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View Full Version : OT: Dinner in Las Vegas?



Tom Walz
06-16-2011, 1:10 AM
I am going to be in Las Vegas Th & Fri for AWFS.

I would appreciate any recommendations on a restaurant. I am looking for a good recommendation from a local or someone with local knowledge.

Thursday night is an old friend / partner in some things as well as my Ecommerce Manager and her husband who is a US Army sniper,. She does a very good job for me and a US Army sniper is a big deal for me so I would like to do something special for them. Besides, they are really nice kids who are very much in love.

Friday night I am with a couple business associates. I would really like something more interesting than a $40 steak in a hotel restaurant.

For what it is worth, my favorite meal is a Costco rib steak, pan fried in butter over a campfire, with a good bottle of whiskey.

I guess that is enough sort of aimless rambling. Make of it what you will. I would still appreciate any recommendations anyone cared to make.

Thanks,
Tom

Russell Sansom
06-16-2011, 2:56 AM
I went to LV for ten years with my "tournament" hockey team. I would fly over a couple days early and just hunt out great lunches and dinners for amusement. Not being a drinker, while my team-mates were out getting dancing and getting smashed, I was driving the back streets looking for the restaurants where the locals ate.
Right now, I'm having trouble coming up with the memories ( it's been 3 years since I retired from amateur hockey ) for dinner. HOWEVER. My favorite lunch, hands down, is the Mon Ami Gabi in the Paris on the strip. It is a patio right on Las Vegas Blvd and directly across the strip from the Bellagio. If they aren't still working on it, you can see the water show from the patio on the half hour.
My strategy is to arrive at 11:20 and wait in line for the 11:30, no reservation, opening. I ask for a seat outside and once I get out there I pick the one I want and say, "Oh, could I have THAT one instead." They serve a (legendary ) little loaf of bread with the lunch.
If you like this restaurant ( a great menu; not too expensive; decent wine list ), you can make reservations for dinner.

Not fine dining, but another lunch winner is the Stratosphere. I know! hard to believe. But they've had a very decent lunch menu for the 15 years I went there. Not so much a dinner place, though.

In a pinch, there are 3 restaurants in "st. mark's square" of the Venetian. One is a Wolfgang Puck place and I think one is by Mario Bitale. I've always thought of these 3 as High B+ or A- restaurants. One day in advance reservations is a really good idea. I've been able to walk in once in a while, but you could have to wait 2 hours at one and find that the one across the "piazza" is a 2 hour wait as well. No matter what your take is on the plastic / artificial Las Vegas, the St. Mark's square space is vibrant and beautiful. I can't think of a better place in Las Vegas to have a glass of wine...other than the patio of Mon Ami Gabi.

I have eaten at the Aureole at Mandaly Bay. It's the one with the 5-story glass wine cabinet where they ride a rope elevator to go fetch your bottle. I found it a little over the top expensive ( I like good food. It looses points if its expensive ) and a little too far out there for me menu wise. I don't care for game and some of the other High animal fat modern cuisine.
Having said that The Fleur at Mandalay Bay is a famous place and a a little expensive restaurant where I've eaten three times. There is an "early bird" prix fixe menu that brought it down to something like $60 / person with a glass of great wine. Maybe that was dinner with 3 matching wines. This chef puts on a fantastic show with creative menus. The restaurant itself looks very classy without being ridiculous. I don't feel the food coming out of this kitchen is world class, but if you don't have a big opinion at this level, I'd highly recommend The Fleur.
The "Fleur", A- class of eatery is what I found as a general rule when searching for the very best. The ZAGAT guide for Las Vegas has a pretty healthy listing. If you sort by "top picks" you can see some of the current darling restaurants and some of the long-term favorites. This was one of my methods for sorting out the ( literally ) thousands of recommendations you run into if you try to research the topic. BTW, I have never found that many "locals" places that rang my bell. The dining out scene in Las Vegas isn't like New York or San Francisco. Rather than returning to the restaurant because they like the food, diners fly back to where they live. The restaurant doesn't really have to depend on their repeat business.

Japanese places are the $50-$100 variety, but can be an unforgettable experience if you haven't done the whole thing before ( I mean real japanese. Not the Beni Hana style ). There's a lot of restaurant nonsense. The places at the Wynn might as well have served cardboard. There was the occasion when the dinner buffet was a deal here and there. We had a team dinner at the Rio once back when their buffet was "The Best." We went back again a couple years later and even my hot-dog and beer teammates were disappointed. Personally, I now avoid the buffets because I see them as carnival rather than cuisine.

Well, you pushed my button. I did dinner and lunch at least 5 (days) X 10 (years) = 50 times and I still always found it a challenge. Good luck.
Good luck.

Jim Falsetti
06-16-2011, 6:09 AM
Tom,

If you want a really nice small place, with a great menu, and an exellent wine list, I would suggest Rosemary's Restaurant. It
is off the strip. You should make reservations. One night a week they have a discounted wine price.

Jim

Jim Sears
06-16-2011, 7:37 AM
Tom..

This looks like a very good site to check out. I just looked at it briefly, but it appears that you can find about anything you are looking for as far as food goes. Look at the left side of the page, and just pick your poison. I think I'll go back and look some more. I don't get to go to Vegas very often. But when I do, good eating is always on my list of "things to do".
http://www.lasvegasrestaurants.com/

Have fun and enjoy a good meal for me.

Jim

Larry Fox
06-16-2011, 8:23 AM
One poster mentioned Mon Ami Gabi which is good but I have found the food hit or miss and a bit overpriced relative to the quality - you are paying for the experience there as it is pretty much right at street level. I was there two weeks ago and had dinner at both Lavo (at the Palazzo) and Jasmine at the Bellagio and would not hesitate to recommend either. If you end up at Lavo having dinner on the terrace is very relaxing and you are right across the street from the Treasure Island show which is entertaining the first few times. If you end up at Jasmine request a table by the windows as the fountain show is very nice from that viewpoint. There are also a couple of restaurants in Bellagio that have outdoor dining where you can really appreciate the fountain show. The Wynn also has very nice restaurants and there is one that is adjacent to the Lake of Dreams which looked very nice but I have not eaten there. There is also an Emirls in the MGM Grand that is very nice for lunch. There are just so many to choose from and I don't think you will go wrong picking from any of the better quality ones.


http://www.bellagio.com/restaurants/jasmine.aspx
http://www.palazzo.com/lavo.aspx

Rich Noterman
06-16-2011, 9:33 AM
When i'm in Vegas I allways stop at In N Out, at Trop and I-15. No reservations needed busy at lunch and supper times. They can move about 100 orders in about 20 mins.

Jerome Hanby
06-16-2011, 10:13 AM
I think Emeril has a place in LV... I know his steak place in NO is excellent.

Steve Wurster
06-16-2011, 10:40 AM
I think Emeril has a place in LV... I know his steak place in NO is excellent.

Emeril has a Delmonico in the Venetian. It's fantastic.

I also recommend Todd English's Olives in the Bellagio.

Larry Fox
06-16-2011, 11:33 AM
I think Emeril has a place in LV... I know his steak place in NO is excellent.

He also has Table 10 in the Palazzo

Ed Barnes
06-16-2011, 11:44 AM
I think Emeril has a place in LV... I know his steak place in NO is excellent.

I agree on Emeril's in MGM. Excellent food. His Banana Cream pie is superb! :-)

Russell Sansom
06-16-2011, 12:40 PM
Ah, yes, Table 10 at the Palazzo. An intelligent wine list and a spectacular service. One of my favorites in Las Vegas. As I remember, it's downstairs and a bit out of the way along with 2 or 3 other "very serious" restaurants..
After going on modestly-priced safaris for a decade I must respectfully disagree with the idea that you can just pick one from a web site. Las Vegas is willing to love you and leave you. I'm generally give a wide berth to restaurants with celebrity chef names, but one of them is probably the best way to avoid the "we're never going to see you again" treatment from waiters and chefs.
And I concur about Mon Ami Gabi. I don't think they have a consistent chef, though they have some waiters who've been there for many years. It's much more a place to have a couple glasses of wine and to watch the over-heated and the foot-weary as they walk by. The food is edible.

Jay Runde
06-16-2011, 7:28 PM
I don't get to the strip area all that often to eat, but have a couple of recommendations. If you want a good steak house not in a hotel, might want to try the Golden Steer. It's just west of the Strip on Sahara. I've been there a couple of times, and was great each time. There is also a nice Italian restaurant a few miles south of the strip on Las Vegas Boulevard called the Bootlegger Bistro. I don't think you could go wrong with either place.

http://golden.snapsweb.com/
http://www.bootleggerlasvegas.com/index.html

Bryan Morgan
06-17-2011, 12:11 AM
I've eaten at the steak house in the Luxor. The expensive one. It was quite good. I think it was about $200 for my wife and I which was convenient because we had just won $250 before we walked in.

Jim Becker
06-17-2011, 10:04 PM
The Mexican place in the Palazzo is excellent...and that hotel/casino is also non-smoking. ;)