7 Best Restaurants in Lake Tahoe, California

Truckee residents and visitors jam this strip-mall restaurant for diverse breakfast fare like the biscuits-and-gravy burrito and hot lunch sandwiches that include Cubans, cheesesteaks, the Southwest chicken pepper jack on focaccia, and the formidable Dirka Dirka (corned beef, pastrami, Swiss cheese, jalapeño cole slaw). Salads, subs, and wraps are also on the menu, and there's a good beverage selection, from aloe water to Red Bull.

Making a reservation is the smart move at this Neapolitan-style pizzeria, which has a snappy industrial look and was opened by esteemed San Francisco restaurateurs during the pandemic. Each day they prepare several pasta dishes and a half dozen wood-fired pizzas—burrata Margherita, perhaps, or maitake mushroom, or chicken Parmesan with mozzarella—that patrons supplement with prosciutto, pepperoni, sausage, anchovies, and other toppings.

The high, exposed and rough-hewn ceiling, stone walls, heavy wood shelving, and orblike contemporary metal chandeliers of special-occasion Trokay split the difference between Western high-country style and industrial chic. The four-course prix-fixe menu and 10-course tasting option also diverge from the expected in dishes that might include sea-urchin bisque, dry-aged duck with kumquat and anise, and diver scallops with bacon dashi (fish broth).

Head here for contemporary-Cal cuisine in a sexy dining room with pumpkin-color walls, burgundy velvet banquettes, and art-deco fixtures. The earthy, sure-handed cooking showcases organically grown ingredients: look for ahi poke, snazzy pizzas bubbling-hot from a brick oven, braised lamb shanks, pan-roasted wild game, fresh seafood, and organic beef.

A longtime town favorite, Pianeta serves high-style Italian cuisine in a warmly lit, bilevel, redbrick space on Truckee's historic main drag. Start with a beef carpaccio antipasto plate or perhaps house-made spicy-fennel and mild sausages, following up with a pasta course of ravioli Bolognese (both pasta and sauce made in-house), an entrée of ragout with spicy sausage and Mexican prawns—or both.

Adherents flock to this downtown spot for breakfast to sample dozens of omelets, several variations on eggs Benedict, banana-walnut pancakes, and French toast oozing with cream cheese. At lunch, they savor homemade soups and sandwiches.

The wood-fired grill of this second-floor downtown restaurant turns out steaks, chicken, chops, and fish dishes that might include halibut with coal-roasted tomato and braised fennel. As with the food, the decor is New West contemporary—bricks line the wall behind the bar, where mixologists craft drinks like the Magnolia (tequila, macadamia nut, lemon, pineapple, and bitters) and, in tribute to Truckee's bootlegging past, pour artisanal small-batch gin and whiskey.