Lake Tahoe: Best burger in years; other reports (previously posted on CH)

I posted this on you-know-where back in July, and thought I would copy it here to get things started. I should note that for all our raves about the Lucky Beaver burger, the one at Belcampo Meats in L.A, beats it handily. However, that’s L.A., and a different world. Anyway.

We spent four days in Tahoe last week, and had a few notable meals. We’re not into fancy high-end food – we just like simple, well-prepared meals.

Lucky Beaver Bar & Burger:
Notwithstanding the tacky name and even tackier signage (vulgar, per S. O.) , these were truly the best burgers we’ve had in years, and we’re had some good ones. Made with the famed Pat LaFreida meats, the burgers were char-grilled to a perfect medium. Very flavorful meat, toppings as requested. Great parmesan/garlic fries and chili too. We ate outside as the inside had loud music and was full of loud guys in their twenties (clearly their target market). We liked it enough that we went back a couple of days later. I tried one of their breakfast sandwiches and it was great too. S.O. had another burger which was even better than her previous one. They have an outpost in Reno as well – we just wish they would open a Las Vegas location. Located in the building between Harrah’s and Montbleu.

Latin Soul (Brazilian BBQ):
Great apps and sides; OK but unexceptional meats. I’m told that’s typical for Brazilian BBQ. The meats were slow in coming, and pretty infrequent – I suspect that situation would be improved in a place with a larger customer base. We probably wouldn’t return.

Nikki’s Chaat Cafe:
Great real-deal Indian. We started out with onion pakoras, which were excellent. Next we had mulligatawny soup, okra, and butter chicken. All were very good – the okra was a real standout. However, the requested spice level of “medium” was much too hot for us – we would go with “mild” next time around. We were surprised at the degree of heat, considering the typical Tahoe clientele – this was hot even by South Bay standards.
http://www.nikkischaatcafe.com/

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