The Dining Car Restaurant

I just love the Tamarack’s DC cafe! The food is so delicious, reasonably priced & the staff is so friendly & helpful! I live in Las Vegas but visit my friends in RENO often so we visit the cafe often… much better than making breakfast or lunch at home!!! No wonder locals love it… if I lived in RENO, I’d never cook… I’d go to the Tamarack!!

My wife and I had breakfast here on a Sunday around 9:45. They said they were short staffed and there was a short wait (only about 8 minutes) until we were seated. I had a Bloody Mary and the Chicken Fried Steak and my wife had the pancake breakfast. The pancake breakfast wasn't bad by any means but wasn't really anything to get excited over. The Bloody Mary was really good. It wasn't very spicy, which I actually like, and there were a few different hot sauce options if you wanted to spice it up. The Chicken Fried Steak was amazing. It tasted like it was homemade, not one of the cheap prebreaded CFSs that distributors sell and it had nice, thick gravy. The service was excellent, despite being short staffed. The waitress checked on us several times throughout the meal and the food came out in a timely manner. Overall, I highly recommend this restaurant.

New management keeps screwing the Dining Car. They can't retain talent and they consistently screw up because of it. Nearly continual problems with orders overcooked... Steak & eggs ordered rare came out well done. Prime rib ordered as rare as can be came out well done and way over salted. "Cowboy Chop" medium rare came out burnt multiple times. Ribs came out soaked in water because they weren't fresh but kept steamed way too long. They have great front staff. Don't know the kitchen crews, but I can say this isn't the high quality place you may have experienced in past years.