Bistro Elise

I have been going to Café Elise for quite some time now and have mostly thoroughly enjoyed their tasty high quality food. I would have given it four stars based on my experience there until yesterday when they changed their menu. All of the things that were my favorites were items that were taken off of the menu. The menu is now a fragment of what it once was.
After arriving there for lunch yesterday, primarily to see what the new menu was, I ordered the chicken Caesar salad. This entrée was excellent in the past. This time the romaine had brown ends, the chicken wasn’t of the same caliber it was before and the Parmesan cheese was of a much lower grade. I was frankly disappointed with my meal there for the first time. I don’t know if I will return anytime soon.
I had been telling people how good it was there and now I can’t do that anymore. I hope that they reconsider their menu changes.
One last thing. They cutoff selling their breakfast at noon. This was a popular item with some of my dining companions. If you want breakfast you should be able to order it anytime.

I visited here a while back with several work colleagues. The food tasted decent but I had an issue. After the manager contacted me and sorted things out I will be stopping by to give it a try next time I’m in town. Thanks to the management for contacting me. I will revisit my review after my next visit.

Try subbing the mushroom instead of the burger patty (although I’m sure the burgers are good too, I don’t do ground beef much) delicious! While you do have to go up to counter and order, it helps keep the prices down. I don’t gamble, so I don’t go to the CBC for that, but I do enjoy the music, people watching, and the two restaurants that can cover most people’s appetite’s

The veggie wrap was fresh and delicious. Large servings. Yummy soup. A great value for your $!!

Sorry to say we had a terrible lunch here. Sad to say b/​c as a kid my family came here regularly in the 1960s and 70s and Crystal Bay Club was my dad’s favorite place. Server was ok but our sandwiches were awful. My husband ordered a grilled chicken on ciabatta bread but there was aLmost no chicken in it. After 2 bites of just bread he opened it to see about 3 square inches of dry chicken on a bun that was at least 10 square inches. I got the brisket sandwich because I didn’t want a lot of bread, but it was on ciabatta bread also; which the menu didn’t specify. The brisket was ¹⁄₃ fat, and overall dry. Only good thing were the fries! Very disappointed and do not recommend.

While staying at the Borderhouse hotel, this was the most convenient restaurant. I ordered a fruit plate and was extremely disappointed with what I got. Not only was it a very small amount of fruit but the worst part was that the fruit was obviously unwashed or not wash very well. The price stickers were still attached to the orange rind & apple peel! When you asked for a fruit plate, you usually expect some nice melons but like I said, this was primarily apples and oranges with a few pieces of cut up strawberries (including some green leaves chopped left from the top of the strawberries + several tasty grapes and blueberries combined with some mushy grapes and blueberries. It was definitely not worth the money. I will add some pictures if I can figure out how to

I do like the food here. They recently added to the menu and the items are great. The only thing that really disgusted me was that the same person that took my order reached back handed the cook my bread then took my money then I saw her do it to the next costumer, that’s just really un-​sanitary, should put a glove on to touch the bread or wash your hands! How does that even pass health laws? But on the other hand I do really like their 3.33 breakfast (depending on the cook) good deal for a lot of food.

Very cute and friendly little place. We ate a few meals for breakfast and lunch over a couple days and were pleasantly pleased. The young man working (Jimmy I believe) was a pleasure when I had the very fresh zen vegetable wrap and he offered to make any salad dressing fresh for my salad. I also had French toast which I normally do not order but it sounded good and was cooked perfect. We definitely will be back whenever we are in the area.

What a pleasant surprise. I had visited this place years ago and the food was weak and the service was weaker. This time I got a burger that was damn good but the service was damn slow. Ordered the «local» burger. Whether the locals order it I can’t tell you, but I can say the burger was excellent. This ½ pounder was cooked medium and had ample toppings (bacon, avocado, roasted tomato, grilled onion, cheddar and chipotle mayo) and was cared for by a wonderful brioche bun. The showstopper was the tater tots. I love tater tots and when I assume the presidency I will make it a law that restaurants must serve them. You’re welcome.

I’ve eaten a few times here now over the years and have always had a positive experience. I write this review after getting the complete shaft at the steak and lobster joint in Crystal Bay this past weekend. After walking around the area looking for a later (9+pm) dinner, we decided the options were rather limited and I didn’t want to wait 20 minutes after basically being called a liar by the girl working the fine dining restaurant. Well, Bistro Elise was settled on.
I ended up getting a burger that was quite tasty and worth coming back for alone. The guy working was having a ton of fun doing what he does and was very personable. I liked that one of the local regular gamblers came up, acting all chummy with him, and was wondering how late he was working so he could order the pork chop from him later. Not a place you’d expect a decent pork chop, so it led me to believe the staff working here really does try and care about putting out a good product.
The breakfast I’ve had here previously was pretty tasty and again the staff made it an enjoyable experience. While it’s not a fine dining option by any means, I’m led to believe the food here is certainly good enough to make it worthy, and saving a bunch of cash by eating here instead may be the most viable option should you find yourself here on a weekend in ski season.

Still good and with a $ 3.33 breakfast
Ordered the Cobb Salad and burger. Burger was overdone sigh

Even though the service is attentive the food TODAY at 8:05 am was disappointing. Potatoes were cold and not the usual roasted brown color. Bacon was rubbery cold. The table game folks were surprised when I replied to their usual how was breakfast th st ibeas dissapppointed and if I would have run into the food sup ibwould have expressed that with the two guys working the front as being super customer friendly.

I brought my husband to Tahoe for his birthday and we ended up waiting here everyday we were there! We had the casino fries every time! And the service was amazing. Being a server myself I really appreciate the friendly and helpful staff! Although I’m a little disappointed that they couldn’t give me the recipe for these fries so I could have them at home.

How is it that anyone have this awful place 5 stars? Worst breakfast food I’ve had in my life. Tasteless, bland, undercooked, off… I was hardly expecting gourmet, but this was off the charts bad.
Coffee was like watered down tea.
Service gets the only star, the chap was super nice.
Stay at this place (Border House — awesome accommodation), but get your breakky on elsewhere.

Im giving this place five star bcause i had the most wonderful salad there! The Tahoe blue cobb salad i got was really tasty! I was afraid was gonna be some lame salad, but i was so hungry but no! Real big portion, usually im full halfway but couldnt stop eating it! Was really nice, right now i wish i had another one for dinner! And the brownie i got there too was really tasty. Wish we had seen this place before we had a yuck breakfast across the road.

We stopped by hoping for a quick bite after a few hours of drive up on July 4^th. There were about 9 ppl in line and one cashier taking the orders. I ordered a pull pork sandwich $ 9 and my man ordered an omelette $ 12 or so. I was incredibly irritated that it took close to 45 minutes to get our orders. Additionally i noticed that ppl after me got their orders before we did. I inquired the gal about it and she mentioned that our order «was next»…however when it seemed that the orders weren’t being put in sequentially i asked the cashier and he simply said «yours is next». No apologies for the lengthy wait. When the food finally came, my man noticed his bread didn’t come on his plate. If they are expecting it to be busy, shouldn’t they have 1 – 2 more additonal staff?

The bistro is inside the Crystal Bay Casino.
This is the place for great food if you are staying within walking distance and do not want to drive. I wish we had discovered this place sooner as opposed to later during our recent ski trip.
It is only a 5 minute walk from CalNeva Resort (see my tip) and the $ 3.33 breakfast price beats out any buffet! This place is popular so you’ll want to get there early or later in the day if you are having breakfast. Also, if there is more than one person in your party stake your claim to a table inside the café rather than out near the casino floor and smoke.
I tried their $ 3.33 breakfast which was 3 eggs, 3 pieces of bacon, home fries and toast. I chose scrambled eggs and my husband ordered his sunny side up. I should have followed his lead because then I would have known I was getting 3 eggs. The scrambled version left this pregnant woman a little hungry and wondering if she truly received three eggs.
Despite, the portion confusion I would happily dine there for breakfast every day the next time we are up for a ski trip.

Cliff notes: Good service, good food, and good prices.
Can you beat the 3.33 breakfast? I loved it. It’s probably more of a lunch place, especially with the bar around the corner, but we were there for dinner when the fancy restaurant decided to take forever to see if they could seat us. The Biltmore has a bigger menu and kitchen, but we thought the food here was much better and more relaxed.
There’s also Free WiFi… its kinda funny how in some ways, North Lake Tahoe places can be very progressive… :)

Bistro Elise offers something that the Crystal Bay area desperately needed: A quality breakfast spot.
The Biltmore used to be the place to go for a cheap and delicious breakfast, but they’ve slipped pretty far in recent years. Bistro Elise picks up the slack, and even offers some great deals: $ 2.22 gets you 2 eggs, 2 pieces of bacon and 2 pancakes. $ 3.33 gets you 3 eggs, 3 pieces of bacon, toast, potatoes and fruit. And they don’t skimp, it’s a hearty meal. I tried their veggie omelet, and the thing was huge. A little more expensive, around $ 8 with potatoes, toast and fruit, but it was all very good and I didn’t come close to finishing.
But keep in mind that the place is anything but fancy. You order at the counter, coffee comes in to-​go cups (no refills), and the food is served on paper plates with plastic cutlery. But the meal was delicious and they had lots of options.
I will definitely be back!

My gamblin’ friend from Ireland is back for a visit, so I am spending an inordinate amount of time in casinos lately with him. Sunday we headed for breakfast, lured by the $ 3.33 advertised breakfast.
Shhhh, we went to Mass first, THEN came here. I think I’m going to hell.
Anyway, for $ 3.33 you get 3 eggs, 3 pieces of bacon, toast, and homefried potatoes with a few pieces of bell pepper. For $ 1 more, you get coffee. Not complicated, great price, the food — really nothing to rave or complain about.
My one suggestion for improvement is how the food is served. After you order it, you are asked for your name. Once the food is ready, a server wanders around the bistro yelling your name. Kinda unprofessional and adds to an already noisy atmosphere. Might be better to be given a number that is displayed on your table, and then the server can find your table easily without having your name screamed out 37 times.