See What the local press has to say about Shakers

2007 Story About Ladies Night that Local Channel 13 News interviewed us about. Click on the picture to get taken to the story.

We won the 2007 KCRA Best Sports Bar! We don't consider ourselves a sports bar but we do show sports! Maybe next year they will have a best bar category ! Click the picture for the story.

Sacramento Bee Story On Shakers.

Published 2:15 AM PST Friday, Sep. 10, 2004 , Sacramento Bee.

Cecilia Dumlao, above left, and Gypsy Lamore share a laugh earlier this month at Shakers Neighborhood Pub in Citrus Heights. At left, the bar's co-owner, Jamie Boggs, does double duty as bartender.
Sacramento Bee/Carl Costas

Plenty of peanuts and good friends at Citrus Heights pub
By Rachel Leibrock -- Bee Staff Writer

Don't worry -- that crunch you hear inside Shakers Neighborhood Pub isn't someone's knuckles readying for blows. It's the sound of hundreds of peanut shells mashing beneath your feet.
We'll admit to being a bit concerned that it could have been the former when we first stepped inside the Citrus Heights bar. From the outside, the place looks like an aging honky-tonk with its dusty parking lot and wooden-frame structure. Think of the classic 1989 Patrick Swayze barroom brawl flick "Road House" and you'll get the picture.

Shakers is actually a comfortable dive bar popular among 20-somethings and neighborhood folks for its kitschy allure and friendly atmosphere. This is the kind of place where you'll usually find one of the owners serving drinks and, just as the song says, everybody knows your name.

On a Friday night, the spacious two-room venue teemed mostly with college-age kids in jeans, T-shirts and studded belts -- girls and guys alike. In one room, patrons sat at the bar or burnished silver tables, watching sports on one of many TV screens and munching free peanuts (throwing the discarded shells to the floor, naturally).

In the pub's main room, people played pool, relaxed near a giant brick fireplace and jostled to catch a glimpse of musicians playing (kind of) quiet songs for the evening's "Acoustic Suicide" set.

For Veronica Andrade, 21, of Citrus Heights, it's just another night at her favorite watering hole.

"We're here every Thursday through Sunday night," says Andrade, laughing and nodding to a nearby friend. "We just come here to chill."

Andrade, who lives "just around the corner" from Shakers, likes the bar because it's within walking distance and is "the kind of place where you know every single person."

Kristi Kloeppel, here to mingle as well as play a quick "Acoustic Suicide" set, agrees, calling Shakers "the neighborhood bar."

"You know everyone here, there are never any fights and it's just very kickback," says Kloeppel, 24, of Citrus Heights.

"I've been coming here for a long time," Kloeppel adds. "Everyone has, we're all really close and we know the bartenders."

One of those bartenders is Shakers co-owner Sean Durfield.

Five years ago, Durfield and friend Jamie Boggs, both now 38, bought Shakers. Then, the venue was known as Tino's Lounge and drew a mostly older crowd. Durfield and Boggs, who used to work at another Citrus Heights bar, decided to turn their new venture into a destination for a "younger, hipper" clientele, bringing in a pool table and video games.

"Now it's a mix of anything from older people -- that means anyone over 40 -- to tattooed kids," Durfield said. "We're trying to be a downtown bar located in the suburbs."

Shakers succeeds to some extent, although it recalls more of the grubby charm of midtown's Old Tavern bar than, say, a more-sophisticated venue such as Blue Cue. The peanuts -- Durfield estimates they've gone through more than 90,000 pounds of the crunchy legumes since opening in May 1999 -- add to its appeal.

And that's fine. After all, Durfield and Boggs modeled Shakers after favorite old bars such as Chico's legendary Joe's Place.

Because Shakers is close to an apartment building, live music is sporadic. Currently, Shakers has bands every other week and occasionally plays host to subdued singer-songwriter events such as the "Acoustic Suicide" series. Thursday and Saturday nights are the busiest times. On almost any night, you'll find either Durfield or Boggs behind the bar.

"For better or worse, we work every shift. There's always one of us here," says Durfield, who lives only minutes from the bar.

"I don't want to say it's like Cheers," he adds with a laugh, referring to the Boston bar from the popular sitcom. "But it is. Everyone knows everyone."

If you're going, Shakers Neighborhood Pub is open daily from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. This Thursday, check out live music with Drowning Adam. Cover charge is $3; 21 and over only. For more information: (916) 863-7465.
Copyright © The Sacramento Bee
http://www.sacticket.com/nightlife/story/10678304p-11596862c.html

We are voted The Number 1 Neighborhood Bar in 2000 And 2001 by the readers of The Sacramento News & Review. 

Click below to see how else we ranked: 

In 2004: http://www.newsreview.com/issues/sacto/2004-09-30/sbestof9.asp

In 2001: http://www.newsreview.com/issues/sacto/2001-09-20/sbestof12.asp

In 2000 http://www.newsreview.com/issues/sacto/2000-09-28/sbestof14.asp

Other Press on Shakers

http://www.profitablepromotions.com/calendar/2004/days/0527.html

http://sacramento.citysearch.com/best/results/7745?ulink=profile_5_profileboc2002_1___best__1

http://www.suckramento.com/place.asp?catid=1&id=36

A&E TV Special Featuring Shakers

http://www.aetv.com/intervention/int_episode_guide.jsp?episode=213080