The wait is over for the official date of the opening of one of Folsom’s most anticipated new restaurants. Crawdads on the Lake has announced they will welcome the public for their official opening this Friday, June 14. The restaurant is expected to open its doors at at 11 a.m. to serve the community for the very first time with a variety of food, beverages and entertainment.
“Our team has been hard at work preparing for all of you. We will be officially opening our doors this Friday at 11am. We are so excited to be a part of the Folsom community,” the restaurant said in a statement Tuesday morning.”We can’t wait to welcome you to our new home on Friday.”
As previously reported in a Folsom Times article, Crawdads on the Lake is located at 9900 Greenback Lane in Folsom, right next to the iconic Rainbow Bridge on the site of what has long been the Cliff House, among other restaurants through the years. After several years of name changes, menu changes and different attempts to succeed, the Cliff House abruptly closed its doors in early February of this year.
Soon after, the building quickly went into escrow after being purchased by the duo of Todd Zancaner and Trevor Shults, co-owners of the famed Crawdads on the River venue that overlooks the river in Sacramento along the Garden Highway.
“We are delighted to see new ownership and a fresh look to this iconic restaurant and location,” said Joe Gagliardi, CEO of Choose Folsom and the Folsom Chamber of Commerce when he learned the news of the new ownership back in March. “We receive many inquiries about its rundown condition and are excited to hear of the plans to return it to be a glorious destination.”
Crawdads on the River has been a popular destination for decades, attracting boaters and recreationalists to enjoy a well stacked menu of eats and cocktails, as well as enjoy live music. As they reinvent the former Cliff House, the new owners will look to bring that successful culture to Folsom.
“We were in the mode to do something new but didn’t know what it was going to be until the Cliff House space became available. This place holds a special spot in our hearts, as it does for a lot of people that grew up in the area,” Shults explained in the previous Folsom Times article. He also shared the big renovation plans for the building. As they purchased the building, the new owners committed to a full remodel of the property that cost in the neighborhood of $1 million.
Not only does the building have a fresh look from all angles of its exterior, the interior has undergone a mass transformation as has the outdoor patio area the venue that has been greatly expanded.
The interior of the restaurant now connects the outdoor area with large roll up doors that can be opened during the nice weather, with indoor and outdoor access to the bar. The restaurant now offers approximately 8,500 square feet of interior dining space and 2,000 square feet of outdoor dining space, much of which offers a beautiful view of Lake Natoma and the Rainbow Bridge.
The restaraunt is home to a café, a full service restaurant that plans to offer breakfast, lunch and dinner. The full bar is ready to offer a vast menu of specialty beverages from coffees to cocktails and everything in between. To accompany the menu, the location plans to host live music which is one of its key attractions at its Sacramento location. The first live music performances scheduled for the venue will be Madison Hudson, who performs from 2:00 p.m. until 5 p.m. on Saturday. Hudson will be followed by Boomtown on the same day, performing from 9:00 p.m. until 11:59 p.m. For information on the live music events at Crawdads as well as ticket information, visit their website at www.crawdadsonthelake.com.
