The search yielded only really old notes, so I thought I would update.  We love to go a couple of times a year, and since hotel rooms in South Shore Lake Tahoe are so prohibitive now, Reno has been the affordable alternative.  When we go, we don't expect sophistication or rusticity, just sort of a happy middle ground, and good cheap food.  That said, we have a few favorites to recommend for those of you venturing there...

 

Steak House at Harrah's (in the basement) - Men, get out your inch wide ties, and suits with lapels to match.  Women, try a beehive.  Or just go in shorts like some of the big spenders.  This place is in a time warp, and a very good one at that.  Dark with pinspot lighting, big leatherette booths, and tuxedoed waiters that can prepare tableside and serve with two spoons!  All of the best that I remember from dining in the 60's and early 70's, with Steak Diane and an excellent Caesar Salad prepared tableside.  And a liquor heavy cafe brulot, also prepared tableside with Cointreau poured over an orange rind, is so potent and nasty it will remind you of why people smoked unfiltered cigarettes after dinner.  A short but great winelist (Pride Cabernet and Insignia) at OK prices completes the experience.  A national treasure.

 

White Orchid at Peppermill -  You might be familiar with the neon Peppermill style, and this is no exception.  Hidden from the Casino behind closed etched glass doors, you enter a room with an electric turquoise star speckled ceiling, and plastic plants around white trellises, punctuated with six pristine crystal chandeliers.  This place would have made Architectural Digest in 1970.  Try to ignore the bordello artwork and focus on the extensive winelist, with several reasonably priced finds, along with the usual overpriced La Tache.  Food is sensible, and new classics are prepared flawlessly, served in good sized portions.  We enjoyed white and green asparagus with Serrano Ham in truffled vinaigrette, a creamy young garlic soup, perfect foie gras served as a hamburger on a petite brioche bun, and the most perfect rack of lamb stuffed with olives that I have ever had.  The dessert with the prix fixe menu was ho hum, and the service more like a regular restaurant, but the combination of kitsch, good wine and great food more than made up for it.

 

Any other off the beaten track suggestions?

 

 

I don't get to Reno that often, but Rapscallion has always been a familiar place to go to get decent food. My memory is that this was designed by Pat Kuleto years ago and has never been updated.