Donner Pass Pizza

Place is Closed for good now. Was my sons favorite place to go while at the cabin. RIP

So good! Best pizza in north Tahoe area for sure!

I don’t know how many times I’ve driven to Reno all these years. I do know that I’ve passed by this place dozens of times and never stopped here. And I’ve never had the notion or the urge of stopping here since it’s just another business that’s on the side of the road on our way to our destination.
Not until a snowy day on Saturday, March 29, 2014. I had no other choice. Well… I could’ve have turned around and driven back home, but Wifey insisted to weather the storm. So yeah… I had no choice.
All cars were required to carry chains, unless you had an AWD, 4WD and Snow Tires. Luckily, we were fully equipped and fully prepared for the weather and bypassed the designated and required chain installation area.
We were slowly moving halfway through the mountain and everything came to complete halt. Yes, they closed the road ahead due to the snow storm. We waited for about over an hour until everything started moving again. Well, it was moving because cars were turning around due to the road closure. It just so happens that this place was right off the exit where cars were being sent back.
Wifey need to take a number one so badly because we’ve been stuck in traffic for a long time. She proceeded to trudge through the snow and stand in line with the others inside the gas station. I, on the other hand, proceeded here hoping to use their restroom. I was greeted by a sign stating that restroom as for customers only, and all others must pay $ 5. Geesh… capitalism at its best.
Begrudgingly, I placed an order for a bowl of clam chowder. The guy behind the counter said they didn’t have any. I ordered several different items on their appetizer section, and the guy kept replying they don’t have any. Well what do they have? PIZZA!
So I placed an order along with a beer. I called the Wifey to meet me there while I quickly use their restroom (for FREE) to relieve myself. Wifey comes to meet me, followed by other people who had the same idea of weathering the storm. I realize that they were suddenly inundated with customers and service was slow — understandably so. However, it’s no excuse that you forgot to bring my beer after 15 minutes have elapsed. So I told the guy to cancel the beer since I didn’t want to have to relieve myself again down the road should the road open up.
We waited and waited and waited until we got the announcement that the road was open again, however, our pizza was not ready yet. They guy said it was still in the oven. Hungry and not wanting the cancel the order, unlike some of the other customers who fled, we patiently waited a few more minutes. They placed the pizza in a box and ate some while driving through the snow. Even though I don’t recommend you doing this, it was a long day and didn’t want to waste any more time. The pizza (combination of sausage, pepperoni, cheese, bell peppers, onions and olives) hit the spot.
Was it good? It was decent, and it was not the ideal place to eat the pizza so we gave them another try a week later. This time on our way back from Reno, accompanied by the Wifey, our son and his friend stopped here to get a couple of pizzas; one plain cheese and a combo. This time around, I also got my beer. Funny thing about the beer is they have a San Miguel decoration, but they don’t serve that actual beer. What gives?
Again, same results different day. Nothing to wow about, but it ain’t bad either. As a whole, I like the place and location though. There’s a nice 49ers memorabilia shrine inside that could use a little bit of TLC. They have a pool table, but I don’t recommend you playing there, either. It has a nice wraparound deck with gorgeous view of the area. There’s also a Snow Park adjacent to it.
Will I come back again? Only if we get stuck on another snow storm.

So glad to see Tom still in business. My earlier review still stands, and I’m still waiting for the minestrone!

Rip off!
Soggy and moderately burnt cheese calzone.
Slightly burnt and soggy veggie pizza.
Fries, oily and greasy — no flavor, yes no salt as well.
Smoky and stinky restaurant. Bathrooms were dirty too.
Service was good.
18% gratuity added if head count is 2+, not a big deal if the food was good.

Friendly service and delicious pizza made with the freshest ingredients I’ve ever seen at a pizza joint.

This is way more than should be expected. If you’re looking for fine dining then go to a resort and spend a ton of money for the ambiance. Otherwise, stop here. It’s a great little place with a personal feel. The pizza is world class. You have to try the fries! And the salads are epic. I have come here several times and will plan to stop by for rib eye night. A real must

This place is a dump.
The water is all but clean. There was only 1 waiter, spending more time chatting around than making any food. Coughing on top of the pizza while making it.
Place is filled with smoke, with a giant TV (in a tiny restaurant) blasting advertisements around.
On top of it the pizza wasn’t even good.
Go to a gas station, you will have a finer food experience.

Baking anything at high altitude is a BITCH. If it’s not undercooked it’s burnt. If it’s not soggy it’s dry. Having tried and failed many times myself, I have to give Tom (the owner) props for doing such a good job. Our pizza was a bit wet in the center and floppy and difficult to hold in hand, but only because of the juicy freshness of the enormous volume of delicious vegetables he generously piled on. Veggies get soggy when you cook them. Use a fork and quit being a snob. It’s pizza for crying out loud.
My boyfriend and I came in late last night on a whim because we happened to be passing through. We were pleasantly surprised to find such a great dinner spot in the middle of nowhere. Don’t be thrown off by the location (next to a gas station in the woods, looks a bit like a sketchy biker bar from the outside). Tom is super friendly and clearly cares about the quality of the food. He doesn’t just want your money, he wants you to have a genuinely great food experience. He strikes me as the sort of person who would take on the personal challenge of converting anyone who claims they don’t like pizza.
It’s a crime to eat here and not try the S’mores pizza. Seriously, just do it. Definitely the signature house dish, worth the trip just to try it. The porter on draft was great as well (I can’t remember the name of it but a great pour). He was happy to put different toppings on each half of our pizza, so each of us could have what we wanted. Also, good taste in TV channels on the big screen, I get sick of watching sports everywhere we go. We walked in and he was playing a history channel documentary about aliens. Awesome. Tom engaged us in a very entertaining conversation about it because there were no other customers at the time.
Conclusion: I highly recommend this place to anyone passing through as a good stop to get some food and a beer without breaking the bank. If you want New York pizza, go to New York. This is Soda Springs pizza — come give it a try. Everyone has a bad day once in a while and misunderstandings happen, but our experience was great all around. If you are one of the few people who seem to have had a bad experience here, I encourage you to give it another try. I bet you’ll be glad you did.

I, like others, was happy to see that I was not destined for gas station food. Donner Pass Pizza is a pleasant surprise for those stuck in traffic or needing a restroom…
Their house salad was totally amazing and the clam and garlic calzone was good too. The food isn’t stellar but far better than I expected.

I was here twice over the recent 4^th holiday weekend and I love this place. The first time, I just grabbed a S’Mores Pizza to go because… hello, it’s a s’mores pizza.
So I ate the s’mores pizza at home, and it was like a religious experience in deliciousness. It was so amazing, I am having trouble articulating it. There were levels of deliciousness I didn’t know existed. Think about it– s’mores are awesome, pizza is awesome… why not combine the two?
So I went back a couple of days later to try some non-​dessert pizza, and I was super pleased. Firstly, the customer service was excellent. The young waiter was very friendly and helpful, and the owner was very friendly, and came outside to check on me to see if everything was ok. The cheese pizza was delicious, which was a relief because I am hardcore about only eating New York style pizza. But these guys know how to make a good pie. Of course, I left with another s’more pizza, for later consumption. I ate half the s’more pizza in one sitting on the drive back to San Jose, and I’m not ashamed of it. I ate the other half for breakfast, and again, I am not ashamed.
This is a dog friendly joint– of course you have to sit on the patio, but they were very welcoming and brought my dog a huge bowl of cold water, which I really, really appreciated.
So to sum up: s’mores pizza. S’MORES PIZZA!

Terrible pizza. Very wet and soggy with burned crust. Worst of all had a dog in the kitchen and on the counters. I’m a dog lover and owner but they don’t belong in restaurant kitchen. Petting it the whole time while baking the pizza. The worst! I never ate after I saw this. My family couldn’t even finish a slice it was so bad.

On our way back down the hill after playing in the snow all day we were starving. Found this place on Unilocal and thought we’d check it out.
Its a small place with a pool table, good beers on tap, and a tv to catch the football game. It was a bit smokey when we walked in, easily could have left the door open for a bit to ventilate. Not sure if that was a 1-​time occurance or if it’s a common smoke cloud. The server quickly said hello and told us to have a seat where we liked.
We both ordered Rubicon IPA on draft and a large pie to share. The pizza came out piping hot. Sundried tomato, olive, mushroom pie add Pepperoni. The crust was thin leaving room to stuff more pieces in my face. Nothing to complain about here. The server was attentive, the pizza filled my belly, and I’d surely make more stops here on our way to and from the snow.

Incredibly rude customer service. I was fully prepared to give this place a solid 4 star review but after an incredibly rude encounter with the guy working there I revised my opinion. The food was good, especially for being in the middle of nowhere. I and my friends spend over $ 50 here on lunch (we had a lot of pizza and beer). The owner/​manager seemed friendly enough, he even inquired how we liked the food. So we paid and left to go sledding down the street. Less than an hour later we came back because it started snowing and we were concerned we might not be able to get back below the snow line if we stayed.
As we’re struggling to pull off our snow gear in the parking lot (in the snow), I realize that thanks to all that beer I drank I have to use the restroom again. So I walk back inside the restaurant and politely ask if I can use their restroom again. Not only does the guy refuse to let me use the restroom, he’s quite rude about it. When I point out that we’d been in there earlier in the afternoon and spent quite a bit of money, he tells me he doesn’t care and asked me to leave.
We’d had such a nice time during lunch and sledding that my friends and I had been talking about coming back to this specific place again sometime in January. After the rude encounter later in the afternoon, that man has guaranteed we’ll never be coming back here.
EDIT: Our receipt number was #n11e. I did not ‘make up’ my experience. We were definitely not the group described in the response comment. Our car never got stuck, nor did we bring our own drinks. In fact, over half our tab was all the beer we ordered while we were there. Also edited the amount spent mentioned above, apparently I was off by $ 10. The snow park was definitely open (although the lift was not yet operating), seeing as they charged us $ 5 each to go in and walk up the hill in order to sled.
Finally, thank you for the condescending comment about ‘what Unilocal if for.’ If you look at my profile you’ll notice I’ve only ever left a 1 star review twice. I use Unilocal to leave honest feedback about my experience at places, which is exactly what I did here.

Great service and pizza was awesome plus owner is a 49er fan!

This was GREAT pizza… This is where my mom and I meet when she takes my son for a visit. We FINALLY decided to try the pizza and I am SOO glad we did! The Cheese Pesto pizza is fantastic and the crust is deliciously flakey. It’s our new lunch stop when driving thru to Reno. Who knew? Now you do~! :)

Wow, who would have thought that you could get excellent pizza at a road stop along the I-​80 basically in the middle of nowhere? We were staying in a cabin in Kingvale for the weekend and decided to try this place based on the Unilocal reviews and the fact that it is the only restaurant in Kingvale (and we were too tired to drive anywhere farther). I have to say it is one of the best pizzas I’ve tried in a long time. The kids got a cheese pizza and wife and I got one with sun-​dried tomatoes, mushrooms, black olives, clam and garlic (I might be forgetting a topping or two). The cheese pizza was slightly too salty and the crust was a bit too burnt on the bottom, but it was still very tasty and better than most other cheese pizzas I’ve had. Our pizza was not as salty for some fortuitous reason and it was excellent. Every ingredient seemed top quality, the sauce was very flavorful and the crust was one of the best I’ve had. It was so good that we had the leftover pizza for breakfast the next morning in the cabin.
It’s not a fancy place and perhaps even looks a bit run-​down (rustic may be a better word), and it’s right off the I-​80 so hear and see the cars and trucks on the highway when you are sitting in the outdoor dining area in the balcony. However, the food was unexpectedly good and that is what matters most. In fact, I liked the pizza so much that the next time we drive up to Tahoe I will try to time it so that we hit Kingvale at around lunchtime or dinnertime so I can eat there again! ;-)

Excellent! Great pizza, beer, and service. Best pizza on the Summit, so glad to have another local restaurant. The desert S’more pizza was amazing, my mouth is watering just thinking about it! Great place to relax, eat good food, and watch sports. AND… free pool!!! :)

When passing through towards Truckee and you think there is no hope for food, you are wrong. Kinda concerned when its the only place for miles by a gas station and you are starving after camping, but I was pleasantly surprised. The location isn’t prime so you don’t expect it to be full of people, which is nice to have the place to yourself.
I used to work at Pizza My Heart, and I love the pizza there but their sauce isn’t my favorite. Donner Pass Pizza sauce however is very very good, and homemade. You can tell that the owner loves to cook and experiment on the best way to get the sauce and the dough right.
Reasonable price and portions! I ordered a salad and it was enough for me and my hunny to share. I got a mini cheese which was cut into quarters and was the perfect amount of food with the salad. Babe got a personal size pepperoni and almost couldnt finish it. We were on a budget and this was perfect and tasty!
I wouldn’t really go out of my way to come here just because the location is so random, but they really do have great food.

Thin crust pizza. A little too floppy of a crust for my taste, but my friends thought it was fine. The toppings were very good, and even though I wasn’t a fan of the crust, I would go back for the toppings. Also, they had pretty good hand-​cut fries.