Tunnel Creek Cafe

Service was incredible. The young women were super helpful and nice. The trails behind here are incredible too. Great place to go hiking and mountain biking. Great views of Lake Tahoe. Be prepared for a good, long, and wonderful hike. Then end your day here.

The Tunnel Creek Café is basically the headquarters of the mountain bike rental and shuttle operation run my Max Jones and Patty his wife. They used to have the mtn bike rentals at Spooner Lake along with a cross country ski operation in the winter. Max moved his operation down here at the site of the old Ponderosa Ranch theme park… remember Bonanza and Hoss? Now open is the Tunnel Creek Café serving refreshments and lunch to hungry mountain bikers and anyone else that just wants to stop in. In summer there will be lots of mtn bike riders here.
Winters, it’s just a nice place to get a hot drink and hang out. The whole atmosphere here is really laid back. You want a latte rushed and be on your way, better go to Starbucks. Food is on offer here as well. The selection is more on the healthy side of things, like pita wraps, turkey sandwiches and nice coffees and teas. There are no burgers and fries or chicken wings. Service here is well, laid back, it’s Tahoe so just relax enjoy the place and the food will come. I’ve had different sandwiches and even beer here. Sitting out on the deck is nice up here, so stop on in if you are in Incline anytime. There no where else to get food nearby so yes this is a good as it gets, unless you want to keep driving into Incline. It a great coffee stop if you’re sleepy like I was on the road around the lake. The unisex bathroom is very clean as well.

Perfectly fine food! Nice that they have picnic tables outside and are close to the trail head for the flume trail.
We were a party of 8 and ordered various items like breakfast sandwiches, veggie bowls, protein bowls, and vegan burgers. I liked my breakfast sandwich on an English muffin just fine but like everything else, it was REALLY underseasoned. Strike that, there was no seasoning to be found. We all were frantically shaking salt and pepper and hot sauce on our food. A little garlic, salt, and pepper would go a long way here. My friend who ordered the vegan burgers similarly said they were tasteless. Food was bland city but service was kind and gracious even if a little flighty at times.
Adequate for a quick bite but I would not go out of my way to return here again.

Had a great quick breakfast here while in town. They have picnic tables in the back that are dog friendly.

Very handy to have this place at the bottom of the tunnel Creek Trail. They’ve been there a couple years and I’m glad to see they’ve stuck around. Recently I had their daily salad which was more or less like a chef salad and it was great. Everything was really fresh and the chicken was nice and warm and I enjoyed the homemade tahini dressing. Last time I was there and had a sandwich it was pretty darn small which was disappointing. But, the quality is good. The staff is friendly but they don’t seem overly stoked to be there.

The sandwich was good. I had the turkey pesto. The service was great! They had some jerk arguing with them about coleslaw and the man and woman working both handled the difficult customer with grace.
The cappuccino I had was AMAZING!!! I have not had great coffee anywhere in Tahoe ever and this was really something!!!

I love this place, a little hidden from the tourists sometimes:)) and perfect for a quick stop before or after a great hike on the Flume trail. Staff is always friendly and they have plenty of healthy meals choices.

It’s a small Café, but a great place to go for breakfast and coffee right before you head up to the mountains. They have a heater/​fireplace that gives it an at-​home ambience and the food here is decent too. Being indoors means your food won’t be instantly cold from the outside temperature.

I really want to love this place. They actually have good coffee and good food, and it’s 2 minutes from my house. But their service is really inconsistent. The employees sometimes will display attitudes, like they’re annoyed to help you. Worse, they have messed up 2 of my to-​go orders. Which I didn’t realize until I was home and I didn’t feel like going back.
Once I went in at 8:15, but they couldn’t serve me any coffee because their barista was late to work. They are a coffee shop that can’t serve any coffee. She showed up about 15 minutes later.
In addition, my wife only drinks decaf and, you guessed it, they almost never have any decaf. Seriously, PLEASE BUY SOME DECAF BEANS.
I’m normally not a negative reviewer, but that’s kind of ridiculous. I hope they make some positive small changes and stay in business a long time.

Super cute! People that work here are super friendly.
Great breakfast spot with lots of options. A «no frills» kind of place to get a good quick yummy breakfast.
I think they serve beer too if you’re trying to get some in before hitting the slopes.
Would recommend!

Clean, great breakfast food done well. Protein bowl is perfect for post workout meal or before some serious skiing. The coffee is excellent and the best way to describe this place is «good mountain cooking «. Downside is that this place is intimate «small», but parking is easy and they have great outdoor space.

The latte was good here, and they keep the place piping hot so it’s a good spot for the winter adventurer. The food looked good, most people that were here were eating food. I got a cookie, but wasn’t raving about it. I heard someone say it was nice not to spend a ton of money on food, cause I guess north lake resorts a
can be fancy and expensive. I don’t think so, but eat here if you want a fairly quick bite to eat.

Good place, a little Small, my Sandwich i think it took a little longer to get ready. I mean That because es only me at Place and took 10 minutes for the first bite.

Good food on otherwise too small portions
Go therefore coffee but not for brunch as you will leave hungry

Good place.
Protein Bowl tasted great. Coffee was decent. Not much to rave about and nothing to complain about really.

Good food, cute environment. I ordered a chicken club lettuce wrap. When asked about choice of dressing the clerk recommend ½ bassalrmic & ½ ranch. It was very good with a healthy portion of thinly sliced chicken (not chunk). Steady stream of bicyclist coming in — always a good sign when the locals are customers.

What a great find on our drive around Lake Tahoe!!!
We spent our day driving around the lake, and we were in North Shore by lunch time and needed to find a place to get a quick bite. I only had a minute or two to go on Unilocal to look for a place and the first one was Tunnel Creek Café.
We pulled up on what looked like an old western saloon on the outside with ample parking and decided «what the heck? Let’s try it anyways!»
We walked in — glanced at the menu on the wall and the pleasant lady behind the counter must’ve recognized the «never been here before» looks on our faces and immediately suggested sandwiches for us to try.
I settled on the half quesadilla pulled pork, my son got the pulled pork burger and my husband tries every pastrami sandwich he can get his hands on. Every single thing we ordered never disappointed!!! My quesadilla was toasted and crunchy and the pulled pork was amazing. The bbq sauce on the side was just enough to dip my quesadilla in every so often. My son loved his burger and only wished it was bigger than the size it came in. He loved it nonetheless. The pastrami sandwich was inhaled in 60 seconds. My husband didn’t even have enough to share!
We were even told we can keep the souvenir tumblers our ice for our drinks came in. Nice touch!!!
We definitely lucked out and picked a great place to stop for lunch.
It is worth the drive to get to North Shore, for sure!
I can’t wait to go back!

As is obvious when you walk in, they cater to users of the flume trail. If you are a hipster mountain biker/​hiker/​runner, you may fall in love with this place. On any given day, you’ll notice the many trail users relaxing with food and drink either on the front porch or benches out back. Inside, take note of only IPAs on tap and basket of energy gels for purchase right at the counter. Finally, there’s a relatively large vegetarian menu, which made me worried wen I ordered my reuben that it would be skimpy on meat or tasteless.
Fears allayed on both counts. Lots of pastrami and very tasty.
First C. was probably chafed from his/​her long day on the trail and maybe a little altitude-​nauseous. Should have let that settle before trying to eat!
Additional note: they’ve got really classy interior decoration — take note of seating, particularly inside and water fixtures & tile work; heat lamps outside for cooler days.

Stopped here after a 10 mile hike and it was the perfect choice.
Had the Garden salad and BBQ pulled pork quesadilla. Delicious and very fresh. Really kind staff, too. I’ll be back.

Created and owned by the man who created the gorgeous Flume Trail! (Max)
Cute new space right by the end of the trail, but certainly not only for bikers and hikers. In the historic ponderosa ranch location, this café now boats a number of healthy choices freshly made.
Smoothies, vegan and veggie burgers, oatmeal and breakfast bowls adorn the menu. Everything I’ve had here has been great but obviously my favorite is the vegan burger, I get it with avocado on the top!
Outdoor seating for warmer days. Dogs can join you if you sit outside.
Order at the counter and the servers will bring you your food within a short amount of time. Friendly locals! Hidden gem, a great stop for all types.