Jake's on the Lake Closing: What's Next for Tahoe City's East End?

After the last plate leaves the kitchen at Jake's on the Lake later this month, what is left on the lake side of North Lake Boulevard between the Boatworks and the old Safeway?

The short answer is a wine bar, a few fitness studios, a hotel, and starting October 29, a farmers market under the Boatworks roof. The longer answer is that both of the east end's biggest commercial buildings are now tied up in legal processes. Neither one reopens anything by itself, and neither has a finish date anyone can name yet.

Forty-eight years, and one extra summer

Jake's opened in 1978. Chris Thibaut bought the business in 2005, according to a 2012 Sierra Sun profile. The restaurant very nearly didn't get a 2026 season. In October 2025, managing partner Jeff Hill told the Sierra Sun that Jake's expected to close November 1. He hoped to reopen in May 2026, and the paper pointed to the end of the long-running lease and the losses that pile up from November through May.

It did come back, but later and for one season only. By June 10, the Sierra Sun was reporting that Jake's had reopened for what ownership called its final summer. Most of the staff returned, and the seasonal crew grew from about 50 people to more than 100. A new chef, Ronnie Miranda, came on to run a menu Hill said would still feel like Jake's. The plan then was to stay open through the end of October, with the caveat that the timeline could shift.

As of October 1, that's still the plan. Love North Tahoe's fall roundup lists Jake's as closing at the end of October. It lists happy hour every day from 5 to 6:30 p.m. and Wine Wednesdays with $5 glasses, and it advises arriving early. No exact final night has been published, and the October calendar on the restaurant's website shows no farewell event. A closing party with Ike & Martin you might have seen mentioned was set for October 25, 2025, the closure that didn't happen. It isn't on this year's schedule.

Hill told Moonshine Ink in late July why this season is the last:

"Due to the dynamic with the landlord and other outside factors, a path hasn't really been presented to be able to move forward. Should a path illuminate, we would walk it, but I just don't see what that would be."

The building around the restaurant

What Hill calls the "dynamic with the landlord" ties straight into the Boatworks Mall's own story this year. Here's how 2026 has gone, based on Sierra Sun and Moonshine Ink reporting and the public bankruptcy docket:

1. January: Moonshine Ink reported that MJD Capital Partners defaulted on its $14 million loan on the property and fell behind on property taxes, and foreclosure proceedings began.
2. August 12, 10:30 a.m.: This was the scheduled time for the public foreclosure auction. The notice of sale put the unpaid balance and other charges at more than $15.5 million.
3. August 11: The day before the auction, Boatworks at Tahoe LLC, which owns and runs the mall and the Inn at Boatworks, filed for Chapter 11 reorganization in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of California.
4. September 24: The court gave final approval to the company's motions on cash collateral and a management agreement, according to the docket. It also pushed the status conference to a later date.
5. December 17, 10:30 a.m.: That continued status conference is the next date on the court calendar.

Marie Murphy, CEO of MJD Capital Partners, told the Sierra Sun that the filing legally prevents foreclosure while the company restructures. She said the mall and inn will stay open in the meantime and that MJD still believes "a mixed-use redevelopment is the best way to revitalize Boatworks and preserve its unique character."

That redevelopment is still on paper. Placer County's April 2026 list of planning projects in process still shows file PLN21-00244 for 790 N. Lake Blvd. It was filed May 1, 2021, and still needs an environmental impact report, a conditional use permit and design review. The concept, filed with Placer County and the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, would replace the mall, the Inn at Boatworks and the El Dorado Savings Bank building with hotel rooms, condo-hotel residences, commercial space and a spa. The two agencies opened a joint environmental review in January 2024. The county list came out before the bankruptcy filing, and nothing published since shows the project being approved.

What the mall looks like going into winter

The redevelopment plan has been on file for five years, and it has shaped the building the whole time. In its July 31 story, Moonshine Ink described the mall as about half occupied. Geared for Games, Tahoe Core Pilates and Tahoe T-Shirtery had already moved out, expecting the building to come down. Acorn Home Furnishings & Design was scheduled to leave at the end of August. Every tenant except Jake's was on a month-to-month lease. Allison Yonto, owner of the Tahoe Wine Collective, put the number of businesses open daily at eight.

The mall's other lakefront restaurant, Hacienda del Lago, closed in 2021, and its space is still empty. That's why the end of October matters more than it would for a single restaurant. Once Jake's closes, neither of the Boatworks' restaurant spaces will have a kitchen running for the first time in years.

Several businesses are still there. Tahoe Wine Collective lists its address as 760 North Lake Boulevard, Suite 1, inside the Boatworks Mall, and still hosts tastings and events. Mountain Lotus Yoga and Tahoe Fit, both named as Boatworks tenants in July, still advertise classes on their websites.

The farmers market moves in

The biggest regular draw at the Boatworks this winter will be produce. The Tahoe City Farmers Market runs its Thursday markets at Commons Beach through October 22, then moves indoors to the Boatworks Mall. The Tahoe City Downtown Association lists these indoor Fall Harvest Markets every Thursday from October 29 through December 17, with no market on Thanksgiving, November 26.

The bankruptcy hearing and the last market of the year fall on the same Thursday.

Next door, a law that needs paperwork first

Across the parking lot, the former Safeway building has been empty since October 2025. On June 9, Placer County Supervisor Cindy Gustafson wrote to Safeway's corporate headquarters. She called the vacancy "a significant community concern" and noted reports that other grocery operators had been discouraged from using the property. On July 22, she sent the state senate a letter supporting Assembly Bill 1857, the Grocery Store Access Act.

A September 25 SFGATE column described one attempted purchase. According to the column, one prospective buyer walked away from negotiations after Albertsons asked them to accept a covenant restricting grocery use.

Five days later, on September 30, 2026, the governor signed AB 1857, and it was chaptered as Chapter 901, Statutes of 2026. The law doesn't clear a site overnight. Certain existing grocery-use restrictions on a former grocery site become unenforceable only after an approved covenant-modification document is recorded. Creating specified new restrictions of that kind is banned starting January 1, 2027. No sale, new tenant or grocery reopening has been reported at the site.

That leaves the east end looking much the same on both sides. The mall has a court date but no approved plan. The old Safeway has a new law behind it, but a document still has to be recorded before the law applies. Until either one moves, the Thursday market is the regular reason to park at the Boatworks. The indoor season ends December 17, the same day as the court hearing.

Becky has watched the Boatworks and the lakefront around it for her whole life, and she follows how changes like these affect property along the North Lake Boulevard corridor. If you own nearby and want to talk through what a stalled or revived east end could mean for you, Becky Arnold is a phone call away. Start your Tahoe search with a call to Becky for west-shore expertise.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.