This pop-up restaurant is introducing Sacramentans to Nicaraguan food — and politics

“How much for just chips and guacamole?” a girl in a youth soccer uniform asked Cesar Gomez-Guzman on Monday night. Sorry, he replied, TípicoNica doesn’t serve tortilla chips.

As one of the Sacramento region’s few vessels for Nicaraguan food, TípicoNica is used to educating its customers. The pop-up stand’s grilled meats, plantains two ways and a rice-and-beans mixture called gallopinto are many local residents’ first glimpse into the Central American country’s cuisine.

Gomez-Guzman meets customers partway, introducing the Típico Mix ($22) as “Nicaraguan nachos” due to its base of tajadas (thin, crunchy plantain chips). That bed is then topped with maduros (sweet, thicker plantain slices), gallopinto, sour cream, guacamole, curtido, a tangy onion hot sauce and customer’s choice of grilled beef, pork or chicken.

Most of TípicoNica’s dishes feature some or all of the Típico Mix ingredients in bowls, wraps or à la carte. Stick around to sip a can of Milca, a fluorescent red soda with a bubblegum taste similar to Peru’s Inca Kola, and Gomez-Guzman might give you a free geopolitical lesson.

Gomez-Guzman’s mother Martha Guzman, the “brainpower“ behind TípicoNica, immigrated from Nicaragua during the Contra War in the 1980s. Daniel Ortega was Nicaragua’s president for the latter half of that decade, then took office again in 2007 after Guzman’s family settled in California.

Ortega then systemically dismantled checks on authority, according to Human Rights Watch, including nixing term limits to remain in power. Critics have accused the president and his wife, vice president Rosario Murillo, of running the country as a dictatorship by violently suppressing opposition and inhibiting fair elections.

TípicoNica intentionally introduces Americans not just to Nicaraguan food, but to Nicaraguan resistance. Hashtags “#SOSNicaragua” and “#NicaraguaLibre” are scrawled across the tent’s exterior walls, which also bear photos of protesters with their fists raised and a map of Nicaragua’s regions and states.

“If we’re introducing Nicaraguan dishes and the culture to Sacramento, which I think has been missing, I feel like having that message there is bringing (to light) what the Nicaraguan people are kind of going through at the moment. And that’s not having the full freedom that we have here in the United States,” Gomez-Guzman said.

TípicoNica will be at Burning Barrel Brewing in Rancho Cordova on Wednesday, Two Rivers Cider in Carleton Tract on Thursday and Touchstone Brewing near Mansion Flats on Saturday. Follow the stand on Instagram to stay in the loop on future pop-ups.

What I’m Eating

Tres Hermanas ranks among Greta Gerwig’s top restaurants in Sacramento, and she’s not alone.

The “Lady Bird” and “Barbie” director shouted out her hometown favorite in singer Dua Lipa’s newsletter in December 2022, the same month that The Sacramento Bee’s readers said it was snubbed in a list of the region’s Top 50 Restaurants.

Sonia Saenz originally opened her Northern Mexican restaurant in midtown Sacramento in 1997 with siblings Dora, Norma and Sergio before they split off to open sister concepts in East Sacramento and Davis. The midtown Tres Hermanas remains the flagship, its colorful walls and weaving iron vines painting a quaint interior that fills up even during weekday lunches.

The ensalada ceviche ($19) is made for summer, a cooling concoction of beautifully fresh Romaine lettuce and red cabbage topped with lime-cured diced basa, onions, tomatoes, cucumbers and avocado. A house cilantro dressing was the bright finish this dish needed.

Tasha’s quesadilla ($20) is, as the Brits say, an absolute unit, an un-closeable flour tortilla comes jammed with sautéed red and green bell peppers, seasoned chicken, onions, garlic and Monterey Jack cheese, served with rice, beans, sour cream and guacamole. Yet it was a cheeky sprinkle of cinnamon throughout the quesadilla that stood out the most, a welcome complement that cut through heavier items nicely.

Tres Hermanas’ burrito de chile colorado ($18) carries a higher price tag than your average taqueria burrito, but it’s a hefty fellow as well, stuffed with beans, cheese and savory pork hunks in a mild New Mexico pepper stew, then served with rice and beans on the side. Make it wet for $1 more by having the cooks pour tasty red enchilada sauce over the top.

Tres Hermanas

Address: 2416 K St., Sacramento.

Hours: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, 9 a.m-9 p.m. Saturday, 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Sunday, closed Monday.

Phone: (916) 443-6919

Website: None.

Drinks: Full bar, including a dozen varieties of margaritas.

Vegetarian options: A few, including quesadillas, chiles rellenos and squash-mushroom enchiladas.

Noise level: Medium-loud.

Outdoor seating: Shaded patio.

Openings & Closings

▪ East Sacramento beer garden SacYard Community Tap House opened its attached restaurant, Chów at SacYard, on Monday at 1725 33rd St. Look for modern bar bites such as the Chow Byrd sandwich (roasted chicken, slaw, pepper jack cheese, bacon and spicy housemade pickles).

▪ Dave & Buster’s opened its 22,000-square foot entertainment center Monday in Folsom’s Palladio shopping center, with sports bar fare such as nachos, flatbreads and sliders near a full bar and arcade. It marks D&B’s second area location, joining a venue in Fountains at Roseville.

▪ DriP Espresso has run dry in midtown Sacramento. The cafe owned by four sisters announced its closure Monday via social media after two years as a coffee hub and community space at 1004 24th St.