Dining in South Lake Tahoe: Cold Water Brewery and Grill

My husband and I have been raving about this new South Lake Tahoe restaurant and brewery for weeks!  So much so that we’ve wanted to escape mid-week from work to drive there and eat, darn that 4.5 hour commute!  Our mouths water just thinking about the sumptuous meals we had and the appetizer to end all appetizers, we’re looking at our calendars daily to find the next available weekend to head back!

Cold Water Brewery and Grill is located on Lake Tahoe Boulevard in the Swiss Chalet Village, an all-grain brewery featuring hand-crafted beer brewed on site and California comfort food. Open 7 days a week with music on the weekends and a Sunday brunch, Cold Water has a full service bar, 5 huge TVs and late night dining options.  We entered the restaurant to a packed house on a Sunday evening with excitement coming from the bar, happy chatter from the tables, and live action football on tv, the atmosphere was fun and relaxed.  The beer list came first atop the menus and we checked out some great brews and decided on a light amber Mr. Toad’s Wild Rye, a play on a local mountain bike trail my husband has ridden quite a few times during the summer!  Delicious choice for sure! Perusing the menu, we decided on the Tahoe Loaf appetizer that includes a kale artichoke dip or beef cheddar fondue.  Now, the menu says to “start OR share” and when the food hit the table our eyes widened with shock!  Yes, out comes a complete LOAF of french bread stuffed with our choice of kale artichoke dip!  Good thing we only ordered one, we were definitely going to share this one.The bread was warm, the dip was warm and creamy and we never thought something so simple could be more addicting!  We literally crave this and can think of nothing else some evenings, it is that good!  Before we knew it the loaf was gone and we had a slight fear we wouldn’t be able to finish our entree let alone dessert!

I ordered the Lemon Shandy Roast Chicken for dinner and in order for the perfect dish, the menu states that it needs a 20 minute cook time.  No worries for me, I was happily digesting the appetizer and was ready when it came out with my husband’s 10 oz Rib Eye.   The portions are large, I’ll tell you that right off the bat.  Fall veggies accompanied my meal and my husband’s mushroom demi-glazed steak came on a bed of garlic mashed potatoes and veggies.  Sometimes you think, “I’m on vacation, no worries in the world, food just tastes better” and maybe that’s true, but this food was out of this world, seriously cooked to perfection.  With enough to take home with us for lunch the next day we sat completely sated a vowed that our next trip would just include the Tahoe Loaf and something off the dessert menu.

We spoke with the owner, a former restaurant employee, and found her passion to start this new Tahoe hot spot was just amazing.  Our experience was hosted, but there’s no exaggeration in how we feel about our new favorite location in South Lake!  We love that it has a variety of beers, a full bar, great meal options and a kid’s meal to make it family friendly! For more info, visit http://www.tahoecoldwaterbrewery.com/.