Ali’s Cafe

Clean and comfortable. Excellent food. Friendly and accommodating owner. I recommend this restaurant to anyone seeking a pleasant and tasty meal.

Good fish taco. Quick service. Nice little surprise to find this place while driving thru Hope Valley looking for Fall color.

HIGHLY RECOMMEND this interesting little breakfast place in the tiny 150-​person town of Markleeville. Ali, the chef, is vegan, but does a nice job of knocking out some pretty great bacon and eggs however you want them.
I found the waitress (I believe her name is Christina) to be pretty dang hilarious, but you have to ‘get’ her humor and be able to handle it or you may be offended. Her shtick is that she doesn’t want to be there and doesn’t want to be bothered by you, especially if you don’t know how you want your food prepared. She asked a guy next to us how he wanted his eggs prepared and he stated simply, «fried», with no details whatsoever. She rolled her eyes as if to let him know that she didn’t grow up at his house and had no idea what he meant by that. She was able to get clearer instructions out of him.
She also showed herself to be a real sweetheart by coming over and sitting next to me to have a short chat and ask me if I’d like to try some of their house-​made jam. Heck Yes! And it was AWESOME! She also threw a few tosses of Yatzee dice with a large table of locals.
It was entertaining for me personally. I would never pass this place without stopping if I’m in the area again.

I took a a little trip to Markleevile to do some hiking at Grover State Park. I stopped to have lunch and went to Ali’s Café. I have never been so insulted as I was by the owner. I noticed they serve Mexican food. One of their entrée’s was tacos, choice of meat. I asked for chicken tacos. The petite blond haired woman snapped, «I wouldn’t contaminate my kitchen with chicken!» She turned and walked away. I noticed that she did, however, serve carnitas, which is made with pork. Pork is a meat that many people avoid because of Trichinosis, a potential deadly condition caused by parasitic worms. It also causes gout. I remained standing there for almost fifteen minutes meanwhile the owner/​waitress walked back-​and-​forth waiting on tables and passing right by me. Finally I went to the restroom. When I came out of the restroom, she said, «Restrooms are for customers only! You can use the public restrooms down the street!» Markleeville is a quaint, little town with a population of 283 people. I, perhaps, would expect this rude remark coming from a business proprietor in a heavily populated metropolis, such as New York or Los Angeles but I was truly amazed at this woman’s rudeness. I walked across the street and ordered a sandwich from her competitor.
There are a total of four restaurants in Markleeville and I suggest going to a more hospitable place. The scenery is awesome and the Hot Springs are fabulous!

Great place for a great breakfast. Charming atmosphere with a very efficient and lovely proprietress.

Spontaneous Sunday road trip to escape Tahoe’s madding crowds and head down to the quiet Markleeville area to check out future camping spots and the hot springs. Where else can you drive for 90 minutes and only hit maybe 5 stoplights? What a great easy drive! All that fresh air must have done something to me so time to poke around potential lunch spots. Someone passing by spotted me checking out menus and said, «Go to Ali’s — you won’t regret it.» Since my name is Allie, I thought this was a good idea! I just ordered two fish tacos to go (roughly $ 4 each). CASH ONLY or use the ATM. Took a few minutes to wander around before picking the food up. Found a nice shady picnic spot down the road and went to town. YUMMY. Not the biggest, not the fattest, but certainly tasty enough. The fish is not fried, which I liked, but it was flaky and moist and the salsa was mild but tasty.

My husband and I stopped in for a quick breakfast on the way to somewhere else. He ordered a bagel and cream cheese. It was a cold bagel with a very, very thin layer of cream cheese — a tablespoon at best. I ordered the biscuits and gravy and a cup of coffee. The coffee was undrinkable. The biscuits and gravy was composed of two reheated Pillsbury-​like flaky biscuits sitting atop a microwaved bowl of white gravy and sausage with a skim on top. The whole meal was terrible. On the plus side the place was clean.

We had an excellent breakfast with good coffee. I ate the Horchata Oatmeal with cranberries and walnuts. It really hit the spot. Ali is friendly and pleasant. The café opens at 7:00 which was perfect for our schedule.

Passing through, was looking for espresso pick-​me-​up in tiny Markleeville this morning and was surprised and pleased to have a really nice mocha presented (and good free wifi) in a really friendly, casual place where they obviously care about quality. Was lured back for a late lunch, and loved it again, and the two very fresh fish tacos I downed. Real attention to detail here re: food and everything. Big-​time quality and small-​town ambience. I guess it’s a limited lunch menu, but plenty of interesting choices just the same — the opposite of the hack roadside deli I’m always afraid of walking into «out in the country.»

Lovely little café with good food and friendly atmosphere, with a nice front porch (outdoor deck) and indoor seating. Ali was welcoming and friendly when I arrived during a quiet mid-​morning period. I enjoyed the service, food, and atmosphere (once I moved indoors — it was a very windy day) enough that I came back the next day. Just a few tables, but the menu variety and quality would rival those of a larger restaurant.

Amazing fish tacos we have eaten there on every trip. The food is amazing and we just love the service. They are very kid friendly. Thank you for the cloths!!!

Best service I ever got in the US.
The food was good as well…
Had fish taco and a Spanish Salad.

Be aware that they close early. No dinner here.
Went for breakfast. Quite pricey for what you get. They do have a few creative items on a limited menu. We liked the horchata oatmeal (very tasty and creative), but it cost us $ 7.50.
$ 4 for a plain bagel with cream cheese or butter seems like kind of a rip off. They felt bad about my daughter not wanting anything on her bagel so brought out some strawberry jam. She still refused to have anything put on her bagel. Her bagel still cost us $ 4.
CASH ONLY.

Great little find while driving through the «ville». Stopped randomly and walked in. They had great handmade tamales. Excellent. Service was prompt and attentive. Recommend this cute café.

Wow. Cruised past, then turned around. Lucky us. Superb service. Great atmosphere. Friendly staff (all 2 of them).

Came here for a surprisingly lovely breakfast. This little café is very cute, friendly, and has some yummy food.
We ordered a breakfast bowl, a breakfast burrito, and an egg and bacon sandwich on a croissant. Everything was quite yummy (the croissant was surprisingly good). The burrito needed a little salsa, but since that’s served with it, no problem! It was delicious.
I would definitely come back here.

Stopped in here on a Wednesday morning. The lady that ran the place was doing so solo and was very clear there would be a wait. Apparently not only was she helping on site customers but gathering together meals to go for a group. I really appreciated her efforts and hope she knows that her skills are top-​notch — so many people would’ve had a melt down but she kept plugging away. Of course, most everyone that was coming in wasn’t in a hurry so it didn’t matter. The food was definitely a-​ok for a quick stop bite (had a breakfast bowl with rice/​bacon/​eggs and husband had a breakfast burrito) — café is in an old converted house which is cool. The value was just right for what you got. Definitely worth stopping in if you’re driving through and hungry.

Service was very laid-​back but you don’t go through Markleeville if you’re in any kind of hurry anyway — it fits the place. I sat out front and watched traffic while I ate a very tasty «Ortega Bowl» — basically a burrito without the shell. It wasn’t what I’d call traditional mexican or tex-​mex but it hit the spot and the prices are great too.
Plus, they made some iced tea fresh for me when I asked! Can’t beat that kind of can-​do spirit!

Ali is a darling and dining at Ali’s Café is like having brunch with friends. The menu has good variety with traditional breakfast fare, some tex-​mex options like breakfast burritos, and some more eclectic creations, too. She also makes a mean smoothie and a decent latte.
Although always bustling, the wait is never long and the atmosphere is fun and friendly.
There’s indoor and outdoor seating and dogs are welcome on the patio.
Ali added free wi-​fi for her customers this year and she’ll even let you plug in if you ask real nice (bonus if you’re camping).
Ali’s Café is CASH ONLY, like many smaller mountain businesses, but she’s got an ATM on-​site if you’ve only got plastic.
Stop in. Ali’s Café outshines all the other options in Markleeville.

Ali’s Café is a true gem hidden in the mountains. My last trip to Markleeville didn’t yield any precious metals like gold, but I struck it rich finding this jackpot!
Very friendly staff, quick service, cute and comforting décor. Oh! And the prices aren’t a rip off! What more can you ask for?!
Keep it up Ali’s Café!