A table on the open-air Embarcadero at Der Biergarten Waterfront gives you a German pretzel, a Northern California craft pour and a view of the Tower Bridge. On a lucky afternoon you can also hear the sea lions. Next door at 1110 Front St., where Rio City Café served for 30 years, there's a new riverfront deck with nobody running it.
Those two buildings stand side by side, and they explain most of what is happening along the Old Sacramento waterfront this fall. The city's Waterfront Reinvestment Program is real, it has money behind it, and it has already put a new business on Front Street. The pieces you can use now all sit on the city side of the seawall. The bond-funded pieces that would put you on the water depend on a lease with the State of California, and that lease is moving slower than the construction.
A $25 Million Plan That Ran Into Its Landlord
In November 2024 the Sacramento City Council approved $25 million for the first phase of waterfront work, to be funded with transient occupancy tax bonds, the tax paid by hotel guests. A later phase of up to $15 million was described too, but it needs another council vote.
The catch was ownership. The city owns much of Old Sacramento, but the State Lands Commission owns everything west of the seawall on the riverbank. Abridged reported in December 2025 that city staffer Hollingsworth told the council, "We wouldn't be able to use the bond funding for the docks, for the barge, or for the restaurant deck until we have a new lease with the state."
So the city reordered the plan. A December 2025 council report split the work in two. Phase A covers the boardwalk replacement, a children's play area, and the design and construction of new Public Market Buildings. Phase B covers the K Street barge, the docks and the other riverfront sites. The same report said the bonds had not been issued yet and that a new State Lands Commission lease "could take a year or more." Before that change, Phase A had held most of the river-facing projects and the public market had been pushed to the second phase.
The council report describes the K Street barge as the mooring and utility site that supports the Delta King. That puts one of the waterfront's best-known landmarks on the waiting side of the line.
What You Can Use Right Now
The first opening tied to the program happened on the land side. Der Biergarten Waterfront held its grand opening on Friday, Aug. 7, 2026, in the historic Steamers Building at 1108 Front St., The Sacramento Bee reported. Mayor Kevin McCarty and District 4 Councilmember Phil Pluckebaum were scheduled for a ceremonial keg tapping, according to the city.
The operators will be familiar to anyone who drinks in Midtown or Old Sac. Sean, Erika and Jarrett Derfield also run Der Biergarten in Midtown and Sean Finnegan's Pub in Old Sacramento. The menu covers German and Belgian beers, Northern California craft beers, sausages, pretzels and small plates, and the seating is open air along the Embarcadero. "Watching the riverboats pass by and hearing the sea lions make it a different Sacramento experience," Sean Derfield said in a release quoted by The Sacramento Bee.
Hours from the Bee's August roundup:
- Sunday through Thursday: 11 a.m. to 8:45 p.m.
- Friday and Saturday: 11 a.m. to 9:45 p.m.
The city has finished one riverside project, the new deck at 1110 Front St., which was paid for with state grant money rather than the bonds. The restaurant meant to use it still needs an operator. The deck has a history. Rio City Café closed in August 2024 after 30 years, and its owners partly blamed the city's decision to close the deck over structural concerns, according to Sacramento Business Journal reporting that Abridged cited.
The Newest Room in Old Sac Is Below the Street
The other notable August opening isn't part of the program, but it makes the same point from underneath. The 1920s Bookstore opened Friday, Aug. 14, at 900 Second St., in a space below Pioneer Square. Owner San Bao, a Sacramento native who worked in Houston bars for about a decade, told Abridged that the building sits below today's street level. Sacramento raised its downtown 10 to 15 feet after the Great Flood of 1862, and the original storefronts and sidewalks stayed in place beneath the new grade.
The only sign of it outside is a small clock above a brick courtyard. Inside you'll find green velvet booths, a scalloped teal tile bar and a pressed tin ceiling. The menu is bound like a hardback and works through the decades, from Prohibition classics to a disco-era section. One drink breaks the pattern. Hương Xưa, Bao's own creation, is built on a Vietnamese spiced gin and a Vietnamese herbal amaro.
| Detail | The 1920s Bookstore |
|---|---|
| Address | 900 Second St. |
| Hours | 4 to 10 p.m. Sunday to Thursday, 4 to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday |
| Seating | About 28, reservation only |
| Cocktails | $16 to $20 |
| Food | None, beverages only |
Reservations go through the bar's website. Live music isn't part of it yet. Bao is working on a permit and has talked about adding a vocalist with a guitar or a small trio.
Where Each Promised Piece Stands
The city's latest public status report on the waterfront came out Aug. 4, 2026. It listed three items as "underway or in development": replacing aging sections of the boardwalk, building a children's play area with local tribes, and designing the Public Market Buildings along Front Street. Here is each one next to its most recent stated target.
| Project | Side of the seawall | Earlier target | Status in the Aug. 4, 2026 city update |
|---|---|---|---|
| Children's play area | City side, Phase A | End of summer 2026 | In development |
| Boardwalk replacement | City side, Phase A | October 2025, revised to spring 2026 | Underway or in development |
| Public Market Buildings | City side, Phase A | No date announced | Being designed |
| Restaurant at 1110 Front St. | River side | No date announced | Deck finished, operator not yet chosen |
| K Street barge and docks | River side, Phase B | Waiting on state lease | Paused pending lease |
The play area is being designed with the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians and Wilton Rancheria. In December 2025 it was headed to the tribal councils for approval. Mayor McCarty's August statement grouped it with the public market buildings and a waterfront restaurant as "coming soon."
On the river side, the date to watch belongs to the State Lands Commission. The agenda for its Oct. 21, 2026 meeting had no Old Sacramento waterfront lease item on it. Until that lease is approved, the bond money can't go to the docks, the barge or the restaurant deck. The order of construction follows from that.
Why the Sequence Matters for a Local's Calendar
Old Sacramento draws about 4 million visitors a year, according to the Downtown Sacramento Partnership figure Abridged reported. At the same December 2025 meeting, Councilmember Roger Dickinson said, "We often seem to be in conflict with ourselves with what Old Sacramento ought to be."
The current order of work gives a partial answer for anyone who lives nearby. The first changes are places to sit and stay: a beer garden on the Embarcadero, a speakeasy under Pioneer Square, and next a playground and a market building on Front Street. A docked-boat waterfront with a restaurant out over the river comes after the paperwork with Sacramento's state landlord is done.
For the coming weeks, that adds up to a short, usable list:
- Der Biergarten Waterfront at 1108 Front St. for an afternoon with river views, open until 9:45 p.m. on weekends.
- The 1920s Bookstore at 900 Second St. for an evening drink, booked ahead given about 28 seats.
- Old Sacramento's Small Business Spree Bingo, a holiday shopping activity on the district's seasonal page that runs through Dec. 31, 2026.
- The Downtown Sacramento Ice Rink at Ali Youssefi Square, 7th and K Streets, a short walk up K Street. It runs Nov. 4, 2026 through Jan. 18, 2027.
The milestones that would change this list are a named operator for 1110 Front St., an opening date for the tribal-designed play area, and a State Lands Commission agenda that includes the Old Sacramento lease.
Public investment downtown can shift what Sacramento homes are worth, and our team at Portfolio Real Estate follows those changes closely. If you own nearby and want to know where your home stands, get a free home valuation and personalized plan from us.
