Crystal Basin Bistro

Love this place! Especially if you have the time to sit and enjoy the beautiful atmosphere and the wonderful wine pairings. The food has never disappointed me or my very picky boyfriend from the tacos to the sandwiches to the gourmet pastas everything on this menu is delicious. Also if you are a wine lover they have two tasting rooms with different wines at each so lots of variety. The staff has always been so welcoming and friendly.

The food was very good, long wait time, the 2 staff we’re doubled a cook/​waitress they should have picked a job each; about 45 min wait from order to service.

Awesome spot to stop for lunch. I had the shrimp taco special and strong ale. Highly recommend both! We had a pooped Jack Russell with us after a 4-​mile hike and they were super dog friendly. Beautiful day in the patio. I hope we get to return soon!

Wow! The food was amazing and the staff was so friendly and welcoming. I’m definitely driving up the hill for the summer events. Stuffed mushrooms were an appetizer, but could’ve a meal. The Gorgonzola and brisket sandwich was amazing. Orzo salad was delicious. Everything was perfectly seasoned.

My husband & I came here after a wine pick up party next-​door. I had high hopes for the place but it didn’t deliver. I could make the same food better at home. The Bangkok which is supposed to have spicy ginger pork tasted like it was made from Jimmy Dean breakfast sausage. The Caloma which is melted Havarti cheese with artichoke pesto and roasted tomatoes sounded amazing but it did not have that much flavor. Unless we are desperate for a meal after drinking the delicious wines next-​door I won’t be back. The service and the staff are really friendly at this restaurant though. I wish I liked the food more.

Interesting menu, delicious food, friendly (to families and dogs on patio) and fast. Right off Hwy 50, with gas station, makes for a hard to beat 2-​fer pitstop. Plus fun of Apple Hill right around the corner with Orchards, Vinyards, and Christmas tree farms. Prime time is Autumn to pre-​Christmas. Year around great diversion to and from Lake Tahoe.

I went in with my Sister for their annual Oyster fest. It was her birthday and we had so much fun. Everyone was very accommodating and friendly. The oysters were amazing. The wine was delicious. My favorite was the Bubbly. It was light, sweet, and a little fruity. The music was hoppin’, too. After we tasted wine, and had some oysters we went down to the restaurant. The food was delicious. We will definitely be back!

Surprisingly great food for a «not in the city» restaurant. You won’t be disappointed! Worth the stop on your way by.
Definitely try the mushroom appetizer! Yum!

Stopped by for the Friday Night dinner. Great food, great wine and live entertainment. Life is good!

Nice employees. Not much in ambiance and on cold rainy days this place definitely does not have that warm comforting feel. Had the artichoke and jalapeño empanadas which were wrapped in wonton wrappers. Would have preferred fresh jalapeños and not the canned ones you get on your hotdog. But it was tasty and so was their cilantro garlic green dipping sauce. BD liked his reuben sandwich and really dug that orzo pasta that came on the side. I tried it and it had that generic macaroni salad taste (not a bad thing if you like that kinda stuff; I don’t). We also had the adult root beer float. It was a nice treat. Food came out fast and it was all in all a nice lunch. Wouldn’t mind coming back to try other dishes.

Wine tasting in Apple Hill and need a bite? This is your place.
Located right off Hwy 50 and the Carson Rd wine trail, look for the giant barn-​like structure that says Crystal Basin Cellars… it’s next door. Bonus, because their wines are pretty good and you won’t have to stumble far to find good eats.
Friendly, small town vibe. This bistro has sandwiches, soups, and salads– plenty to choose from in case you have a large party (or picky, hard to please people). Prices were reasonable — about $ 10 for lunch.
Order at the counter upon entry. Water is self serve and drinks are in the case.
Vegetarian friendly. The fontina grilled cheese was delicious!
Local art for sale and bottles of sauces, spreads, and dips for purchase.
This is a must try when you’re in the area and need a quick, satisfying lunch.

Chose this place based on the 4.5-star reviews and hit it up on our way back from the snow. Most of the patrons were «family» to the ladies running the place and that’s the only explanation I can come up with for the good reviews. We stood in line for 15 minutes behind one table to order, and after another 20 waiting on food, 2 of 3 of our orders were wrong. They did apologize and quickly get us our correct orders. Unfortunately, the Havana sandwich was horrible. Based on the reviews, I can only assume no one who gave it high marks has ever actually had carnitas before. It was more like an oddly-​flavored hash, topped with a lopsided ham steak and doused in mustard. Flavor was all over the place and not good at that.
The place is kid-​friendly in that it’s not too fancy and they have a kids’ menu, but that sadly only consists of quesadilla, grilled cheese or PB&J choice. Menu also said each kid meal came with a cookie, but ours did not. My daughter did report her grilled cheese was good (Texas toast and a slice of Kraft).
The staff was friendly, if slow, and it’s clear a lot of friends & family frequent the location. However if you’re just stopping in off 50, go ahead another few miles and hit up Placerville for better options.
One star for friendly service.

We stopped here on the way back from Tahoe after an awesome day of snow. We saw it on the nearby list on Unilocal and saw that it had 4.5 stars and was cheap so that did it for us. When we showed up we immediately noticed that they don’t fry anything and prices were a bargain. Almost no plates over $ 10! We started with the jalapeño empanadas and the veggies and hummus platter. Both were outstanding. We topped off with tacos, the ravioli and chicken and all were juicy and tasty. We really loved it here and on top of it all it’s so family friendly! Group of 15? Sure!

The place has nice atmosphere, nice people and the food is good, price is super good! Most important it’s a kid friendly. If your driving back to the city and hungry this is the place… The bar part is also nice for wine tasting. I totally recommend this place

We stopped by on a whim driving home from Tahoe. Used the Unilocal app to find a lunch spot. This place is nice with good food! We pulled in on the Gas Station entrance so don’t be fooled by that… Inside and the other entrance is great!

Great décor, decent food, simply the best customer service you could ask for. I would come back just for the excellent service. Great people here.
The artichoke ravioli with lemon sauce was good. The sauce was excellent. The ravioli was store bought.
The grilled cheese was good. Thick Texas toast. The cheeses were okay.
Overall I would come back and try more.

We came in the other day to fulfill a Groupon or Amazon Local deal. A great value for the wine tasting, barrel tasting and some food from their café. This was our second trip out to winery and first to the bistro. First trip we bought two wines.
We were helped out by Selena primarily this trip and the same staff last time. Staff remain friendly and knowledgable. Wines were equally good if not better this tasting. We were treated to the bottle tasting and education regarding the program. The barrel tasting was great. Some of the futures were well worth a glass or bottle. Staff and wine were convincing enough that we joined the wine club. We took home five bottles this trip. Three from the wine club offerings and two that came with our specials. Some wine we picked up included the Mystery Juice and the Renegade Red.
After the wine tasting we went over to the bistro to complete the coupon deal. Staff was helpful. A little disconnected on how to use the voucher but essentially covered four plates from the menu. The plates range from 6– 10 dollars. The meals or just amount of wine covers the coupon value.
Our order for food was pork sliders, artichoke dip, mini tacos, and tri tip sandwich. Our favorite was the dip. The slaw was good on the sliders. Street tacos were alright. Tri tip sandwich reminded me of au jus. Each of the dishes had fresh vegetables. Plenty of different flavors. Proteins were alright. Nothing extraordinary were each but fresh was the vegetables in respective dishes.
Winery is a must. Café is great for ambiance.

We had a lot of fun here! After all morning of nothing but apples at Apple Hill, we needed some real food. Thanks to Unilocal,we decided on this restaurant. It was just behind that Chevron by the freeway entrance.
First allow me to rave about the bread. I suppose it is the bread you would make Texas toast with that the sandwiches were made on. A thick, soft, dense, yellow bread (maybe potato bread, I really have no idea). I got the Grilled cheese au contraire– woah, super amazing. It was an exceptional grilled cheese with pesto, artichoke hearts, tomatoes, all made on a garlic bread (like hot, real garlic– get yourself a breath assure!). I also tried the reuben. It was very good as well, I remember really enjoying the mustard. The fries were pretty good, but nothing unique. The pasta salad was enjoyable, definitely homemade and a distinctive recipe. They also had reasonably priced kids’ meals, less than $ 4 for PB&J, Grilled cheese, or quesadilla, a side, and a big homemade cookie. They had some delicious-​looking items on the menu. The table next to us seemed have some awesome caprese bites, I don’t remember those from the menu.
And the thing that made the lunch most pleasant, when I ordered, the lady asked me if I wanted to do a free wine tasting. Umm, of course! After a long morning with 3 mildly whiny, bickering kids, it was a welcome respite (left kids with grandma and sampled all 7 or so wines, made the whining much more tolerable). The wines weren’t especially noteworthy. They were drinkable, $ 17−25ish, but tasted like $ 8 wines. I still bought one (I suppose I’m a sucker for nice people who offer me free wine).
The restaurant is kind of a mishmash in style. There’s a wine tasting corner, an outside dining area a conglomeration of various hot sauces on display for sale, and a dining area. I thoroughly enjoyed the décor– a bunch of abstract paintings of different celebrities next to gigantic cooking utensils hanging on the wall (6 foot long whisk and spatula, etc.).

Wow! This place is delicious and cheap. =o The girl at the counter is also really gorgeous, and helpful, as well as the rest of the staff.
We ordered the blackened chicken sandwich, the Reuben, and the carnitas tacos.
The blackened chicken sandwich comes spicy, and they can make it non-​spicy for you if you like. My friend wanted something hot and with chicken. She says this is «Delicious and exactly what she was looking for».
The Reuben, my oh my, the Reuben is incredible. What makes the Rueben amazing was their special sauerkraut. It’s warm, tangy, and pulls all of the flavors together. We got an extra side of it.
The tacos were really great too. The pork was very juicy, and the sauce was yummy. You might want to ask for more sauce.
We are on our way Tahoe from Davis and this is great place with great food and nice people. It would be nice if they had a little more healthier options, but I’ll still definitely be back here.

Not sure how it rates 4.5 stars, it in my mind is tops 3 stars.
The «bistro» is part of a gas station + c-​store shared stop area. It is pretty non-​descript outside and the same inside, bare bones but plenty of tables. The inside is part open kitchen, seating area, and a strange partially section off area for wine tasting. Staff were friendly and attentive.
Food is ordered at the register, nothing too fancy and definitely LIGHT on the bistro (odd name), drinks are in the fridge.
We ordered an app and two entrée. Nothing was bad but not a 4.5 rating.
I wouldn’t make a trip to come here, truly the rating was what drew us in and it did not come close.