Wow, looks like about 3 years since my last review here. Time of an update! I was up here at the Lake for lunch the other day and we decided to come here. I love the outdoor dining in the summer! Yes, this place is usually crowded in the summer, even mid week, so what I do is show up 2:30 to 4pm and there is NO wait. I read some of the bad reviews here complaining of the service. You know, I've never had a problem here, it just may be the customer! I figure the more people that don't come back, the easier it is for me to get a seat! Our server was all young and bubbly and took our orders no problem. Beers arrived in a timely manner. I ordered the Bacon Cheese burger as did my BF. ($8.45ea)The burgers don't come with fries, and are $1.95 extra. If you are here with someone else, instead of getting the fries added to the burgers, just get the side basket of fries for $3.95 and you get a lot more to share.The waffle fries are the best I've had! try them! The food arrives and is tasty as ever. They do a damn good burger here! I have really no idea what people can complain about here. Food is great as is service, at least it always has been for me, don't know what 's the prob with other people!
Review Source:You pay for the location, definitely not the service or the product. Â That's all one really needs to know but I have time on my hands and it is cathartic for me to write about it. Here we go...
Been here before and accepted its touristy setting where one should expect elevated prices to pay for the location. Accepting that, my visit this afternoon was still awful. I felt like we were subject to an experiment of high-schoolers running a bar/restaurant for a Junior Achievement class with a lovely touch of that adolescent f*ck-you-tourists attitude that comes from those contrarian types who don't understand culture, economics, being a grown up... and well life in general.
We had the dog with us and were going to try the back patio but there was a sign that said no dogs. The guy up front sold us on sitting by the rail and hitching the pooch just outside. When I asked to be seated, 3 young skater/boarder/biker guys looked at each other with an earnest look of not wanting to lift a finger. It was like a battle of lack of wills. Fifteen awkward seconds later and one fella was leading me to a table. Our server promptly greeted us and she asked for our drink orders.
"What do you have on draft?"
"I think (insert list of shitty InBev beers here), Laganitas, and Sierra Nevada Pale Ale"
"What about bottles?"
"I think (insert another list of shitty InBev beers here). The list of everything is right here. Oh you don't have it on your table. Well, that's what I think we have."
Great effort! What a lazy ass.
"Uhhh okay, we'll have a Blue Moon (forgive us Beer Gods) and a Sierra Nevada."
All the while, we were trying to figure out how to hitch our dog to the rail and keep her out of the walking path next to the patio. After giving our drink order, I got the dog on top of a rock, outside the rope border. Her head was at table height but she was outside the rope.
The server came back with our beers in cheap blue plastic beer glasses and proceeded to ask us to move the pooch back a couple of feet from the border and mentioned something about the state shutting them down if she is in the eating area. All the while, there are birds all around scavenging the ground and whatnot... oh, and did I mention the handful of fat squirrels running everywhere inside the patio area. Sanitary? Probably not.
In the meantime, another family with a pooch sits next to us in a booth next to the rail. They proceeded to hitch their 50-60 lb dog right next to the rope. Yet, our 40 lb dog had to be 2-3 feet back from the rope, which was a pain in the ass to manage because she was on a slope in the dirt and trying to stay out of the walking path. The server for the table next to us was talking to the folks there in his skater-brogue, "Nah, it's okay. You can keep your dog right there. Jus' make sure it's outside the rope."
Listening to the contradictory policy as we were trying to figure out how to manage the pooch, we noticed a nice nastiness on our cheap plastic, blue pint glasses. There was lipstick all around the edges of both. The glasses hadn't been washed, much less bathed in water. It wasn't the ghost print of lipstick that was washed but held on for dear life. The glasses were clearly not washed. At least the lipstick was not still wet. It had dried from the sun. At that time I noticed everyone else had actual glass pints. Not sure why we got the toddler glasses.
We waited about ten minutes for the server to come by and nothing. During that time, the table next to us moved their dog inside the ropes and under their table at their feet. Nothing was said to them. So we gave up on seeing the server and took the glasses up to the bar. I wanted to get out of their but the wife needed her beer. There was an apology but not an expected "round on the house" for the nasty glasses or maybe a visit from a non-existent manager.
The wife even ordered mozzarella sticks but I didn't even touch them, worried about what the staff might do to them. That was brave of her.
That was it for our lovely tourist experience at the place. Not again for me.
Needing a break from the desert heat, the family and I decided to head back to the California side Sierras for some cooler weather and pine-tastic views. After a grueling but beautiful drive on the 89 coupled with idiotic drivers, bicyclists and road construction, we arrived in Tahoe City to partake in Bridgetender's famous burgers.
This is a popular spot but thankfully our drive governed a later lunch so we were seated right away. Atmosphere was lodgy grandeur with local friendliness and staff who were more than accommodating. When they originally opened they were just a burger joint but now that they moved into their larger digs, the menu has expanded for those who are more burger shy than I.
I kept things simple with their Cheeseburger but plain it was not. Sure they give you the necessary accouterments but I was able to get the full effect with cheese, burger, mayo all on a brioche bun. The meat was so tender and juicy, gone in 60 seconds! Ok I spent a little more time than that but I wanted to, it was that good!!
Adding this place to my list of stops while in the Tahoe area.
Stopped in for a burger at about 4 pm on a Saturday. Â Here are my thoughts.
Pros vs Cons
Pro: Cute wait staff
Con: The wait staff seems to be pretty slow. Â It took 15 minutes just to get our beers out to us.
Pro: Beer on Tap
Con: They were out of some of the beers on tap that we wanted.
Pro: Not totally absurd prices
Con : Food was pretty standard burger fare. Â Nothing amazing for the price you pay.
Pro: Nice that you get a choice of a few different style of fries.
Con: Not sure I would get anything other than a burger and fries here.
Pro: Has a locals feel to it that is cool if you are a local.
Con: Not as cool if you are clearly visiting. Â Your waiter might pay more attention to their friends than you.
Pro: Â Seems like the place to be is the patio by the river,
Con: We didn't sit there because we were told it was a 25 minute wait.
Not a 5 star place, not a 1 star place. Â We walked away no longer hungry and feeling like we got a decent burger and beer. Â Pretty standard 3 star place. Â No real surprises, negative or positive, Â here.
AMAZING cheeseburgers- they are a must! Great fish tacos and phenomenal waffle fries. Perfect spot for apres ski.
The parking lot gets crazy busy and you can end up waiting for a table for 20-30 minutes, but that just shows how popular the place is.
Prices are high, they never have happy hour specials.
Great staff- really relaxed setting. Mainly locals in the bar, but everyone was super welcoming and friendly on that Monday night.
GREAT BURGERS! We had the elk and a regular cheese burger and both exceeded my expectations.
One thing to note is that the prices are different than they say online (everything $1-2 more expensive) But, a pint is $5 so all is truly well.
Thanks to our bartender, we will be back!
Total bill after 2 rounds of beers and burgers for 4 = $68 which was a good value.
Setting on the Trukee river is awesome. Proximity to Tahoe City is convenient.
Food was good and everyone was happy. Decent beer and drink selection.
It seems this place gets thousands of visitors but a few of the complainers take the time to Yelp negative reviews over the smallest issue.
This place is a solid option for a sunny afternoon. We will come here again.
This is average bar and grill food. Not a bad place to stop off if you are in Tahoe for a quick bite.
Pros:
- Great setting on the Truckee river
- Easy parking
Cons:
- The waitstaff is very checked out. Not the most outgoing bunch (from my experience at least)
- The fries are fried along side the fish. NOT good for a vegetarian
- The taco salad (w/out chicken) was bland and boring. I've had much better.
- Not the best margaritas I've had
Not where I would go for a healthy meal, but for beer and burgers it can't be beat in Tahoe. They really have one of the best burgers in Tahoe, and I also love the waffle fries and beer battered onion rings. They also have some good salads and other items, but I generally stick to burgers or sandwiches here.
The outdoor patio in the summer is great, and even has a small bar to grab a beer after a bike ride or a hike. Inside has a nice mountain feel and good place to grab a beer or eat in the cooler weather.
I notice a number of negative reviews about the food and service - all I can say is service and food quality it Tahoe seems to vary quite a bit at all places I have been, likely due to a lot of seasonal turnover being a resort town. Personally I have always had decent service and good burgers here.
Worst dining experience in Tahoe so far. The location is great, the service was sub-par, and the food was literally raw and still cold. I don't mean cold as in "this isn't warm", I mean cold as in you just pulled this our of the fridge and put it on my plate cold!
Our group of six ordered the hot wings and a few different burgers. We had a few questions that the waitress wasn't too happy to answer. Like:
"Can I have a different sauce on this burger?"
waitress: "...I guess.." with a disgruntled expression. Just makes you feel weird when you are ordering food that you'll be consuming and you don't feel like they're willing to make small changes like that.
When the food arrived, the wings were, and I'm not exaggerating, frozen. They looked like wings, but you couldn't even take a bite!
All of the burgers, the patties were uncooked and cold in the center. Again, I mean cold. And also raw. Like the cook grabbed the frozen patties, grilled them for 30 seconds and served. I'm not sure, but none of us could finish.
The server had a slight redeeming moment when we told her about the food. She had new wings made and didn't charge us for it. She said "Guess we have something to make fun of the cook for now! I asked and looks like he forgot to put the wings in the frier!" Â
Yikes... Not going there again!!!!
Tourists and travelers beware, there are waaaaay better places to spend your dough and get great food than at The Bridgetender.
Awesome location on the river. Truly a great place in Tahoe. Now, the service is another story. They were not very accommodating. I ordered food and waited 30 minutes. Finally, I asked where it was and they stated it had been sitting on the kitchen counter the entire time. No apologies from the staff. Got the food and all our burgers (6 of them) all were totally raw in the middle. Lame. I'll be back for a beer, but never for the food!
Review Source:We were on vacation in Tahoe! Excited, and ready to try all the local nummies.
Our hotel recommended two burger joints, this place and Char -Pit.
We were starving and this place happen to be closer.
We walk in, sit our boys down in the waiting area and look around for staff. A waitress comes out from the bar area (center of restaurant) and she smiles and tells us someone will be with us soon. Minutes later a young blonde guy comes up and he is so friendly and kindly informs us the place is packed but he will try to get us a better estimate on the wait time. We thank him for his help and he tells us he will be right back.
My husband casually steps into the restaurant/bar area and is looking at the memorabilia and decor on the walls when this little tiny speck of a person, with a long pony tail approaches him from behind and says really loudly and rudely " WE ARE FULL" Â and ushers him with her hands back into the waiting area.
I can immediately tell this did not sit well with him. He turns around and he ask her to repeat herself, because I think he could not believe how loud and rude she was or even wondering if it was a joke. At this same moment the  young blonde guy who was trying to help us before comes up to her and says, I think some people are leaving (and he points at the table) and she looks at the table and then back at him and says NO, she then looks at us again and says "WE ARE FULL" Â
I then say, full to capacity and the restaurant is shut down for business or you just do not want to serve us? She leaves, kid you not she turns around and walks off!
The blond young guy shrugs this off and says, I will see if those people are leaving and he looks a little embarrassed. The waitress that initially greeted us was just standing there and didn't know what to say to us. Unreal, no one apologized for stupid speck of a hostess and although they appeared to want to help they didn't. Who runs this place?
Meanwhile, I feel like I am in the twilight zone + starving and I grab my boys and tell my husband there is no way on this good green earth I will ever eat at this joint
and I gotta tell ya, the ridiculous 10 minute fiasco was so worth it... why you ask, well we ended up at CHAR-PIT enjoying yummy burgers, beach front with nicest people and great conversation and of course couldn't help but bring up The Rudetender, and how it is not worth it. At least we saved a few tourist and planted an ear worm in some locals from making the same mistake we made.
There is elk burgers to be had elsewhere + served with kindness.
I had the pulled pork sandwich-HUGE serving! The bbq sauce was tangy the way I like it. Cole slaw was creamy and a perfect side to the pulled pork. Service a the bar was friendly and quick.
My friend ordered the Cobb Salad..holy cow biggest salad I have ever seen! Looked great!
I also tasted their blueberry BBQ sauce that comes on one of the burgers-it was very good, highly recommend.
Good prices too!
Came to have a quick lunch. Upon entering was greeting promptly and seated. I had the hot cookies and cream cocoa. That was De-lish! Ordered the elk burger while my BF ordered the Cajun burger. Both were absolutely great and the flavor was outstanding. Our waitress was very cheerful and made us feel very welcomed. I saved half my elk burger with blueberry BBQ sauce to take home but it never made it home. Ate it on the way home in the car. Loved this lil joint. Will definitely come back next time we are in the area.
Review Source:I visited this place last year a couple times with friends and everyone enjoyed their burger. Â I'm not sure what has happened (or why it is getting so many good reviews recently) but without exaggeration, I got the worst burger of my life there! Â I honestly don't think I've ever sent food back, but I sent my burger back. Â The outside of the burger was completely overdone and charred (but still probably medium on the inside). Â The replacement burger was almost as bad. Â It wasn't as charred on the outside (but was still charred and overdone) and was pretty raw on the inside.
The burger rivaled my worst burger ever cooked on my grill (and I'm not a good cook). Â It seems like they cook it at too high a temperature or directly over flame so the outside is way too done and the inside not at all?
The side-salad I got consisted of lettuce, shredded cheddar and mushrooms. Â Seems like a very strange salad for a side-salad. Â The margarita was supposed to have a floater of Cointreau and use Cazadores. Â Maybe both of those were actually used, but it didn't seem so - very poor margarita.
Overall I was incredibly disappointed this year. Â I don't see going back.
This place is OUTSTANDING!
Third time visiting this restaurant and it never disappoints!
My avocado hamburger was juicy and cooked to perfection, the Monterey Jack was a molten delight and the avocado was generous, the waffle fries were crisp and cooked to perfection and our drinks ( I think it was called the Tahoe Lemonade) were incredible!
Service is laid back, our waitress was very attentive and friendly! Definitely earned a good tip!
Parking can be a little tricky, but I highly recommend this place if you visit Tahoe City!
Best burgers in town.
It is always crowded so expect to wait for a table but it will be worth it.
Their burgers are huge and juicy. The fries are amazing. My favorite are the waffle cut fries. So big and delicious.
The staff is friendly and they try and move people through as quick as possible.
Always a lot of out of towners but hey they support the local businesses.
The parking situation can be a little tricky but you can always park across the street at the bank and walk.
Great local place.
Loved the ambiance and location. Â Just like the restaurants back home in Northern Wisconsin. Â
Great burgers. Â Great service. Â We had a good experience here, despite it being busy with all the Tough Mudders in town.
Waffle fries were ah-maaazzing. Â Crispy and totally bad for you. Â Just as they should be.
Where to start, our waitress completely ignored us, never asked us if we wanted refills on our beverages (we were ordering beer, never refilled our water, we never saw her. Â We had to get up from our table and tap another waitress on the shoulder just to get service. Â We are not stuck up patrons either. Â We just wanted a couple of good burgers. Â The burgers were completely overdone and dry, the salad came out with the wrong dressing, and the fries were cold! Â I also watched a busboy throw soda and beers into the trees to clean a table. Â No wonder there were so many bees, and what about attracting bears? Â
None of this would have mattered if our waitress had even remotely seemed interested in serving us. Â I never ever tip less than 20%, but we did that day.
Maybe I'm spoilt by the awesome quality in SF but I don't think so. In short, I expected more. The burger looked and tasted like an assembly of stuff from the freezer and the fresh ingredients were wilted and browning. Fries were cold and uncooked. Waffles fries were quite good but man or woman cannot live by fries alone (I give it a try in places like this).
On the plus side, it was a perfect evening and great setting (patio) to be sitting in the sun with a cold longboard ale watching strung out parents of young children worry inordinately about their progeny tumbling into the truckee river whilst throwing stones over the barrier. Especially knowing that sf is wrapped in freezing fog.
In a country full of applebees, chilis, and tgifridays its nice to go to a place like the Bridgetender and be reminded of what just good american style food is. The burgers taste like real quality homemade burgers not like whatever meat that is they serve at the chains. The fish and chips were some of the best I've had. The crisscut fries are yummmy and the chicken tenders were great too. We've been here twice and my whole family has made it a tradition to come here when we visit the Tahoe area because we all like it so much. Oh and the bbq sauce is especially good we asked for more because we ended up dipping everything in it.
Only negative is that its really not very kid friendly, I get that it wants to be a cool tavern/grill but come on just accept that families like your food and are going to want to come here, a little nod to us (ie. kids menu, booster seat) would be nice.
Host and waitress were both quite nice and the service was attentive.
Sat on the patio along the river, enjoyable. The weather too was great.
One cheese burger and two southwest burgers, fries and cole slaw along with three iced tea.
All tasted good, got a decent onion slice too ;-{)
Yeah we enjoyed our lunch and would go again.
The food here was excellent but we had a couple of negative experiences with the servers and the bar crowd. There were a bunch of drunk "bro's" shouting and hollering about orgies and attempting to hit on women sitting at the bar. I understand that the venue can't control it's clientelle but the bar tender could have at least asked them to put a cork in it. There were children around. Also, our server was nice but very awkward. She came back to the table multiple times to tell us what she "meant" when she would say something. She may have been new to the job or just not the right type of person for the job.
Also please note...despite the adverts that this place is "DOG FRIENDLY" it in fact is "NOT DOG FRIENDLY". You can tie your dog up to a rope beside a few tables but your dog will likely not be comfortable.
The Bridgetender is located across the street from the famous "Fanny Bridge" in Tahoe City. We checked in on this bustling Sunday afternoon at about 1:45 PM requesting a table for seven. The pleasant hostess told us it would be about twenty minutes. Took the opportunity to walk across the bridge looking into the Truckee River to see if I could spot any fish. Walked around and crossed the Lake Tahoe dam that regulates the river flow. Walked back to The Bridgetender about ten minutes later, and our table was already available. Sat indoors in a nice sized booth with two added chairs for the seven of us.
The server took our drink order and then our food choices. There is a lot of interesting old beer signs on the walls and near the bar too look at while we waited. I got a kick out of seeing a couple old ceramic Hamm's Beer Bears. Also three cool looking Olympia beer plaques on the wall depicting four big-headed, stubby looking characters fishing in one, playing pool in the second, and duck hunting in the third. Also spotted a M*A*S*H 4077th beer can, and a JR Ewing beer can on a top shelf near the bar, a bar that features Anchor Steam on tap, and seemed to be a place where both tourists and regulars can be comfortable.
No one was disappointed when our food arrived. I got tacos. Two chicken and one carne asada. They were amazing. They came with plenty of tender, tasty meat on two corn tortillas. Loaded with onions cilantro, lime wedge, with a side of salsa and a few chips. Both kinds were very good, and probably some of the cleanest tasting tacos ever, and made from fresh ingredients. My wife loved her fish taco's too. One daughter had the BBQ chicken wings, but was not thrilled with the sauce. Another had the fish and chips, with no complaints.
One downer: they do not take American Express!
We will definitely be back, hopefully to taste a few beers and enjoy the local bar ambiance.
The gal that served our table was a little rough in her ways. While it did not totally disrupt our excitement for the place it was something that I made mental note too. Therefore, it needs to be mentioned.
The food was great! But, when reviewing, I feel service is right up there with overall experience.
Keepin it real yo!
O
Legit. Great place for a casual meal -- burgers, tacos, salads, etc. Service was outstanding --- seriously, in a touristy town full of amateur-hour service, this place shines.
And, as has been stated repeatedly, don't pass up the spicy bloody mary. Best bloody mary in Tahoe, and among the best anywhere.
It's just your typical run-of-the-mill burger/bar joint.
On a fairly recent Winter trip with Joe and his family to Tahoe, we were in a cabin-home within walking distance to The Bridgetender. Upon entering the two times that we did, it's quite small and definitely a place for locals of Tahoe City. There really isn't anything special about the restaurant - I would even venture on to say that the ambiance is lower than that of a Chili's Grill and Bar. But hey, if the food was good then that's all that matters, I suppose.
The food was average. Burgers, sandwiches, a small selection for salads, appetizers, and desserts. We ordered burgers and sandwiches. It really was just very average. The portions were pretty plentiful, though so that is a plus.
All in all, it was very "meh."
My friends asked me to Yelp! a place for lunch while at our stay at Tahoe. We were all craving food that was filling considering there wasn't any snow so we all had a little of cabin fever. Our big group had to be split up into two booths wich wasn't a problem because the girls got to chat it out :)
I ordered garlic fries for the table to start which was an excellent idea! (Thanks Yelp!) Everyone ordered a bloody mary with bacon for their hang overs but I wanted to try something new. With the recommendation from Yelp! I ordered a Fuzzy Navel. MEH. It was a little too sweet but it wasn't bad.
Almost everyone got the Elk Burger including myself. I could only eat half because the fries were so filling! OMG. That crack bbq sauce? I FELL IN LOVE! Okay, maybe its not called crack bbq sauce... its like a blueberry bbq sauce. SOUNDS WEIRD RIGHT? I didn't eat any of it when I was at the restaurant because it looked and sounded weird, but when I got home with my other half of the burger, I gave it a shot, and then i dumped the whole ramekin onto my burger. YUP!
The servers were really friendly and were really fast with getting boxes and whatever we needed to us. The decore was exacty what you think a burger joint in tahoe would look like. (Tim The Toolman's bachelor cabin) My tummy being sensitive didn't take the elk burger too well, but idgaf! iT WAS AWESOME! I will be back bridgetender!!!
As people have noted, the bar is cool. It reminds me of the mountain bars I used to hang out in when I lived in Washington. Gleaming wood, sturdy guys and gals, huge beers. It is small, but there are a few big booths that hold a lot of people.
It is a friendly place. I noticed that a woman, probably an owner or manager, talked with a number of customers while doing some work. I had to take my toddler to time-out twice, in the entry hall, and no one said a thing to me.
And the food was good. In my quest to find good barbecue in California, I ordered the Rib & Wing plate ($12.45), which comes with Waffle Fries. I ordered a side of coleslaw, which got subbed for my fries. I wish I'd had both.
First, the waffle fries are delicious. Lightly seasoned and perfectly fried.
But the best part was the ribs. They were perfect copies of Memphis-Arkansas ribs, slow-roasted to a glossy black and topped with tangy, spicy, red barbecue sauce. The meat pulled gently away from the bone. The plate included four ribs (plenty) and six wings, along with dipping sauce and celery and carrots.
The wings were sloppily bathed in a very spicy sauce -- I enjoyed it. The meat was a little too chewy, or tough, like they'd been cooked too long, or sat too long. Oh well. It happens. I ate five of them, and found some parts of them delicious and others mandatory.
A good deal, in my opinion, for $12.45. The slaw was a little moist, but had classic Southern flavor -- crunchy and creamy, mild but slightly tangy. My wife ordered the Zucchini Sticks ($5-$7) with Ranch. These were also good. Creamy zucchini in a crisp, thin shell. I had my hands full, but I made time for these zucchini.
On a final note, we were a party of six: four adults, one toddler, one baby. A complete nuisance, in other words, but we were treated well, or at least like everyone else. Our service was not great -- friendly, but slow and hard to snag. The place was pretty busy, but getting the check took way too long. When someone asks for the check, they want to leave. Accommodate them. My wife is a former server (10 years) and even she felt like leaving the minimum tip. Which by the way is %15.
The Bridgetender is the first place that the "Lady K" and I went to to celebrate the signing of our ski lease, so it holds that special place in my heart...
Tonight I dropped in for the weekday elk burger and fries special. This is a treat not to be missed. The burger isn't huge, but just right in size. The order of fries is more than enough for one person so plan on sharing. I recommend the waffle fries over the "normal" fries but that's because I love Chick-fil-a and they remind me of my time in the South.
But I digress.... the best part of this meal is the huckleberry BBQ sauce that you dip the burger and if you're me the fires in to. So good!
I would be remised if I didnt mention the great draft beer mention as well that makes the burger go down oh so well. Enjoy!
PS: No dessert! The waitress told us that it's because they dont want you hanging around. Eat and go! Turn them tables!
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