Old Buildings, New Doors: Tahoe City's Fall of Hellos and Goodbyes

A small space in front of the Trading Post Shopping Center sat empty for close to 20 years. It reopened in June as a bookstore. Down at Boatworks, Jake's on the Lake has spent nearly five decades on the water and expects to close at the end of October.

Those two places show the pattern of Tahoe City in 2026. Most of the new energy downtown has gone into old rooms that were waiting for the right tenant. Meanwhile, the big lakefront names are closing, changing operators or tied up in their owners' finances. With October underway, here is what that means for your calendar, and for where you'll be eating and browsing this winter.

New Tenants in Old Rooms

The Understory, 945 N. Lake Blvd.

Annie Stefani opened The Understory this summer. The space is partly underground, only 645 square feet, and was first owned by Terry and Paul Dyer in the 1970s, when underground shelters were a popular idea. The name nods to that history, to the idea of a story beneath a story, and to the understory layer of a forest. It is the first bookstore in the North Tahoe region since The Bookshelf closed at the Cobblestone Center in 2012.

As of the Sierra Sun's September profile, hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday and Thursday through Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. The shop is closed Tuesday and Wednesday. Two events this month are on the shop's calendar:

• Sunday Storytime, Oct. 18 at 10 a.m.
• October Book Club, Oct. 22 at 6:30 p.m.

Tahoe City also hosts the Tahoe Literary Festival Oct. 9–11, so the town's new bookstore gets a busy first fall.

Savoie, 760 River Road

Savoie officially opened July 1. Owners Mark and Alison Sullivan, both San Francisco chefs, spent seven years turning the old Pfeiffer House into a restaurant serving French- and Italian-inspired alpine food. Mark was named a Food & Wine Best New Chef in 2002.

Seven years is a long time, and anyone who has restored a historic building will understand why. Old structures come with surprises in the framing, the mechanical systems and the permits. Adding a commercial kitchen on top of that is slow work. The result is a large rectangular bar in the main room where you can order from the full menu without a reservation, plus smaller private rooms for events. The most recent hours we found, published Aug. 31, were 5 to 11 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. Call ahead before counting on those for November.

Tahoe Press + Pour, Cobblestone Center

Tahoe Press + Pour opened March 14 in the former Gravity Shop space at Cobblestone. It serves cold-pressed juice, smoothies, coffee, soups and salads. Its website lists two different schedules under "Summer Hours," so check before a weekday morning stop.

A new bridge on an old crossing

One of the year's biggest "new" pieces of Tahoe City replaced something old. Fanny Bridge reopened to traffic at 10 a.m. on Feb. 10, finishing a $10.6 million replacement. The new bridge has sidewalks and dedicated bike lanes on both sides. Just south of it, TCPUD said on Sept. 14 that its West Shore Trail reconstruction was in its "final stretch for the season." Work is concentrated between the Highway 89 crossing and Sequoia Avenue. TCPUD's trails page lists closures between Sunnyside and Tahoe City Monday through Thursday.

The Lakefront Landmarks in Flux

Jake's on the Lake, final weeks

Jake's came back this year after an offseason of uncertainty, and the ownership calls it the restaurant's final summer. Managing partner Jeff Hill described a "rocky road" of complications and delays. Most of the staff returned anyway, and they knew from the start that the season would be "Jake's last hurrah." Chef Ronnie Miranda, an Oakland native and Culinary Institute of America graduate, took over the kitchen this year.

As of Oct. 1, the plan is to close at the end of October. Happy hour runs daily from 5 to 6:30 p.m., and Wednesday glasses of wine are $5. No exact last day and no 2026 farewell event have been announced. The Oct. 25 closing party you may remember happened in 2025. If you want one more sunset on that deck, go sooner rather than later.

Boatworks, unresolved

What comes next for the building is still open. Boatworks at Tahoe, LLC, owned by MJD Capital Partners, filed for Chapter 11 on Aug. 11 in the Eastern District of California. The filing stopped a foreclosure set for the next day, after a default in January on a $14 million loan. In November 2025, the Sierra Sun reported a redevelopment proposal that would replace the mall, the Inn at Boatworks and the bank site next door with hotel rooms, a spa, condominiums and commercial space. That remains a proposal. We found no later report settling the property's future.

In the meantime, the building keeps serving the town. When the Fall Harvest Markets move indoors this season, Boatworks Mall is where they go.

Sunnyside, closed for renovation until April

On the West Shore, Sunnyside Restaurant & Lodge starts a $5 million renovation this month, expected to take six months. The plans cover the lodge, kitchen and dining room, including moving the bar. They also add more private dining space and improve the marina and waterfront.

The operator is changing too. T S Restaurants is stepping away after 39 years, and the ownership group is partnering with Reno-based Local Food Group, led by Mark Estee. Estee founded Burger Me and Moody's and once ran the kitchen at Lone Eagle Grille. The fried zucchini stays on the menu. The Hula Pie belongs to T S Restaurants as a trademark, so Estee plans a new dessert to take its place. More than 100 people have signed up for Local Food Group's offer to rehire Sunnyside staff, who are due back in March ahead of an April reopening.

Put the two lakefront stories next to each other and the timing stands out. With Jake's closing and Sunnyside dark, two of the area's best-known waterfront dining rooms will be closed for much of the coming winter.

Where the Season Happens Instead

With those big rooms dark, the fall calendar runs through the community center, the downtown blocks and the Boatworks hallways. Here is what is scheduled, starting today, Oct. 5:

A few notes on the details. Christy Hill takes reservations at 530-583-8551. Zombie Crawl's list of participating businesses was still TBA as of early October. The walking tours are at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Oct. 24, 3 p.m. on Oct. 25, and 10 a.m. on Oct. 31. The Nov. 28 tree lighting with a Santa visit is new this year.

Between those dates, the regular spots keep their own schedules. Sierra Surf Club has happy hour Monday through Thursday from 3 to 5 p.m. and football specials on Sundays and Monday nights. Tahoe Wine Collective pours a flight of unlabeled wines at its Blind Flight Fridays, starting at 5 p.m. each week.

What a Second Life Takes

Every opening on this list happened in a building that already existed. Savoie took seven years inside the Pfeiffer House. The Understory filled a space that had waited about two decades. Press + Pour moved into a storefront another business had left, and Fanny Bridge was rebuilt on the same crossing. Sunnyside's new operator is putting $5 million into an existing lodge instead of starting over.

In Tahoe City, most change comes through reuse. That takes longer and costs more than the finished space suggests, and it depends on someone seeing what an old structure can still do.

If you own an older Tahoe City building and wonder what it could become, or what it would take to get there, Scott Silva can walk it with you and look at it with a builder's eye. Let's Connect.