One of the best ways to spend an evening at the lake is to go to dinner at a fun and lively café and then stay into the wee hours without having to walk or drive to any other nightly venue. The Fat Cat Café in Tahoe City is fast becoming both a food and entertainment center on the North Shore.

Friday night live music at the Fat Cat — Photo courtesy of Fat Cat Cafe

The Fat Cat serves delicious dishes for both lunch and dinner like the harvest salad with organic baby greens, grape tomatoes, dried cranberries, candied walnuts, and Point Reyes bleu cheese tossed in a citrus vinaigrette for $9. Not to be overlooked is the Fat Cat burger with Painted Hills grass-fed beef, applewood smoked bacon, Tallegio cheese and sweet onion marmalade for $12. Their bar serves up several local beers on tap, local wines, and cocktails that are named after (you guessed it) cats.

After your meal and a beer, stay for one of their weekend music nights with live bands from the local area. In addition, every Tuesday night is open mic night from 8 to midnight, and every Thursday night the Fat Cat has Karaoke from 9 to midnight.