More than eighty years on Del Paso.
Sammy's has fed Old North Sacramento since 1944. Here's how a neighborhood diner became an institution, went quiet for a while, and came roaring back.
From 1944 to right now.
A diner is born.
Sammy Powell opened Sammy's on the corner of Del Paso Boulevard and Cantalier Street. It quickly became the kind of place where the coffee was always on and the regulars had their own seats.
Keeping the classics.
Khalid Farhoud took over and protected what made Sammy's special: a nostalgic, made-from-scratch menu. The chicken fried steak and sausage gravy that folks drove across town for stayed exactly as they remembered.
The doors go dark.
When the pandemic hit, Sammy's closed. For a stretch of years the old diner sat quiet, and the loss was felt all the way down the boulevard.
A comeback, and the same name.
Naz Begum and her mother, Moon, reopened Sammy's. They kept the name, tracked down the original recipes, and brought back veteran cooks. The grand reopening drew the mayor and a city councilmember to cut the ribbon, a proud morning for North Sacramento.
A gathering place again.
Coming up on two years back in business, Sammy's is once more the spot where everybody knows everybody, now with rotating specials from the family's Fijian roots served right alongside the diner classics.
Naz & Moon Begum
A mother and daughter, raised in diners.
Naz grew up in the business, waiting her first tables at sixteen and spending decades behind the counter. Her mom, Moon, gave thirty years to it before they finally opened a place of their own.
They run Sammy's the way they were taught: every guest gets treated like family. For Naz, the regulars are extended family, the grandmas and grandpas who watched her grow up.
"You've gotta treat them like family."Naz Begum, owner
Made from scratch
Diner classics, with a little something extra.
The heart of the menu is pure American diner: fluffy pancakes, biscuits and gravy, and the chicken fried steak Sammy's has always been known for.
The Begum family loves to cook, so you'll also catch rotating specials that nod to their Fijian roots, plus Mexican, Chinese, and Italian dishes. Come hungry.
See the full menu
Saving a table for our officers.
Every Sunday morning, our local Sacramento Police officers pull up a table for breakfast. They've had Sammy's back since day one, and we've got theirs.
Voted Sacramento's Favorite.
The Sacramento Bee's readers named Sammy's a 2025 Sacramento Favorite for breakfast, for diner and cafe, and for pancakes. The neighborhood has shown up in force ever since.
Favorite Breakfast
The Sacramento Bee · 2025
Favorite Diner & Cafe
The Sacramento Bee · 2025
Favorite Pancakes
The Sacramento Bee · 2025
Pull up a stool.
Open daily, 6 to 2. Whether it's your first visit or your thousandth, there's a seat for you.