Joe Marty’s, the storied, baseball-themed bar and restaurant,served decent enough ballpark-inspired food when it reopened in late 2015, under new ownership and after a full rehab of the fire-damaged, long-vacant space in the historic Tower Theatre complex on Broadway. But I did not feel a need to go back after I reviewed it last year, since my review visits had sated my curiosity about what the place – which had been closed for nearly the whole time I lived in Sacramento – was like.

But earlier this year, Michael Sampino, co-owner of the acclaimed Sampino’s Towne Foods deli and restaurant on F Street, took over the new Joe Marty’s from its previous proprietor, who, unlike him, was a restaurant-industry newcomer.