My first time at this very popular place but well worth the wait especially if you have one of their Bloody Mary's in hand. Great selections & specials for even the most delicate eater. I loved my half-order of Sierra Eggs Benedict although the blueberry French toast looked amazing! read more

Donner Lake Kitchen - Bloody Mary & Bay Breeze - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Truckee, California

See all

Breakfast was fantastic definitely worth the 45 minute wait. Service was great but after we got our food we didn't see our waiter again un till we got the check. Also they have a weird system for checking in. You wait outside but usually have to flag someone from inside to come outside to seat you or get your name on the wait list. Food made up for those little discrepancies, will definitely be coming back. read more

Today 2/4/21, This place does not observe the CDC guidelines, as the staff do not wear any face coverings and contrary to what their yelp comments says, "take out only", people are packed inside and eating indoors. read more

We were coming back from a weekend in Tahoe, and wanted to grab a quick breakfast. DLK was well-reviewed, so we decided to try them out. What a mistake. We were seated fairly quickly, placed our order--then waited for 40 minutes for our breakfast. I ordered a combo: * The French toast was your usual oil fried diner fare. * The eggs were a bit rubbery. * The bacon was far too salty. * The hash browns were fantastic. My partner ordered the huevos rancheros. What a disaster. I can only describe it as a cheese pizza: on top of a large flour tortilla was a thin layer of retried beans and a disgusting amount of cheap mozzarella & cheddar. On top were sprinkled olives and other decorations. Somewhere in the sea of cheese were two eggs. If my partner was not on the verge of hypoglycemic shock, we would have returned this cruel joke of a breakfast dish--and even then she could barely eat a 1/4 of it. Overall: * Service was poor * The quality of the food ranged from mediocre to inedible. DLK is highly over-rated, and I would urge people to eat elsewhere. We will never stop here again. read more

Donner Lake Kitchen - The huevos rancheros looked like a cross between a cheese pizza and throw up. - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Truckee, California

They're back! I used to eat at the former incarnation for many years until they moved to Sierraville. The Old 40 Kitchen just wasnt the same. I guess when it went up for sale DLK moved back in. And they still have Sierraville. So i guess things are going well. I forgot how good their rendition of traditional American breakfast was. Cowboy breakfast with sausage, hash browns, eggs, and biscuits and gravy were crazy good. So were the pancakes with ham and cheese like a giant breakfast sandwich. So happy I can get the food here again like they never left... read more

See all

Stopped by this place for breakfast while staying in Truckee over Memorial Day weekend. It was recommended to us as a locals favorite and it did not disappoint! We only waited about 20 minutes but we hear the wait can get quite long - I recommend grabbing a coffee or mimosa from the sit down bar while you wait outside. We ordered the biscuits and gravy with jalapeños (Sierra?) and the blueberry stuffed French toast. The food did take awhile to come out but when it did, it was amazing. Extremely delicious food, very nice staff and just an overall friendly place. We will be back! read more

Donner Lake Kitchen - Blueberry stuffed French toast - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Truckee, California

Beautiful setting outdoors. Attentive server. Food was good. This Place is great for breakfast!!

Great brunch, Bloody Mary is work of art COVID behavior was great washed everything read more

Donner Lake Kitchen - Bacon Bloody Mary - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Truckee, California

Cute spot but wow I get the short staffed deal so the wait will be long but this was next level. I wish they'd be more upfront because "long wait" can mean a lot of different things. If they would've said, "hey heads up it will take 50 mins before you even get food" we would've left. Took about 10 mins of us sitting there to even get water. Once we ordered, we waited about 50 minutes for our food. Mind you all we ordered was a BLT, kids grilled cheese and a hamburger... there was 6 tables outside and 2 servers outside. It honestly just felt like no one was even trying to hustle either. It seems like a kitchen staff problem because there seemed to be plenty of servers. If you don't want negative reviews and you know your short staffed, just sit less tables? I just don't understand it. Food was good but basic. Kids grilled cheese was $8 and it's HALF a grilled cheese... really? You couldn't just make it a full? We also ordered bacon on it but of course, our bacon never came. Knowing how slow everything was, we asked for our check as soon as the food arrived. Check never came. Took the server until our meal was done to come around again and still didn't have the check. This ordeal added another 10 mins to our total time. I get this is a family owned spot but we have only eaten out during our time in truckee and no other restaurants seem to have this bad of a problem. Slow is 30 mins not an hour to get some sandwiches. read more

After hearing rave reviews for the Donner Lake Kitchen from Truckee locals for a while now, we finally got to check it out this weekend. A great family run restaurant with a homey atmosphere, friendly service, and excellent food! There were many options on the menu that looked amazing, but I had the avocado scramble w/ home fries which was delicious, and my wife really enjoyed her chicken sandwich and sweet potato fries. The wait was about 15 minutes-- not bad considering it was a busy morning! and they have a nice deck with comfy chairs, and copies of the local paper to read while you wait. In short, I love a good breakfast spot, and will absolutely return to the Donner Kitchen next time I'm in the area, and look forward to trying some other items from their menu. read more

Donner Lake Kitchen - Cozy comfort at the Donner Lake Kitchen - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Truckee, California

Great french fries and a good boy golden retriever outside. 10/10 would recommend. Yelp wants me to make this review longer so I'll tell you that the good boy is very good at sitting and lying down. Didn't try any other tricks with him, but I bet he has a few more up his coat. read more

Cute and cozy brunch place serving huge portions of classic brunch dishes. I had half an order of the huevos rancheros, which I couldn't even finish even though it was delicious. The hashbrowns with melted cheese and onions were amazing, too. Other people in my party had the cinnamon roll, eggs benedict and the chicken fried steak special (the chicken fried steak was not very good and the only reason I didn't give this place 5 stars). I highly recommend including this place as part of your Tahoe itinerary! read more

See all

Really good food along with wonderful staff. Fast friendly and the food fresh and hot. Will definitely be stopping here again.

Stopped in for breakfast and we were extremely disappointed to see that our waitress was not wearing a mask. When we asked why, we were told she didn't believe in them and didn't have to wear one since her family owns the business. When I went inside to use the restroom, I was really disappointed and concerned to see that her mother and rest of the cooking staff were also not wearing masks. We will not be back and encourge others not to patronize a business that claims they are doing all that is required to protect our Truckee community during COVID and in fact are not. read more

Food and service were acceptable, despite being a little slow. The bad experience started with the 3.99% service charge for paying the bill with the credit card. In all fairness, they did have a small note about the service charge on display, but it's very hard to notice, and I think they should remind the customer about that. The worst part is that they overcharged me. The total bill (including tax, service charge, and tips) was $41 plus change, but they charged $44 exactly on my credit card, which made me think that they did it intentionally. I called them and texted them, giving them a chance to clarify this, but they did not respond after 5 days. read more

Price gauge 18% mandatory gratuity for pickup!!! COVID is not an excuse or opportunity to price gauge your customers. 18% mandatory, This is for pickup are you kidding? No table service no coffee no warm-ups no clearing table etc zilch zero! But of course, they deserve to add on 18% gratuity? Because it's COVID and they need the business. People will still come because there are very limited options. But they won't forget how they were treated when they tried to support your business. This has now made me rethink supporting others if others feel justified for price gauging. 18% zero services wow?... Response: 1: I was under the impression you were closed to the public but offering pickup only. It was never indicated you were open to sitting down customers. what a shock when we arrived it was packed with people and few masks to be seen. If I knew you were fully open, I never would have ordered from you as it's reckless. Other Truckee businesses have been responsible. 2: Everyone has been impacted financially not just your staff all because of COVID when customers choose to spend there money it's because they are trying to support local businesses like yours. If you feel you need to thank them by adding a mandatory additional 18% for there support for pickup orders while offering full service to sit down customers seriously we see our customer relationships very differently. I assume it's double for people who get the same service at a table with full service from a server and the cook. 3: To be very clear. I ordered food from you because I believed you were closed to the public but serving pickup only. I choose to SUPPORT LOCAL business with my money I didn't have to, I wanted to. I didn't expect to feel I was being taken advantage of under the guise of COVID as a good excuse to price gauge. 4: businesses pulling stuff like this should not have customers trying to support them. Businesses should be supporting their customers trying to support them while those same customers have there own financial challenges! That's caring for your community. 5: As for my friends apologizing for me we both know that's not true at all but just in case I double checked with them they were shocked with how many people were there. Someone is a liar and it's not me or my friends. I'll leave it at that. 6: For the record. Every time I have eaten at Donner Lake Kitchen the food, service, and environment were excellent. My issue is with the management decisions of the business in this case specifically I have an issue with. Take care read more

Good food, great outdoor seating, chance of friend getting eaten by a bear an added bonus!

I guess I shouldn't be surprise I got a horrible comment back from the owner (it is a horribly run restaurant so it's what we all should expect). Good to know the lack of professionalism stems from not only the rude waiter we got, but the owner as well. Good to know I got a grown a woman to respond like a 5 year old! Happy to report we and all of our family and family friends have sworn off your "establishment"! =) read more

This was my second time here my first time probably 10 years ago. And it was just as good as I remembered it. All the staff had on masks. They were super friendly and attentive. My coffee was always filled up. The kids got pancakes that were huge. My wife's huevos rancheros was amazing she said. I had an all meat scramble that was cheesy and crispy hash browns just like I like them. My daughter got biscuits and gravy it was the best gravy for biscuits and gravy I ever had. I will definitely be back. read more

I used to take my family and friends here all the time since it's right across the street from Donner Lake. I brought my college friends here a few days ago, downtown truckee was so busy and I wanted to avoid parking and all those people! It's usually busy at Donner Lake Kitchen, but we came a little before closing. I always love my food! Instead of the usual traditional (eggs, bacon) breakfast I got a turkey melt. My friends got pancakes and French toast. Always love coming here. Our server Kelly was very nice! read more

Donner Lake Kitchen - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Truckee, California

This place is marvelous! I haven't had a real breakfast in a while, so at 11 am I actually got breakfast, consisting of a sausage patty, 2 eggs over medium (done as you like them), hash browns, which were crispy, not greasy (or home fries), and your choice of bread. The over medium eggs were done a little more than I like them, but the yolks weren't completely hard, so it was ok. The ambiance is rustic, but not rough and there are beautiful pictures of the lake on one wall as well as entertaining decorations elsewhere, including baby and child photos of Kelley and family. Very cool in my book! Now, I hate to have to include this, but I must say, the women's restroom is also wonderful! There are great pictures and paintings on the wall and a metal art tree, along with a wrapped star with decorations on it. 2-ply TP and Meyer's natural hand soap. Also handicap friendly. We met Kelley, the owner, and she's very friendly and was playing wait staff and is a beautiful woman, inside and out! I highly recommend Donner Lake Kitchen. read more

See all

We arrived about 1015 on a sunday and had to wait over an hour to be seated, and another 45 minutes to get food. Also saw a few people who arrived after us, but were seated before us, but the people who worked here knew them and they were seated ahead of us. Maybe they called in before? Who knows. Luckily we are fairly patient. After the initial 2 hr wait, food was yummy. Waitress didnt check on us at all between being seated & our food arriving, so drinks were finished & not replenished. She admitted at the end of our meal she forgets about the deck seating because it's new due to Covid. Okay, I can get that & appreciate her honesty. I had the Sierra eggs Benedict, boyfriend had the cowboy breakfast. Food was good, service was lacking a little, but they were still very friendly & nice when they did come around. I'd probably come back when were in town again. read more

See all

Delicious, consistent, and comfort breakfast food for our daily mountain travels. A perfect place one would expect in a mountain town.

Inaccurate wait times - different staff will tell you different times. Probably not a good place for large groups. Noticed one staff member not wearing a mask. Beware, staff easy to upset. Witnessed an incident, unclear what happened, but staff caused a public scene which made dining very uncomfortable and awkward. I would hope management would handle sticky situations more professionally. read more

I've been here 2 times and both times the food was amazing! The portions are great and prices are fare. The only reason why I only gave it 3 starts was because : The service: they're clearly short staffed. No hostess, not enough waitresses, not enough cooks. Both times that I've gone I've had to chase down the waitress to ask for a table or to be acknowledged I was waiting for one. It's unclear if you need to write down your name to be seated or do you just walk in and sit down. I saw people doing both. There's only 2 waitress for the entire restaurant, so I understand they are busy if it's a full house. We had to also chase them down if we wanted something extra or to ask for our check. Since it's an open floor plan I could see there was 2.5 cooks. Two working the grill and the .5 was cleaning tables, calling people to be seated and helping the cooks when possible. Having an under staffed business will end up in a long wait in the entire experience. From the moment you walk in to the moment you leave. Don't arrive hungry and expecting to be seated fast and be served fast. Have patience.. The food is delicious and even when the waitresses are busy try to do it all they still smile. Food is very fresh! The pancakes, French Toast, eggs and hash browns are amazing. I see reviews complaining about how the Huevos Rancheros look/taste.. I tried them and are just as delicious. Just remember: this is no authentic Mexican food!! I would comeback and eat here just not in the busy hours of breakfast. The food is better than IHOP or any other chain breakfast restaurants. read more

Portions are huge. Ask for 1/2 order. Our party of 10 and a baby all walked away full and satisfied.

We had about an hour wait, but the staff was extremely friendly. We sat and had a cup coffee and chatted with other travelers. The food was very good and worth the wait....yummy mimosas and tasty Eggs Benedict. Our waitress was so pleasant and friendly. Many small businesses are short staffed right now, but this crew navigated well and pleased met their customer's needs. Thank you guys! read more

What a CUTE little find right across from Donner Lake! My mom and I were visiting last weekend and I am so glad we found this place. The inside had such a homey feel that you felt like you were right at your kitchen table. We loved this place so much we came again the next morning before we were on our way back home! I am already planning for my next trip up to the mountains. YUM! read more

See all

Great breakfast on the way in to Tahoe! Huge portions, great coffee, and the yummiest hot chocolate. Quick & friendly service too! read more

Donner Lake Kitchen - hot chocolate - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Truckee, California

Even though we had to sit outside in 45 degrees due to restrictions we loved this place! Food was delicious and fresh. Service was personal and welcoming. It's tucked into the trees on the lake. Highly recommended. read more

This place by far is my favorite place in world to get breakfast!! My favorite is the pancake with sheesh and ham folded in the middle. Wow!

We finally made it to Donner Lake Kitchen! It did not disappoint! We arrived at 9AM and got a table right away, no wait. The food was excellent. We had the egg scramble and eggs benedict, yummy! The atmosphere was so fun. This is a perfect place for families or couples. Every table seemed to be enjoying themselves and smiles and laughter abound! We will be back! read more

Worst customer service I have received. Our blonde waitress was pissed from the beginning and refused to split our checks (didn't even ask if we we're together or separate in the beginning which they should have). Then told us to go use an atm machine across the street when the machines went down, which wasn't a atm store just a little store. This was after our waitress wanted us to write down our credit card information on a scratch piece of paper. Not safe and definitely not professional. Please go somewhere else. The waitresses are so snobby and rude that it ruins any kind of good experience you would have here. Go support other awesome local businesses in Truckee!!! read more

Best of the best! Love Kelly and Katie and the rest of the crew. By far the best breakfast in Truckee.

Fantastic! The food was slow getting to us but fortunately super worth the wait. Omelettes, pancakes, hamburgers - we covered all - plus a couple of mimosas. Shout out to the super friendly blond waitress - great experience. And they have the best damn iced tea I've ever had. Our exhausted dogs (worn out fr. Donner Lake) hung out with some other dogs outside so everyone was happy. Cheers! read more

Great menu and service...bring your appetite! Tons of great Mexican and American an breakfast and lunch items...

First, our food was great and the service was friendly. Second, I find it extremely unfortunate that the hostess, one of the servers as well every member of the kitchen staff neglected to wear a mask. There are signs in the restaurant saying that masks are mandatory. Yet when asked why she was not wearing a mask, the hostess said "the rules change every day". Once the pandemic is over, I'd give it more stars but until they start observing safe practices, only 3 stars. read more

Wow! I'm so happy to have learned about this place! This restaurant​ has delicious food at a very reasonable​​e price, with a homey vibe, right off of Donner Lake. The first time I attempted​ to come here the wait on a Sunday​ morning was over an hour and a half, ​​but on our second attempt, we were all blown away. They serve very generous​ portions and even the cinnamon roll​l is the size of a persons face! ​ read more

Donner Lake Kitchen - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Truckee, California

We were on our way to Reno as I read the reviews for this restaurant. We had to wait less than five minutes to be seated. The menu choices were a pleasant surprise! I had a choice of five different Eggs Benedict. The sauce was amazing! My husband had a scrambled omelette. Not a scrap was left on his plate! Coffee was hot, pleasant and refilled! We will stop there again! read more

Stopped here for late lunch here after a hike. Great atmosphere in this small cafe. Friendly service and great food. Tasty cheeseburger on a toasted bun with big slices of red onion and tomato. Homemade fries with skins on were awesome. I also loved their Envirornmental sensitivity by not having plastic straws for drinks and using cardboard boxes for leftovers! read more

Donner Lake Kitchen - No plastic straws ... yeah! - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Truckee, California