At Sunnyside, the deck chairs are stacked and the lodge is a construction site. Two miles down Highway 89, Chambers Landing's website has one line for the season: "CLOSED UNTIL MAY 2027." In Homewood, West Shore Cafe isn't taking dinner reservations at all.
That makes three lakefront dining rooms on the same stretch of shoreline, none of them serving daily public meals as winter starts. On the West Shore this season, almost every place to eat is a counter, a deli case or a bakery, and most of them close before the sun goes down.
Three dining rooms off the map at once
Each of these closures has its own reason, and each runs on its own timeline.
- Sunnyside Restaurant & Lodge closed on Oct. 4 for a $5 million renovation, according to the Reno Gazette Journal, with a planned reopening in April.
- Chambers Landing Bar & Grill at 6300 Chambers Lodge in Homewood is posted as closed until May 2027.
- West Shore Cafe & Inn is under renovation and is no longer set up as a daily public restaurant.
Two of these are seasonal pauses with a return date. The third is a change in what the building is for.
Sunnyside's next chapter has a new operator and a familiar menu item
The Sunnyside closure is also a handoff. Sierra Sun reported that T S Restaurants, which ran the restaurant and lodge under a lease for 39 years, is stepping away. The ownership group is partnering with Local Food Group, a Reno company that runs seven restaurants in Nevada, including all four Great Basin locations.
The renovation covers the lodge, the kitchen and the dining room, and the bar is moving. Private dining is expanding for weddings and group events, and the marina and waterfront are getting work too.
Local Food Group CEO Mark Estee knows the area. He was once executive chef at Lone Eagle Grille at the Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe and founded Burger Me and Moody's. He told Sierra Sun the menu would change carefully. "We understand what it means to take over a legendary brand," Estee said, "and you don't want to change everything, but you want to change the things that need to be changed."
The same Sierra Sun report says the fried zucchini is staying. The Hula Pie is not, because T S Restaurants holds the trademark, so Estee's team plans to create a new house dessert. Local Food Group offered to rehire Sunnyside's staff and already had more than 100 sign-ups. Employees are expected back in March, ahead of the April reopening. Sunnyside's own site describes the next chapter as "Coming Spring 2027."
West Shore Cafe is becoming something else
West Shore Cafe has a different story. The West Shore Cafe website says the property "is being reimagined primarily as an amenity for Homewood Mountain and Lake Club homeowners and their guests," and that it "will welcome the public at select events." It isn't currently taking reservations for daily dining or weddings, and future public events will be announced on its site.
The ownership says public dining, retail and new gathering spaces are planned at Homewood Mountain Resort as part of the Homewood master plan. The shoreline in front of the cafe stays open to the public under California's public land easement. The pier isn't a public mooring, and the nearby buoys are managed by Homewood High & Dry Marina, which operates separately from both the resort and the cafe.
So when Sunnyside and Chambers reopen in spring, the West Shore won't have quite the same lineup of public lakefront dining rooms it had last summer.
The winter West Shore runs on counters
With those three rooms out of daily service, everyday eating on the corridor moves to a handful of markets, cafes and a bakery. These are the hours each business posts on its own site. Ski season and holidays can change schedules, so check before you drive.
| Spot | Address | Posted hours | What it covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tahoe House Bakery & Gourmet | Tahoe City | 6 a.m. to 3 p.m., seven days; closed Thanksgiving and Christmas | Bakery, coffee, deli lunch, grocery |
| Fire Sign Cafe | 1785 W Lake Blvd., Tahoe City | 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday through Sunday | Breakfast and lunch |
| West Shore Market | 1780 W Lake Blvd., Tahoe City | Grocery and coffee bar 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily; deli 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. | Coffee, deli, groceries, wine, year-round gelato |
| Tahoma Market & Deli | 6890 W Lake Blvd., Tahoma | 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., seven days | Market and deli |
Fire Sign closes at 2 p.m., Tahoe House at 3 p.m. and the West Shore Market deli at 3:30 p.m. Fire Sign has been cooking from scratch on West Lake Boulevard since 1978. West Shore Market and Fire Sign sit almost across the street from each other, so you can get breakfast and a grocery run done on one block. Tahoma Market & Deli is the farthest south of the group and stays open until 7 p.m. The West Shore Market grocery and coffee bar run latest of all, until 8 p.m.
Thanksgiving falls on Nov. 26 this year, and Tahoe House has already posted that it will be closed that day and on Christmas.
After dark, the options thin out
Dinner on the West Shore this winter takes some planning. West Shore Market's menu page lists soup in winter and flatbread pizza from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. The market's contact page lists a longer Thursday through Sunday run, so call ahead on a Thursday or Sunday.
For a full dinner with a bar, the closest option is at the north end of the corridor. Bridgetender Tavern & Grill at 65 W Lake Blvd. in Tahoe City posts kitchen hours of 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The bar stays open an hour later each night.
Trails, snow parks and one boat ramp
Most of the West Shore's winter outdoor options run during daylight hours, which is also when the counters above are open.
Sugar Pine Point. At Ed Z'berg Sugar Pine Point State Park, the first campground loop has been open for winter camping on a first-come, first-served basis since Oct. 1. The showers and dump station closed for the season on Oct. 16, and the heated campground restroom stays open for winter visitors. Pine Lodge is closed for winter. Once snow covers the park, California State Parks lists more than 20 kilometers of marked cross-country ski trails.
Blackwood Canyon. Blackwood Canyon SNO-Park is three miles south of Tahoe City on the west side of Highway 89. It allows cross-country skiing, dog sledding and snow play. A permit is required, priced at $15 per day or $40 per season, and overnight camping isn't allowed. Details are on the state SNO-Park page.
The lake, for one more month. Through Nov. 30, launching a boat on this stretch of shoreline works differently. The Lake Forest Boat Ramp is closed Nov. 1 through 30 so sediment can be dredged out to keep launching and retrieval safe. Work should be done by Nov. 30, weather and conditions permitting. During the project, winter ramp operations run by the Tahoe Resource Conservation District have moved to Obexer's in Homewood. The ramp there is open daily from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and only sealed boats can launch. Obexer's own marina, yard and gas dock closed for the season on Nov. 1. The Tahoe City Public Utility District's ramp page has the project details.
Dec. 11 is the next date on the West Shore calendar
The next big change is up the hill. Homewood Mountain Resort's homepage lists opening day as Dec. 11, 2026, weather permitting. Its West Shore Resident pass is no longer on sale for this season. Residency verification was due Oct. 31, and sales resume in spring 2027.
Until lifts are turning, the corridor's daily routine depends on the counters in the table above. After Dec. 11, the West Shore gets a ski hill back. The lakefront dining rooms follow in spring, when Sunnyside plans to reopen in April and Chambers Landing in May, both under their posted plans.
If you're deciding whether your next West Shore place should be walking distance from a year-round counter or a summer-only deck, Frick n' Blazer Group can show you how each stretch of Highway 89 runs in December as well as in July. Schedule a Private Tahoe Consultation and we'll walk you through it.
