Appetizers: For sale: A smooth Gold Caddy from 1952

For an upcoming Taste section, I'm working up a list of 50 reasons why Sacramento is such a great place to live if you're a food enthusiast.

High on the list is the Gold Cadillac, also known as the Golden Cadillac, a yellow-hued cocktail made with the sweet Italian liqueur Galliano, white crème de cacao, half-and-half and ice, all blended to a froth. It's the signature drink of Poor Red's in El Dorado, which introduced it around 1952.

The Bee reported in one of its regional editions in June that Poor Red's is up for sale. So I called Dave Chapdelaine, who has owned Poor Red's since 1992 and who has been a fixture on the premises for more than 30 years, starting as dishwasher.

Chapdelaine said Poor Red's is drawing all kinds of buyer interest, though no deal has been closed. If you want to get in on the bidding, he'll sell the business alone for about $549,000. If the buyer wants the century-old building that houses the restaurant, the price will be around $759,000.

Poor Red's, now in its 54th year, is best known for its ribs and New York steak … and the Gold Cadillac. It's reputedly the largest user of Galliano in the world, going through "30 or 35" bottles on a Saturday night, Chapdelaine says.

Some icy, tasty news

Merlino's Freeze, with which Sacramentans have been beating back the summer heat for 60 years, has new owners who are keen on making the icy fruit slushes just as available and popular the other three seasons.

"Merlino's no longer is a seasonal business. It's no longer a summer drink. It's a year-round product that will be available every day of the year," says Joe Martinez, who with his business partner, Javier Ramos, has bought it from Bob Hemond.

Hemond, an executive with the Sacramento River Cats baseball squad, teamed with Warren Smith and Matt Re to buy Merlino's in 2000 following the bankruptcy protection filing of one of the city's culinary icons. Hemond subsequently bought out Smith and Re.

Martinez and Ramos own two branches of the Mr. Pickles chain of sandwich shops, one along Gerber Road in south Sacramento, the other along Folsom Boulevard in east Sacramento, which had been a Merlino's store.

Martinez and Ramos are making Merlino's freezes available at their two stores, and aggressively are negotiating with other branches of Mr. Pickles to also carry the products. They're also talking with the fast-growing chain of L&L Hawaiian Barbecue restaurants to make the freezes available. They're also eyeing Sacramento International Airport and Old Sacramento. Stands dispensing the freezes already have been set up at Raley Field and the Music Circus, and two will be at the California State Fair, Ramos said.

In addition to the original orange, strawberry and lemon flavors, they've added black raspberry, watermelon and pineapple.

No terms of the sale were disclosed. "I'm not comfortable discussing details," Martinez said.

About the writer:

• Reach The Bee's Mike Dunne at (916) 321-1143 or mdunne@sacbee.com. Back columns: www.sacbee.com/dunne.