The Loft Restaurant/Lounge — Restaurant in South Lake Tahoe

Will not return until under new management. DO NOT WASTE YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY. There are better magic shows (Alex Ramon at Harvey’s) and restaurants in Tahoe.

I made a reservation approximately a month prior to Thanksgiving for a 5:00 pm dinner reservation followed by front row seats at the 7:00 pm magic show. Despite anticipating how hard this day would be for all of us, we were looking forward to this special dinner and show. The young boys were especially excited, and could not wait.

We arrived for our 5:00 pm dinner reservation 5-10 minutes early. I told the hostess my name for the reservation and she began to collect 5 menus for us when a gentleman (later identified as Gary the manager) came over and said we are not open yet. I said that was not a problem, I understand we are early, and we would be happy to wait in the lobby. However, the hostess nicely said that she would seat us, but the server would not be around for a few minutes; to which I said okay.

As the hostess walked us to our table, Gary began yelling from the kitchen area demanding to know why we were in the restaurant. The hostess advised him that she was simply going to seat. Gary then yelled at her to have us wait on the couches. Even though Gary’s tone was completely disrespectful, I wanted my family to enjoy the evening, so we happily walked and sat on the couch without saying anything.

As we waited on the couch, Gary began yelling from across the restaurant interrogating the employees; yelling “where did they came from,” “how did they get in here.” His tone was so loud that even though he was on the other side of the building, we could hear him as clear as if he were yelling at us. He was acting as if we infiltrated a secured perimeter when we simply walked up the stairs and contacted the hostess. Gary continued to yell at anyone in the vicinity about us and seemed to get more upset about our presence the more he yelled. The only way to describe his behavior toward the employees is abusive.

His actions made my mother and the boys extremely uncomfortable since he was yelling about us from across the restaurant and appeared to grow more angry. I stood up from the couch and asked Gary if we could simply cancel our reservation since we are now uncomfortable. He replied that he believed that would be best. He then extended his hand and placed it on my arm as if he was going to escort me out. Considering, I was informing him of my intent to leave, and he was just yelling about us from across the room, him touching me was completely inappropriate and uncalled for.

We went down stairs and requested our money back for the show for the front desk host. The gentleman at the front advised us that he would have to talk to the manager and would be back. After approximately 5 minutes, the gentleman returned and advised that he would give us a refund for the show tickets. When asked if the manager was going to come talk to us, he advised us that he (Gary) was the manager and it would be best for everyone that he does not come talk to us.

I know working on holidays is difficult seeing that I too have worked most of the holidays in my adult life. As upsetting as it is to be away from family during the holidays, you still have a job to do to which must be completed with some decorum. Unfortunately, after talking to some of the employees and reading their body language when they are near Gary, it appears that this is common behavior for him and it was brutally obvious that all of the employees are fearful of him.

Fortunately for us, Gary did not ruin our Thanksgiving for we were able to get into Hell’s Kitchen for dinner and then we saw the magic show with Alex Ramon at Harvey’s.

It’s unfortunate because I would love to take my family to shows at The Loft, but we will not be returning until it is under...

Sorry for the length, but this needs to be put out there! Please take this review sincerely. When deciding where to dine for the evening, take your money elsewhere & don't support this business! I cannot comment on the magic show experience as we were too disappointed in the management & dinner experience that we left. My wife and I won 3rd place at the Halloween Party/Costume Contest last year in 2023. We received a voucher that explicitly states 2 free tickets to magic fusion show AND dinner credit for 2($150 value). We had a couple failed attempts in trying to redeem this voucher over the course of the year, both partly our fault & partly Frank Trotta's(GM) fault. We finally had an evening free yesterday(Monday) & accordingly planned ahead(last Thursday) in following the instructions per the voucher. Upon our arrival, we decided to pick up our tickets for the show before going up for "dinner." I wish we hadn't. As we waited patiently for the rude young lady downstairs to unprofessionally handle an unsatisfied guest over the phone. She turned her attitude to us to get us our tickets. She made a fuss about us bringing our 5m old baby & that our voucher only says 2 tix, not 3. I said that's crazy that she needs a ticket, she will be sitting in our lap & we probably won't be able to stay for the entire show anyway, if she starts getting fussy. Thankfully, she got us a ticket for our baby at no charge. We go upstairs, check in w/ the host & get seated at a table. THIS IS WHERE IT GETS GOOD! Before we even look at the menu, our server comes over with such an embarrassed & sad looking face. He proceeds to tell us that the GM has emailed us today, stating that "the total value of the voucher includes the tickets out of the $150 & that we only have $50 left to use for dinner." We were shocked, the server, & even the assistant manager too. Because that is NOT how it is worded on the voucher. See attached image. Nor did Frank Trotta ever mention that via our email exchange when making the reservation. Actually, I don't really know if the AM was shocked too, but she obviously was embarrassed, because she purposely chose not to come visit us once at our table. We were the only guests in the entire restaurant! I asked our server if we could give the tickets back then & not enjoy the show, just to use the full credit on dinner. He went & checked w/ his "management". Sure enough, NO the tickets are non-refundable, even as a contest winning voucher. We were so disturbed & baffled, we couldn't even sum up the urge to dispute. Not that there was anyone there to argue with anyway. Again our server was cool, he was on our side, & felt terrible for us. It was a complete JOKE. A sham and a dishonoring of their Halloween "Prizes". I thought we had won something, in the end we severely LOST. We ate our (Tapas of $50) 2oz of meat, 1 piece of asparagus each, & 2 potato chips of au gratin LOL. & then left. I suggest you DON'T, but if you do go to this years Halloween party, just go to have fun. & if you win, forget about the "winnings" you won't be able to redeem them in the way they state later on. & again, if you're looking for dinner, just forget about it. This establishment deserves to fail over CHEAP & HORRIBLE management. Way to represent Tahoe & take care of a family that...

What a delicious and wonderful first experience we had. Wife and I went in for Early Dinner on Happy Hour and just happened that the GM, Alex was behind Bar, she used to manage Bar but is GM now and she was filling in. Not only was she super sweet and easy talk to, she knew everything, inside out and understood cooking really well. I har Aribta Root Beer which was delicious and my wife had Mimosas with Wycliff Bubbly and she loved it. We did a laundry list of Tapas and some desert, everything we had was just beautiful and delicious, can't beat the $5 Happy Hour. We had Calamari with a Spicy Chipolte, BBQ Chicken Skewers were excellent, then Duck Tacos (not HH, but really worth it) that were fantastic with a little Chipolte and Tamarind - WoW. We tried the Tomato Bisque which was very farm to table and fresh and we wanted some crustini so they grilled us 4 pieces, so fun. We finished with Sweet & Spicy Shrimp that were just beautiful, very fresh and perfectly sauteed, so tasty. We rarely do Desert, but my wife asked Alex what was the best thing and Alex proceeded to describe their Bread Pudding with a fresh Bluberry Compote and drizzled White Chocolate. It sounded so good and interesting, so I asked if they had Ice Cream, they did and of course it was home made Vanilla, perfect, sold. It was really as delicious, fresh and light as all described. Just a super fun culinary and personal experience. Thank you Alex and Team. Erick &...