Just a head's up for people looking for happy hours....Tried to go here at 5pm this past Monday & was told that they DON'T DO HAPPY HOURS IN THE SUMMER. No specials until AFTER Labor Day! I didn't realize happy hours were a seasonal thing.
The bar was completely empty. I know that the summer is when the tourists are in town & there's money to be made, but it seems like a poor business decision. Cottonwood's happy hour specials are great but it's not worth it if you're paying full price for appetizers and drinks.
Even more disappointing is that they got rated best happy hour in North Lake Tahoe...what a joke
All of the dishes we had were very good to excellent (corn soup, short ribs, steaks, butternut squash enchilada, tomato salad, caesar salad). Â All of the servers we interacted with were friendly, helpful, and if they had been any more cheerful it would have been disturbing. Â I'd give a solid 4 stars for the food, but the waitstaff was good enough to justify a 5. Â The dining room even has a great view out over the town.
Review Source:Service is impeccable!  The caesar salad was awsome and my husband had the seafood with pasta that was great.  I was not a fan of the soup I ordered which was an asparagus wild rice combination.  The waitress noted that I was not eating it and took it off the bill along with asking what she could do to replace it.  Great view.  Look forward to the summer to eat outdoors and they have  entertainment certain nights.  It is a place where you may want to make a reservation.
Review Source:Worst service ever. Our waitress was rude, unfriendly, inattentive and unprofessional. Â It killed us to pay the 18% that was automatically added onto our bill! Perhaps that was why she did not have to be good. Â
Food was ok. Scallop appetizer was great. Salads were very good, cilantro dressing was excellent. Seafood stew was good but nothing special.
We've been looking forward to going to the Cottonwood after reading reviews on here and finally made it in last night. Â We were excited when we got there- beautiful building, nicely lit, and what a view! Â We made it just in time to watch a little alpenglow and see the downtown really start to shimmer. Â The gorgeous setting, both outside and in, are the only reasons I give this place two stars.
The service: Â We saw backwaiters and bussers more than our server. Â We saw her twice- once to take our order and once to drop our check. Â A nice busser boxed up the carmelized brusselsprouts starter that was NOT carmelized. Â They were enjoyable, but nevertheless NOT carmelized as listed on their menu. Â For entrees I got the enticing-sounding butternut squash enchilada (I'm a vegetarian and look forward to unique options), and my boyfriend got one of the asian spiced steaks listed on the specials sheet. Â His came out as maybe a 6 oz portion, cooked a bit underdone (he ordered medium rare and got much closer to rare) but worse than the portion or the temperature, the steak was on a bed of greens with some sprouts for a garnish. Â NO starches, no real vegetables, just $27 for a small piece of meat. Â Bummer. Â Mine looked amazing, but unfortunately lacked any flavor. Â We might return for a drink to enjoy the view but will not be exploring the menu any further.
Had a good time here drinking wine and listening to the music with friends. Loved the recommended by Yelp raviolis. However, it got so crowded that I had to hunt down people to buy more drinks, and hunt again to pay the bill. Meh. We'll go again next time we're in town, I clearly am not too miffed.
Review Source:We had a reservation for 6:00pm, but arrived early and were seated early. Â It's a good thing, because we were able to order from the happy hour menu. Â We ordered the "famous" Caesar salad with chicken (an $8 add on) and the caramelized onion, Gorgonzola, pear spring mix salad.
The sourdough bread that was served was warm and was quite good. Â The Caesar salad would have been fantastic if it wasn't overpoweringly salty; can I have some salad and dressing with my salt? Â I found myself scraping as much dressing off of the salad as I could. Â The spring mix salad was excellent except that there was a tad bit too much dressing on it.
Despite my misgivings for the food, the service was superb. Â I can see myself visiting again, but asking for the dressings on the side. Â Definitely not a 5 or 4. Â I'd give them a solid 3.5. Â If they work on balancing out their food a bit, I'd give them a solid 4.
How can you not love this place? Hands down my favorite, and I've been to every restaurant in Truckee at least twice. So often in my little town I find places with delicious food and crappy service (dragonfly and Moody's specifically, I actually used to work at Moody's but couldn't handle the way the place was run) but Cottonwood CONSISTENTLY achieves 5 stars in both the food and service areas. And the view, well we don't even need to discuss that, I think it's well established that cottonwood is the nicest place in town.
My two favorite things on the menu are the warm goat cheese salad and the pinenut crusted fish. Every single thing about them both is delicious. But everything on the menu is, as far as I can taste! I don't eat meat and a lot of times you're forced between the choices of meat and weird mushroom-y dishes. Not every vegetarian likes mushrooms! I don't ever have a problem finding a delicious meal at Cottonwood.
Happy hour is all night on Thursdays in the bar and lounge area! It gets super packed because locals know what's up. But it's worth it. I can't wait to come back again!
Loved the ambiance of the place. Â If possible try to get a table in the main room it has gorgeous views of Truckee. Â The service was great and the food was really good. Â We had the Brussels sprouts, butternut squash ravioli, and the Rack of Elk and the berry crisp with ice cream for dessert everything was excellent!
Review Source:Our family of 4 (2 boys age 3 and 5) ate here for dinner during Presidents week. When we made reservations we were a bit concerned that it wouldn't be kid friendly (no childrens menu listed on the website). Â We were pleasantly surprised. It has a very rustic feel. The boys loved the airplane metal sculptures hanging from the ceiling.
Service was very friendly and attentive. We went at 6PM on a Wed and the dining room wasn't full when we arrived but much more so by the time we were finished.
It turned out that they do have a basic childrens' menu; chicken tenders, pasta, pork ribs, etc.. Â We also found that the boys enjoyed a few things from the appetizer menu; butternut squash ravioli and mild bbq chicken wings. Â They were also happy to provide a side of vegetables for the boys even though it wasn't on the menu.
The caesar salad is awesome and our entrees we well prepared and tasty. Â We will be back again!
Visited recently on a busy holiday Saturday night. All of the menu items we sampled were solid; my favorite were the carmelized brussel sprouts that we shared as an appetizer. Also had an artichoke appetizer that was good but not particularly inspired. The pork tenderloin from that evening's specials was perfectly prepared and seasoned. Desserts were also very good.
Initial contact from the server took quite a while. They were busy (holiday weekend and all) but still. It shouldn't take that long to come over and at least get drinks started. After that, service was reasonably attentive. I'll definitely go back, but on an evening with fewer crowds.
We've eaten here on several occasions over the last couple years and the food has always been very good, without exception. Â However,on our recent visit there everyone's meal(there were 5 of us) was pretty mediocre at best. Â The seafood bisque was very disappointing- one of the worst i've had,and the chicken linguini had an odd undertaste that just didn't work. The seafood stew was a weak attempt, as well.
On a positive note,the service was good and the dining area is cozy and attractive.
It was very crowded the Friday evening we went, with extremely loud screaming children at two tables surrounding us.Conversation was limited to shouting at each other.
The final analysis is there several better places to eat dinner in Truckee.
Happy hour is where you want to be:
$10 buttermilk-battered chicken wings with BBQ sauce: <a href="http://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?select=I27SEGP_bRePjH8R445n7g&userid=wG9d5TxOKKgbd8O08-kntA">http://www.yelp.com/user…</a>
They are very good: the coating remains super crispy, even with the sauce, and the flavor of the sauce is really good.
$10 Epic Caesar salad: <a href="http://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?select=CWPkj45WRPhNoGSSbG7B1w&userid=wG9d5TxOKKgbd8O08-kntA">http://www.yelp.com/user…</a>
"Serves 2-4," but I ate the whole thing myself. Â The dressing is excellent, and the crouton bread slices are great.
PSA (public service announcement): Happy hour is 4:30-6 daily, but it lasts all night long on Thursdays, when they also have live music starting at 7.
While in Truckee the week before Christmas, we wanted to try a new "quality" local restaurant. We searched Yelp and found "Cottonwood" and decided to try it out based on the high ratings.
Unfortunately, our experience did not go well.
We made reservations and arrived exactly on time. The host behind the podium told us just a one moment. She came back to take us to our table bust instead, started talking to someone who walked in to sit at the bar. Â After 5 minutes, she realized she still needed to seat us at our table. That was kind of weird and a sample of what was to come during our meal.
After being seated, we waited longer than I would have expected to have a server visit our table. My wife ordered the sea bass special, and I had NY strip. I also ordered a glass of wine. Â About 30 minutes later our food was delivered to our table yet my wine had still not arrived,
My wife's fish was overcooked. It was rubbery and could not be cut with the butter knife. The server was nice and agreed the fishy was not right and took it away. Â I was hoping they would bring a replacement within 5 minutes. Â It took so long I actually finished my meal, and my wife's fish still had not been delivered. Â Finally, the second attempt to cook the fish turned out the same as before (ball of rubber). Â I decided to give it a taste (second opinion) and I was not happy. Â The fish tasted "fishy" indicating it was not fresh. Â The server noticed there was an issue and took the dish off the bill.
As for my steak, it was fatty and grisly. Â Not very good.
All in all, never going there again.
Service was slow, food was not up to par.
View of Truckee was nice and the server tried her best to make things right. Â However, the chef should not have sent crappy fish twice, and should have trimmed the steak properly.
Broken Tradition! We have been going to this place for 10 years on new years eve and this year the tradition is broken. The person who took our call was very rude and said they don't take parties over 8, we have had 20 in the past. He didn't offer to let us break up the group or anything his only response to us was ,NO. Horrible way to treat customers!!!!!!
All he had to do was be sympathetic or offer a solution.
My family brought me here for my birthday and it was one of the more enjoyable dinner experiences I have had in quite some time. Â The food was excellent and the service was good. Â I had the Ahi which was great! The ambiance was warm and inviting. Â The only downside of the dinner was that we had to ask to be moved to a different table because we had virtually no view of Truckee, which is one of the best qualities of the restaurant. Â
Can't wait to go back.
If this is the best restaurant in Truckee, I think Truckee is in trouble. I should probably this restaurant 2 stars.
We stopped in while visiting Truckee on vacation. It is really expensive for what you get.
I think a burger with tax and tip runs you almost $20.
Maybe the locals like it for some reason we weren't informed of.
The waiter was nice.
Maybe happy hour is better.
First timer @ Cottonwood, and we are very pleased all around. Next time will make a reservation, who would think mid Oct there would be a wait? But a great, lively bar to wait in, and lots of fun people watching.
 Our waitress, Taylor was so genuine, and pleasant..from Fresno yet..
 Everything we heard about the whole leaf Caesar true, and we are the Caesar experts.
 Wish we would of had more N Ca (Dry Creek or Alexander Vally) wines to pick from.. Boot the Chili Vino folks, no one from Chili's coming in...but had a nice Pinot from Mendo Coast..
The best resturant in Truckee! Â Where do I start...
Atmosphere- always hopping...anytime is a good time.... summer, fall, winter, spring. Â Make sure you make reservations.
Food - A++++ never had a bad meal! Make sure you have the Caesar salad, don't miss it! Â The Basa is consistently a favorite, as is the Veggie Enchilada dish. Â The do offer daily specials, that are culinary delights, worth a try. Â The quality, quanity and presentation top notch!
Location- easy access, plentiful parking, great view of old downtown Truckee. Â Summer time the deck is a great place to dine...bring your sunglasses!
Staff--professional, knowledgeable and friendly
Worth 6 stars but that was not a rating option. Â Hats off to Mike and his team!
People really like this place, so I gave it two shots before writing this review (since my first visit was pretty disappointing.) Â Sadly, my second dinner there wasn't too much better.
My main gripe here is that it is WAY overpriced for the quality of food and service...a typical problem in Tahoe / Truckee. Â It could be much better if they'd reign in their culinary aspirations a bit and ratchet back the prices a few bucks, because they have one of the best rooms in the region, a great reputation and a fair-to-good wine list to trade on.
Let me bottom line it for you: this place can cook a new york steak or a filet mignon or a nice piece of fish- they've got the "classy classics" nailed, and for a seat in the their lovely room and a sip of some of the nice wines they've got, it's pretty much worth the $30.00 price tag. Â However, anything that sounds a little too avant garde or gourmet to be good in this place probably is. Â Things like scallops in a root beer reduction definitely over promise and under deliver at this joint. Â The kitchen just doesn't have the chops. Â
Other gripes:
-The duck breast salad was bland. Â The pieces of duck were cooked pretty well, but they weren't seasoned at all, and the greens and fruit on the plate all just kind of laid there. Â Good concept with no execution.
-The chicken pasta (was it linguine? can't ever remember) was just horrible, especially for $20. Â I make better stuff than this when I go camping. Â My overall recollection of the dish is "red mush."
-Service was disorganized and slow. Â Sitting in the dining room on a busy night during ski season we were visited by at least 5 different hostesses, servers, runners and bussers. Â But with all these moving pieces the execution was slow and confused. Â Bunches of college kids who don't know anything about fine dining or wine. Â NOT an impressive choice for the level of pretension on the menu / in the atmosphere. Â We actually got BETTER dinner service from a friendly bartender while sitting on the easy to overlook side patio a few weeks ago.
I know it sounds like I'm being really harsh on this place, but anyone who lays out a menu of culinary aspiration like this, and charges these kind of prices is opening themselves up to the criticism.
If they simplified to more of a high end bistro feel, this could be the best restaurant in Truckee. Â Here's hoping.
Check out the daily specials, chef Dave is always exploring local and seasonal tastes. Last time the scallop special was my favorite. Burger is great, Caesar salad is yummy! Polenta is a regular order for me. My man digs the Niman Ranch Ribeye. The wine list changes and is always good, but the French Margarita is not to be missed.
Rustic old ski chalet with all sorts of interesting historical tidbits. Comfy in the winter and int he summer the deck is an epic spot overlooking downtown Truckee. Not a peaceful lake view, but trains, random bird sightings, great sunsets. LIve music often.
Cottonwood is always lively, even in the off season it is such a local favorite there is always conversation and laughter.
Really great service and pretty good food.
Suggested to us by a great friend...
Sitting on the patio is an experience in itself. Â Since they are known for one of the greatest views in Truckee, you can't be choosy!
They don't have any heaters, only thick wool blankets. Â I gladly adorned two blankets while we waited for our wine and meal. Â Red wine makes all outdoor evening events more enjoyable! Â
We chose to share a bottle of Pinot Noir, which was fantatic!
Meals consisted of Basa (white fish similar to tilapia) and a NY steak. Â Both were really great! Â Not too overdone, not too raw.
Fantastic view, great service and delicious food! Â We'll be back.
Burger here is delicious! To me, its the best burger I have ever had in the Tahoe area. The last time i was there it came with incredible waffle fries. Also try the Caesar salad, it's really flavorful and fresh. All the food here is good. It all tastes fresh and the quality of flavor is certainly high.
The atmosphere is warm and rustic. In the summer, try to sit out on the deck, the restaurant has a great view of truckee and the deck is a fun environment to eat in.
Also they give you delicious sour dough bread before the meal, it's probably Truckee sour dough company.
Fun And layed back restaurant, great for families and people of all ages.
Brussels sprouts.
Jeff from Bar Of America pointed me, my sister and brother in law to Cottonwood for Brussels sprouts. Â We walked our inebriated asses up the hill from downtown Truckee for Brussels sprouts. Â We had a Cesar salad too. Â It was awesome. Â But we were three sheets to the wind.
I went back after a day of skiing with my friends Dave, Steve and Allen. Â I ordered pasta, I'm normally not a pasta person but I was snowboarding the next day... it was awesome.
Then I brought boyfriend there, who is more than a foodie than me. Â It was awesome. Â He got something with red meat, which I won't eat, I got the butternut squash enchilada. Â
I love Cottonwood. Â It's fancy, yet rustic feeling. Â Perfect for Truckee.
Had the best caesar salad of my life here. It's seriously delicious. So much garlic, light lemon and anchovy flavor -- YUM!
Had their pomegranate poinsettia cocktail and it was sweet and bubbly. I'd order it again.
The butternut squash enchiladas were tasty but the chips with it were wayyy too spicy. BF had the chicken chipotle linguine and he was also a huge fan.
I will definitely be coming back in the future.
Great food and wine. There are some items on the menu worth coming back for! The salads are crisp and unique. The specials were creative and fresh.Our waiter Craig was AWESOME. He was helpful and provided great service without being pushy or hanging around our table too much.
Watch out for the desserts...super yummy.
Certainly for the price, this place is great. Â Service was also great, with friendly servers. Â The vibe is local, but you can enjoy on two fronts. Â You can sit at the bar and get the same food as on the restaurant-side, but scale it up on a night out and sit at the white tablecloths for some added flair.
I enjoyed the cheeseburger, which was cooked on the rarer side of medium-rare. Â Tasty, good meat. Â However, I didn't like the waffle fries too much. Â They were a fine accompaniment, I suppose. Â
Had a couple of beers, and the total for three people came to $66, not including tip. Â Their starters, especially if you're eating light, or just aren't interested in entrees, serve very well for a good meal and the options are good.
Came here on New Year's Eve and had a great evening. Here's a brief play-by-play:
We arrived on time for out 9:30 reservation and were immediately seated despite all the activity in the main room. Our guess was many people who had finished dining wanted to remain in the bar area 'till NYE, and then more people who were reservationless were hoping to score one of the 'walk in' bar tables.
The main dining room was beautifully lit and festive. I loved that it wasn't a "special menu" on NYE. Usually those special menus mean higher prices, poor quality. We started with two glasses of champagne and then proceeded to order a bottle of wine. Â They were out of the pinot noir we wanted, but I won't deduct a star because the list was extensive enough that we could easily pick another bottle. That said, best to be prepared!!
Wine was great and our server was warm, welcoming and attentive throughout the meal.
Appetizers were good -- boyfriend got the crabcake (which I liked more than he did -- he still thought they were a little 'cake' heavy rather than crab). I ordered an appetizer-sized caesar which was way better than I expected. Usually a caeser is a throwaway kind of app (I ordered a HEAVY main, so wanted to stay light) but the homemade dressing was delicious, the salad was well dressed and the lettuce was high quality.
For mains, my boyfriend for the filet with blue cheese -- perfectly cooked/seasoned. They did a great job with this classic dish. I ordered the osso bucco which came in a red wine sauce with polenta. The osso buco was phenom, the sauce was great, but the dish came out looking like osso buco soup rather than a sauce poured over the polenta. Again, I won't deduct a point b/c it was delicious, but the polenta was hard to find in the broth and the dish was better eaten with a spoon. All that said, for a NYE meal, the thought and time to prepare great food was not overlooked. Bravo!
We feel like we found a hidden treasure. My husband and I were staying in Squaw Valley for our first anniversary when he had the idea to go into Truckee for dinner. I Googled Truckee dining and found a few places, but Cottonwood caught my eye. We walked in 30 minutes later. The owner (or who we assumed to be the owner) was at the front greeting people, which always speaks volumes about the place. We had a drink at the bar while we waited (only 30 min) for a table and my excitement started to rise. The atmosphere was intimate and rustic - we immediately feel in love. Fingers crossed that the food was good too.
We were not disappointed. We started with the ribs and enjoyed those immensely. They were unlike any ribs we have had - crusty on the outside. Then I had the butternut squash enchiladas, which I had read about here on Yelp. AMAZING does not do this dish justice. Butternut squash is one of my favorite things and these enchiladas were heaven. My husband also loved his ahi tuna - and he has had a lot of ahi!! It was a top quality fish and cooked perfectly. This is one of the dining experiences you never forget. If you are looking for a great spot while in the Truckee area, Cottonwood should be your first pick. We will definitely be back.
The 5 best restaurants in the 2015 Denver Restaurant Week
3,611 Views | Category: Denver
The complete list of 2015 Denver Restaurant Week businesses
1,972 Views | Category: Denver
The tourists' guide to Portillos: 5 must have dishes
3,318 Views | Category: Chicago
Pho = Pronounced "fuh" not "foe" for pho-king sake
2,915 Views | Category: Denver
Indulgery selected to exhibit at Collision Conference
2,987 Views | Category: Press Releases
Not Logged In
BUSINESSES
Local Businesses
Near Me
My Favorites
SOCIAL
Blog & News
MY ACCOUNT
Login
Register
Contact Us
Add Your Business
