Esparto, Esparto, CA

Yolo Avenue is where daily life happens in Esparto, the main town of the Capay Valley in Yolo County, from the coffee counter to the butcher shops. The town began as a railroad stop in the late 1800s and remains a small service town for the farms around it. The whole community feels rural. Farm products, walnuts included, are sold in town at places such as Haag Farm, so the line between farm and town blurs, and a conversation at the counter often turns to the crop or the weather. Esparto Community Park is in town, and Capay Open Space Park sits nearby, just north of Capay off County Road 85, with walking trails and picnic benches where the Coast Range meets the valley floor. Spartan Grounds Cafe is a second place for coffee. Lucy's Cafe and Farm Pantry at 16850 Yolo Avenue serves house-made pastries and a breakfast sandwich with tomato jam. Hog Canyon Deli, at 16811, is known for burritos filled with chorizo at breakfast, and it serves lunch and dinner too. Double Dipper Ice Cream Company, at 16858, scoops Gunther's ice cream from Sacramento and keeps afternoon hours, closed on Mondays. El Toro Meat Market and Taqueria, at 16939, opened in 2006 and pairs fresh meat, produce and groceries with a taco counter that also makes tortas. Errands stay local for the basics. Esparto Super Market and Valley Food Market handle groceries, RoadTrip Bar and Grill covers an evening out, and the town has its own school district and a regional library branch. For anything larger, residents drive out of the valley. The honest limit is isolation, since dining and shopping are limited. The upside is a short stretch of Yolo Avenue where the coffee shop, the deli, the ice cream counter and the meat market all sit within a few steps of each other.