Venetian making some big additions. Gjelina and Cote.
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The freshly made malasada at Zippy’s is the closest to Leonard’s that I have had in the mainland.
And I had to grab a zip pack for the chili rice.
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Mother Wolf is great in Vegas. Has replaced Carbone for us. Well maybe it’s because we cannot get a reservation at Carbone. But regardless the food here is as good as LA. The only thing I hate is the signs for the bathroom. Took me a minute to figure out which one was the men’s bathroom. This is not the women’s bathroom.
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That reminds me of when a restaurant called Eccolo opened and my friends who don’t speak Italian kept calling it E Coli.
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Current recommendations? I’ll be there visiting friends.
Any recommendation on business dinner on Vegas? I want them to feel that they are getting treated nice
- 150-200 per person
- In the strip
- Food that is crazy / very good for European
- No Italian food
TIA
Italians usually love big American steaks. Maybe Bavette’s or Don’s Prime?
Excellent wine bar. My local friends said it’s the only good one they’ve found.
Viva las Arepas, Venezuelan.
Arepas were good.
They also had a small selection of Venezuelan groceries. They weren’t on display in the front but they had a huge supply of Goya masarepa.
It’s also a gelato parlor, mix of traditional Italian and tropical-fruit flavors.
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Thank you definitely check out wine bar.
I had a very good meal at Bavette’s Steakhouse at Park MGM, seconding @robert on the recommendation. It a bit more subdued than some other steakhouses on the strip which is helpful for a business dinner. For after (or before) dinner, just down the hall is the NoMad Library, an exquisitely designed restaurant and bar in the vein of a historic library. NoMad Library has great drinks and they do a very fun tableside tuna tartar.
Another good option is Jaleo at the Cosmopolitan. Spanish tapas and large plates. Jose Andrés. The restaurant is brighter and louder than Bavette’s. Some of the better Spanish tapas I’ve had in the US.
Finally, this is probably out of contention since it’s not on the strip (10 minute drive), but my favorite restaurant in Vegas is Sparrow + Wolf. New American but with a much more unique, interesting and complex menu than the standard New American restaurant. Extremely high level of execution coming out of the kitchen, very friendly and knowledgeable service. A la carte or $135pp tasting menu.
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Bazaar meat is very fun. Super showy.
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I found Bazaar Meat underwhelming, hence the omission from my list, BUT I went as a solo diner and so was unable to order any of the large format meat dishes which I presume is the entire point of the restaurant. (Side note, but Bazaar Meat serves “vaca vieja”, which has caused quite the controversy at Somni 2.0. No surprise there as Aitor worked under José at Bazaar/Somni, and they both worked at El Bulli).
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I had a great business meal at STK in Cosmopolitan. It is loud, nice beverage list and the food was surprisingly great.
They had a king crab appetizer special that was fantastic.
The dry aged bone in ribeye was great for no reason.
Atmosphere definitely fits Vegas and you can definitely treat them to a nice dinner. This is like the business dinner you take your clients after you sealed the deal and want to celebrate. Hahaha
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Yeah I found the large format meat and the showy tapas to be the best part of the meal.
Aitor actually helped open the restaurants in Vegas, at least at Cosmo. We talked a little about living in Las Vegas when I went to Somni. I think he was the original chef at e by Jose in Jaleo.
Other options on strip in that price range:
Jean Georges Steakhouse at Aria. Non-traditional steakhouse like Bazaar Meat or STK. In addition to the steak you have some classic Jean Georges dishes that are still worth getting (like the tuna ribbons or crispy fried chicken). Seasonal sides solid too. I haven’t been in a while, but execution was consistently good when I’ve gone.
Michael Mina at Bellagio. I have not been, but my friend in Vegas has eaten everywhere and recommends Michael Mina. It’s nice because you go through the Bellagio garden to get to the restaurant.
Jaleo I would be cautious as it is pretty loud and bright, and it’s open to the main mezzanine area where most of the restaurants are and is high traffic. Could be hard to have a conversation if you’re talking business.
Honestly in that price range for “Food that is crazy / very good for European” I would go off strip. Sparrow and Wolf like @Loaxley recommends. EDO tapas bar (modern Spanish that reminds me of Barcelona). Possibly Anima by EDO as I wouldn’t exactly call it Italian, more like Italian interpreted by Spain. Or Aburiya Raku, which I still think is as good or better than any similar place in LA. Off strip has more interesting food and better value, just less opulent interior design. To me those are very “Vegas” restaurants, chefs who came to Vegas and worked on the strip and left the constraints of a strip restaurant to cook the food they want to cook.
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Service was tremendous. We never wanted for anything. They even managed to accommodate a very late arrival to our table and had all the entree’s delivered at the same time.
I will say that there are some misses in comparison to the Miami location. The salad dressings for Vegas are not as robust as Miami…the Joe’s vinaigrette was so good in Miami, but were muted/watered down in Vegas. Applies to the Caesar, too.
One of the chowpups was not impressed by his burger, and the key lime pie we grabbed to-go seemed to heavy on the condensed milk and not so much on key lime.
The fried chicken was well-received and pretty tasty from the thigh I got to try.
Other things that went well:
Cocktail/bar program
Porterhouse
Stone crab
Mac & cheese
The celebrant enjoyed his dinner here quite a bit.
Who doesn’t love just coming downstairs and having easy access to DTF? If you make a reservation you speed through the line even faster.
We were told that this particular Saturday, they had a 1,000 covers on the morning plan. And they do turn things around pretty fast.
Food comes out fast and furious. Our cooked dishes actually came out before the steamed dumplings.
Tea service is piping hot…so hot it makes the cup too hot to pick up. I don’t know how some folks can drink those high temps without burning off their taste buds and scalding their esophagus.
We had a great family brunch. The chowpups are now drinking cocktails with us.
Y’all…this place is superb. The execution here is at an extraordinary level. They explain that their traditional neopolitan execution means more charred pies before you order.
We had reservations and showed up a little late after warning the team to find the restaurant wasn’t really full, but it was by the time we ordered.
We probably ordered a third of the menu. 3 salads, wings and 6 pizzas.
The vegetable work here is great. A lot of care has gone into both salads. The verde salad has semi oven-dried tomatoes making them little flavor bombs with cheese, arugula, balsamic and fresh focaccia croutons. Really really good! The Caesar is made with little gems and has a zippy house made dressing and lovely white anchovy filets. We loved it so much we ordered 2.
The Tokyo wings had a lovely hit of heat. Also quite tasty.
Photos were not great here because it was rather dark.
I would like to start that the dough/crust work here is significant. The leoparding underskirt was beautiful. Nice chew, super nice flavor, but since they serve it on a rack placed atop the plate, the crust remains really crispy and you don’t get any floppy soupy centers even after the pizzas have been cut. While some might not enjoy this, I loved it.
Funghi - solid. Highly recommended by the staff to allow you to enjoy simplicity at its finest. Tasty roasted mushrooms. The only complaint I had was rather a nice leopard underskirt, the bottom was completely black. There’s a very thin line between charred and burnt and this was definitely burnt. The cheese and mushrooms were super flavorful so the charred/burnt qualities were less evident…but I assure you, it was straight black.
Burrata - delicious. Simple and it had a wonderful pistachio-based pesto that cut through the richness of the burrata.
Crust photos…
Not pictured:
Margarita
Pepperoni
Short rib
Salame rossa
They were all amazing. Had we had a couple of more people, we would have attempted a OOE. This is highly recommended. I would place this in the same tier as Pizzeria Sei.
Honorable mention for their tiramisu…we got it as a complimentary birthday dessert and while it’s not as good as my own…I feel like they cut their mascarpone mix with a little whipped cream which takes away from the cheese. Good flavor and texture overall.
Located in the same plaza as Partage…I’d Lyft/Uber here rather than gamble on the crazy parking lot…it’s an accident waiting to happen.
Service was great. Cocktail game here is developing, but they have lots of options for beer and nonalcoholic options. They make a few house made sodas, too.
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I did the Summerlin version with a few friends.
Double zero pies are delicious. A little thicker than most Neapolitan places but very good dough.
Lugers after a long day of horse handicapping. Always hits the spot. Very crusty a bit salty but excellent steaks. Got the porterhouse and ribeye for a little bit of each cut. Obligatory shrimp cocktail, bacon, tomato/onion, creamed spinach and German potatoes.
Lucky penny at Red Rock. Ham could easily feed 3-4.
Le Strega pastas are nice. Very large portions. Pork chop parm. Nice flattened out cut of meat. It’s good but not Mother Wolf or Carbone.
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