![Clockwise from top left: Loobia polo, sturgeon kebab, tahdig, chicken kebab, koobideh and ash-e-reshteh are on the menu at Stand Up Kabob. (Photos by Jennifer Fergesen)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/spread_2.png?1684877758)
Neighborhood Favorite: Stand Up Kabob
A Persian restaurant at a Davis car dealership aims to support the Iranian women’s revolution
There are many clues that Stand Up Kabob, a Persian restaurant
literally welded onto the side of a used car dealership on the
outskirts of Davis, is no ordinary kebab shop.
![The ceremonial coffee at Kind Bean Cafe and Ethiopian Cuisine in Arden Arcade is served in an earthenware vessel called a jebena. (Photos by Nolan Wong)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/ceremony.png?1682365147)
Neighborhood Favorite: Kind Bean Cafe and Ethiopian Cuisine
This cafe serves ceremonial Ethiopian coffee — and breakfast burritos
The coffee ceremony at Kind Bean Cafe and Ethiopian Cuisine
unfolds like a sacrament, each tool imbued with significance like
objects on an altar. The beans, roasted and ground throughout the
day, steep in a jebena, an ebony-colored earthenware vessel
developed more than 800 years ago.
![Pastizzi with center seams are traditionally filled with ricotta cheese. (Photos by Joe Perfecto)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/0223_pastizzi_perfecto.png?1677624692)
Neighborhood Favorite: For the Love of Malta
Maltese pastizzi comes in two classical forms, delineated by how the finely fissile pastry — laminated with both butter and lard — folds around its savory filling. Shell-shaped pastizzi, clamped tight like clams at low tide, conceal peas cooked to their melting point and spiced with a subtle curry that’s more English (Malta’s most recent colonizers) than Indian.
![Delcy Steffy, right shows off her citrus salad with fennel and avocado, while daughter Elinor displays a Caribbean combo plate of Cuban chicken stew, saffron rice, Cuban black beans and avocado salad. (Photos by Joe Perfecto)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/_n0a4411.png?1675215276)
Neighborhood Favorite: Good Things to Eat
A mother-daughter team explore the cuisines of their heritage
With Good Things to Eat, Delcy and Elinor Steffy explore the cuisines of their heritage, including African American, Armenian, German, Hungarian and Jewish roots.
![Plov and shawarma wrapped in bread or lavash are among the most popular offerings at Caravan Uzbek Cuisine. (Photos by Joe Wong)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/spread_1.png?1661902366)
Neighborhood Favorite: Caravan Uzbek Cuisine
The Capital Region gets its first Uzbek food truck
Every morning, Caravan Uzbek Cuisine co-owner Farkhod Soatov
wakes up early to make plov. The rice and meat dish, with
roots in Persian pilaf, has changed little since the days of the
Silk Road.
![Noroc, an Eastern European restaurant in Carmichael previously known as Firebird Russian Restaurant, specializes in homestyle cooking from the former Soviet region, such as this beef stew. (Photo courtesy of Noroc)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/lead_0.jpeg?1654016622)
Firebird Russian Restaurant Forced to Make Two Name Changes Within Two Months
Sacramento restaurant is a gathering place during Russia-Ukraine war
Firebird Russian Restaurant recently reopened as Noroc with a fresh new look.
![Tupi Coffee sources its coffee beans from Minas Gerais in Brazil, the home state of owner Eduardo Faustino. (Photos courtesy of Tupi Coffee)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/lead_10.png?1650931206)
Neighborhood Favorite: Tupi Coffee
A Sacramento coffee shop aims to introduce Brazilian snacks to all 50 states
The Boulevard Park corner cafe serves Brazilian baked goods such as cheese bread and fried dumplings, as well as an assortment of sandwiches and beverages.
![Bryan Widener is the owner and executive chef of Lo/Fi, a bodega-style cafe located in Southside Park.](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/comstock_lofi_web-10.jpg?1648790570)
Neighborhood Favorite: Lo/Fi
A Southside Park cafe with a punk spirit serves seasonal comfort food
The neighborhood lunch spot serves comfort sandwiches, Sunday brunch, desserts and a bodega-style assortment of beer and wine.
![Beef patties and oxtail, the latter served with rice and beans, cabbage, and fried plantains, are among the dishes available for takeout at Every Little Thing Jamaican. (Photos by Jennifer Fergesen)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/spread_0.png?1645657674)
Neighborhood Favorite: Every Little Thing Jamaican
A Suisun City grocery store and takeout business serves Caribbean nostalgia
The market-kitchen hybrid offers Afro-Caribbean favorites like jerk chicken, curry goat and oxtail.
![Jajangmyeon, jjamppong and tangsuyuk are flagship dishes in Korean Chinese cuisine, served at Smile Market 2 in north Sacramento. (Photos by Jennifer Fergesen)](https://www.comstocksmag.com/sites/main/files/imagecache/tile/main-images/lead-3_0.png?1643650898)
Neighborhood Favorite: Smile Market 2
The second branch of a longstanding supermarket serves Korean Chinese food
After more than 20 years selling Korean specialty items, the owners of Smile Food Market opened Smile Market 2, which serves fresh dishes like spicy seafood noodles and sweet-and-sour pork.