Tearing down an Institution, The Story of the Lone Eagle

Lone Eagle Grille closure, Lake Tahoe. The history, the impact, and the coming changes.

Every town and destination location has a place that anchors experiences and memories for people. It’s a place where you would go to celebrate major accomplishments, life goals, birthdays, weddings, and more. It’s a place where you go to commune with other like minded people and celebrate a memory of a loved one maybe. These places have a warm comfortable feeling and a familiarity when you walk in. Almost like the show “Cheers”, you get greeted by name. You never think that these places will go away… until they do. 

Incline Village has one of these spots right on the waters of Lake Tahoe, with floor to ceiling windows giving way to a framed view of Lake Tahoe. With large cushy chairs and dark hand hewn woods everywhere, it gives the vibe of a modern upscale tavern, complete with rock floors and a stone hearth watched over by a large iron eagle. If you’ve been here, you know exactly what I am describing and the pictures are drifting through your memory now. This place is The Lone Eagle Grille, and it has been home to hundreds of thousands (probably more) of milestones and memories in its 30 years of operation.

Lone Eagle is an upscale mountain town restaurant known for its views, great cuts of meat, and extensive wine collection. People from all over the world have dined here, had weddings here, and returned years later to re-live those memories. Opened in 1994 by the Hyatt, the Lone Eagle quickly became a favorite place for people in Incline Village and it only grew from there. 

Personally, The Lone Eagle holds many memories for Ashley and I. We were engaged on the beach there, celebrated countless anniversaries and birthdays with family and friends, walked through blizzards to get a hot drink and watch storms and sometimes just come down to relax and enjoy the view. 

For me, most notably, The Lone Eagle is where I changed my life. I moved a lot as a kid and when I got to college here in Incline, I was pretty lost. While the other kids I was in college with were off sneaking into dive bars, I would walk down to the Lone Eagle and sit and listen to entrepreneurs and captains of industry as they sat at the bar and chatted about their adventures, their businesses, and their plans. It was eye opening to me to hear people just casually discussing trips to Europe, or Asia and in the next breath talk about their homes in Tahoe and Colorado, or New York and Los Angeles. For a guy like me, how I grew up, this was so foreign to me. 

So it was in the Lone Eagle then that I made a promise to myself to do everything I could to change my life. I started to come down more often, and after some time, I tried to chat with these people who casually took their dinner at the Lone Eagle multiple nights a week before retiring to their opulent homes on Lakeshore Dr. It took time, but eventually some started to open up to me and engage this kid from SoCal in conversation. They opened my eyes to what it meant to swing for the fences, and how the only limitations are the ones you believe and the ones you keep in place in your mind. 

Over the years, I would continue to come to the Lone Eagle for almost any occasion. It’s where I brought friends and family when they came to visit. It’s where I took Ash on our first ‘fancy’ date. It’s where I started to study the world of cocktails more. It’s where I went when my Dad passed away and I needed to celebrate his memory. It’s where I jumped off the pier in blizzards and it’s where I got down on one knee in hopes that she would say yes. 

To say that the Lone Eagle is special is an understatement. It is a reliquary of emotions and memories. In less than five days from when this article goes live, we will have to say goodbye to the Lone Eagle. The Hyatt property in Incline Village has been bought, and the new owners have to take action by the spring of 2025 and unfortunately that means that the first buildings to go will be the Lone Eagle and the waterfront cottages. This project has been met with well deserved consternation and community backlash, but unfortunately this is a change cannot be altered. 

As we all know, the only constant in life is change, and though we may not like this one, it’s here regardless. While we cannot change the tides, we can at least take with us the memories and think fondly of the milestones that have been celebrated at the Lone Eagle as we adjust the sails and continue on. 

So if you have been here before, or had the pleasure of celebrating achievements with friends and family here, then raise a glass this Friday the 28th in memory of one of North Lake Tahoe’s most iconic places as it closes it’s doors to the public for the last time, and inks it’s final chapter in the hearts and memories of many. 

Here’s to the Lone Eagle. May its stories and memories live on and the next place be just as warm and welcoming as this has been for everyone who passed through its doors. Slainte.

Keywords: Lake Tahoe, Hyatt Lake Tahoe, Nobu, Renovations, Incline Village, New Restaurant, Lone Eagle, Lone Eagle Closed, Lakefront Dining