Restaurant in Sacramento, United States
Serious Italian, exceptional wine, book early.
Allora is Sacramento's strongest case for Italian dining at the $$$$ tier, combining Michelin Plate recognition, a 385-selection wine list with deep Italian and Greek depth, and consistent kitchen execution across fresh pasta and local fish. At $40–$65 for a two-course dinner, it delivers real value for special occasions. Book well in advance: demand is high and walk-ins are unreliable.
Book Allora if you want a serious Italian dinner in Sacramento with a wine list that punches well above the city's average. At a two-course price point in the $40–$65 range and with a 385-selection cellar weighted toward Italy and Greece, this is the restaurant to choose when the occasion matters. The 4.7 Google rating across 662 reviews signals consistent execution, and the 2025 Michelin Plate recognition confirms the kitchen is doing things right. If you are planning a celebration dinner, a client meal, or simply a night where you want the food and wine to be the whole point, Allora is the right call on Folsom Boulevard.
The dining room at Allora reads clean and considered: white walls, wood surfaces, deep green accents, and a glass-enclosed wine cellar that functions as both storage and the room's visual centerpiece. For a special occasion, the setting delivers without theatrical excess. It is the kind of room where the table feels like the point, not the backdrop.
The cooking is California-Italian in practice, which means fresh pasta and local fish anchor the menu rather than heavy Roman or Bolognese traditions. Seafood runs through the menu consistently, and the pasta program is made in-house. The cavatelli, built on a garlic-and-tomato base with sausage and summer squash, gives a clear picture of the kitchen's register: technically grounded, ingredient-forward, and without unnecessary elaboration. Chef and General Manager Deneb Williams runs both the kitchen and the floor, which tends to produce a more coherent guest experience than venues where those two roles are disconnected.
Wine Director and co-owner Elizabeth-Rose Mandalou's list is the real differentiator here. With 2,685 bottles in inventory, 385 selections on the list, and a corkage fee of $30 if you bring your own, the program is scaled for a restaurant that takes wine seriously. The list skews Italian and Greek, which aligns tightly with the food. Pricing lands in the mid-range bracket, meaning you can build a genuinely interesting bottle without reaching for the leading of the list. For a date night or celebration where wine is part of the plan, Allora is better positioned than almost anything else in Sacramento at this price tier.
Allora's group experience is worth thinking through before you book. The room has a neighborhood-restaurant scale, which means it works well for small celebrations and intimate business dinners but is not the venue for a large party that needs dedicated event infrastructure. For groups of four to six on a special occasion, request a table that sits near the wine cellar wall for the most visually interesting positioning in the room.
There is no published private dining room in the venue data, so if your event requires a fully separated space, confirm directly with the restaurant before committing. For groups where the priority is a shared meal with serious wine, Allora's sommelier team, which includes Li Chong and Eric Dickinson-Hinojosa alongside Mandalou, can support a more curated wine-pairing conversation than most Sacramento restaurants at this level. That is a real advantage for a business meal or a celebration where wine choices matter to the table.
For comparable group experiences in Northern California and beyond, the format here sits closer to Single Thread Farm in Healdsburg in its hospitality philosophy than to the full production of The French Laundry in Napa, and it costs considerably less than either. If Italian is the cuisine you want at higher scale internationally, 8 1/2 Otto e Mezzo Bombana in Hong Kong and cenci in Kyoto show what the format looks like at the leading of the category globally. Allora is not operating at that tier, but it does not pretend to be, and the value proposition is honest.
Booking difficulty is rated Hard. Allora is a neighborhood restaurant with a loyal local following, Michelin recognition, and a wine reputation that draws from outside the immediate area. Reserve well in advance for weekend dinners, and for special occasions, book as early as possible. Walk-in availability on weeknights is possible but not reliable. There is no published online booking method in the current data, so contact the restaurant directly to confirm the reservation process.
For more on dining in Sacramento, see our full Sacramento restaurants guide. If you are planning around a wider trip, our Sacramento hotels guide, bars guide, wineries guide, and experiences guide cover the rest of the city.
See the full comparison section below.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Booking Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Allora | Italian | $$$$ | Hard |
| Localis | Californian | $$$$ | Unknown |
| The Kitchen | Contemporary | $$$$ | Unknown |
| Canon | Contemporary | $$ | Unknown |
| Pho Momma | Vietnamese | $ | Unknown |
| Bacon & Butter | American | $ | Unknown |
How Allora stacks up against the competition.
The fresh pasta is the anchor of the menu — the house-made cavatelli with garlic-tomato sauce, sausage, and summer squash is specifically documented as a kitchen signature. Seafood dishes are consistently threaded through the menu alongside the pasta program. For dessert, gelato is the practical call, but the better move is adding a glass from the 385-label wine list, which skews Italian and is priced reasonably for a $$$ wine program.
Allora works well for small groups given its neighborhood-restaurant scale, but it is not a large-format venue. For parties of 4–6, it is a comfortable fit; larger groups should check the venue's official channels to confirm availability and seating configuration before assuming a reservation will hold.
The glass-enclosed wine cellar is a visible feature of the dining room, and the convivial setup suggests bar or counter seating is part of the experience. That said, specific bar-seating policies are not confirmed in available venue data — calling ahead is the practical approach if bar dining is your preference.
A formal tasting menu is not documented in Allora's venue record. The cuisine pricing points to a two-course dinner in the $40–$65 range at $$, which is the food pricing tier — the $$$$ overall price rating reflects the wine program. If you want a multi-course format, The Kitchen on the Sacramento River is the dedicated tasting-menu option in the city; Allora is the better call for à la carte Italian with serious wine pairings.
Localis is the closest comparison for ingredient-driven, chef-led dinners in Sacramento. The Kitchen is the right choice if you want a full tasting-menu commitment. Canon covers a broader American menu with a deep spirits and wine program. For price-sensitive meals, Bacon & Butter handles daytime and casual dining well, and Pho Momma is the move for value-focused bowls with no booking friction. None of them match Allora's combination of Italian-focused wine depth and fresh pasta.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
