The Dam Cafe

The Dam Café is one of those jewels in the sierras. Locally operated and locals favorite. They have an array of breakfast burritos, coffees, teas, and smoothies. Very small dining area, excellent for making new friends

Cute locals type place with great coffee and food. There was a long line but it was worth the wait for great breakfast burritos and sandwiches. Food is made fresh and the bfast items didn’t skimp on the bacon! Will definitely stop by next time we are up.

Dam Goodness — best breakfast burrito! Café Latte, happiness first thing in the morning. Slow food delivery as every dish is made to order, worth the wait!

Very nice and cozy place. Good coffee, good vegetarian burrito. Nice people working here.

Food: 5 stars
Service: 0 stars.
Unfortunately– service is more important — I will not return somewhere when the people behind the counter think it’s acceptable to ridicule and offend their customers.
I tipped $ 5 on my first tab, which was $ 27 for 2 sandwiches and 2 drinks. Food was excellent. Went back up to counter for dessert — cookie — $ 2.50 cost. Put $ 1.50 in tip jar. My son tried to put another dollar in, and I said «No, I just put over a dollar in there». Barista, in a loud, sarcastic voice: «Lucky Me!!» I looked up, surprised, she couldn’t be actually saying this? Other barista — laughs, looks at me, and says «Hey, I’m not going to judge».
$ 6.50 in tips on food/​tax cost of $ 29.50. This is over 22% Gratuity. For COUNTER SERVICE. They do not even clean the tables in between customers– we had to do that ourselves.
No thank you, I will spend my hard-​earned money somewhere else — like the Tahoe House — just down the street, and their service is excellent.

A cute little home town sandwich, bakery and coffee shop. Somewhat of a limited menu, but the menu is varied enough to satisfy most people.
Unlike other reviewers, we had excellent service. Perhaps it is just one employee who is giving the others a black mark in their copybook?
Tried the Chai Shake– very delish. I noticed that it was on the «smoothies» menu and had about the texture that I expected a smoothie to have. I didn’t notice the cooler of drinks off to one side until after we had ordered. I saw some tempting and eclectic selections in there!
Overall glad that we stopped here for a late lunch and would definitely do it again in the future.

Really good stuff. Latte was on point and they have the best Dam breakfast burrito. I really dig the chill patio, but the gardening could use some work.

Deliscious food! I enjoyed the atmosphere almost as much as the food. Kind of reminded me of home in Oregon. Our wait wasnt as bad as it could have been. We got there at the right time… while we were eating 10 people walked in and im sure there was no seating and their wait was long. But the food was so good! Would definitely stop in again.

Stopped there on Labor Day weekend for cup of coffee and some pastry. The service I found very dismissive:(They don’t make you feel welcome as other cafés do. My first and last time there.

The best DAM sandwiches not just in Tahoe but anywhere! While the service is painfully slow I vouch that it is worth the wait! What to order? That’s easy: BLTA on Multi Grain Bread is a bacon explosion in your mouth. Add Turkey for some extra protein and even more flavor and you’re set. Honestly, I could lunch here everyday. I also really enjoy their Avocado & Hummus Sandwich with added turkey. All of the veggies are super fresh and the hummus is delicious! Come ready to stuff your face, just be prepared it’s going to take a little while for your food.

Tiny little cute little café, conveniently located right by 89 and Lake Blvd. Free wifi. Food is fresh and simple, and the staff are nice. When I was there in there in the early afternoon, it seemed like most folks were grabbing a quick bite or coffee to go. Not really a hang-​out café.

The cutest little shabby chic café in Tahoe. Located right next to the water, this place is really a hidden gem. The decoration is like a homestyle charming cottage. I ordered the Chai Latte and an apple scone. It was hands down the best scone I’ve ever had!

If you are looking for a breakfast Burrito and a coffee to fill up with good energy for a hike, this is the place to go! Food is OK-​good and service is nice ! Considering the value for money, it’s a 4 stars

Dam good cornbread along with black bean soup, The Dam Burly-​Rito was awesome too… All made fresh and to order.

We have two small kids so waiting around for a table wasn’t an option and so we stumbled in here. Its small but accomodating. My son loved his chocolate croissant. Coffee is self served. Breakfast sammich and burrito is satisying without leaving you feel gross and fat. That smoked guyere is fantastic! For all you bacon lovers, their bacon appears to be deep fried (so it tates more like the fryer than yummy bacon). Staff is friendly. I would stop here again!

The Dam is a regular stop for me on the way to the shred city for a few reasons:
1) It’s reasonably priced relative to resort fare
2) It’s conveniently located if you’re heading west to Squaw/​Alpine
3) The staff is very friendly
4) The breakfast burritos and BLTA (blt+avocado) provide adequate shredfuel for a day of aggressive shralping.
That said, I don’t particularly love the coffee here, the (copious) bacon is approaching «charcoal-​crisp», and everything is surprisingly salty.
If you have time for a leisurely meal in the area, I’d recommend stopping somewhere else.
If you have gnar to destroy, stop here for a burrito, brah.

Extensive selection of sandwiches, bagels, smoothies, lattes, ice cream desserts and more.
The only repulsive factor here was a huge one: about 30 – 50 big fat houseflies crawling on the food in the kitchen and buzzing the heads of customers and staff alike. I watched as one cook, swatted the flies away from her head — connecting with her bare hands and then continued on making sandwiches – business as usual.
To their credit, at least they bother to hang fly netting across their open doorways. I’d have given them only two stars for the fact that flies were crawling all over their counters and open kitchen area – except I worked for Orkin back in the day and am aware of the fact that come winter the flies will be gone. Gone until next spring anyway.
Good food. Decent prices but repulsive during fly season. They need to lay baited fly-​traps out of sight.

Stopped for lunch at the Dam Café. It’s located at the «Y» and just a stone’s throw from the only river outlet on Lake Tahoe. It’s a quaint little place where you select a beverage from a glass door cooler, order at the counter, then select one of the tables inside or umbrella tables out (if dining there). When your order is ready it will be delivered to your table.
I ordered the Turkey sandwich on multi-​grain (they also offer sourdough) with gouda, veges and a cranberry mayo spread. The bread is baked in-​house daily and the café uses organic and local ingredients whenever possible. The sandwich was very good. The gouda had a nice nutty flavor and the veges all tasted fresh. Everything blended well with the cranberry/​mayo spread which was not overpowering or too sweet. It was a very well thought-​out sandwich as far as the flavors go and came with a couple thick round bagel chips and a pickle spear.
I don’t believe they have a website so the menu pics posted on Unilocal are a bit outdated as far as the prices go. Most sandwiches are $ 8.99 (not $ 6.99 as priced on the menu pic). This is Tahoe and it seems everything is a bit higher than what you might expect to pay down in the flat-​lands.

They have a convenient location right next to the exit out of North Tahoe by highway 89 and really close to downtown. We get our breakfast here every time we stay at a friend’s Tahoe City cabin.
They have great ice coffee! I also love their bagels and cream cheese. Their menu has some good variety to it and they even have smoothies.
My bf got the breakfast burrito with bacon, and I never thought I would have to say this, but there was too much bacon on it! It was overwhelming.
There is no way to time it perfectly with the line. We would come in the same time each morning and sometimes there was a really long line and other times, no wait at all.
The staff is really friendly and always hard at work. Only drawback is the prices. I think $ 3 for iced coffee is higher than the norm.
It is a really nice touch when they have someone playing guitar as well! There is plenty of outdoor seating, too.

These guys make great food, great coffee. Their service is great very friendly. The inside is total Tahoe vibe, I love it.
Only downside is they are not very fast. Make sure you got some time.