Reno

Pine State Biscuits We happened upon this diner style cafe as soon as we got to Reno and what a happy accident. The service was fast, coffee was self serve and the food was great. We had the biscuits and gravy with scambled eggs, my sister chose 1/2 and 1/2 for the gravy, sausage and spicy. The food was great and I wish we were able to finish it, but it was too big, too bad for us.

La Strata In the El Dorado Hotel across from where we were staying, this was the choice for our first dinner in town since we thought we would have dinner at our hotel (Harrahs) as our main dinner together. We should have chosen this at the end of our trip, every other place paled in comparison. Keith was our Server and he was very attentive and brought the manager after my cousin Ray established a common bond, East Coast Italians. The service was excellent before and became out of this world after. The bread basket was beautiful and vaired, Mushroom Ravioli appetizer (comped), singing by the manager, veal was amazing, dessert (comped) and lemony warm hand towels to end the meal. It set all the other places up for failure because the bar was set so high. We will definitely be back not just for the food, but we will stay at this hotel too.

Harrah’ Reno is where we stayed, and it was old, musty and had bad service. The East tower very few customers booked in it and the room my Father was in was moldy and they had to be moved because his wife is super sensitive to environmental pollution. They got a better room, but there were 3 more rooms in our group that still were in the old tower without a mini fridge or microwave and much smaller than the West tower that my dad was relocated to. They allowed you to opt out of house keeping for a $10/stay credit, but the credit didn’t show up on your bill and if you didn’t specifically use it by charging to your room, you lost it.

Our formal family reunion dinner was at Harrah’s Steakhouse, not only was the food and service inferior to La Strata at the El Dorado, but it was more expensive. They assess an %18 gratuity on parties of 7 or more (?) weird number. There was a 10% discount given to all the meals because of my players card, but they brought the bill and I thought it was their copy and my copy. It was a discounted bill and the original bill, I was trying to pay the original amount and my son pointed out he was looking at a different total. I almost paid the higher bill that was $454 for 6 entrees, 1 bottle of wine an one chef’s special. Almost $100 over the bill from La Strata and not nearly as good. The Chef special came with a dessert of a pecan tart flambed with bourbon and tasted so much like alcohol that we each had a bite and left most of it behind (and we all like alcohol). Never again.

Pulled Pork Nachos

Virginia City Jerky and BBQ This was a side trip from Reno and we are so glad we made it. The road up was winding and the sky was clear, the view was of the valley and the snowy peaks. We stopped at Dr Geiger lookout and took a few pictures and then back on the road to VC. We walked the town and checked out the shops, we stopped to have BBQ for lunch and thoroughly enjoyed it. My son is pictured sitting on a rock at the lookout (drop off behind him) and he gets credit for the meme about the historic site starter pack, cause this it totally what it’s like.

National Auto Museum - I like cars, classic cars, mostly muscle cars, my dad likes them all. This was so much more than we could have hoped for. There were cars from the 1800’s up to the 80’s, including experimental, early, steamk, classic and iconic cars. Entry for 7 with veteran discount that applied to all on the receipt, 4 seniors and 3 adults was $59, not bad for an afternoon of entertainment. The cars had descriptions and some had accompanying clothing from the era, there was even a car where you could dress up and take pictures in. We all enjoyed this much more than we though we would, I would definitely recommend this for an afternoon trip.