Spindleshanks

I have only been here once, and just for happy hour. That said we ordered the Oysters Bienzo (the cheese sauce was delicious with dipped bread), pork schnitzel (really good), and cheese plate. Everything was great, the staff very friendly and I would be happy to go back the next time and try the great looking dinner menu.

What a gem! Had the brick chicken, wise choice… Wine flight was very tasty, check this place out.

New Year’s Day weekend we were able to catch Happy Hour at Spindleshanks. It was A-​OK. I mean the crab cakes I got were tasty and came out right away. But then the rest of the order for our party took over 45 mins. Then the bartender forgot to process one more of the orders so one of the guys ended up just saying forget it.
For a barely full bar and no one really in the bar area ordering food. The bartenders need to step up their game. We had to call to ask for service far too many times to count.
I’ve been a bartender so I’m not sure what the deal was on why it was so slow for service. I will definitely give it another go but if the service is like that again I’ll be disappointed.
Otherwise the food was tasty and drinks were stiff. Just service was slow. I usually never complain about service either.
Maybe the two of them were just hungover from NYE. Who knows.

I’m being generous with the second star because we have loved the food in the past. Worst dining experience I can think of in the last 5 years or more.
I made a reservation online, got a message thanking me for registering? Decided to show up and hope for the best.
Upon entering there was mass confusion, host takes off for several minutes, comes back with the server discussing the bread that they have warming in a toaster oven next to the front door, leaves again. We are left wondering (sad but true that toaster oven bread was the highlight of the meal).
We were seated and had our drink order taken buy the waiter. Drinks arrive reasonably quickly.
The bartender took our order, the taco appetizer, trout and short ribs.
The appetizer took so long to come that we had both finished our drinks, about 25 minutes. Tacos were dry and bland. Do not recommend.
My dish came with the short ribs, «garlic» mashed potatoes and veggies. One of the short ribs was so hot it burned my mouth, the other was room temperature. The veggies were cold and hard (undercooked) and the potatoes had zero flavor, a strange texture and hard, undercooked, large lumps. I ate about 25% of the plate, the rest was inedible and went into the garbage.
Husbands dish came with a potato pancake which he said was inedible because it tasted like vinegar. He did say the trout was fantastic.
Our waiter never bothered to check in on our table of two once but did check in on the much larger party of 5 next to us at least ten times. The bartender was sweet and did Check in once.
I feel kind of bad. I was so pissed I gave the worst tip that I’ve ever given, but I guess they deserved it as it was the worst sit down meal that I’ve ever had.
I will never be back.

We just did new year party with 45 people and it was fantastic. Great food and great service.

Came here for a private party for 45 people. They sat us in a private room. The food was very good, the drinks were generous and the service was phenomenal. Honestly, we can’t wait to come back next year. I coordinated our event with Steve. He was helpful and put together a beautiful menu for us!!! It was a great night!!!

butternut squash ravioli to die for

Delicious! I had the salmon special with quinoa and sautéed kale. Perfect. My husband had the flank steak… with a gigantic chile relleno. Wonderful, courteous staff.

This place came recommended by the gentleman hosting our Airbnb cabin room. Came in for dinner, parking on the gravel in the dark was tricky. Seated right away on the patio, I went with the scallops special for the main course. Scallops were decently sized, potatoes presented in an interesting way (overall way too many wedges to possibly finish), the asparagus was good, and it took me forever to place what the other ingredient was, after asking the waiter turns out it was portabello mushrooms! Couldn’t tell if it was a mushroom, or almost the consistency of eggplant… we also were convinced to split a dessert, choosing the walnut brownie with vanilla ice cream which was pretty tasty. We were probably the youngest folks dining there for a Friday night but it was an okay experience.

This place has always been great. I was concerned when they were forced to move to a smaller location, but Steve, Tom & Herman have done an amazing job of recreating what they had, at the old location. Admittedly, it took a little while, but they have done it. From the food, the bar, the happy hour and the amazing wine list, it’s all here. Actually I think it’s even better (but maybe that’s because it’s closer to where I live now).
If your looking for some amazing food, great wine, a great ambience, a view of the lake, come here. You won’t be disappointed. If you were here within the first several months of their reopening, give it another try. They’ve worked out many of the kinks they had before.
Also don’t forget about the Happy hour — 4 to 6 — Seven days a week and all day on Tuesdays. It’s a good deal.

First day in the Tahoe Vista area. Checked around for dinner options and Spindleshanks looked like the winner. Cordial greeting upon arrival for an early dinner (6 PM). Early enough that there were only a few other diners.
We were seated on the patio which was nice on a pleasant evening.
Our server was reasonably quick to great Us and remained «reasonably» attentive throughout the meal although he seemed to want to spend more time with larger groups. Overall, service was attentive enough but could have been more timely.
The food arrived in a timely manner and presented well. We had ordered the beef short ribs with garlic mash and the pork loin schnitzel with parsley pasta. Both plates had a serving of sautéed vegetables included.
My wife had the schnitzel dish and found it tasty enough but no one flavor or feature stood out to make it memorable. She decided the vegetables were the highlight of her plate.
My beef ribs were nicely cooked and served in a «gravy» which engulfed most of the garlic mash potatoes and all of the vegetables. The ribs need something more in their spices to wake the flavor up. Another unremarkable entrée and I was unable to judge fairly about the vegetables since they were soaked in the thin gravy. So, for my plate the garlic mash was the highlight as they had good flavor and texture.
In summary, I expected so much more than was received at almost $ 30 dollars per entrée. Sorry, Spindleshanks but it’s a Swing and a Miss for me.
Surely, there are better, tastier and more memorable choices in North Lake Tahoe. I look forward to finding them.

I have a really hard time writing this review originally being from the Truckee/​Tahoe area and even working with one of the previous bartenders of Spindleshanks in the past.
I have always loved how it was a part of the unique restaurant scene on the lake and have had tons of good times at their previous location but the last dining experience a week and a half ago was mediocre at best.
When my boyfriend and I arrived we sat at the bar and were helped right away with our drink order. Then we tried to be understanding when the bartender walked over to seat a family outside but after 20 minutes (their heater apparently was not working properly) I was debating if we should leave or not. Once he came back we placed our order of fried calamari/​rock shrimp appetizer which was okay and a huge portion, but not the best I have had in the area as it was overcooked.
Then it took another 20 – 30 minutes to receive our burgers (at a medium rare temperature) which were good but after the wait I was no longer hungry and another 15 minutes before my boyfriend received his beer.
Once we finished it took about 20 minutes to get our check.
Not the worst experience but not the best either. They seemed to be short staffed that evening which could’ve made a difference. The moral of the restaurant experience is if it looks like there are not many staff members, prepare to be patient.

2 hour minimum commitment. Happy hour deals seem OK. We had 3 dinner groupons and 3 breakfast/​lunch groupons. First, we tried it multiple times. This is honestly the most restrictive groupon we have ever purchased and we will never buy another one here nor will we be back!!! We wouldn’t recommend it either (BTW, the lobster and steak picture they show on their groupon ad… false…no lobster, no filet)! Also, we had multiple people w/​groupons, but they limit it to 1 groupon per table no matter how many people/​tickets.
Again, decent happy hour menu and if you are just drinking w/​friends on the golf course it is fine. The service is horrible. You will wait by the «wait to be seated» sign until the older man acting as hostess decides to pause his discussion at the bar to come and ask «what do you need?» (Update: hostess is the owner, Steve… horrible…don’t be so cheap and hire some competent help, Steve). Good start. Next, you will show your lunch groupon only to be told you cannot use it to order anything off the happy hour menu. The food, calling it average would be generous.
For our dinner attempt, same service experience. The deck is nice (minus the traffic from 28 and 267). The service, horribly slow as they had 1 or maybe 2 servers for dinner. They also seated another couple literally 12 inches from us even though there were 20 plus wide open tables (they were not even close to busy for dinner). Nothing like feeling the need to whisper during dinner to stay out of your neighbor’s conversation. The dinner menu seemed OK. We ordered the special — lamb t-​bone, and ordered it medium. It came out chopped in 3 pieces, was horribly charred/​overcooked (it was past well done) and was mostly bone (75%) so. It was clearly not an actual premium cut steak as suggested, but more like leftovers from the kitchen that should have been used for soup stock.
We also had the burger, which was serviceable (ordered medium and served well done, so the cook does things one way… overdone) and the fries portion was generous. Also, the calamari/​rock shrimp appetizer was very generous as for portion size with a giant heaping plate that could serve 4 plus people, so we had to box that up to go, but it was also mostly fried chopped bits including the tentacles, which grossed out the people who oedered it as an appetizer.
Again, happy hour and/​or drinks w/​friends on the deck seems fine, especially if not on a time schedule or expecting much by way of experience, but we cannot recommend lunch/​dinner or the groupon approach.
Update:
We ordered the oysters buenzo and crab cakes from the happy hour menu. The bar tender gave our oysters to another customer so we waited literally 45 minutes for them. The crab cake is literally one crab cake, which is fine, but it was flatter than a skinny pancake and the diameter of a silver dollar. The oysters are 3 very small oysters.
Also ordered the linguini. They do not cut the tails off the shrimp. Lovely… pulling tails out of your mouth at dinner. You are better off getting taco bell

After a long night out on North Shore the group was definitely in need of food. We needed someplace close and we wanted patio dining. Spindleshank’s checked the boxes and away we went. We were seated immediately and the service was friendly. The menu has all your breakfast favorites along with burgers, French dip and other sandwiches. Didn’t see the dinner menu. I went very basic with the breakfast sandwich ($ 8). It was loaded with egg, cheddar and ham on toasted sourdough. The ham was perfectly salty and the charring kicked up the flavor a notch. They don’t do Hashbrowns which broke my heart so I went with French fries for my potato and they did the job. They get an extra star because I felt awful when I walked in and when I left I felt human agin.

Spindleshanks is located right off hwy 267 right on the brockway golf course. We got there at 5pm and had no problem getting a table with a view. It is not an upscale restaurant at all, very casual, but the prices are very upscale. I ordered a shrimp appetizer to start with and my wife had the salad. The shrimp were in a soupy mix with beer and chipotle sauce. Very tasty and a bit spicy. My wifes salad was huge, she only finished half. It looked very good with fresh greens and tomatoes. For the main course I ordered the special, a NY steak medium rare with no blue cheese sauce on top. The steak came with fries which i subbed for a salad. When the steak came the presentation was beautiful, but the steak was on the medium side. It still had good flavor, but w as s quite chewy. My wifes linguine with shrimp was excellent. I mentioned to the waiter that the steak was overcooked, and he offered to cook another one. I declined for two reasons, the first i had already eaten a quarter of the steak and the second, they should check the food before it gets to the customer. When it clearly states on the ticket medium rare, and you are paying 28 dollars for a steak, then check it before it gets to me. It is not rocket science. The ambience is nice sitting on the deck with the wind blowing very lightly, and a view of the lake through the trees. What spoiled the ambiance was a construction worker using a power saw to cut tile to build a fire pit. You think they e ould stop when dinner was served, we left at 6:30 and it was still going. As far as a return trip, there are plenty of restaurants to try around here.
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This is about the Spindleshanks that moved from Tahoe Vista to Kings Beach at the Old Brockway Golf Course:
It was Mothers Day and our typical breakfast place The Old Post Office in Carnelian Bay was backed up way out the door, but we noticed that Spindleshanks didn’t have many cars that we could see, and we went back. At 9:45 a.m. there were very few people there. They had just finished a new deck overlooking the first tee at the golf course, and it was a nice morning, so we sat outside.
It was a nice surprise. The hostess (gotta remember to get names!) showed us to a table and returned several times with water and coffee, and she was great. Our waiter was good. My wife had the Californian omelet special; my son had French toast; I had the chicken fried steak and eggs. Everything was good.
I took a peek at the indoor seating as we were leaving. The bar looked nice but the indoor dining area looked very small and a little dark. I saw only two waiters outdoors and as the place got busier I wondered if the service would still be as great. At 10:45 a.m. when we left the lobby was packed and a few people were on the front deck waiting for a table.
The only caution I’d mention is be careful about taking a table on the deck under the roof overhangs. Mountain blue jays were busy building nests right overhead and they were already squawking about us being there – with chicks in the nests they might get nasty.
Overall very good. It wasn’t the best chicken fried steak I’ve had been definitely not the worst.

An okay lunch on a beautiful Tahoe day. If the weather is nice, ask to be seated on the deck which has peeks of the the lake across the street. Located on a golf course, you’ll find a small little restaurant sharing a building with the golf course store. Felt the food was okay, but a bit overpriced for the order. Sometimes that’s the price of eating out in a resort area — the cost of operating a business year-​round in Tahoe can be exorbitant.
Tried the ginger soy wings ($ 8.50). Decent size with nice flavor. Wish the wings were a bit crispier, but that’s my personal taste.
The plain cheeseburger ($ 12) was hefty enough and came with fries. The flavor was a bit bland. I would have gladly gotten a smaller burger with a bit more flavor or seasonings.
Overall, not sure if I would go out of my way to come here unless they stepped up a bit more of the flavor profile. Perhaps we can come back for a happy hour and try out some of the appies.

I always try to find Groupon’s whenever I go out of town. Found one for this location. I had the Mahi Mahi tacos that were delicious. Staff was friendly and made us aware of there Happy Hour special.

Can’t give 0 stars what a shame since it’s all this place deserves. The food was cold and while the pasta dish my wife had was insanely over seasoned the steak that was ordered was without flavor and over cooked the greasy chili relleno went down easy but didn’t come out as easy… (My toliet wasn’t happy and i was even less happy)
Never again!

This is for happy hour.
You can’t beat the happy hour here! Went for a hike off 267 and schlepped down afterwards. It was a Monday so very easy to get a spot @ the bar. (around 4:30) The new place looks good (used to be the Blue Onion) with a warm vibe. Usual characters were inhabiting the stools enjoying drinks. Had some great appy’s including $ 1 oysters… yes you heard me, $ 1 oysters. Calamari was kick-​ass the bartender made great drinks.
All in all great. Only 4 stars because it’s time to update the menu more. I’ve read menu issues from fellow reviewers and think that a tweak here and there would be in order. As for service, well we sat at the bar so we have a built in server that can’t disappear for too long. That being said, I’ll definitely be going back with friends there next time I’m up that way.