The Getaway Café defies all odds to achieve top rankings.
“Nobody does it better…” goes that old Carly Simon hit. It actually would make a perfect theme song for The Getaway Café, a small restaurant located off the beaten track in Meyers, a tiny unincorporated community on the outskirts of South Lake Tahoe. Even with GPS, you might drive right by and miss it. If you do, make a U-turn and look again. Trust me, it’s worth it.
Don’t let its diminutive size fool you — this tiny café, which serves only breakfast and lunch, actually is a titan in disguise, having racked up a lot of awards in its 17-year history. It’s one of Yelp’s Top 5-star Restaurants after more than 1,200 reviews. It recently ranked as No. 10 nationally in Yelp’s Top 100 Best Places To Take Your Mom for Mother’s Day. And it’s been voted Best Breakfast five years in a row and Best Lunch three years in a row, by readers of the Tahoe Daily Tribune.
Owner Diane Guth is humbled, but not surprised, by the honors heaped upon the restaurant. For her, it’s about great quality food, good value, and excellent customer service.
Quality Everything
“I don’t buy anything processed or frozen,” Guth says. “Everything is fresh. We either make it ourselves or source it locally. We make everything from scratch — our croutons, soups, salad dressings, corned beef hash, biscuits and gravy, sauces … It’s really important to me that we serve really great food and provide the best quality product we can.”
It’s also about quantity, though — the portions are huge. Guth says that at least 85 percent of her customers leave with to-go boxes. The hamburgers are humongous half-pounders served on freshly baked buns from Truckee Sourdough Bread Co. Truckee’s thick-cut sourdough bread is used for Guth’s scrumptious French toast creations. The maple bacon French toast — made with organic, house-made maple syrup glaze and four slices of crispy bacon, diced and sprinkled on top — and the coconut French toast — made with shredded coconut, bananas, and house-made coconut cream sauce — are two of The Getaway’s most popular items. It’s kind of like having dessert for breakfast.
The café is most known for its Mexican specialties, Guth says, especially dishes made with the restaurant’s homemade chorizo. But don’t overlook the fabulous eggs Benedict varieties, which are as beautiful as they are delicious. A nice assortment of vegetarian dishes also is available, if that’s your preference.
Because the eatery is so small — with seating for only 35 inside and 50 outside — there’s often a long wait for a table. In the peak of the summer season, it’s not unusual to have a 90-minute wait time, Guth says. And most people do wait. The food’s that good.
Guth makes sure she’s out there, greeting all the customers with a warm, friendly smile and easing the wait by handing out coffee, mimosas, and bloody marys. It’s almost a party atmosphere, even before you get inside. Now that’s customer service!
The Getaway Café
Open 7 a.m. – 2 p.m. daily for breakfast and lunch
3140 Hwy. 50, Meyers
530-577-5132 • Tahoegetawaycafe.com
