Reno has always been a gambling and casino hot spot, but recently, it is becoming much more locally driven. Farm to table restaurants, local artists, and local events are changing the culture and dynamic of Reno while bringing the community together.

Mark Estee’s newest downtown  eatery, Reno Provisions, features cafeteria-chic farm to fork food that is available dining in, and carrying out.

Reno’s social scene, both day and night, is becoming more and more local and homegrown, as opposed to previous years, when wandering the casino’s and finding a table at which to gamble was the norm. Mark Estee, owner and chef at Campo, a 4-year old Italian style gourmet eatery in the heart of downtown Reno, is one of the many who are taking action to make Reno more farm to table, healthful, and special in terms of food choices.  “We’re part restaurant culture, part start-up culture, part art culture. There’s food, outdoor activities, music, art, breweries, distilleries — everything!” Estee said concerning Reno, as of 2015. Each of Estee’s 4 restaurants in the Reno downtown area bring a different flare and menu style to the gourmet foodie scene. In addition to Campo, on North Sierra Street, his newest restaurant, Reno Provisions is just one block away, allowing people to dine-in, take home, or participate in clean-eating cooking classes. Reno Provisions offers foods purchased locally at the Great Basin Community Food Co-Op, which is an amazing facet to the Reno restaurant scene, as it allows local restaurants to communicate and buy directly from local farmers and ranchers, in order to keep the community food cycle going round-and-round. “The local food movement here is huge, and the Co-op is the most amazing thing,” said Estee.

The Whitney Peak Hotel, featuring Mark Estee’s, Heritage, also boasts the tallest climbing wall in the world: BaseCamp Reno, at 164 feet.

In addition to the booming new food trends, another spark has caught the eyes of locals and those looking for more within the city: the Whitney Peak Hotel. Featuring BaseCamp Reno, the tallest climbing wall in the world at 164 feet, the Whitney Peak is Reno’s only non-gaming, non-smoking hotel. It also happens to be the home to another one of Mark Estee’s four restaurants, Heritage. Heritage features local meats, grass-fed beef, and refreshing beers on tap from Great Basin Brewing Company, Brewer’s Cabinet, and a few others, each of which brews locally.

The Nevada Museum of Art is a cultural experience that is a welcome addition the Reno landscape.

Mark Estee’s fourth restaurant, Chez Louie, is nestled into another great alcove of the Reno downtown culture, the Nevada Museum of Art. This French inspired family eatery uses delicious ingredients that are complemented by the backdrop of the museum and the occasional live band.

The Nevada Museum of Art, is located in Reno’s Riverwalk District, which is quickly becoming ‘the new downtown’. Centralized around the Truckee River, patrons can walk the various sidewalks along the river, traipse the bridges, and watch kayak-ers take on the man-made white water rapids. The Riverwalk District, even though it is next door to the casinos that have been classics for years, highlights many different and exciting adventures.

Reno’s ‘new downtown’, features delicious restaurants and fun for the whole community, that is giving this area the breath of fresh air it has been waiting for. 

The Spring time brings the Reno River Festival, which brings the outdoor and art communities together for a weekend of culture and fun. One can find themselves partaking in yoga in the park (my personal favorite) followed by live bands and kayak demonstrations. Following spring, summer, too, bring so many fun and community gathering adventures, like Food Trucks in the Park. Located at the beautiful Idlewild Park, Friday’s now feature local and gourmet food from favorite restaurants located throughout Reno, live music for the whole family, and the gorgeous backdrop of the pond, river, and park.

Reno boasts so many great eateries and cultural activities, that it’s quite impossible to sum them up in one article, so help me out, and comment below with your favorite things to do and places to eat around town!

Be sure to check out our website for more activities and dining options, all year long, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.