It’s hard to tell if it’s still the Happy Hour crowd… or if the night dwellers are already out, but it’s 7:30PM on a Friday night and this corner is hoppin’. There’s a bouncer checking IDs outside of DeVeres Irish Pub, and it’s not even dark yet. Inside, the place is jamming, I’m assuming mostly from the after work crowd…

Luckily, there’s still room inside to maneuver and carve out a little drinking space for ourselves. And as any small-town-turned-grown-up city would tend to have it, I see several people I know already. Our friends – who have thankfully found a babysitter for the evening – arrive soon after, and for us, the night has just begun…

Fast forward a wee bit: We segue about 10 feet next door to the 30+something crowd at MIX Downtown (small plates & lounge), and find that it too is already warm and fuzzy inside, with people scattered evenly around the dimly-lit, rather large loft-like space.

The open-air patio draws us to the far end of the club and we tuck back into a corner where we are able to people watch and carry on conversation at the same time. The place doesn’t lose its momentum as the night wears on, with more friends and strangers arriving, as well as 80s music beginning to pump from the not-so-deafening speakers.

We don’t stay late, only because we have somewhere else to be and someone else to meet before turning into pumpkins. But I think these places calling Sacramento home are doing something right: Creating space where a hint of sophistication can mesh well with a preference for casualness.