1. Evan’S American Gourmet Cafe
City: South Lake Tahoe, CA
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (530) 542-1990
Address: 536 Emerald Bay Road
Description: Tucked in a charming little house surrounded by pines, Evan’s American Gourmet Cafe offers gourmet cuisine in an intimate romantic atmosphere. You can enjoy such tasty treats as peppered tenderloin of pork with apple-smoked bacon and veal sweetbreads with mushroom ragout. And speaking of wine, Evan’s is an ongoing recipient of the “Award of Excellence” from Wine Spectator magazine and is continuously rated three stars in the Mobil Travel Guide and three diamonds in the AAA Guide. It’s open daily for dinner, but call to verify during off-season. Reservations are advised.
2. Nepheles
City: South Lake Tahoe, CA
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (530) 544-8130
Address: 1169 Ski Run Boulevard
Description: After navigating one last run down Gun-barrel at Heavenly Ski Resort, load up your skis and head down the road to Nepheles. The bar opens at 2:00 p.m., and you can relax over your favorite drink and discuss the best (or worst) runs of the day with your ski buddies. Or how about popping into a hot tub in one of their private spa rooms, where you can enjoy cocktail service and stereo music while soothing your sore muscles? Then stick around for dinner: You can choose from a variety of creative California cuisine items, such as wild boar chops, grilled portobello mushrooms, and broiled elk. It all sounds like the perfect ending to a perfect day to me. Be sure to call for information and reservations for the spa. Nepheles is open year-round, with dinner served nightly.
3. Hunan Garden
City: South Lake Tahoe, CA
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (530) 544-7268
Address: 900 Emerald Bay Road
Description: If you’ve got a healthy appetite but a small budget, try the luncheon and dinner buffets at Hunan Garden restaurant. You can eat all you want of their distinctive Chinese cuisine at very affordable prices. You can also order from their full menu of selections, including beef, pork, chicken, and seafood entrees, vegetarian dishes, chow mein, and mu shu. If your children like Chinese food, it’s an economical place for the whole family to enjoy dinner out. Hunan Garden is open for lunch and dinner daily.
4. Samurai Restaurant
City: South Lake Tahoe, CA
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (530) 542-0300
Address: 2588 U.S. Highway 50
Description: It’s hard to diet if you’re on vacation, but dining at Samurai Restaurant will help you eat healthy: Most entrees are high in nutrition and low in fat and cholesterol. The traditional Japanese menu includes such favorites as teriyaki, tempura, nabemono, shioyaki, and sashimi. All dinner entrees include miso soup or salad and rice. The restaurant also offers some of the best sushi in the Tahoe area. Dinner is served daily.
5. Swiss Chalet Restaurant
City: South Lake Tahoe, CA
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (530) 544-3304
Address: 2544 Lake Tahoe Boulevard
Description: An institution in the South Shore Lake Tahoe area for more than 40 years, the Swiss Chalet Restaurant is the next best thing to dining in Switzerland. You’ll need to throw your diet out the window to enjoy most of the cuisine here, but it’s worth it since everything is absolutely delicious. Specialties of the house include Swiss veal, curry Stroganoff, German sauerbraten, and, of course, that old favorite, Wiener schnitzel. It’s open for dinner Tuesday through Sunday throughout the year. The restaurant is closed for three weeks beginning in mid-November.
6. Cafe Fiore
City: South Lake Tahoe, CA
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (530) 541-2908
Address: 1169 Ski Run Boulevard #5
Description: If you are looking for a romantic, intimate dinner, Cafe Fiore should be one of your first choices. With only eight tables, the restaurant is extremely cozy and provides an ideal opportunity to be especially pampered. A Wine Spectator 2000 “Award of Excellence” winner, the restaurant offers such delights as spaghetti with Italian sausage, prosciutto, fresh tomatoes, spinach, red chiles, and garlic; a host of seafood pastas; chicken sautéed with wild mushrooms, artichoke hearts, and tomatoes in a Chardonnay cream sauce; and saltimbocca. Entrees are served with a salad and fresh vegetable. Open daily for dinner.
7. Passaretti’S
City: South Lake Tahoe, CA
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (530) 541-3433
Address: 1181 Emerald Bay Road
Description: As soon as you walk through the front entranceway and see the walls covered with children’s colored-in cartoons, you know that you’re in the perfect family restaurant. However, the family-friendly ambience is not the only draw here. Passaretti’s serves up generous portions of old-style, home-cooked Italian foods such as linguini in clam sauce, fettuccine Alfredo, manicotti, and lasagna. Entrees, which are also served with a soup or salad bar and choice of pasta or potato, include chicken Marsala, calamari Almandine, prawns scampi, and veal parmigiana. Steak lovers can choose between New York steak and a marinated sirloin. There’s nothing really fancy here, just plain, old-fashioned, good cooking. Open for lunch and dinner daily.
8. Scusa! On Ski Run
City: South Lake Tahoe, CA
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (530) 542-0100
Address: 1142 Ski Run Boulevard
Description: One of the most popular Italian restaurants in the South Shore Lake Tahoe area, Scusa! on Ski Run specializes in California Italian fare, with creative pasta, seafood, eggplant, veal, and chicken entrees. The ambience is comfortably casual, with white walls and tablecloths, accented by black furniture and splashes of bright color. It’s conveniently located on the road to Heavenly Ski Resort and has plenty of parking. Scusa! serves dinner daily during high season and is closed Monday during off season. Reservations are advised.
9. The Cantina Bar & Grill
City: South Lake Tahoe, CA
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (530) 544-1233
Address: 765 Emerald Bay Road
Description: If you’re driving by the Cantina on a Friday or Saturday night, you know that this is the spot where everyone goes for great margaritas and hearty Mexican food. Voted the best Mexican restaurant in South Lake Tahoe 10 years running, this is a popular hangout for both drinking (more than 30 beers are offered) and dining. The Cantina offers your standard Mexican fare of burritos, fajitas, chili verde, enchiladas, and chili rellenos. But if you’re feeling a little more adventurous, be sure to try the calamari relleno, the smoked chicken polenta, or the blue corn salmon. Outside dining is available on the patio. Open daily from 11:30 a.m. on for lunch and dinner. The Cantina is a sister restaurant to Evan’s American Gourmet Café, which is listed earlier in this chapter.
10. The Fresh Ketch
City: South Lake Tahoe, CA
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (530) 541-5683
Address: 2435 Venice Drive East
Description: What better place to enjoy scrumptious fresh seafood than right on the water? At The Fresh Ketch you can feast on fish in the upstairs dining room, in the seafood bar, or on the patio, all overlooking lovely Lake Tahoe. Menu items include fresh oysters, steamed New Zealand clams, Alaskan king crab, cioppino, and mixed seafood grill. Live music is offered on Friday nights. The restaurant is easy to find in the Tahoe Keys Marina. It’s open daily for lunch and dinner, and reservations are recommended.
11. Alpina Cafe Lake Tahoe
City: South Lake Tahoe, CA
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (530) 541-7449
Address: 822 Emerald Bay Road
Description: Looking for a great latte, a scrumptious baked good, and a mellow atmosphere to sit and read? This is your spot. If you need more nourishment than caffeine and sugar, the cafe also offers great sandwiches, pasta, and salads—and is a vegetarian’s haven. The cafe is open from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. daily in summer and until 5:00 p.m. in winter.