Tahoe Joe's A Mighty Fine Steakhouse
Written: Apr 07 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Good food, reasonable prices, call ahead seating.
Cons: Noisy Restaurant, crowded.
The Bottom Line: Something just a little different than the other steakhouses in town.
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| merlot's Full Review: Tahoe Joe's |
Living in Sacramento there are many restaurants to choose from. However, going into Sacramento isn't always fun. Most often we choose to dine in Roseville, but up until the last 2 years Roseville hasn't had much to offer in the way of dining.
Choices were limited to Chevy's or The Old Spaghetti Factory and a few local restaurants. Then a few years ago people finally started to realize that this growing area desperately needed restaurants. Since that time we have seen many delicious restaurant chains opening up. Everything from Mimi's Cafe, Chili's, Outback Steakhouse, to one of our newest...Tahoe Joe's
The Restaurant
My husband and I have been wanting to try Tahoe Joe's since it opened up about a year ago. This past weekend we finally made it to Tahoe Joe's.
Most restaurants in this area do not accept reservations. However, they will accept call ahead priority seating. At Tahoe Joe's you call when you are leaving home (or no more than an hour before you want to dine) and they will seat you faster than if you just walked in. Some restaurants say the max you will wait with this service is 20 minutes. When we pulled into the parking lot there were a lot of people waiting. We walked in, gave our names, she handed us the pager and told us it would be just a few minutes. Within 40 seconds we were called for our table. We were seated before any of those people who arrived before us. Yes, we got dirty looks from a few of them, but hey, it's not my fault they didn't call ahead. :)
The outside of the restaurant looks like a cabin in the woods. It's much the same when you enter. The walls are log with pig paintings of local Lake Tahoe areas. There are giant lamps with mountaineering pictures that hang from the ceiling. The bar is right off the main entrance and is quite large with lots of seating. There is a mix of tables and booths throughout the restaurant.
There are a lot of tables in the restaurant and I noticed that the waiters and waitresses had a hard time maneuvering through the dining area. There were several times when guests were coming and going at the same time a waitress was coming and one of them always had to move over to make way for the other.
There are low walls that seperate areas of the restaurant but these actually contribute to the noise level of the restaurant. When you are sitting you can see the whole restaurant, which although nice and rustic, kind of gave it a cafeteria kind of feel. It was quite noisy in the restaurant and I think had those walls been built up a little, maybe some plants added, it would have helped with the noise level. However, this is a busy, happening place so it's going to be noisy. It's also a very casual place so feel free to wear anything from jeans to a dress. There was a nice mix of clothing, well except for the guy who came in sweats a Tshirt.
The Menu
Tahoe Joe's is a steakhouse so the menu consists of primarily steaks. Make that Wood Broiled Steaks.
If you'd like to start with an appetizer they have a few to choose from. We saw another table had ordered the Jackpot Nachos and they were huge. They also have Onion Straws, Calamari Steak Strips, Brave Hearts (Crispy artichoke hearts), and Soup. Prices for appetizers range from $4-7.
For dinner there is so much to choose from. Ribs, Chicken Salad, Steaks, Calamari, Salmon, Shrimp, Pasta, and many others. My husband chose the Joe's Steak. This is a 10 oz sirloin roast. They cook it in the wood oven and it is rubbed with black pepper. It comes with a dinner salad (or a bowl of soup), Blue lake green beans, and your choice of Mountain Mashers, baked potato, vegetable pilaf, or cabin fries. The price of his dinner was $15.99.
I chose the Whiskey Peppercorn Chicken. This is a charbroiled chicken breast that is served with a whiskey peppercorn sauce on the side. I liked that the sauce was served on the side, however it was just a little cold and since it was a cream sauce it really needed to be a little warmer. I thought it would be more of a glaze, but it was quite tasty. I really wanted a baked potato instead of the Mountain Mashers that are served with the chicken dinner, it was $1.50 to make that substitution. I also ordered a dinner salad with my meal for an additional $2.79. Combine that with the $10.99 dinner price and I paid almost as much as my husband did. All dinners are served with a basket of fresh hot rolls.
It wouldn't be fair for me to not talk about the Blue Lake Green Beans that are served with dinner. Had I known how tasty these were going to be I would have skipped the potato and ordered extra green beans. Fresh green beans steamed with tomatoes and bacon. Oh my, just thinking about them makes me want to run up to Tahoe Joe's for an order, hey it's only $2.79 for a side order. They were delicious.
There were a few children dining with their parents on the night we went. There is a Little Joe's Menu which consisted of Junior Ribs, Hot dog, Little Black Jack Burger, Chicken Fingers, or a Skillet Grilled Cheese. The prices for these meals ranged from $2.49-4.99.
Being a steakhouse you're not going to find a lot of vegetarian choices on the menu. In fact, you'll find only one. Pasta del Sol for $9.99. This is Penne pasta with a mix of veggies, herbs, and feta cheese. There are salads to choose from, but they came with shrimp or chicken. You could always order without, or better yet, go somewhere other than a steakhouse.
If you have room, we didn't, for dessert you can choose a Ski Jump Chocolate Cake, Berry Cobbler A la Mode, or the Nevada Cheesecake. We saw several people order the cheesecake, but we needed to be rolled out as it was so no dessert for us.
Locations
In addition to the Roseville, California location there are 6 other locations to choose from. You can find a Trader Joe's in Fresno, Bakersfield, Vacaville, San Luis Obispo, Folsom, and Pleasant Hill. Some of these locations offer delivery, all offer take-out service.
Final Thoughts
I am really glad we finally got to dine at Tahoe Joe's. The food was fresh and served at a relaxed pace. We never felt rushed, in fact I hate when your still eating your salad and they bring your dinner out. We had a nice, comfortable wait for our main course. The service was nice and I appreciate the call ahead seating option.
If you're tired of the usual Black Angus or Outback Steakhouse, both good choices by the way, give Tahoe Joe's a try. I think you'll like it.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
merlot
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Location: Californina
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