Some of the most treasured moments of my childhood involved visiting Grandpa Max on Sunday nights when we would tune in for a formidable line-up of westerns. We loved Daniel Boone and The Virginian, but our favorite was Bonanza. Concurrent with the opening notes of Bonanza’s theme song, the screen displayed a map which depicted the sheer scale of The Ponderosa, the Cartwright family ranch. The brobdingnagian ranch was bordered on the south by Lake Tahoe, an aquatic body the ranch dwarfed. According to the map, The Ponderosa was bordered by Carson City, Reno and Virginia City. Many of the show’s episodes outside the ranch seemed to be centered around Carson City. As a precocious lad already iterested in cartography, I was determined to someday visit the area surrounding The Ponderosa.
It took a few decades, but my Kim and I finally got there. Our favorite Bonanza landmark was probably Virginia City. Established in 1859–a time period almost contemporaneous with that of the fictional Bonanza (roughly 1861 to 1867)–Virginia City is akin to taking a step back in time. “Thar’s gold in them that hills,” was the rallying cry that brough fortune-seeking prospectors to Virginia City. When all was said and done, more than one billion dollars in gold and silver was extracted from the area. By 1876, Nevada produced over half of all the precious metals in the United States. Remnants and relics of the mining boom still line the hills.
At its peak, Virginia City was a thriving, vibrant metropolis–once considered the wealthiest city in the country–of 25,000 residents. The spirit of those denizens still inhabits the places where they once worked, lived, worshiped, educated and died. Though laid to rest, some of those residents can still be seen in their former homes, albeit in the paranormal form Among the city’s most famous residents was a writer and humorist named Samuel Clements who first used the pen name Mark Twain in Virginia City. Clemens lived and wrote in Virginia City from fall 1862 through May 1864. Other “who’s who” luminaries of the time either visited or lived in the city.
With a population of 25,000, Virginia City was no mining camp but a cosmopolitan city offering the finest food, pedigreed chefs proficient in French fare and unsurpassed entertainment. The opera house resonated with music from the likes of Lillie Langtry and “March King” John Philip Souza. International stars such Harry Houdini and Buffalo Bill Cody also entertained the local gentry. Parties were held during which thousands of bottles of champagne were consumed with menu cards made of solid silver. Virginia City’s wealth largely financed San Francisco.
Today a National Historic Landmark District, the city draws more than two-million visitors per year. It boasts of numerous historic properties listed separately on the National Register of Historic Places. Among them is the Werrin Building (circa 1873) which has a very interesting history. Located at the eastern section of Virginia City, the Werrin Building is fairly typical of the historic architecture which defines the city. We might not otherwise have visited the Werrin Building had it not been repurposed as the home of the Cafe Del Rio.
culturetrip.com recently named four Reno-Tahoe area restaurants to its “10 Best Restaurants in Nevada” list. Among them was Cafe Del Rio, an eatery specializing in “Southwestern cuisine.” Launched in 2005, this welcoming café features a menu replete with surprising items. Chief among those surprises is a number of dishes seemingly more apropos in the Land of Enchantment than in the land of Ben, Little Joe, Hoss and Hop Sing (my favorite character in Bonanza). Considering the embarassment of restaurant riches in Las Vegas, to be named one of Nevada’s best is quite a feat.
The menu offers everything from “gospel” fried chicken to Santa Fe Stacked, the chef’s take on enchiladas New Mexico style. Creative desserts include the must-try apricot-ancho chili cheesecake. Should you visit, your visit will be further blessed if Hannah is your server. She knows all there is to know about the menu and about Virginia City. She recounted her sole (thus far) paranormal encounter of the ghostly kind for us. (Virginia City is considered in some circles as the “most haunted cities in the United States.”) While clearning up the men’s room, Hannah came face-to-face with a male specter. The building is said to be haunted by a female ghost, too.
Hannah didn’t tell us what the resident ghosts would have ordered from the menu. I suspect they might have started with chips and salsa. That’s what all the ghosts about town in Santa Fe would order. Chips are fresh and homemade while the salsa is made with fire-roasted tomatoes. By New Mexico standards, the salsa isn’t especially piquant and it’s somewhat watery, but it’s got a nice fire-roasted flavor. The chips are low-in-salt and formidable enough to stand up to Gil-sized salsa scoops.
If only for the sake of an opportunity to bad-mouth “faux” New Mexican food (especially those mispelled as “chili”), I tend to order items like enchiladas in such faraway outposts as Jackson, Wyoming and Virginia City, Nevada. I didn’t expect much when ordering the Santa Fe Stack (pinto beans, rice, shredded beef or chicken layered with corn tortillas, cheese, covered with red (includes cumin), green, or both sauces, and topped with cheese, crema and a fried-to-order egg) even though the composition was (mostly) right. My expectations were blown away in the best way possible. These enchiladas may not have had the piquancy this fire-eater likes, but in terms of flavor, they’re as good as many we’ve had in the Land of Enchantment. They definitely have a “wow” factor. The crema provided tangy notes that paired with the umami of the fried egg (over easy). The tactile delight of slicing through layers of corn tortillas sandwiching shredded beef is a Northern New Mexican thing I never get enough of.
While the years (and some accursed medication) have diminished my Kim’s expanse of favorite foods, those foods she still loves she really loves. Among her very favorites is fried chicken. She didn’t even have to peruse the menu when I told her it included a gospel fried chicken dinner (mashed potatoes and gravy, seasonal vegetables and homemade slaw). African Americans in the Deep South use “Gospel Bird” and “Sunday Cluck” as nicknames for fried chicken. We enjoyed gospel fried chicken on many a Sunday on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Cafe Del Rio’s version would pass muster in Mississippi despite the chicken being boneless. Even Southern gals have spread the word about this bird. The “seasonal vegetables” were corn off the cob, the way my Kim loves it.
Among the five desserts on the menu is an apricot-Ancho chile cheesecake (sweet with a little heat! Apricot-Ancho glaze, Chantilly cream). The sweet, tangy, slightly bitter apricot and Ancho chili chaze was dominated by the distinct flavor of apricots. Sadly, the Ancho chili was like one of the city’s ghosts. I didn’t taste it and can only take the word of the chef that it’s in there somewhere. Still, it’s a beautiful and delightfully delicious cheesecake, perhaps the type of which might have been served during Virginia City’s halcyon days.
I would be remiss if I didn’t pay homage to the scenic drive from Reno to Virginia City, another unexpected surprise. For the first few miles, the drive is rather generic (boring), as it skirts the outer-ring of development in southern Reno. After two miles, the route begins to ascend precipitously up the mountains. Numerous scenic pull-outs provide excellent places to park and gaze in awe and wonder at the wonderful views of the Washoe Valley, the 10,776 foot Mt. Rose, the 9800 foot Slide Peak, and the City of Reno. After eight miles and a gain of 2,800 feet in elevation from the start of your trip, the Virginia City Scenic Drive reaches Geiger Summit. At an elevation of 6789 feet, it is the highest point of the drive. From here, the route drops gently down, skirting numerous old mines and mining scars (mining tailings are everywhere in the hills above and below the road) on its way to Virginia City. It’s a magnificent drive.
Grandpa Max would have cherished a visit to Virginia City nearly as much as I cherished every minute spent with him.
Cafe Del Rio
394 S C Street
Virginia City, Nevada
(775) 847-5151
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LATEST VISIT: 28 June 2024
# OF VISITS: 1
RATING: N/R
COST: $$ – $$$
BEST BET: Gospel Fried Chicken Dinner, Santa Fe Stacked, Apricot-Ancho Chili Cheesecake,
REVIEW #1409