Jim Kelley’s Tahoe Nugget

Drove from Bay Area midweek via Hwy 80 to Truckee to north shore Tahoe (during King fires). Stopped for lunch and chose Jim Kelley’s for outdoor eating. Husband ate his Cheeseburger which he said was great. I had the special Spicy Chicken Salad which was super! Washed it all down with their own made ice tea! Service good, atmosphere pleasing, and left very satisfied!

This is a FOOD REVIEW. I am not a gamer, and I like that this restaurant can be accessed without entering the casino (on the right, west-​side of the property). A friend recommended this for a place to grab some food to go, as an alternative to T’s (which I also like). We have now tried it 3 times, all good experiences. I recommend this as a place to grab take out (as I did the last 2 times). The sandwiches are excellent. I particularly liked the pulled pork bbq and chicken (california, w/​avacado) sandwiches. They are reasonable for their large size, under $ 10 including tax. The pork is bbq’d right there on the deck. Generous fresh avocado and bacon for the chicken sandwich. Re: service — they are not lightning fast, but they are reasonable. As I’m taking these to go, calling ahead has worked well for us.

I’ve gone a few times the last couple of days. I’m a local that lives up the street and like to go to all the restaurants on the north shore. The food was good. I really like the tacos. The steak was nice and juice. I do miss the poker table. now there is no poker the north shore after the cbc closed their room. All the staff there is very friendly and I will be back. Maybe someday poker will be back too.

I really hate giving a bad review, but today’s experience at the outdoor burger restaurant deserves just such a review.
My coworker’s and I made the trek to Crystal Bay from Incline Village because of previous experiences. One of us got their order in before the drama began. Then it started going downhill. A customer, who had been waiting for his Veggie Burger for half an hour, came up to the counter inquiring whether or not his food was ready. The girl at the cash register went in to look came out with some other food and asked if his name was «Bob» which it wasn’t so no his food wasn’t ready. He demanded his money back but right then a supervisorish person came from inside saying an order that had gone inside to the bar was wrong. The guy is now left standing there and finally we suggested he take his refund out of the tip jar because the girl now was nowhere to be seen. A nice young gentleman then tried to start taking our order only to be thwarted by the cash register which he apparently was not able to use. Then twenty minutes later… When we finally received our burgers they were 3 inches wide by an inch tall on a 6 inch bun. I had the awful awful so I had a burger that had two patties and as a result was taller than it was wide because the burgers were burnt and overdone. Long story short it was an awful awful experience… I’m not even going to go into the portions for our sides.
Jim Kelley! Let us know if you want us to come back and try again on you, because I don’t think we would want to come back otherwise.
This used to be a good place to get a nice juicy fresh burger with tasty sides. Apparently not anymore!!!

Dirty, tiny, and depressing. I only saw a few slot machines and empty bottles scattered all over the carpet before I walked out. No table games that I could see, and no air circulation to distribute the suffocating smoke in the Tahoe Nugget.

A dump! Advertised food they no longer serve on the billboard — just a total downer inside

Grabbing an Awful-​Awful!!!

very disappointed in their awful awful burger restaurant. they should not be allowed to use the same name as the «famous» awful awful burger in reno. does not compare in size and portion of fries as advertise. i will never recommend this place to my friends.

Yeah, they really need to get some tables if they want to stay in business. After finding that the Crystal Bay Club was bumpin’ because of a concert and the Biltmore had its limited number of tables filled, we decided to peek in here in hopes of getting a little blackjack action going. With no sign of that, we went back to the Crystal Bay Club to stand around and wait for some openings.
If you wanna play video poker or slots, this is a fine option because I’ve never seen a crowd in there. But it is darn tiny, and not very exciting.
I actually went to my first concert here — the Byrds — back in ’96 I believe. It seemed to be more of a hopping place back then, and I’m kinda sad to see it like it is. But at least it still has gaming, unlike the Cal-​Neva down the street. Hopefully these North Shore casinos can get back on their feet soon!

This is a tiny, empty casino. We went on a Saturday afternoon and there were about 3 older locals sitting at machines, staring intently. We looked at each other, unsure what to think, and decided to just try out a slot machine before leaving — might as well since we were already there. So, 10 minutes later we walked out with the same amount of money after breaking even (always nice) and just a little bit sadder. When will I learn to not go into small local casinos during the day? They’re always depressing.

Oh man I wanted to gamble here so bad. But it was empty when I walked in around noon the other day. Bummer. Maybe next time.

The tiniest of the casinos in Crystal Bay, with the most loyal locals, in fact I was probably the only out-​of-​towner watching the hardcore mustached poker players. They have a serious player’s club card program. No showroom, no circus performers, no museum or photo gallery, no hotel, no logo shop, no fancy restaurant or new car you can win, just gambling.
Love the friendly service and the incredibly cheap drinks ($ 2.25 buys you a draft beer or a glass of wine). But I’m not a gambler, and there’s only so much joy you can squeeze out of free popcorn and the local free newspaper. I put a quarter in the slot machine, got five back, blew my winnings on a tip for the bartender, then left after ten minutes.