Let's Eat: Reno! The Best Bites in the Biggest Little City

RENO (Amazing America TV) — Let's Eat: Reno!

You think you know a place until you taste it. That’s the thing about food—it refuses to lie. It’s memory, migration, defiance, survival. And sometimes? It’s a croissant cinnamon roll the size of a fist that makes you reconsider everything you thought you knew about Reno, Nevada.

In the first two episodes of Let's Eat, I devoured Charleston’s polished charm and San Antonio's spice and swagger. But here, in the shadow of the Sierra foothills, Reno caught me off guard. It’s not the city you think of when you talk about food with a capital “F.” But that’s the point of Let’s Eat—to let the food speak for itself and show us what a city is really made of.

I’m Monti Carlo—chef, food writer, and your navigator on this fast-paced, 12-hour eating sprint through America’s unsung food towns. In Reno, the mission stayed the same: follow the locals, trust the cooks, eat everything.

We opened with a Cardamom Latte at Pangolin Café, a quiet shop punching way above its weight (Yelp says it’s #4 in the nation, and I won’t argue). Then came Perenn Bakery, where laminated pastries are elevated to a buttery art form —their croissant cinnamon roll is absurdly decadent. I walked out sticky-fingered, wide-eyed, and fully obsessed.

At Squeeze In, I ordered the Lake Taco Omelette from Misty, a woman who once faced off against Bobby Flay in a culinary duel and won. The eggs were wildly comforting, peppery from loads of chorizo with cheese pulls for days. The breakfast potatoes demand to be noticed, with a thick and crispy outer layer that shatters and gives way to the silkiest bite.

But Reno isn’t just breakfast joints and pastries that hit harder than they should. The story here runs deeper. At Louis Basque Corner, open since 1967, I sat elbow to elbow with strangers, sharing roasted Lamb Lollipops and stories about the Basque sheepherders who carved out lives for themselves in this town, shaping the region’s culture and cuisine. At Kwok’s Bistro, the Duck with Ginger and Scallion Noodles was executed with quiet brilliance — a reminder that simplicity, when done right, speaks the loudest. And Arario’s Kimchi Fries—messy, bold, and unapologetically fusion—were a love letter to what Korean food becomes when it finds its way to Nevada.

Midtown Taco Shop handed me a Cheeseburger Taco that shouldn’t work, but absolutely does. It’s irreverent, greasy, and gone too soon. Whispering Vine served up Dill Ranch Tots that are everything a wine bar snack should be: salty, crispy, and impossible to stop eating. At R Town Pizza, the Robocop is a four-cornered, crispy-edged masterpiece topped with unctuous soppressata and loaded with Detroit swagger. It earned its #44 spot on Yelp’s Top 100 list, no question.

We closed out the day at Ramsay’s Kitchen, tucked away in the Silver Legacy Casino. For me, this wasn’t just a dinner stop — it was a full-circle moment. Gordon Ramsay was the man who launched my food career when I competed on MasterChef, and now here I was, ending a day of eating in a restaurant bearing his name, tasting his food for the very first time. The Sticky Toffee Pudding hit the table with the kind of soft drama only a dessert this old-school and this indulgent can pull off. It whispered, “Sit down, you’re not done yet.” I was horrified at how fast I finished it — like I was chain-smoking each bite.

Reno’s food scene isn’t trying to be Chicago, LA, or New York City. It’s too busy being itself—rough around the edges, rooted in culture, and full of people who cook like they mean it.

Let’s Eat: Reno isn’t just about what's good—it’s about what matters. It’s about the diners whose loyalty helped create legacy restaurants. The immigrants who built something from scratch. The chefs taking risks in a town that doesn’t always get the credit. It’s about telling the truth, one plate at a time.

Twelve hours. Ten places. One city that refused to play small. This is Reno. Let’s Eat.

New episodes of Let’s Eat drop monthly as we cross the country, telling the real stories of the people who feed America. Subscribe to @AmazingAmericaTV on YouTube, and follow along on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.