Flight Deck Restaurant and Bar

This place is pretty cool, because it’s a restaurant in the old mission control room of an airport. The view is nice, but the food is just ok. They have an all you can eat spaghetti buffet once a week, if that gives you an idea of the caliber of cuisine. But, hey, for basic bar food, nostalgia, and view. Go for it.

From the outside looking one would think whole in the wall café at an airport. Wrong, really good food and a decent size menu. We come here all the time, kind of locals hangout.

I’ve been to this establishment before. I expected greatness because everyone said «the chicken wings are amazing!» So… I stopped in to get some chicken wings. Here’s how the night went.
Me: Do you guys do orders to go?
Bartender: Yeah of course! (cheery, kind, and sweet)
Me: Ok, I would like two orders of chicken wings, one salt and vinegar and the other bbq. Thanks so much!
Bartender: Sure thing.
At this point she turns to run my check, hands me a receipt and looks at me like she’s waiting for me to pay. We exchange awkward glances and I then proceed to pull out my wallet to pay. This is CLEARLY seen by the waitress and she waits for me to open my wallet and take out my card. She then turns away and literally makes a drink for someone else while I’m standing there holding my credit card out… what?
So then I decide, ok I’ll wait a little bit for my food and then walk up to the bar again to ay for the wings. I do this and finally she asks, «Are you ready?» Um yeah I’m ready, I was ready when you handed me the first receipt so that I could pay for my wings.
Continuing, I waited a HALF AN HOUR for 12 chicken wings. Seriously! I could make 12 chicken wings in literally 15 minutes. The place was not busy. Other people were not ordering food and the bartender kept going in the back to eat a fricken salad with the kitchen door wide open.
So then, I get the wings hoping their deliciousness would make up for the weird ordering process. NOPE.
The last time I was there the salt and vinegar wings were literally amazing. I would drive by the place and think about the wings and my mouth would water. Guess what… they were garbage. 1 out of 6 had salt and vinegar seasonings on them. The bbq sauce tasted like ketchup with some sugar and pepper tossed in. And to top it all off the wings cost 8.95 for 6. So my total came to 19.50 for 12 wings. Buffalo Wild Wings was better than this local place.
I’m very disappointed.

Great location, just a short walk from the FBO, food was ok, I had a simple cheeseburger with fries, fries were good, burger just ok.
Service was awful, long wait just for drinks, then another long wait to order then our drinks were empty when the waitress brought the food out, another long wait to get more drinks while we were eating.…
Too bad, airports need good restaurants on them for the local community to appreciate the airport. You don’t need to have anything fancy, just decent food with good service, too bad the service here stinks.

Nice bar, great views but way, way too expensive for pub grub. I’m a longtime local and have eaten here several times, but not for about a year.
I ordered the chicken wings, which were decent, but 6 wings for $ 9??? I’ve had wings at just about every place in SLT, and the portion they give you here for the money does not compare to similar places (Sam’s, Steamers, Brothers, Cantina, Brewery, Bear Beach, Bowling Alley, Straw Hat, etc. For $ 10 – 12, a dozen wings should be served. Waitress did not have much of an explanation for the prices… The sandwiches all run between $ 12 – 15, far too much for this place.
Not sure I’d return, unless I was just having a beer and watching a ballgame. The 2 stars are for the outrageous prices for bar food, not necessarily the food quality.

I placed an order for takeout. Upon arrival to pick up the order 45 minutes later after confirming the order, they decided to let me know that they were too busy at this time for take out orders. Throughout the whole ordering process they were rude, including the owner of the restaurant. I wish I could review the food as it may be good, but i never actually got any food.

Good eggs benedict and service. Really nice view of planes/​hellicopters taking off as you eat.

After living in Tahoe for a little over 4 years, I have never eaten here. After reading this short review I hope you’ll understand why.
My parents came into town for Christmas and New Year’s and asked me where I wanted to go for dinner. Of all the places in Tahoe, I had yet to eat here and was intrigued to try it out. So away we went…
Upon our arrival, there was no host at the door to greet us. We were told to find a place to sit at our convenience and a waitress would be with us shortly. There was a rather large group there ahead of us; loud, obnoxious kids with no manners and the parents didn’t seem to care much either. Nonetheless, we were greeted roughly 5 minutes later by a woman who seemed to be the only one working the front (both the restaurant area and the bar) while the cook was preparing everything in the kitchen.
I ordered a salad which was decent in size but nothing to boast about, while my dad got the soup of the day, «Clam Chowder.» The salad would have been nice had it been served with the dressing already on it, but instead was brought to me in a small dipping container for me to put on myself.
Upon ordering dinner, my dad got the sampler platter with onions rings, buffalo wings, fried zucchini and something else, my mom order some pasta dish, and I order the Chicken Scampi. Needless to say, when the orders came out, all the dishes were between warm and hot. Again, nothing really to boast about, but I think a little bit more effort could have been put into preparing the food. My dad complained about the buffalo wings and onion rings being/​tasting cold, my mom said that her order was OK but not what she expected, and my order looked as if it had been thrown into the microwave. The Alfredo sauce was more liquidy than creamy, which really upset me and through me for a loop. To no avail, we finished our dinner, paid, and left.
I’ve been to a lot of places in Tahoe that I felt had less than pleasant service, but this place made its way to the top of the list in a matter of seconds. I might come back here for happy hour with friends, but I will never eat here again.
Side Notes worth mentioning…
*One of the kids across from us in the dinner party was complaining about his burger not tasting right. My mom, dad and I looked over to see what the commotion was about and saw the burger he had ordered wasn’t fully cooked and was raw and pink in the center.
**The restaurant was under staffed for the night and the waitress just had to tell everybody how sorry she was for most of the staff calling off for the night leaving only 2 waitresses (the second waitress showed up after our orders had been taken) and the cook.
***I think the only thing that kind of added some relief to it all was the pool table, but not much else.

The only good thing about this place is the food. The service sucks. We just had the most pathetic excuse of a server ever. She didn’t smile once. She certainly didn’t make us feel like she was happy to have service. Especially from LOCALS. the food is great. Which is my only reason this place gets a few stars. The service needs to step their game up big time. Get some people with a personality. And a face that smiles. Our server looks like she should work at a morgue

First review. I had to write one after visiting this place. By far the hardest working staff I have ever seen. The food is incredible and the football specials are cheep. Great atmosphere and away from the expensive south lake prices. It is definitely worth flying to yet alone driving to. Patty is incredible and please take my advice and check it out.

Clam chowder on Fridays is all time. They gave me a pint of hit chocolate when I needed a warmer. Awesome views of the airport. Overheard the guy behind me say ‘this might be the best taco salad of my whole life.’
If its bar food with great views that you are looking for this is an awesome spot. It’s off the beaten path so unless there is an event or theme party you are best to being a crew.
I never would have thought there would be such a good bar at such a small airport.

Great sunday football specials. The bartender (I forgot his name) was attentive and nice. Great view of the planes taking off.

We had our high school 25 year reunion here and Tom took care of everything. The food was great and everything was provided for a very reasonable price! If you have a group event this is a great place to hold it!

Great family place to go for breakfast /​brunch. Best chicken fried steak in town.

Killer food great bar I adore this place breakfast on the weekends is wonderful Friday night cod in white wine cream mushroom sauce is to die for

Not your typical «airport bar.» I was pleasantly surprised when I first came here. Flight deck throws some pretty fun events. In the winters, I am often there for its Wednesday «Kill the Keg» nights or Thursday’s Shred nights.
I like the people here, lots of locals and the bartenders are pretty awesome. It can get crazy on those themed nights, but just be patient. It’s worth the wait.
There’s more than just drinking and fooding here, there are comfy couches to lounge on, darts and pool. It’s a good time for couples or large groups of friends. Check this spot out!

This local’s favorite, is spitting distance from our house. Based on the local sheriff”s dept./highway patrol initiative in the Tahoe basin, it is not only a safe haven for those who love this location, but also a place where friends and neighbors gather for casual fare, a great view of the airport runway and a mountain view that is par none.
Not to mention, the grand kids are so enamored with airplanes, helicopters and private jets that frequent this venue, we are compelled to come back time and time again, especially in spring, summer and fall. No deference to winter, but there was only one airplane left on the runway come January 20^th! Seriously?! Get some stones! This airport is well lit, clean and clear and you can sit in the comfort of your home when sitting in the cozy bar over looking the amazing views from this spectacular location.
Go a little easier on the fried foods, tho. You will get easily as much of an audience with some home made soups daily, sandwiches du jour and salads to make you salivate, along side the other tempting dishes that populate the well rounded menu.
Main thing? Great Margaritas. Yes. Great kid’s menu… and…you cannot beat this view, unless you are sitting on the Lake!
And kudos to the wait staff. They always remember us by name and the kids, too! Those crazy kids do leave an impression!
Bravo, this Tahoe tradition. It can only get better and better.
We will remain loyal and stedfast. Count on it!

I really like the Flight Deck in most ways. The servers are all great, they do a wonderful job. The food for the most part is pretty good.
A few comments:
The dinning room is too formal for Tahoe and the special location.
The bar has limited tables, this great atmosphere should spill over into a more casual dining room. Lose the white table cloths add a few TV’s.
Simplify the menu, to many choices, to many expensive choices.
In the summer you can sit outside, in the winter if there is no room in the bar we leave.
Most of all — more support from the city, the location is great but the signage, promotion of special events and the condition of the building is embarrassing. It would take a very little investment to better maintain and promote this great location.
After all that — it is one of the few places in Tahoe we support; love Steamers, Divided Sky and The Flight Deck. The Flight Deck has more to work with, In my opinion it needs to be an overall more casual dining experience.
We are great supporters and will continue to tell our friends.
Three stars but desperately want it simplify itself and get some support from the sleepy city.

Had a great evening at the Flight Deck — The food was terrific and the band, J.D. Hannel and the Unabashed, really got the crowd going. The prices are super reasonable ($ 6-​$ 15) for the Tahoe area and the selection of appetizers and entrees should please almost anyone. We’ve been there three times and highly recommend any of the appetizers, especially the zucchini, tri-​tip bits, and calamari. The Boston Clam Chowder was full of clams and very flavorful. We’ve also enjoyed the prime rib dinner, the rib-​eye steak dinner, pork chops, and the baked cod dinner. Would probably recommend more, but those are the ones we’ve tried so far.
Sorry to hear that a prior reviewer had a poor experience, but maybe it was when the restaurant first opened. Our waitress, Maureen, was extremely friendly and gave us great service.
The atmosphere is extremely casual and parking is plentiful since the restaurant/​bar is located at the airport.
We definitely will be coming back and highly recommend that anyone who enjoys good food that won’t cost an arm and a leg try the Flight Deck!!!

Terrible and I mean terrible food!!! We came here looking for a good view and good food. We only got the first. Soup was entirely too salty and my meal (grilled chicken) was absolutely terrible. A child that is unsure how to use the oven could have done better! We love to eat desert but, after this experience we headed straight to dairy queen instead of trying one here.
My mother and I and one other group of women were the only poor saps that got tricked into coming here. (It was recommended to us by a local that we later saw hanging out at the bar area. which was incidentally, hopping) I would never recommend the food here to anyone.