27 Best Restaurants in Lake Tahoe, California

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.

Its excellent service, world-class cuisine, and superb wine list make this intimate restaurant the top choice for high-end dining in South Lake. Inside a converted cabin, Evan's serves creative American cuisine that might include pan-seared day boat scallops and meat dishes such as rack of lamb marinated with rosemary and garlic and served with raspberry demi-glace.

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.

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.

A floor-to-ceiling mural of Lake Tahoe scenes spans the longest wall of the South Shore's largest brewery's downtown outpost. The influences on homegrown beers, from light lagers to dark ales, come from as near as California and Mexico and as far away as New Zealand, the model as well for Pacific Rim flourishes that find their way into burgers, sliders, sandwiches, and a few apps and salads.

The ultramodern architecture of the Desolation Hotel's third-floor restaurant raises expectations even before you take a sip or bite, but the specialty cocktails, sophisticated California-inspired cuisine, and from-the-heart hospitality more than live up to them. Appetizers like grilled tuna crudo are all about the freshness, though as with recent veal chop and Dijon-crusted salmon entrées, the deftness of the saucing heightens the satisfaction.

Rough-hewn wood beams, a vaulted wood ceiling, and a roaring fireplace in winter lend romance to this cozy 1927 pine-log cabin where chef-owner Charlie Soule skillfully prepares French- and Asian-inspired cuisine. Pan-roasted duck breast à l'orange with Grand Marnier, sea scallops poached in champagne with a kiwi-and-mango cream sauce, a Thai curry-chicken noodle bowl, and a vegan sauté judiciously flavored with ginger, jalapeños, sesame seeds, and teriyaki sauce frequently appear on the menu.

If it's in between normal mealtimes and you're hungry for something healthful, head to this order-at-the-counter café for salads, overstuffed wraps, hot sandwiches, homemade vegan soups, all-day breakfasts, and the best smoothies in town. Dine at wooden tables in the cheery contemporary indoor space or out front on the patio, or just order food to go.

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.

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).

A festive marina restaurant with a heated outdoor patio, Artemis reveals its Greek influences in breakfast dishes like baklava French toast and gyros and eggs. All day, though, the menus encompass more familiar options (eggs Benedict in the morning, burgers and grilled mahimahi later on).

Adults might opt for the signature pear-and-Gorgonzola pizza at this modern Italian restaurant, but most kids clamor for the house favorite—sausage and pepperoni with a four-cheese blend. Salads and pasta dishes round out the menu.

The view's the thing at this lakeside stalwart, where you can watch the sun shimmer on the water through the dining room's plateglass windows or from the outdoor deck. Price wise, Gar Woods is a better bet for lunch, when fish tacos and crab and prime-rib French dip sandwiches are on the menu, than dinner, at which grilled steak and fish are the mainstays.

If the kids want burgers, but you want bourbon, Jason's has a full bar along with nachos, wings, and fried calamari starters; French onion soup and clam chowder; a dozen-plus sandwiches and burgers; and steak, chicken, seafood, and baby back ribs entrées. The whole place is wood, from floor to ceiling, lending it an ultrarustic feel.

The white-tablecloth dining room at Heavenly's sleekest (and priciest) restaurant is decked out with carved bamboo, a burnt-orange color palette, and a modern-glass sculpture, all of which complement Pacific Rim–influenced dishes like fillet of beef with miso-garlic butter and the signature Chilean sea bass with Thai-basil mashed potatoes and ponzu butter sauce. Sushi selections with inventive rolls and sashimi combos, plus less expensive vegetarian dishes, add depth to the menu.

When you're craving spaghetti and meatballs, this wood-paneled roadside spot with a cordial staff and loyal clientele is the place to go. Other good old-fashioned Italian American classics—served to tables with red-and-white-checked cloths—include lasagna, ravioli, chicken and veal piccata, eggplant Parmesan, and Sicilian-style pizzas. 

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.

Fantastic flavors and gracious owners have earned this humble roadside restaurant with river-stone columns, pine-paneled walls and ceilings, and Thai statues and ornamentation the loyalty of Tahoe residents and regular visitors. The aromatic dishes include crab pad Thai, basil lamb, sizzling shrimp, and numerous curries.

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.

The menu at this white-tablecloth restaurant, whose wide windows reveal Palisades Tahoe in all its glory, changes seasonally, but look for rib-eye or New York steak, cioppino or pan-seared fish, or a filling vegetarian dish. The Wagyu Angus burger is a favorite with regulars.

A vintage-1959 Tahoe diner, all chrome and red plastic, the Red Hut is a tiny place with a wildly popular breakfast menu featuring huge omelets; banana, pecan, and coconut waffles (cornbread, too); and other tasty vittles. A second South Lake branch has a soda fountain and is the only one that serves dinner, and there's a third location in Stateline.

This longtime favorite turns out big plates of veal scaloppine, chicken piccata, and garlicky linguine with clams—straightforward Italian American food (and lots of it), served in an intimate dining room warmed by a crackling fire on many nights. There's an outdoor patio that's open in warm weather.

A local favorite on the Old Brockway Golf Course, Spindleshanks serves classic American cuisine—ribs, steaks, house-made ravioli, and seafood with adventurous sauces. Savor a drink from the full bar or wine from the extensive list while enjoying views of Lake Tahoe or the historic greens where Bing Crosby hosted his first golf tournament in 1934.

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.

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.