4 Best Restaurants in Tahoe City, Lake Tahoe

Huge windows reveal stellar lake views at this intimate Euro–Cal restaurant serving seafood, beef, and vegetarian entrées—Moroccan-spiced lamb loin is a signature dish—along with small plates like Jamaican jerk hamachi poke. The gem-laden wine list and exceptional desserts earn accolades; the service is low-key professional.

There's often a wait for breakfast and lunch at this great little diner with pine paneling, hardwood floors, and an exposed-beam ceiling, but it's worth it. The pastries are made from scratch, the salmon is smoked in-house, the salsa is hand cut, and there's real maple syrup for the many types of pancakes and waffles.

Pastries, breakfast sandwiches, and robust regular and espresso coffees are the morning specialties of this bakery whose lineup expands at lunch to include hefty salads (spinach, tuna, Chinese chicken, and a Caesar among them), chicken potpies, and dense, flavorful sandwiches served on a half dozen breads baked that day. Stand in line to order, then choose seating indoors or on a shaded patio fronting the building.

Consistent, inspired cuisine served in an elegantly simple dining room or an outdoor deck makes Wolfdale's one of the top restaurants on the lake, albeit among the most expensive. Entrées that might include a Thai seafood stew or Tuscan risotto merge Asian and European cooking in imaginative ways.