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American, Italian, and Mexican are common Gold Country fare, but chefs also prepare ambitious European, French, and contemporary regional cuisine that mixes California ingredients with international preparations. Grass Valley's meat- and vegetable-stuffed pasties, introduced by 19th-century gold miners from Cornwall, are one of the region's more unusual treats.
The smell of waffle cones will guide you to this town treasure whose Portuguese-Swiss namesake has been making ice cream since she was a young lass. Handcrafted flavors include Chill'n Cherry Chip (cherries and dark chocolate) and Wake Up Murphys (coffee, cocoa, and fudge).
For a place as small as it is, this bakery-café produces a staggering array of sweet and savory pastries, sandwiches, salads, and desserts you can enjoy with a well-brewed (if not always swiftly made) coffee, espresso drink, or tea. The croissants are golden and flaky, the quiches moist and filling, and the scones large and flavorful; the breads for lunchtime sandwiches include sourdough, focaccia, and polenta wheat.
A good downtown stop especially for lunch, the Dancing Fox also has a tasting room for its eponymous wines. The restaurant, whose decor shimmers with fairy-tale whimsy, serves sandwiches, salads, pizzas, burgers, and wraps and has more than a dozen beers on tap.
Breakfast salads, avocado toast, and caffeine several ways are on the menu at this jovial café that’s also a good stop for sandwiches and charcuterie, hummus, and bagel boards. You can eat indoors or watch Main Street’s comings and goings out on the patio.
A local success story that expanded into a second storefront after a few years in business, Small Town serves morning coffee and baked goods, by 11 am adding small bites, salads, sandwiches, and flatbreads. For a midday pick-me-up, pair affordable, well-selected wines from the area and beyond with deviled eggs, a three-cheese mac, or an artisanal charcuterie plate.
Careworn flooring, wainscoting, and a high tin ceiling lend an old-timey feel to this ice cream shop whose house-made offerings include quirkily contemporary ones like saffron-rose pistachio and blueberry matcha gelato. Double-chocolate, vanilla-bean, strawberry, and more conventional flavors from other brands supplement the Treats selections.
