While the halcyon days of the $3.99 all-you-can eat casino spread are a thing of the past, bargain buffets still abound in many Reno-Tahoe’s hotels, with all the culinary standbys holding down their spots in line — slabs of prime rib, piles of peel-and-eat-shrimp, pasta by the ton, pastries by the score, you name and they’re serving it. It’s all about quality, variety and value, and the bounty doesn’t stop there. You’ll also find the highest of high-end steakhouses, French bistros, sublime Asian eateries, the works. In fact, as a foodie destination, this part of the world ranks right up there with San Fran, L.A. and Vegas, only on a smaller, friendlier, far less frenzied scale.

Hungry enough? Good. Dig in. And if you’re also a golfer, save some room (and ample time), swap that knife, fork and napkin out for a 9-iron, driver and logo’d golf towel and get ready to make a reservation — er, tee time — in flat-out hackin’ paradise. You’re about to embark on a multi-course meal that is as sure to sate one’s desire for birdies and big drives (washed down with draughts of fresh Sierra air) as the region’s restaurants are sure to tame the taste buds. There is, quite literally, something for every palate. And out there in the sunshine of the high desert, you don’t have to sweat counting calories. Just strokes.

“I can’t think of another place in the entire United States that has better weather for golf for most of the year — especially in September and October — than Reno-Tahoe,” says Tom Duncan, owner of Reno’s Wolf Run Golf Club, who’s opened, operated and even helped design several courses throughout the region for nearly 30 years. “Even in the summer it’s much cooler here than Phoenix or Arizona, and they don’t have the variety of terrain we have. The mountains, the desert, the forest, Lake Tahoe. And besides, look at all the hotels, restaurants and entertainment we have. For my money, it’s the greatest golf destination there is.”

So, take your place at the table — the tee — bring your appetite and snack your way through Reno-Tahoe’s chow line, 18 holes at a time.

THE APPETIZERS
A great start to any meal on this side of the Sierra includes a trek to the Carson City-Carson Valley corridor about 40 minutes south of Reno, where the public facilities there banded together years ago to create the Divine 9. Stretching from bucolic, bargain-priced, cottonwood-lined Carson Valley Golf Course in Gardnerville in the south, to the Arnold Palmer-authored Dayton Valley Country Club to the north and east, this collection ably sums up what high desert golf can and should be. Genoa Lakes Golf Club alone covers both ends of the spectrum; its original Lakes Course hugs the Carson River and incorporates wetlands and ponds for a pure parkland experience, while up the road its Resort Course is pretty much a linksland journey through sage and cheatgrass, with epic views of the Carson Range throughout. Continue north toward the capital city and you’ll find quirky and memorable Sunridge Golf Course, while at the north end of town there’s Silver Oak, which reveals some shotmaking tricks of its own. On the way to Dayton Valley — known for its superb summertime conditioning, with a brand new clubhouse to boot — are Eagle Valley’s 36 holes and 27 more at Empire Ranch, both locals’ favorites.

Actually, the Divine 9 comprises enough golf to make for a stellar week-long “meal” on its own. Which means you might want to extend your trip so you can dig fully into …

THE MAIN COURSE
Just as the daily special lineup at some of the region’s best eateries is often longer than the regular menu, this category is loaded with as many flavors, scents and hues as the golf gods — or in this case, world-class architects from Robert Trent Jones Sr. and Jr. to Jack Nicklaus to Peter Jacobsen and Jim Hardy — can cook up.

Among that august group of designers is Arnie, who with his South Reno entry, the Legends Course at ArrowCreek (a private club with some public play) makes a bold statement on just how scintillating desert-meets-mountain golf can be, with plenty of forced carries over arroyos, cliffhanging greens and a rambling, view-rich routing. This is tasty stuff. And if you know a member you can indulge in ArrowCreek’s Challenge Course co-designed by Fuzzy Zoeller. If not, take a quick 10-minute drive down the hill to Wolf Run, a delicious public outing in its own right, with a stream tumbling through several holes and big, rangy putting surfaces.

On the other end of town, in Sparks to be exact, is the Resort at Red Hawk, another 36-hole complex — half public/resort, half private. Trent Jones Jr.’s original Lakes Course is laced through natural wetlands and serves up some of the best par 3s in the area. Nearby is D’Andrea Golf Club, where you just might catch sight of a herd of antelope as you wind your way up, down and around its treeless canyons.

Still have room for more Reno delicacies? LakeRidge is always a fine choice, long known for its epic par 3 15th hole, where it’s a 150-foot drop from tee to island green. Solid muni entries include Washoe County, where Ben Hogan once won an open in the 1940s; Rosewood Lakes, the City of Reno’s reedy, watery morsel; and the twin treats of WildCreek and Northgate.

DESSERT
What better way to top off a meal than heading for the top of the
world — Tahoe-Truckee, to be exact. Everything tastes just a little sweeter at 6500 feet, including those tee shots that gain an extra eight to ten percent of distance thanks to the thin air.

If you’re in the mood for a classic old-school test, give Tahoe City’s course a try. It opened in 1916, making it one of the area’s oldest courses and living link to how the lake’s early landowners enjoyed their summers at the pristine, remote alpine getaway. Sling the bag over your shoulder and walk it — a refreshing post-round dip in Tahoe itself is only a wedge shot away.

On the other end of the North Shore are Incline’s Championship and Mountain courses, the former a Trent Jones Sr. masterpiece recently rejuvenated by noted architect Kyle Phillips, the latter perhaps the prettiest executive course in creation. Tahoe’s South Shore has its share of “gourmet” golf dishes, as well — especially Edgewood Tahoe, annual host of the world’s largest celebrity tournament and a perennial Top 100 course in national golf publications. Its three home holes skirt the lake, inviting golfers to gorge on “the fairest view the whole earth affords,” as Mark Twain once put it.

Yet more tempting digestives reside just north of Tahoe in the bustling resort burg of Truckee, where Coyote Moon and Old Greenwood serve up plate after plate of stellar, back-to-nature settings and more than one unforgettable hole. Coyote’s 13th, in fact, might be the best three-par in the entire region for sheer heart-pounding drama. And still further north is the incredible resort golf enclave in and around Graeagle, Calif. — Whitehawk Ranch, Grizzly Ranch, Nakoma, Graeagle Meadows and Plumas Pines.

By the time you get around to supping on the sublime golf lineup in Reno-Tahoe, you’ll come to but one conclusion: Diet’s definitely don’t work. In these parts, more is better, and a buffet this bountiful and beautiful merits more than one visit. So, dig in. The kitchen’s always open.

Vic Williams is Publishing Partner and Executive Editor of Fairways + Greens, a Reno-based bi-monthly magazine covering golf travel and lifestyle throughout the West.