5 restaurants · 2 states · Reno–Sparks home base
Field reports
Five restaurants I keep going back to, each with its own page: why it earns its rank, how to get there, what the drive costs you, and the restaurant's own link so you can go today. Addresses and phones are verified. The long-form reports — the exact order, the build, the scorecard — publish as I make the visits and take the notes.
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1 NAPA, CAEl Rancho Grande
891 Silverado Trail
The one everything else gets measured against.
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2 SAN LORENZO, CAPapa Pancho's Taquería
15939 Hesperian Blvd
Never once given me a bad one. That's the whole case.
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3 SAN BRUNO, CATaquería San Bruno
1045 San Mateo Ave
Ten minutes from SFO. The layover fixer.
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4 RICHMOND, CALidia's Restaurant
338 Nevin Ave
Sit down. Order breakfast. Take the twenty minutes.
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5 KINGMAN, AZEl Palacio
401 E Andy Devine Ave
The reason I stop in Kingman. Check the days first.
Places Kevin still needs to get to
Not ranked, not reviewed, deliberately visible. Every guide that pretends to be complete is lying to you. My coverage is shaped by where the job sends me, which is a strange and arbitrary filter to apply to food.
If your family's place belongs here — or if you work behind a counter and want to tell me what I should be ordering — send it over. Recommendations from people who cook for a living outrank everything else in my inbox.
the next one is always somebody else's tip