Twenty restaurants. Twenty reasons Reno is worth your time at the table. Each one belongs here for a different reason — some for their history, some for their creativity, some simply because Reno wouldn't be Reno without them. Not ranked. Just essential
JT Basque
The Picon Punch doesn't live by the clock, and neither does this place — open since 1946 and still tone of the most essential experiences in the Great Basin
Tacos La Canasta de Jalisco
Every weekend, Ruth Ibarra parks her faded food truck on Wells Avenue and serves Guadalajara on a paper plate. It's the most important taco you'll eat in Reno.
Great Gold
The team behind San Francisco's legendary Flour + Water brought their obsession for product and technique to Truckee. Lucky us!
R Town Pizza
Caramelized cheese edges, creative pies, cast iron meatballs, and a bar that completes the Michigan circle. R Town Pizza is one of Reno's most essential tables
Hinoki Sushi
Hinoki Sushi in Reno is the essential introduction to the city's legendary all-you-can-eat sushi culture — creative rolls like the Burning Man and Emi, a delicious Godzilla archetype, and nigiri ranging from Donald Duck to Escolar, all for $35.99 per person. Reno's most distinctive dining tradition, at its best.
Royce Burger Bar
Royce Burger Bar in downtown Reno serves the best burger in the city — the signature Royceburger, local craft beers, and a patio that feels like the best neighborhood party you've ever crashed. The essential Reno burger destination
Smoke Door Lake Tahoe Saryo
Smoke Door Lake Tahoe Saryo in Crystal Bay is one of the best Japanese restaurants at Lake Tahoe — a wood-fired omakase experience from a Michelin-pedigreed chef serving Wagyu, Sturgeon caviar, and Donabe rice in an intimate saryo setting. The most refined dining experience in the Tahoe region.
Beloved's Bakery & Café
Beloved's Bakery & Café in Reno is one of the best breakfast and lunch spots in the city — artisan sourdough, life-changing shakshuka, and the best fried chicken sandwich in the region. An essential Reno bakery and café from master baker Zach Condron.
The Steakhouse at Western Village
The Steak House at Western Village in Sparks is one of the last great casino steakhouses in the region — tableside Caesars, fresh steaks, pig candy lollipops, and Bananas Foster in a room that remembers when Reno dressed up for dinner. An essential Nevada experience
Johnny’s Ristorante Italiano
Johnny's Ristorante Italiano in Reno has been the city's Italian standard-bearer since 1966 — veal parmigiana, perfectly fried calamari, a killer affogato, and a wine list worthy of the occasion. Reno's most enduring fine dining destination.
Sassafras Eclectic Food Joint
Sassafras Eclectic Food Joint in Carson City is the best restaurant south of Reno — a scratch kitchen in a 1928 building serving Asian chicken tacos, a proper Muffaletta, and a peanut butter bacon burger that shouldn't work but absolutely does. An essential Nevada dining destination.
Papa What You Cooking
Papa What You Cookin' in downtown Reno is the only Southern soul food restaurant in the region — slow-cooked oxtails, shrimp and grits, cornbread, and pecan pie from a former lawman and pastor whose cooking makes people cry for all the right reasons.
Perenn Bakery
Perenn Bakery Reno is one of the best breakfast and brunch spots in the city — a café and viennoiserie serving a flawless Croque Madame, house-made croissants, and Turkish eggs in one of Reno's most beautiful dining rooms. An essential Reno breakfast destination.
Cosmos Snack Bar
Cosmos is one of Reno's most beloved hidden gems — a Midtown pizza and small plates spot on Arroyo Street favored by locals and food industry insiders alike. Wood-fired pizzas with perfect leoparding, exceptional appetizers, rotating soft serve and a beverage program that punches well above its weight.
Claio Rotisserie
Claio Rotisserie is a Mediterranean restaurant in Caughlin Ranch from the husband-and-wife team behind Perenn Bakery. Start with the house-made pita and hummus, don't miss the schmaltz potatoes, and save room for the Loukoumades. Inventive cocktails, thoughtful cocktails, and a room that glows.
Sylva
Sylva is one of the best restaurants in Tahoe City and North Lake Tahoe — a seasonally driven, wood-fired New American bistro from Chef Andrew Shimer serving standout dishes like shrimp and crispy grits with kimchi aioli and Hamachi Ceviche Tiradito. An essential Lake Tahoe dining experience
Moo Dang
The best Thai food in Reno is served in a Midtown strip mall by a Bangkok native with no culinary training and an obsession with getting it right. The Moo Ping, the lemongrass salad, the drunken noodles — Moo Dang is the real thing
Kwok’s Bistro
Master chef Kwok Chen started by busing tables in Reno's casinos. Today his Peking duck takes three days to prepare, arrives at your table like a ceremony, and has earned a spot on Food & Wine's Top 100 Chinese Restaurants in America. Right here in Reno
Casale’s Halfway Club
Nevada's oldest continuously family-owned restaurant has been rolling ravioli by hand since the 1920s. Some things should never change
Kauboi Izakaya
Binchotan-fired yakitori, a wicked fried rice with duck cracklins, and a Japanese whisky highball that earns its place. Kauboi Izakaya is Reno's most creative and transporting dining experience