Lefty’s Grill opens at expanded location in Nevada City

Lefty’s Grill of Nevada City opened its new, expanded restaurant on Tuesday night, and we grabbed dinner there to check it out.

Lefty’s — with the motto “casual, white tablecloth dining” — has been one of our favorite restaurants since it opened, both for weeknight and weekend dining. (Sometimes we order their pizzas “to go.”) We wrote about Lefty’s in our magazine here.

The menu includes award-winning flat-bread pizzas; special burgers (the “usual” but also one with “a generous amount of Gorgonzola cheese with house made cabernet onion jam.”) Dinner includes the likes of Cedar Plank Roasted Salmon, Seared Prime Rib and Fettuccine Alfredo.

Lefty’s moved from 221 Broad Street in Nevada City to 101 Broad Street, across Highway 49. We hope Lefty’s will help revitalize the “other” side of Hwy. 49 — an ongoing issue. With Lefty’s loyal following, we predict it will.

We also were reminded how many good restaurants-caterers are expanding in our region, despite the economic downturn: Lefty’s; Kane’s restaurant in Grass Valley (opening a new lounge); Emily’s Catering and Cakes (opened a cafe at Sierra College); Fifty Fifty Brewing Co. in Truckee (expanding its brewing facility); and others. (More on this in our upcoming Winter issue).

On Tuesday night at dinner, we sat down with Lefty’s chef-co-owner John Cammack to get the “scoop.” John was thrilled at the turnout: Some Facebook posts that Lefty’s had opened went “viral” in town (ours alone received 23 “likes”), almost filling up the tables in the main dining room.

The other “lefty” (as in left-handed chef) Chris Duncan arrived later. (He’d help handle the lunch shift). Chris also was thrilled at the turnout on inaugural night.

Lefty’s now can seat more than 75 people in the main dining room, 40 people in the upstairs bar area and 60 people on the patio — about 2.5 times its previous seating.

The space has received a complete facelift: with a fireplace, handsome wall decorations, a private “chefs dining room” for private parties; and some nooks with couches for gathering, sipping and munching. There’s also some cool signage promoting “Lefty’s.”

John was complimentary of the building’s owner (who also was dining there last night), because he helped foot the bill to install a brand new stainless steel hood in the kitchen. (Kitchen collaboration is going to be a big trend in the New Year, we predict).

There are about 12 beers on tap. We ordered a bottle of Cab to go with the food at our table: a crab-cake appetizer; a Margherita flat-bread pizza, S.O.P. (for standard operating procedure) burger; and the steak.

We’re regulars at Lefty’s (we can walk there from our home) and all the dishes were great. Good going Lefty’s, and bon appétit!

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