Lefty’s Grill

We decided to try here for lunch. Totally awesome experience. Trio of mini tacos were incredibly delicious. Hubby is still talking about mushroom burger hours later. Wait staff was friendly and attentive.

Finally a full bar to pair with great food! Proof that Chris knows his drinks, he makes a Manhattan rivaling the rooftop establishments that have made the island city the majestic place of legend. The more than capable bar can answer any request with precision, poignancy and perfection!

Very good blue plate special and bartender is very good at his job, too. However, coffee after dinner was good, but I was never offered a refill. Hot tea after dinner was poor due to tepid temperature of water.

We came here the night we moved into the area. We needed a table for 12, which included 7 children! We had no reservation, but they were able to put up on the second floor in under 5 minutes! Totally awesome! Food was great. A little pricey for the kids stuff. Burgers were incredible. Service was good, but I think since we were not in the main dining area we got forgotten a little bit. Even with that, the service was still very good. Great spot to come back and try the whole menu!

Excellent food and service! My husband ordered the Napa Burger which he said was delicious. I too ordered a burger with garlic fries, both were excellent, best garlic fries I’ve had in a long time. We ordered a pepperoni pizza to take home and it was great too! Highly recommend you give Lefty’s a try.

Overpriced, for sure.
Our service was non existant. We sat for at least 15 minutes while 2 servers doted on 2 large parties. We finanly left for Mexican food that we only waited for 5 minutes.

Just a quick review. Great outdoor seating overlooking the creek. My mom and I ordered two items to split and basic dinner salads. We got the polenta appetizer and the ravioli dinner. The polenta was a small portion, as we expected (it was an appetizer) but extremely good. Very flavorful ravioli, the sauce was to die for. The waitress was helpful with menu suggestions. She nailed it on the combination for my mom and I.

I enjoyed dining on the calamari friti and baked polenta while washing it down with cider in their patio. I ordered a salad and fried on other occasion and thought the calamari and polenta were much more interesting. I also liked the low key vibe when I dined on a Saturday evening on my first visit though I’m sure they can get busier.

Lefty’s is one of the BEST restaurants in town! Food is flavorful and unique, and the service is outstanding. We eat here a few times a week and Lolly is one of our favorite servers. We sit in the bar where it is quieter than downstairs and always get great service from Lolly and Ryan. All the gals that work in the bar are great. Sometimes the food can be a bit slow but it’s always worth the wait. If you haven’t given Leftys a try yet DO IT!!! (To give a restaurant a horrible review for a single isolated event seems a little ridiculous Seth D)

I couldn’t sit there more than 10 minutes tonight due to the absolute rudeness of the server Lolly at the bar. Quite honestly, as a local in this town, I’m used to not the best service, but this girl was hostile and rude beyond belief.

I’ve eaten here a couple of times and last night was just as wonderful as the other times we’ve dined outside on the patio. As we were waiting inside for the rest of our party to arrive, we over heard these two obnoxious women complaining about being denied service because they had their «service dogs». As I peak around the corner to look at all this commotion, I see a woman holding her little white dog. I guess that was her «service dog». To me it looked like she was serving that dog… not the dog serving her. No vest or paper work to show. It’s sad that people like that can go on here and write a horrible review. We have had the same server each time, she is very good, attentive and knows the menu well. The food and service here is worth a visit and I will recommend this place to all my friends. I have not been disappointed and I doubt you will either.

Great spot to toss your money into Deer Creek as you throw your money away on lunch. I had a mushroom garlic burger which was not horrible to eat… but the bun was nearly soggy when it arrived. But at $ 16 it definitely was not worth it. My little one ordered pasta marinara… looked like catsup on noodles. One more kids burger and 3 lemonades brought us up to over $ 50 with a tip for the nice waitress. Not impressed. We won’t be returning. If you want a lunch burger… go to South Pine Burger or Big A. That’s my opinion.

The food at Lefty’s was very good and the service was great. I would give them five stars, but we paid over forty bucks (before tip) for two burgers, a coke, and a lemonade. I know the area is pricey, but that’s pretty crazy.
So here’s my tip for newcomers… Lefty’s sits on a pretty tree-​lined creek, and there are two outside patios that let you enjoy the view. Sit on the patio if at all possible, because the high price of the food is definitely a kind of «resort fee». If you sit inside, it will be like staying at a resort and not using any of the facilities. You still pay the same, one way or the other.

This place was recommended to us by a local and the recommendation was spot-​on and well deserved. Absolutely loved everything about this spot: spectacular setting (get a lower patio table next to the river); great food and service. I had the Ahi Poke appetizer and the Crab Louie salad: both surprisingly fresh considering that Nevada City is nowhere near an ocean. Sandwiches are outstanding too. Also highly recommended– the sweet potato fries, well worth the upgrade. Will be back next time we’re in town

I, my wife and a friend dined here on Saturday. I had the clams they had the beef short rib
the food was excellent. and service was great. We sat outside on a perfect evening. I will eat here again, yummy.
miner Billy

We were a bit hesitant to try as it showed a 3.5 star rating. Soooooo glad we took a ‘Yelp-​Risk’! Food was stellar, service was exceptional (usually when we sit on the patio, we get forgotten), and the ambience on the patio is all sorts of lovely. *note, you are directly off of a main roadway, so you will still hear traffic noises. We will be back.

My wife, my brother, and I each ordered a burger here. My wife and I asked for ours medium rare, while my brother asked for his to be as «rare as you can possibly make it». Sadly, none of us got what we ordered.
The burgers my wife and I got were well done — not even a speck of pink, just all dried out and grey. My brother’s arrived medium well.
I’m sorry, but preparing an order of burgers to the requested level of doneness is a pretty basic thing, and if you can’t even get that right, you clearly have no business serving burgers. Anyone who is serious about burgers will not want to return to your establishment, and charging $ 15-​$ 16 for burgers you can’t even prepare right just adds insult to injury.
The burgers were advertised as a mix of kobe and chuck beef. We all had an extremely hard time believing any kobe beef got even remotely near the same room as the burgers we were served. As the burgers were totally overcooked, they were pretty dried out and bland, but even if cooked the way we asked, I really don’t think they would’ve exuded much flavor. My brother and I had the garlic mushroom and swiss burger, and the mushrooms and cheese made up most of the flavor profile. My wife’s Napa burger was the same deal: most of the flavor came from the bacon and caramelized onions.
The sweet potato fries, however, were quite tasty, and they came with an honestly delicious chipotle apricot sauce that seemed to contain tons of cilantro and cumin. The garlic fries were loaded down with garlic and tasted decent enough.
As for apps, the Spicy Thai Chicken Lettuce wraps were a bit muddled and bland, while the frito misto was solidly average, though it came with an above-​average aioli sauce.
All in all, I’m not from this area, so I don’t know if better burgers can be found elsewhere in these parts. But you’re *not* going to find good burgers here.
Nice creekside setting, though.

This place has really gotten a bum rap here on Unilocal.In our experience, it is a solid, high quality, delightful gourmet restaurant gem in the forest.
I understand that when they moved from their little, tiny place to a much bigger place they had some major growing pains. They had to increase staffing greatly, both on the front and back ends. This is a small town in the mountains and the availability of experienced, professional restaurant staff is very limited, many had to be trained from scratch and many flunked. As it turned out, they often had several employees just failing to show up. One person there told me that, at times, they were so screwed up that it took an hour an a half to get a meal out of the kitchen.
So some of the horror Unilocal of the past are absolutely true and regrettable but not reflective of the current state of affairs. I almost passed on this place based on the reviews. I am REALLY glad I didn’t.
My wife and I went there for lunch on a Wednesday and were promptly greeted and seated. A nearby server got us menus and took our drink orders within the first minute after we were seated. Turns out, this was not our primary server but they seem to work as a team to make sure that guests are attended to promptly and properly. Sometimes you’ll ask someone who is not your server for something and they give you a snarky «It’s not my job» look, not here, it’s all one family. Very refreshing.
I had the Lefty’s Dip which was like a Panini Beef Dip. I have never had better. Just the right balance of everything. Plain fries were tastier than average and perfectly cooked. I had a small garden salad and it couldn’t have been fresher if I had just picked it from my garden. The house dressing was White Balsamic Citrus Vinaigrette — inspired.
My wife had the Pepperoni Pizza and a small Caesar Salad. She is very discerning about food and was really pleased with the pizza. Great flavor and very thin and tasty crust. She was concerned with the prosciutto in the salad and wasn’t too sure about the anchovies being over used (she is not overly fond of anchovies). Turns out that it was absolutely wonderful. She went from «I’m not too sure about the Caesar» to «Maybe I’ll have just a large one of these next time we come». Thrilling my wife in a restaurant is hard to do.
Kylie was our server. She was a cross between a young, energetic, go-​getter and a seasoned old pro, the kind that anticipates your needs. She was extremely attentive and personable and made our visit just perfect. One visit and already she’s our favorite although the other 4 servers we dealt with were no slouches.
Because of the gourmet quality of the food and the extreme professionalism of the staff, I can easily understand why the wait to be seated can be long at times. Customers have figured out that this is a great place. If you never want to wait, go to some place that isn’t popular. Some Unilocalers have complained about the prices, it’s just a simple matter of you get what you pay for. Price and value are two very different concepts. If you want cheap, instant gratification, do a drive-​thru at a fast food place.
Like people, restaurants sometimes have bad days and unfortunate circumstances like growing pains from moving locations. It’s a shame that some people don’t understand this and abandon ship when it’s really not sinking. From what I saw today, this restaurant has grown into a really good place and I am impressed. Don’t miss out on a good thing because some grumpy Unilocaler had one disappointing experience, it’s not the norm.
I usually write Unilocal reviews to help fellow Unilocalers find businesses that are exceptional. This is one of those. See you there.

Lefty used to be a favorite restaurant
It HAD A FANTASTIC MENU and hs a beautiful location with friendly staff
But there new menu made budget cuts in the wrong places and the prices haven’t changed and the food is lame now
I’m totally disappointed
Maybe they changed owners

Food amazing, atmosphere homey and comfortable, and great beer!
First of all we ordered Tuscan pizza, Napa pizza, and Sonoma pizza all of which looked delicious. Each person boasted that there’s were the best. I’m a fan of pears and mozzarella soo I’m leaning toward Napa pizza! I ordered Cesar salad with crab & shrimp cakes. The salad was a bit overdressed but the crab cakes were scrumptious.
Our wait was quite long 1 ½ hours so we Walked around town (which is why I can’t give 5 stars). The scenery is beautiful with the creek and old town Nevada city lights down the sidewalk.
We love Firestone beer and are happy when we find a spot that offers it! The atmosphere inside was homey and comfortable and we had a group of 10 so good job! If I’m in the area I’ll come back but call first for a reservation.