selection: about 10 beers on tap (some solid IPAs, belgians, and belgian/domestic sours) and many in the bottle. THe prices are quite reasonable for the beers and the food is solid quality for value. the only glitch is the sometimes-slow service at lunch (I would reccomend you go there for mid-week lunch only if you have time and patience). ALso, he closes his shop at 2 on the weekends - kinda wierd yea?

For selection of beers it is in the top three in Sac (Shack, Pangea, and Manderes - in order, with Manderes bringing up the rear because they are all the way up in Folsom). The vibe/atmoshpere is probably the best in town.
I wish Gary and co a lot of business so he can continue to offer his good selection.
Apr 20, 2010
Photo of lfrouse
Reviewed by lfrouse from California

4.28/5  rDev +7%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4
I love The Shack, though it took awhile to realize it. My first few trips were for lunch, and I left a bit disappointed with how long it took to get in and out. My disappointment wasn't with the food or atmosphere, just that I wasn't able to make it there and back to work over lunch, because it's a busy yet relaxed place. Then I went to Belgian beer night, first Tuesday of each month. My first time resulted in Gary, a knowledgeable dreamer when it comes to beer (most recent visit included a discussion of spontaneously fermenting a homebrew in a vineyard), sharing a bottle of Westvleteren with me and my friend, and he hadn't met us before. I've become a frequent patron, and took some homebrews with me last time, to share with Gary and others. The Shack has a great beer selection, and the food is solid, too. Beer lovers in the area should know about this place if they don't already.
Feb 01, 2010
Photo of MisterClean
Reviewed by MisterClean from California

3.98/5  rDev -0.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4 | food: 5
Went to The Shack last night for their Belgian beer tasting:

The Shack has quite a history. Immediately after he repeal of prohibition, the Governor of California purchased the first legal libation from The Shack.

A - The Shack is an 80 year old building set in the east side of Sacramento. It bustles inside with professionals looking for a cold beer, beer enthusiasts, and even a group of homebrewers. Being that it is family owned, Gary and Jen try to make everyone feel welcome. The inside comfortably seats about 40 while outside, another 40 may sit. Unforunately, the owners need to purchase several more outdoor heaters for the place to be full functional.

Q - For Sacramento, the beer selection is excellent. About 8 taps and 60 bottles await thirst customers. The selection ranges from Belgian, to local, and of course, a couple of macros. I think they could purchase a few more hop monsters to appease the bitter crowd.

Svce - The service was kind of slow yesterday due to the excessive crowd gathered for the tasting. However, after it thinned out, plenty of appetizers remained to sober up the intoxicated crowd.

Sele - See quality.

Food - The food is excellent. Gary and his crew serves some unique appetizers from mussels, monte cristo sandwiches, to pot pie souffles. Very good and very reasonably priced.

Value - Overall, the value is good. $25 for 14 2-3 oz tastes of Belgian beer is not a bad deal, especially if it includes appetizers.
Dec 17, 2008
The Shack in Sacramento, CA
Place rating: 4 out of 5 with 14 ratings