6 Best Places to Eat in Reno/Tahoe

I started having to travel to Reno for work and immediately began exploring the amazing food options in the area and I was not disappointed, in fact, I have been so impressed with the fabulous assortment of delicious restaurants Reno has to offer it has quickly become one of my favorite city’s to visit. Here is a list of my top 6 places to eat, cause I couldn’t pick only 5. Enjoy!

Brewforia Beer Market and Kitchen in Lake Tahoe is a really wonderful hidden gem that I highly recommend if you enjoy beer. They seriously have all of the beers you can imagine in one giant fridge. Plus a handful of local beers on draft and a great menu to satisfy your hunger.

We couldn’t decide on one to try so we went with a flight of 6 drafts for $15 and everything was delicious. The strangest of the bunch was a glazed maple doughnut cider that really did taste like a doughnut but was still good. Both of the stouts were delicious and I am a huge fan of the Dirty Wookie brown ale which you can also get in Reno as a 9% APU.

For food, we ordered the Brussel sprouts with bacon and smoked blue cheese for $9 and they were perfectly cooked and seasoned. We also split the Bandera Smoked Brisket sandwich and a salad for $14. The sandwich was pretty simple with tender brisket chunks smothered in a tangy bbq sauce and garnished with onion. I would have liked to see some cheese and maybe slaw on the sandwich as well but it was still really tasty in its simplicity.

The Depot Craft Brewery and Distillery

Built in 1910 this beautiful 3 story train depot has been transformed into the states first combined distillery and brewery and a favorite dinner spot. I love the atmosphere and ambiance of this restaurant with its massive floor to ceiling windows and exposed brick walls. It’s a perfect spot whether you’re out with friends or on a date. They offer a great happy hour menu and have a unique selection of handcrafted beers and liquors. I’ve sampled their beers in the past and they are absolutely delicious but this visit we decided to partake in some of their homemade libations.

I had the Depot Sazerac- Depot Rye Whisky, Simple Syrup, Peychauds, and Angostura. It was very delicious and strong with more of an orange flavor than an anise flavor which I loved because I’m not a big fan of licorice. My husband had the Depot Punch- Amer Depot, Club Soda, Pomegranate Syrup, Lemon and Depot Rey Whisky. Despite its name, it is not a sweet drink at all! Packing a punch of whiskey with hints of lemon and pomegranate. We shared the 1/2 size Arugula salad and it was plenty for the both of us. This salad is a favorite, with arugula, crisp apples, candied walnuts, red onion, and blue cheese crumbles with a rogue creamery smokey blue cheese vinaigrette. The dressing makes this salad. It was so light and refreshing with just a hint of sweet. It was so tasty, I was tempted to order another just for myself. We also enjoyed the yummy Mac and cheese bites off of their appetizer menu. They were breaded mac and cheese squares with bacon, topped with a smoked trout salad. I felt like they could use more bacon in the actual Mac and cheese vs just sprinkled on top and it could have used some sort of balsamic drizzle, but all in all, they were very tasty and if you love Mac and cheese it’s worth trying.

Great Full Gardens

This little cafe is hands down my favorite lunch spots in Reno! Honestly, I would kill to have one in So Cal, everything on their menu is Ah-mazing! This little farm to table restaurant serves up all sorts of delicious and healthy homemade creations. Two of my favorites are the Beautiful BLTA with uncured bacon, slow roasted tomato aioli, green leaf lettuce, tomato, avocado on the most delicious naan bread you will ever encounter. And the Gourmet Grilled Cheese which we had this visit.

Cheddar, Havarti, provolone, mozzarella, pesto aioli, and tomato served on Truckee sourdough. We added the bacon and avocado and this is hands down the most amazing grilled cheese I have ever had the pleasure of eating. For our side, we ordered a cup of the organic totally tomato soup which took the whole meal to the next level. I would seriously eat this every day if I could.

Wild River Grille

is one of those amazing finds that you just keep going back to again and again. Everything on the menu is locally sourced, the atmosphere is fabulous whether you sit outside or inside with a view of the Riverwalk. My all-time favorite item was recently taken off the menu and I’m hoping they bring it back this summer. It’s the mahi-mahi with a risotto cake and it is heaven. Since that wasn’t available we decided to try some of the happy hour offerings. And you cannot beat this Happy hour! We each had a $5 Mule and Margarita. The margarita was so, so good with an in-house orange-infused brandy, it was made perfectly, with not too much sweet and sour and the right amount of tequila.

We ordered the Wild river salad $4.50 Another favorite salad of mine with greens, apple, dried cranberry, spiced pecans, marinated red onions, and Gorgonzola. It is seriously so good and you can’t beat the price. Then there’s the Crab and Salmon Cakes with a honey mustard aioli for $7. These are the best crab cakes I have ever had. I don’t know what magic they sprinkle in these but they are amazing and you must try them. We also tried the Steak Frites $17 which were only ok, and it pains me to say that because I am such a fan of the restaurant. The steak was a little tough and was lacking in flavor. But don’t let that deter you from trying out this awesome spot. Everything else I’ve tried on the menu has been delicious.

Great Basin Brewing

This is an awesome little brewery with some seriously great food. We missed happy hour by 30 min so we didn’t get to try out their $1 slice of pizza but we did enjoy the $3.50 beers and their Lava Bread. I tried the I Am Gruit which was a unique seasonal inspired by medieval brews before hops were extremely used and it was really, really good! The lava bread is a bread bowl with cheese sauce topped with melted cheese and garlic seasoning and it is the bomb!

The Stone House

This adorable little stone house has been converted into a fabulous restaurant with a bar when you first walk in, enclosed patio dining and a fire pit to relax around outside in the courtyard. This is a great spot to grab a meal on your way to the airport as it is just a few minutes away. We popped in for breakfast before heading home and enjoyed the country fried steak and eggs with house potatoes. The house potatoes were amazing and I’ll give the country fried steak an 8/10. (Polly’s Pies and the Original Pancake House are still my favs.) I’m looking forward to making this a regular stop on my visits.