10 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.

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.

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).

Inside a rough-hewn former ski cabin with an intimate six-table dining room (book two weeks ahead in winter, when two outdoor areas are closed), this restaurant serves rustic Italian cuisine that you can pair with wines from the owner's formidable list. Thin eggplant crepes stuffed with smoked salmon are among the top appetizers, with fettuccine Calabrese, swordfish, and filet mignon prepared two ways frequently on 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.