My favorite pit stops on the drive from the Bay Area to Tahoe

I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and have family in the Tahoe area, so I’ve made the drive on Highway 80 more times than I can count. And while most of the time, my goal is to just get there or get home, I also am a human who sometimes wants to stop to stretch, use the bathroom, or eat. Here are some of my top spots to stop on the drive, arranged from west to east along the drive from the Bay Area to the Tahoe area.

Dixon

I don’t typically stop before Dixon (though if I do, Suisun is a fun stop) because I want to get some miles in before the first stop. If I’m driving up early, Solano Baking Company is a favorite stop. It has a huge variety of breakfast options ranging from bagels and baked goods to breakfast sandwiches, oatmeal, and avocado toast. There’s a gas station right across the parking lot, so you can send one person in to get breakfast while the other person fills up. It’s a popular spot with locals, so it can get crowded, but if you’re swinging through early it will just be you and the early birds and the soccer parents getting dozens of donuts. 

Davis

You wouldn’t stop in both Dixon and Davis because they’re neighboring cities, but for a wide variety of affordable lunch and dinner options it’s worth it to stray from the side of the freeway and go a bit deeper into Davis proper. My sisters went to UC Davis (many years ago), so I have a particular fondness for the college town vibe and the cute downtown. 

There’s an In-n-Out close to the freeway, but there are also dozens of other less crowded spots with way more variety. On the other side of the train underpass on the corner of First and Richards (the parking lot is on First behind the buildings) is a cluster of restaurants, a ton of outdoor seating, and a massive lawn. The restaurants turn over every few years, but usually there’s something good or great, so I just go and see what’s available. Another of my favorites is Guad’s Tacos and Beer, which is on a sleepy stretch of 3rd Street in a residential neighborhood. It has great Mexican food, big tables, and outdoor seating. 

Auburn

I don’t often stop as I’m going through Sacramento because if there’s going to be traffic, it’s here and I just want to get through it before stopping. So I usually wait until I at least get to Auburn before stopping again. For years, I stalled out in the cute Old Town Auburn neighborhood (right where you land when you get off the highway at the Auburn exit by the big statue). And there are a lot of options here, though most are sit down and not ideal if you’re aiming for fast. I used to go to the Auburn Ale House for dinner on the way up, but it gets packed on weekend evenings and it’s easy to lose a lot of time waiting for a table. 

In more recent years, I’ve ventured deeper into Auburn to Downtown Auburn, and have tried some of the spots along the two main drags there, High Street and Lincoln Way. My family’s current fave is Local Heroes, which offers fast, super affordable, and great burgers, veggie burgers, chicken sandwiches, and so on. 

Foresthill

Like Davis and Dixon, you wouldn’t stop in both Auburn and Foresthill because they’re right next to each other. But Foresthill, just a bit up the hill from Auburn, has a bunch of fast food options, plus a grocery store, a Starbucks, and the beloved Ikeda’s. Ikeda’s sells a lot of local (and some more standard grocery store items) products in its market, and also has a booming burger stand with all sorts of fun options, great milkshakes, and a lot of pie. Also, pie shakes. I also recommend the Chevron right off the Foresthill/Auburn Ravine Road because its bathrooms are reasonably fine for gas station bathrooms (the Starbucks that’s across the street also has decent bathrooms). 

Colfax

I don’t stop in Colfax much because I’ve either just stopped in Auburn or, if I’m coming the other way, I’m trying to get just a little farther down the hill before stopping. But lately, I’ve been making more of an effort to pause here because its downtown (a few minutes’ drive off 80) is cute and the options are good. Buzz Thru Joe’s is a nice local alternative to the Starbucks on the side of the freeway, Snapdragon Provisions is great for healthier options like smoothies, salads, and wraps, and Dine and Dash is a longtime diner-style fave that’s popular with locals.

Rest stops and gas stations in the mountains

Once you get up into the mountains, there are fewer towns and fewer options. There are two rest stops though, one about 20 minutes east of Colfax and another one at the top of Donner Pass (this one is open seasonally when the parking lot isn’t full of snow). They’re both basic but the bathrooms are generally clean and uncomplicated, with plenty of parking, a few picnic tables, and enough outdoor space for kids to stretch their legs and pets to take a pee break.