3 Best Nightlife in Truckee, Lake Tahoe

In a 19th-century redbrick building that's been everything from a hotel to a bank to a bus station, this bustling bar opened in the 1970s. These days, it serves craft beers and specialty cocktails you can pair with booze-friendly appetizers, pizzas, and comfort food (or have a big ole rib eye with Bulleit bourbon peppercorn sauce). Open later than most downtown bars, BofA presents live music one night a week or more year-round.

Perched above town on the site of North America's first chairlift, this local institution has a bar decked out with old wooden skis, sleds, skates, and photos of Truckee's early days. A superb spot to enjoy a local brew or craft cocktail and not bad at all should you stay for dinner, Cottonwood serves pasta dishes and grilled meats and fish.

At the high-ceilinged brewpub of Truckee's pioneering craft-beer producer, opened in 2007, the soothing gray tones plus a pint of the Donner Party porter or Eclipse barrel-aged imperial stout will take the edge off a cold day on the slopes. The food lineup includes salads, burgers, inventive pizzas, barbecued ribs, pan-seared salmon, and the house specialty: a pulled pork sandwich.