Just a few minutes north of the dense concrete grid of downtown Sacramento, the scenery abruptly changes. Pull onto the Garden Highway in the city’s Natomas region, and suddenly, California’s bustling capital gives way to what feels like a small, rural town.
On one side of the two-lane road, you’ll find a wild canopy of trees and shrubs lining the banks of the moss-green Sacramento River; on the other, fields of farm land and a sprawling oak preserve. The 90-degree sun beats down relentlessly, turning the leather steering wheel of a parked car into a burn hazard.
Luckily, there are plenty of places to get a cold drink around here.
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One of the Garden Highway’s oldest restaurants is the Virgin Sturgeon, a floating barge turned watering hole that just celebrated its 50th anniversary. After parking and venturing into the stifling heat, I found myself at the mouth of an old airplane jet bridge. The repurposed relic from defunct airline Pan Am slopes downward into the river, its carpeted runway depositing you right at the mouth of the Virgin Sturgeon.
Customers enter a former Pan Am SFO airway bridge that is now the walkway entrance for the Virgin Sturgeon on the Sacramento River along the Garden Highway in Sacramento, Calif., on May 14, 2026.
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE
Customers dine at the Virgin Sturgeon on the Sacramento River along the Garden Highway in Sacramento, Calif., on May 14, 2026.
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE
Bartender Juan Lopez asks if a customer needs another drink at the Virgin Sturgeon on the Sacramento River along the Garden Highway in Sacramento, Calif., on May 14, 2026.
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE
“It hasn’t changed in 50 years,” co-owner Renee Hulog told me, sitting on the shaded deck outside the floating restaurant. “People go, ‘I haven’t been here in 35 years and it still looks exactly the same.’ Sometimes it’s like, maybe we should update a little bit, but …” she trailed off, laughing.
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Inside, the floor-to-ceiling windows look right out on the river, a front-row seat to the sea lions and boats speeding by. The decorative fish netting hanging from the windowsills sways gently in the breeze generated from the ceiling fans. A young couple shares a leisurely lunch of seafood pasta and beer, while a family celebrating a high school graduation digs into steak sandwiches and cheeseburgers. The slatted dark wood floor rocks ever so gently, lest you forget: You are, quite literally, on the river.
I ordered a lemonade, crab cakes and a combination appetizer plate, which includes smoked salmon, smoked sturgeon (local, of course), peel-and-eat prawns, Cajun chicken strips, bread and cream cheese. My favorite bites were the mild, flaky crab cakes served with a tangy remoulade, and the juicy shrimp dipped in cocktail sauce.
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The combination platter at the Virgin Sturgeon on the Sacramento River along the Garden Highway in Sacramento, Calif., on May 14, 2026.
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE
Crab cakes at the Virgin Sturgeon on the Sacramento River along the Garden Highway in Sacramento, Calif., on May 14, 2026.
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE
Hulog and Bobby Riggs, her husband, bought the restaurant in 2007 from the original owner, and now run it with their kids, Michael Riggs and Desirea Lee. The couple both fell in love with the Sturgeon while working there in the 1980s.
“It wasn’t glitter and chrome, but it was fun,” Riggs said. “It was a great group of people.”
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Co-owners Renee Hulog and Bobby Riggs inside the Virgin Sturgeon on the Sacramento River along the Garden Highway in Sacramento, Calif., on May 14, 2026.
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE
Over the years, the floating restaurant has been a popular river haunt for everyone from Gov. Jerry Brown and his staff to Sacramento Kings star Chris Webber and his then-girlfriend supermodel Tyra Banks. But it wasn’t always smooth sailing for the Sturgeon.
In 1978, just two years after it first opened, the restaurant sank. The 80-year-old rock barge (originally used for the transportation of rock and stone) that had been home to several other restaurants before the Virgin Sturgeon had reached the end of its natural life.
But original owner Laurie Patching and her partners didn’t give up. They salvaged what equipment they could, turned the tool shed into a bar, and set up some benches on the shore of the river. Meanwhile, they searched for a replacement barge.
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But the Sturgeon’s streak of bad luck wasn’t over yet: In the midst of negotiating the purchase of another barge, one that formerly housed the Sacramento Yacht Club, that one also sank. Patching and her partners ended up still buying the barge for $1, paying to raise and tow it to its present location in 1979. But just a few months later, a fire destroyed it.
At a loss, Patching was forced to throw in the towel, but also vowed to return to the river someday. She opened the Sturgeon II on land near downtown Sacramento in 1980. A few years later she fulfilled her dream: She purchased a barge called Le Barge from a defunct shipping company in San Francisco, and reopened the Virgin Sturgeon in its current location in 1984. It’s remained afloat there ever since.
A tabletop has vintage photos of restaurants along the Sacramento River, including original iterations of the Virgin Sturgeon on the Sacramento River along the Garden Highway in Sacramento, Calif., on May 14, 2026.
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE
The Virgin Sturgeon on the Sacramento River along the Garden Highway in Sacramento, Calif., on May 14, 2026.
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE
While a handful of times they’ve seen flood years so bad that the jet bridge walkway has filled with water, Hulog said she doesn’t worry these days about losing the barge to water or fire.
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“No, never,” she said. “It’s fiberglass.”
General manager Robert Swensen has worked at the Sturgeon for 18 years, but has been a customer for 38. What’s kept him there, he said, is that they treat him like family — and that it’s like no other place on earth.
“It’s very unique. You’re not going to find another one,” he said. “When we have our staff meetings and talk about what our competition is, we have no competition. We’re our own competition. As long as we protect our four walls, we are good.”
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While the Virgin Sturgeon is one of a kind, it isn’t a lonely island on the levee — it’s part of a whole ecosystem of riverfront businesses. A perfect Sacramento summer getaway means restaurant-hopping along the Garden Highway, whether that’s by car or by boat. (Restaurants like the Virgin Sturgeon have a dock for boats to tie up at.)
Before the Sturgeon, my day began at Roosters On The River, a festive brunch destination and relative newcomer to the area. On the restaurant’s deck overlooking the Riverbank Marina, young families and birthday brunchers dine on Mexican breakfast dishes and giant mimosas under red umbrellas, surrounded by colorful rooster decor.
Customers dine at Roosters On The River along the Garden Highway in Sacramento, Calif., on May 14, 2026 along the Garden Highway in Sacramento, Calif., on May 14, 2026.
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE
Owners Martin and Teresa Gonzalez opened on the river in 2024 following the success of their original Roosters location in River Park. Roosters on the River has been so busy, drawing tourists and locals alike, that they’ve noticed their neighbors are seeing more crowds, too.
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“We bring a lot of life to the marina, especially because we’re open early,” Teresa said.
While intrigued by a neighboring table’s neon green mimosas, I stuck to iced coffee and the huevos rancheros, a hearty breakfast of crispy corn tortillas smothered in pinto beans, melty jack cheese, fried eggs, tangy ranchero sauce and avocado. To my amazement, the already generous portion arrived with a side of rice and beans: all for $18.99. San Francisco could never.
Customers dine at Roosters On The River along the Garden Highway in Sacramento, Calif., on May 14, 2026.
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE
The breakfast enchiladas and huevos rancheros at Roosters On The River along the Garden Highway in Sacramento, Calif., on May 14, 2026.
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE
Customers drink mimosas at Roosters On The River along the Garden Highway in Sacramento, Calif., on May 14, 2026, along the Garden Highway in Sacramento, Calif., on May 14, 2026.
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE
Mesmerized by an adorable family of ducks swimming by in the river below, I suddenly understood how one could spend a whole day here.
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“I think it allows people to just relax,” Roosters owner Teresa told me of the Garden Highway. “You’re still in Sacramento, you’re not too far from the city, but there’s not that many tall buildings around you. There’s not that many cars around you.”
Next, I made my way down the stairs and across a bridge to the marina below. Down here is Crawdads on the River, a floating party destination since 1986.
A walkway to Crawdads on the River at the Riverbank Marina on the Sacramento River along the Garden Highway in Sacramento, Calif., on May 14, 2026.
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE
If Roosters On The River felt more family-oriented, Crawdads is the beach club of the river, with its loud music and puka shell necklace-wearing servers. While it was a little quiet on the Thursday afternoon I visited, the place fills up on the weekends, when boaters and other revelers come to enjoy live music on the patio, from DJs to country artists.
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The restaurant got new ownership in 2014 and a modern revamp, from the patio furniture to the menu. The party atmosphere fostered by co-owners Todd Zancaner and Trevor Shults isn’t new, though — “That’s Crawdads, and that’s always been Crawdads,” Hulog, who’s been coming to the Garden Highway since Crawdads opened in the 1980s, told me.
Customers dine at Crawdads on the River on the Sacramento River along the Garden Highway in Sacramento, Calif., on May 14, 2026.
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE
The Mardi Gras cocktail at Crawdads on the River on the Sacramento River along the Garden Highway in Sacramento, Calif., on May 14, 2026.
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE
Customers dine at Crawdads on the River on the Sacramento River along the Garden Highway in Sacramento, Calif., on May 14, 2026.
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE
Crawdads serves a full menu of tacos, fish and chips, and Southern-inspired dishes like jambalaya and of course a “bucket o’crawdads.” I ordered a cocktail: the “Mardi Gras” – a Tiki-style frozen drink with passionfruit, guava and three types of rum. The sweet, ice-cold drink was the perfect antidote to the increasingly unforgiving afternoon heat.
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From here, many Garden Highway bar-hoppers complete the Riverbank Marina trifecta by visiting Chevys next door, but I got back in my car to check out another spot about 15 minutes up the road that I’d heard is worth the trek.
A construction detour forced me onto a short alternative route — part of the westbound Garden Highway is closed while the federal government upgrades the levee system due to flooding concerns. As I drove down the sleepy stretch of the Garden Highway nearing Sacramento International Airport, I noticed nothing for miles save for trees and single-family homes. Finally, I pulled into a dirt parking lot, a sign greeting me with a cheerful “Ahoy!”
Some of the decor at Swabbies on the River along the Garden Highway in Sacramento, Calif., on May 14, 2026.
Madeline Wells/SFGATE
I’d made it to Swabbies on the River, a sprawling, pirate-themed backyard restaurant and live music venue that’s been a destination since the early aughts. The only other nearby business is Alamar, the floating restaurant next door.
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Shaded by 60-foot oak trees and the occasional palm for tropical ambiance, river rats gather here on the weekends to swig beers and listen to local swamp rock and reggae on the big stage. But I was here for the tacos.
Tacos at Swabbies on the River along the Garden Highway in Sacramento, Calif., on May 14, 2026.
Madeline Wells/SFGATE
Some of the decor at Swabbies along the Garden Highway in Sacramento, California on May 14, 2026.
Madeline Wells/SFGATE
People dine at Swabbies on the River along the Garden Highway in Sacramento, Calif., on May 14, 2026.
Madeline Wells/SFGATE
Zigzagging my way through a maze of life-sized pirate mannequins, I took a riverfront seat by a busty woman pirate mannequin, which was fiercely wielding a sword in one hand and a gun in the other. To my surprise, I spotted a rooster strutting through the dirt yard, crowing at full volume.
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A friendly server greeted me with a, “How ya doing, love?” and I placed my order for the “famous” mahi-mahi tacos ($19.99 for two). They were huge, and as good as I hoped: crispy tortillas, fresh, tender fish, gooey white cheese, and heaps of fresh cabbage and cotija, all doused in a refreshing mango salsa. Topped with the housemade green salsa, it was the best thing I’d eaten all day.
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A boat motors along the Sacramento River along the Garden Highway in Sacramento, Calif., on May 14, 2026.
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE
As the sun started to set, a cool Delta breeze finally cutting across the river, I made my way back to downtown Sacramento. I’d never technically left the city, but it felt like I was returning from some distant vacation getaway. As I traversed the winding highway one last time, I remembered something Virgin Sturgeon general manager Swensen had told me. His words described his quirky floating eatery, but also, the entirety of the Garden Highway.
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“It’s just a very down-to-earth place,” he said. “And a lot of people, once they find us, they come back.”