On the drive to Tahoe, there’s a clear point where you cross the line from “civilization” into “wilderness.” And that point is Colfax, California.
Colfax is a tiny town right on the border between the steep ascent to Donner Summit and the more conventional highway environment north of Sacramento.
It’s something of an outpost before you get into a long stretch of drive that’s mostly snow, trees, and not a bathroom in sight.
But Colfax has a hidden secret. It makes absolutely no sense that it’s there, but that just makes it more magical.
This secret is the best sandwich shop on the way to Tahoe: the Beach Hut Deli.
The façade of the Beach Hut Deli is nondescript. It looks like it could be any other fast-food restaurant.
When you step inside, though, you’re entering a space with a Hawaiian beach theme that would make Walt Disney proud.
Entirely incongruously for a town located in the middle of nowhere on the side of a mountain, the interior of Beach Hut Deli is full of surfboards, palm fronds, and big carved tiki statues.
There are tables with SpongeBob SquarePants playing on TVs, which delighted my kids when my wife and I took them there. And the beach theme is carried throughout every detail of the restaurant — when you order sandwiches, for example, they arrive on an overturned, colorful frisbee.
This all might feel like a bunch of pomp and silliness, but the sandwiches are incredibly good.
The bread is fresh, the ingredients are top-notch, and the flavors on offer are the kind of thing you might pay $20 for at an upscale sandwich place in the Bay Area.
I got the Surfin Bird — a delicious sandwich with avocado, thinly shaved turkey, bacon and cream cheese.
We also tried the Beach Bikini with turkey, cream cheese, cranberry sauce, sunflower seeds, spinach and mayo.
My kids enjoyed sandwiches with chunks of chicken breast and melted cheese — a simple and extremely kid-friendly option.
Beach Hut Deli carries the theme through with drinks as well. They have special island-inspired juices that my kids loved.
The sandwiches were so good that we ordered a first round and then came back for another.
This isn’t a tourist trap, either. The Beach Hut Deli appears to be staffed and patronized primarily by locals.
There was something funny about seeing rugged mountain folk pull up in their battered, work-worn pickup trucks, sidle up to the bar, and then sip a beer and eat a sandwich in a buoyantly tropical environment.
If you want a cheap souvenir from your trip to or from Tahoe, you can even buy (clean) frisbees for only a dollar. Naturally, each of my kids took one home.
We discovered Beach Hut Deli completely at random. After driving through the desolate stretch of Donner Summit coming back from Tahoe, my kids were hungry, and Colfax was the first real place to stop.
Normally, we go to the McDonald’s. This time, we decided to try something different. I’m glad we did, as we’ll now be coming back to Beach Hut Deli every time we drive to and from the mountains.
You can stop by, too. The deli is located at 555 S Auburn St B, Colfax, CA 95713. There are also apparently several more along the drive, including in Davis, if you want something sooner or later in your drive depending on your direction.
It’s very strange to find essentially an indoor beach shack in a freezing-cold setting, but with sandwiches this good, the whole thing just kind of works.
