About

WHAT’S IN A NAME

In the movie It’s a Wonderful Life, George Bailey learns that his family business—Bailey Bros. Building & Loan—is more than a business. It’s the glue that holds the community together. We lovingly honor that notion by incorporating the Building & Loan name into our own as a way of embracing the community that has been so good to us.

WHO WE ARE

Mulvaney’s B&L is many things. We’re a restaurant that specializes in hand-crafted New American cuisine, a farm-to-table devotee that celebrates the efforts of the growers, ranchers, brewers and winemakers who are our neighbors, purveyors and friends.

Set in a historic 1893 firehouse, with its original brick walls and soaring ceilings, Mulvaney’s B&L is also a nexus of Sacramento: a place where we serve up impeccable and creative fare (our menu changes daily in step with the local growing seasons), and facilitate the connections of the guests we love to host.

Our “wonderful old B&L” is the brainchild – no, the passion – of owners Patrick and Bobbin Mulvaney, who bring more than a half century and six time zones’ worth of experience to their mission. We strive to provide our guests with the best our region has to offer and a place to have their own culinary experience.

Patrick Mulvaney is Proprietor and Chef. A leading public policy advocate on the national stage, Patrick is one of the people working to make Sacramento the “Farm-to-Fork” capital of the country. The eclectic culinary creations at Mulvaney’s B&L are a direct reflection of his diverse background, which includes a European apprenticeship and experience in top New York restaurants before falling in love with Sacramento—and its year-round growing season—when he moved here in 1991.

Patrick’s Advisory Boards & Mentors

Foundation for California Community Colleges
American River College Culinary Arts Program
Los Rios College Advisory Committee
Roots of Change

Bobbin Mulvaney is Proprietor and Marketing Director. With her artistic background and eye for detail, Bobbin brings a passionate perspective to everything she does, including event coordination and entertaining. Bobbin’s love for serving others traces its roots to her farm-girl childhood in the Central Valley—where her family also owned a local restaurant. She’s a continuing force in the education and nonprofit sectors; read about the business’s community involvement here.

Bobbin’s Advisory Boards & Mentors

Diner en Blanc, Sacramento Host Committee
Salvation Army Advisory Board
Wells Fargo Community Advisory Board
ACS – American Cancer Society Board Ambassador
Les Dames d’Escoffier
St. Johns Program for Real Change Business Mentor

AWARDS

2021 2019 Guide Michelin California- L’Assiette Michelin

2020 Sacramento Business Journal Corporate Citizenship Award- Answering the Call

2018 Sacramento Metro Chamber- Sacramentans of the Year, Bobbin and Patrick

2016 Sutter Club, Culinary Legacy Honoree Dinner

2015 CA Restaurant Association, Restaurant Neighbor Award – For Outstanding Community Service – 2015 State Winner

2015 CA State Assembly, Certificate of Recognition

2015 Housing Alliance Community Partner Award, Certificate of Appreciation

2014 James Beard Foundation, Outstanding Contribution to the Foundation

2014 City of Sacramento, Resolution Honoring Patrick and Bobbin for their Contributions to the Cuisine and Culture of Sacramento

2012 Valley Vision, Regional Social Equity Leaders

2011 Women Who Mean Business, Sacramento Business Award

2010 SACOG Salutes, Regional Business of the Year

2010 Sacramento Business Journal, Partners in Philanthropy

2010 Distinguished Mother Award, St. Johns Women’s and Children’s Shelter

2010 Zagat rated 29

2009 Point of Light, American Institute of Light, Doris Matsui

Green Promise

We see ourselves as stewards of the land we love and, in our small way, protectors of the future.

Our Green Promise isn’t a marketing campaign. It’s a description of the way we do business, which is a direct reflection of the way we live and the values we hold dear.

It starts with our purveyors. We choose to work with farmers, ranchers, and winemakers who tread lightly upon the earth.

It continues to the ingredients we use and how we use them. When we get a duck, we use it all—in numerous dishes. We use every part of the pig but the oink. We can’t even tolerate to see butter burned, since that would fail to honor the people who worked so hard to produce it.

We’re avid composters. Now that we use an anaerobic digester, we’re more than 99-percent landfill-free. Our waste used to fill three dumpsters a week; now it barely tops a five-gallon bucket.

All our wine bottles are recycled; the clear ones find a second life in the restaurant as water pitchers. Our cardboard is recycled. Our daily menus are printed on 100-percent post-consumer waste; they’re then re-used for in-house printing needs before they return to the recycling bin. The ashes from the grill, the grounds from drained espresso cups, and leftover table water all feed our garden.

Our to-go boxes are Bio-Pak. Our disposable serviceware is environmentally friendly; our disposable cutlery is made from a bamboo byproduct and the plates and cups derive from sugarcane. It’s all sustainable and biodegradable.

Our primary equipment-rental company uses a biofuel for its fleet and environmentally-conscious cleaning products for its dishes and laundry.
Our restaurant typically has a half-dozen bikes parked outside, including a “shop bike” we use for getting around downtown and midtown, to the bank, business meetings, and running staff or products to offsite events.

And what about our excess food? We send it directly to homeless services. You may even see Patrick carrying a box of sandwiches out to the railroad tracks for our resident street people; as a way of returning the favor, they keep an eye out for our property.

Catch our

Buzz

✻

Catch our buzz

We don’t just make meals. We make headlines! Read about how we support our community, how we push the boundaries of the slow-food movement, and more.