Hidden in an unassuming Lake Tahoe strip mall, The Dog & Bear Tavern pairs Chef Jesse Mathewson’s inventive, seasonally-driven cooking with genuine neighbourhood hospitality, delivering everything from artisan pizzas and confit duck legs to whimsical house-made ice creams without a trace of pretension.
H ave you ever needed a restaurant that will please both your picky, no-frills Boomer uncle and your Gen Z niece who insists on going to a place worthy of going viral on her TikTok? Boy, have I got the spot for you. Imagine if your local pizza dive got taken over by a winner of MasterChef; that’s The Dog & Bear Tavern at Lake Tahoe, California. It offers something for everyone, whether you want a pepperoni pizza and a beer or a glass of chilled French wine and Spanish octopus.
Hidden in an unassuming strip mall, The Dog & Bear Tavern blends industrial edge with cabin warmth—think live-edge wooden bar with silver-studded black metal stools. Chef Jesse Mathewson grew up in San Francisco, California, watching his dad cook and touring local oyster farms. After starting at a pizza joint at 14 years old, Jesse worked his way through some of California’s top kitchens while attending culinary school in the meantime. His passion for local sourcing, low waste, and creating a familial environment for his staff shine through his food and hospitality.
The Dog & Bear Tavern delivers extraordinary food, heartfelt hospitality, exceptional value, and a welcoming atmosphere that elevates Lake Tahoe’s dining scene.
As someone who grew up coming to Lake Tahoe, I’m somewhat of an expert on the lake’s food scene, and I can unfortunately say it’s quite underwhelming. Most places bank on their lake proximity to be their selling point, leaving their food quality to wane—but that doesn’t stop them from charging $40+ for a small entrée. At Dog & Bear, their prep cook arrives at 4am to begin making most of the menu items from scratch, down to their house-made ranch that people request to purchase by the bottle (if you meet Jesse outside the kitchen, you may even catch a glimpse of his ranch bottle tattoo). Their confit duck leg is a four-day process and their rotating ice creams are not to be missed. Often inspired by leftover ingredients Jesse doesn’t want to go to waste, the ice creams can feature wildly unique flavours from miso maple to salted honey goat cheese to apple wasabi. The few menu items that aren’t homemade are sourced locally; their pizza dough, for example, is actually Jesse’s own recipe, but due to a lack of kitchen space, time, and labour, he shared his recipe with a local bread company who makes it and sells it back to him.
- Strong commitment to local sourcing, scratch cooking, and low-waste kitchen practices
- Countercultural, sober-leaning staff dynamic centred on a familial, team-first way of life
- Standout pizzas with light, crisp dough and bold, crowd-pleasing flavour combinations
- Four-day confit duck leg finished with gochujang and Calabrian chilli for spicy depth
- Rotating seasonal ice creams showcasing playful creativity
- Exceptional hospitality rooted in warmth, generosity, and genuine guest care
If the incredible food and sourcing ethics weren’t enough, you will also be welcomed here like an old friend—as their motto is ‘enter as guests, leave as friends.’ Their convivial staff is breaking restaurant culture with most members maintaining sobriety; instead of staying to drink together after the restaurant closes, they’re mountain biking and rock climbing in the mornings before work. Both Jesse and his wife work together in the kitchen, joined by three other couples that work together on the hospitality team as well. The staff goes above and beyond to make your experience memorable by constantly checking in, providing recommendations, and bringing you wines to taste if you’re unsure of what to order. When our table ordered the lobster devilled eggs, they brought a special egg sans lobster for my vegetarian mum without even being asked.
Chef Jesse Mathewson transforms humble ingredients into imaginative dishes with remarkable technique, sustainability, generosity, and an inspiring passion for genuine hospitality.
It’s difficult to provide exact recommendations for what to order here, given that Jesse is constantly changing the menu based on new inspirations and what produce is in season at any given time. However, their pizzas are always available and always superb. As I mentioned, though the dough isn’t technically made in-house, it’s made with Jesse’s own recipe just down the road and delivered fresh and ready for their pizza ovens. There are plenty of options for the vegetarians and the carnivores, the foodies and the fussies, ranging from prosciutto and peach, to homemade tavern sausage, to the classic four-cheese or artisan pepperoni. The dough is crispy on the bottom and light, fluffy, and chewy on the inside. And of course, you cannot have a pizza without a side of the famous ranch, which is lusciously creamy and vibrantly dill-forward.
Whatever the rotating selection is at the moment, the bar snacks and salads are not to be overlooked. Touches like homemade dressing, focaccia breadcrumbs, and deep-fried capers make even the humble Caesar a standout. Jesse takes simple ingredients like corn and eggs and makes black truffle salted parmesan popcorn and smoked Old Bay lobster devilled eggs. Or a tuna crudo with lychee aguachile and pickled pineapple. I mean, really, what kind of whimsical genius thinks of these things?
One thing I can recommend without apprehension is the confit duck leg, as it never leaves the menu. And if it did, I’m sure a crowd would be outside with signs saying, ‘Bring back the quack!’, and I’d be at the front of the fray. The duck legs take four days to make, following the classic French technique of curing, rinsing, drying, melting the fat, and cooking them low and slow in their own fat. It may seem excessive, but it’ll all make sense when your meat falls right off the bone and melts in your mouth with a delectable, unctuous flavour. In the style of chicken wings, the legs are doused in a gochujang (fermented Korean chilli paste) and Calabrian chilli wing sauce and served with a side of kimchi, all of which breaks through the richness of the dripping duck and lends a sweet, funky spice to the dish.
Make sure to save room for an eclectic, delicious scoop of the ice cream and/or sorbet of the day. Don’t be scared, it isn’t always something like tomato or bleu cheese. For the less adventurous folk, there are also flavours like caramel corn, white chocolate strawberry, and brownie—my personal favourite. And if you’re feeling cheeky, you can order the sorbet as a champagne float or the ice cream as a peanut butter stout beer float, a root beer float, or as an affogato. The world’s really your oyster.
You can easily drive right past this spot without ever knowing it’s there. But if you venture on in, I guarantee you’ll find your new favourite haunt. You might as well just show up at 4pm to hit the happy hour (winter only). And if you sit at the bar, between the locals and the affable bartenders, you’ll get so caught up with the chat and the killer food that you won’t even realise how fast the time has gone. Come as guests, leave as friends.
