EATING LAS VEGAS 2023 – The 52 Essential Restaurants

Image(Grumpy gastronome grades great and egregious grub)

Remember reading? When one had to digest actual words on a printed page (or screen) when researching restaurants? Nowadays, attention spans  are shorter than a housefly’s, and the written word is deader than Duncan Hines. 

Sad but true, and a reality it is time to face. So rather than crying in our Burgundy, we thought it better to go out in a blaze of glory….and by “blaze of glory” I mean a 7,300 word salad of salacious searching for serious sustenance to share with our fellow fressers.

As an aging boomer who doesn’t have the time, talent, or energy to concoct cheese-pull /butter-dunking videos for those infected with Tik Tok brain, I’ve persevered this year because I love the chefs and the restaurants, and because I wanted to take one last spin around my beat — territory I’ve covered since Bill Clinton was in his first term.

As always, the following represent what they have for twenty-eight years: my list of the most important and delicious restaurants in Las Vegas. The places that have left a mark; who do the finest cooking at the highest levels of their craft; and to which I would take a well-traveled epicurean, should one ever give me a month to feed them the best Las Vegas has to offer.

Most of them also represent my favorite places to eat, and since the older I get, the choosier I’ve become, the intersection of “the best”, favorites, and “essentials” has now merged from a Venn diagram into a single circle. Of course I do not confine my dining to only 52 restaurants, and for that reason, there is an “honorable mention” list of places where you’ll find me and The Food Gal® popping into throughout the year.

Agree or disagree, these are all the product of judgments based upon my repeated visits over years, even decades. And remember: everything comes with the #BeingJohnCurtas guarantee: All opinions valid or your money back!

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 00 Pie & PubMike Vakneen is a pizza savant and Chinatown is now his playground. The bar is too large (it dominates the narrow room), the chairs uncomfortable and the wine list woeful. But the wood-fired, spongy-soft/crusty-charred pies are nonpareil. And the apps alone are worth the price of admission.

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1228 MainIf Esther’s Kitchen ignited Main Street’s culinary revolution, 1228 Main legitimized it. Some have decried a celeb chef’s (Wolfgang Puck) corporation exploiting the organic, small-caliber, artisanal feel of the neighborhood, but at some point, the junk stores, muffler shops and tattoo parlors had to go, and what better replacement than a three-meal-a-day bakery/restaurant run by some of sharpest pros in the business.

Since Sébastien Polycarpe (second from left, above) was named Pastry Chef of the Year is this year’s Desert Companion Restaurant Awards, our staff thought you might enjoy the indelible prose (written by a master wordsmith) bestowing those accolades upon him:

Sébastien Polycarpe

PASTRY CHEF OF THE YEAR – SÉBASTIEN POLYCARPE

 It is the fate of the pastry chef to toil in obscurity while alchemizing carbohydrates into the things that most delight the human palate. Celebrity chefs may abound, but those laminating puff pastry or kneading dough in the wee hours largely go unnoticed by customers swooning over crispy baguettes, butter-rich croissants, and impeccably decorated fruit tarts. Sébastien Polycarpe is no stranger to both worlds – having worked below decks as executive pastry chef for Caesars Palace – as well as in the spotlight of such luminaries as Alain Ducasse and Guy Savoy. A native of southwest France, he spent ten years at Caesars before joining the Wolfgang Puck galaxy of pastry and savory superstars. He doesn’t think of himself as a revolutionary, but with the opening of 1228 Main earlier this year in downtown Las Vegas, he and his pastry team have transformed the Arts District into a mecca for lovers of all things buttered, caked and baked.

Having someone with Polycarpe’s resumė pushing out world-class pain au chocolat, cheese Danish, and cherry-walnut bread daily is one thing; having him and Puck Executive Chef Kamel Guechida (a former Pastry Chef of the Year) patrolling the ovens is like having your lemon-olive oil cake and eating it too. Between them, they’ve raised the pastry bar downtown, and there’s no going back. “We couldn’t have done something like this ten years ago,” he says, “but the local food scene has really changed for the best.” A decade ago, one couldn’t imagine a veteran of the world’s greatest French restaurants rolling out mille-feuille and spackling sumptuous cakes on Main Street, but there Polycarpe is every morning, plying his tradecraft in full view of appreciative, salivating customers, anonymous no more.

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8 oz Korean Steakhouse – Sometimes I think Chinatown is in danger of being overrun by conveyor belt sushi, cheap-ass pho parlors and ACYE Korean beef. 8 oz. bucks this trend and sets the standard with quality banchan and steaks worthy of any purveyor of prime. Unlike what some gwailos think: all Korean steakhouses are not created equal and 8 oz. is the exception that proves the rule.

Ada’s Food + WineThere are only three things that can get me into the depressing, soulless confines of Tivoli Village: Al Solito Posto, the wines of Kat Thomas and the cooking of Jackson Stamper. I also like the outdoor patio here, where (unlike its sister restaurant) I can drink and dine outside eyeshot of the godforsaken Echo & Rig, and its constant stream of fading MILFs, aging Boomers and desperate bachelorettes.

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Al Solito Posto – stands out in a crowded category as one of our best suburban Italians — challenged only by Osteria Fiorella for pasta supremacy. Also worth a bite: Milano, La Strega, D’Agostino’s, Aromi. We’re amazed Amalfi by Bobby FlayBalla and RPM still make a go of it amongst tough competition, but our meals there in the past year were quite satisfying, though not enough to make us scurry back.

Anima by Edo – The food, the wine, the service, the cocktails, the pasta, the tapas….there is nothing not to like about Anima except what a pain in the ass it is to get to (unless you live in the southwest part of the valley). Spanish food may have had its day in Vegas (both Pamplona and Jamon Jamon flamed out on west Sahara, despite paying almost nothing in rent), but both of Oscar Amador Edo’s restaurants (Anima and EDO -its smaller-bore/bigger sister) have kept the Iberian flame alive with some of the best cooking you’ll find, this side of Madrid.

Aroma Latin American Cocina  – Nueva Latina in Green Valley makes about as much sense as a salsa band at a Mormon social, but what Steve Kestler is doing here is remarkable — both for the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it location, and the array of flavors he packs into his menu. He’s kept the lights on for a couple of years now, and that alone is astonishing.

Azzura CucinaHenderson’s best Italian in a ship-snug setting, serving standards, but significantly stronger (in flavor and appearance) than anything Water Street has ever seen. This was Desert Companion’s Restaurant of the Year this year (in part for its bold move in gentrifying this moribund street), but breath is being held and fingers crossed until we see what lasting impact it might have.

Basilico Ristorante ItalianoItalian country cooking is an endlessly replicated genre, but a visit to Francisco Di Caudo’s grown-up dining room is an energizing reminder of how irresistible it can be when handled with focus and skill. Go for the slightly esoteric, perfectly made pastas, like dimpled foglie d’ulivo, perky malloreddus and slippery, thin-skinned plin dell’ alta langa, but don’t let it be at the expense of the olive oil-soaked focaccia, or the intensely flavored desserts and ice creams, like none other in town.

Bazaar Meat by José Andrés – I wish they’d change the menu at least a little bit, but BM still showcases some of the best beef in town, and suckling pig, and an Iberian-focused wine and cocktail program which is unbeatable. Spanish food may never supplant Italian in the hearts and stomachs of Americans, but Vegas can proudly say that it still has two of the best in our humble burg.

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Bouchon – After spending weeks in France, this was our first meal upon returning. Although the oysters were a disappointment (hard to beat Ostrea edulis straight from the Cancale Basin), our meal checked most of the Gallic boxes for refined cooking, and flavor extraction.  The room (going on 20 years old) has held up well and the service is always good-to-great.  Everything from the roast chicken to super-focused sauces to the superb moules marinere are straight from Thomas Keller’s Left Bank playbook. It’s also the only place in Vegas where you can routinely find boudin blanc (above) and sweetbreads on the menu. Unlike its competition (Mon Ami Gabi and Brasserie Bardot) they actually offer seasonal specials here, and you don’t have to fight for a table with the slack-jawed cargo shorts crowd.

Brezza – They don’t call it an Italian steakhouse but that’s exactly what it is. Non-beef eaters will find plenty to like, too, including gutsy pastas, inventive apps, and a dream of an Italian wine list. All overseen by award-winning chef Nicole Brisson at prices which aren’t the hose job you’ll find at Carbone.

B.S. Taqueria at The Sundry- The B. S. stands for “Broken Spanish” and it’s the best Mexican food we had this year. With Viva! by Ray Garcia in Resorts World a close second. Same chef, terrific tortillas, serious south of the border stuff.

Cipriani – The classiest midday repast in all of Las Vegas, with also the best service of any uber-busy, upscale restaurant you’ve ever been to. In a town not known for lunching, it remains the best see-and-be-scene power lunch spot anywhere on the Strip. I am bored to the gills with most Italians, but still eat here at least three times a month. That should tell you something.

Chengdu Taste Zero atmosphere; incredible Szechuan food. Pro tip: go early (5:00 pm) for dinner or weekday lunch. Or be prepared to wait.

China Mama – After a fire, they relocated from one shopping center with terrible parking to another with even worse parking…and the food didn’t miss a beat. Regardless, you should persevere head straight to the “Pastry” section of the menu, where you’ll find the Steamed Juicy Pork Buns (aka xiao long bao), and Mama’s Special Pan Fried Pork Buns  — as essential to a meal here as chopsticks and hot tea.  Crispy duck, jumbo shrimp, and dry pepper chicken (festooned with an avalanche of them) hold their own with those dumplings, as does sliced-fish with pickled mustard. Other menu items – ranging from the simple (cucumber salad with mashed garlic, to the sublime “Awesome Meatball in Clay Pot” – are by turns gutsy and refined: all of them bursting with eastern Chinese pungency, not Americanized blandness. China Mama did for Chinese food what Raku did for Japanese — raise the bar and bring in line with what the better, specialized purveyors of these cuisines are doing in southern California.There’s no turning back, and the days of gloppy egg foo yung are deader than Mao Tse Tung.

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CUT – In a category with lots of serious competition, this place is a cut above (sorry) – mainly because Wolfgang Puck lets Matthew Hurley play with his food, which he does seasonally to great effect, refusing to rest on his sirloins. Nicole Erle’s desserts (above) are also a wonder of refinement not usually found in cheesecake/chocolate cake catechism of steakhouse sweets.

Delmonico  – Now one of the old guard of Vegas steakhouses but still one of the best. No one does a better Bearnaise….or creamed spinach. Don’t sleep on the gumbo or barbecue shrimp, either. They may have been on the menu since day one, but they’re still the closest you can come to a legitimate taste of N’Awlins in the High Mojave.

EDO Tapas & WineWhat can we say about Oscar Amador Edo’s hidden gem that we haven’t said a hundred times by now: the best, most inventive Spanish in Vegas. Blink and you’ll miss it amongst the lineup of karaoke bars and noodle parlors pinched into a narrow space in an overwhelmed-yet-underwhelming strip mall. But the food is the best Spanish you’ll find in a space that doesn’t have José Andrés’ name attached to it.

Elia Authentic Greek Taverna – Whole fish, supple octopus, gorgeous, oregano-dusted lamb chops, oven-roasted lemon potatoes, superb tomato salad, gigante beans, and the big 4 of savory dips (tzatziki, tarama, tyrokafteri, and skordalia), all pay homage to the kind of food that Greeks take for granted — be it at home or in the neighborhood taverna. The all-Greek wine list is well-priced, and the welcome makes you feel like you belong.

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Esther’s KitchenThe restaurant that saved Vegas. Or at least downtown Las Vegas. Until James Trees opened EK in late 2018, Main Street looked destined to become another urban failure, on par with the decade of misfires on East Fremont. But because of its success, the Arts District is now crawling with foodies and families most nights, and is now considered a target-rich environment by restaurateurs lusting to get in on the action. It’s only a matter of time before big money starts turning the area into a glorified outdoor mall, so revel in these days while you can legitimately say you had a front row seat to the progenitor that spawned a restaurant revolution.

James Trees in a white shirt and black apron

Since James Trees was named Chef of the Year in this year’s ‘s Desert Companion Restaurant Awards, our staff thought you might like to read the award-winning, deathless essay he received in recognition thereof (written by someone you know and love):

CHEF OF THE YEAR – JAMES TREES

There have been years when this category was hotly contested, but this time it was a no-brainer. No single chef has made a bigger impact on the local dining scene than James Trees. And no one is continuing to push the envelope like Las Vegas’s own prodigal chef, who returned to the fold, after decades of working in the world’s greatest kitchens, to kick-start downtown’s restaurant revolution. Not content with resting on his laurels after the success of the white-hot Esther’s Kitchen, he has continued to look for additional mountains to climb and, against all odds, conquered multiple challenges in the past few years, setting a new standard for excellence in the process.

Coming on the heels of Esther’s triumph (surviving, even thriving through Covid), many thought him foolish for taking his talents to Tivoli Village. But Al Solito Posto single-handedly resuscitated the dining scene in a shopping center previously known more for restaurant roulette than a proper cacio e pepe. Neck and neck with ASP’s accomplishments has been the resurgence of Ada’s Food & Wine – mere steps away, and an underrated restaurant in its own right — one oenophiles have taken to like a fat cat to a California cab. If these weren’t enough to keep him busy, his plate is also full with plans to open two new places in the Arts District (one a French bistro, the other concept still on the drawing boards, but certain to reset the paradigm for what it means to dine downtown). And did we mention all of this is taking place as Esther’s gets ready to move into bigger/better digs just a few feet from its current location?

Taken together, you have not only Las Vegas’s busiest but also its most influential chef. Not bad for a kid who started out as a teenager working in the Mirage Hotel before heading to the Culinary Institute of America, and then honing his craft under the tutelage of everyone from Heston Blumenthal to Michael Mina. In an industry fraught with failure, Trees stands as a testament to moving through the ranks until you have the chance to do things your way, and then making the most of it.

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Estiatorio MilosYou’ll pay through the nose, but you’ll also taste the freshest fish (and best Greek food) Las Vegas has to offer. Bargain hunters go for the lunch special, which still ain’t cheap ($30), but a far sight from a a five-pound, $400 Fagri, we recently landed, which, to be fair, fed six.

Ferraro’s RistoranteAs long as Gino Ferraro is still pouring wine from his excellent, all-Italian lista des vini, Ferraro’s (the godfather of Vegas’s upscale Italians – since 1985) will be an essential stop on any gastronomic tour.

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Fine Company by Roy EllamarAnother home run from the Lev Group. Roy Ellamar knows breakfast like a Spaniard knows anchovies, and by the time you read this he will be open for dinner. Amidst the pre-fab mediocrity of downtown Summerlin (which is neither a town, nor down of a town, nor downtown of anything), this brightly lit spot shines like a beacon of chef-centric authenticity.

Golden SteerAn icon which came out of Covid smelling like a roast…of old school prime rib. Great steaks, béarnaise, tableside Caesars, and enough history to fill a Rat Pack museum. There are better steaks and sides to be found, but no one can match the vibe-i-est of old Vegas vibes. Haven’t been in six months, but the wine list falls woefully short of almost every other steakhouse in town. Belt down a few martinis and you won’t notice. No matter your state of sobriety, you’ll notice that scoring a table here is harder than finding an eight-ball at choir practice.

Guy Savoy  – We haven’t been since Covid, when service was strained, place settings wrapped in paper, and all the restrictions gave one of our most beautiful rooms all the charm of an emergency room. Even then, the cooking was well nigh perfect and the flavors so intense they practically jumped off the plate. Anyone who poo-poos French food has never had Savoy’s trademark artichoke soup, or “peas all around” — dishes that will make you rethink your relationship with vegetables. Truth be told (HUMBLE BRAG ALERT!) we’ve now been to Guy Savoy in Paris (three times in past two years) more often than the one in Caesars Palace. But for the closest facsimile of one of the best restaurants in the world, the Vegas version will do just fine, merci beaucoup.

Harlo Steakhouse – the best off-Strip steakhouse, period. But they know it and charge accordingly. And by “charge accordingly” we mean the same wallet-bending experience you find twelve miles to the east. The whole point of Harlo was to bring Strip-quality strips to Summerlin, knowing the well-heeled set wouldn’t balk at the prices. And they haven’t, but you might.

Hiroyoshi – Anyone who eats Japanese on the Strip is a fool. All the best stuff is in the ‘burbs, and this little gem is as obscure (and excellent) as they come. Good luck getting one of the 30 seats, though. Since the pandemic, this tucked-away joint on west Charleston as been busier than the Tsukiji market on a Thursday.

Izakaya Go – Raku has better yakitori; Monta has better ramen. Kabuto and Hiroyoshi do better sushi, and Toridorkoro Raku grills better chicken, but none of them put it all together at a better price point than IG. A solid, all-purpose Japanese restaurant so varied and friendly you can visit it weekly and never get bored (and we do).

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 Jaleo -The paella pit alone is worth the price of admission. On it lies a rectangular grill, fronted by several small bonfires that blaze away underneath pans the size of a manhole cover. In those pans are the purest, smokiest expression of Spain’s most iconic one-dish meal. If you’re the sort who gets excited by these things, you can stand and watch the flames lap up the sides of steel loaded with various proteins and veggies on their way to becoming the best paella in America.You can sit at the highboy tables beside the pit, or at the cocktail bar. Or hunker down in the large, low-ceiling room at one of low-slung banquettes, and pick from a variety of gin and tonics – practically the Spanish national cocktail. Weekend evenings should be avoided — when both food and service are stressed to the max, and large parties whooping it up all around makes serious menu contemplation impossible. Whenever you go, get a G&T, pile on the paella, and by all means, fill up on tomato bread.

Also worthy if you find yourself hankering for Spanish in the Aria and don’t want to fight through a phalanx of sloe-eyed bimbos posing at a selfie wall: Julian Serrano.

Joël RobuchonIt’s funny that the older I get, and the more financially comfortable I’ve become, the less I want to spend a car payment on dinner. Maybe it’s because dinner a deux at the late great JR’s will now set you back something closer to a house payment. Even though I haven’t been in over three years, it’s still one of the greatest restaurants in the world. I’d bet my house payment on it.

Kaiseki Yuzu – So fine, so personal, so much like the sort of Noren-draped spot you’d stumble upon in a Shibuya alleyway. It is prix fixe and intensely seasonal and simply the best Japanese experience in all of southern Nevada. For a quicker, more casual meal (primarily sushi/sashimi), book one of the six seats out front and prepare to be blown away.

Lotus of Siam – I like the old one. Not the really old one (the original one in Commercial Center, closed for years now), but the second oldest one on Flamingo Road. The one in Red Rock feels like a copy of a copy — too big and corporate for our tastes. Regardless,  the Riesling-heavy white wine list remains one of the best in America, and twenty four years on, the northern Thai specialties still can take your breath away and make your eyeballs sweat.

Main Street ProvisionsEverything about MSP is almost perfect: the long, comfy bar, hand-crafted cocktails, warm greeting, generous service, and a menu notable for its burly finesse — flawlessly executed veg and carefully chosen proteins, all packing a punch. Owner Kim Owens cut her teeth in the steakhouse trade and knows how to keep the carnivores as happy as the finicky hipster “foodies” and clueless tourists — the types who like the idea of good food more than the reality. The wine list is gently priced and perfectly fine — for the downtown crowd if not this persnickety critic.

Image (“The test of a chef is roast chicken.” – James Beard)

Marché BacchusWith Bradley Ogden at the helm, this wine bistro finally has the cuisine it deserves. Like the superb bird above.

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Matteo’s Ristorante Italiano – It has neither the pedigree of Cipriani, the ambition of Vetri, nor the flamboyance of Carbone. The design is comfortable but a bit cold. But don’t let any of that deter you. Tuck yourselves into one of the heavy chairs, leave your Italian preconceptions at the door, and experience the most interesting pastas in town, as well as a culinary tour of all Italy. The all-Italian wine list is priced to sell and almost as interesting as Eduardo Perez’s cooking. And by all means, take the cannoli. It is worth the price of admission, as are all the desserts, which put the sweets at most Italians to shame.

In any normal year the above overwhelming, breathless recognition graciously bestowed would be a feather in any restaurateur’s cap, but in 2023 Matteo’s took home the coveted, often-imitated-never-duplicated Desert Companion Strip Restaurant of the Year prize, so our staff thought even more of the unforgettable sentence stylings of a certain well-fed correspondent were worth your rapt attention:

STRIP RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR – MATTEO’S

Even with an impeccable pedigree, the success of Matteo’s was hardly assured. When it first opened on New Year’s Eve 2018, it was called The Factory Kitchen – after its namesake in southern California – a name compelling but confusing to anyone who didn’t live within a mile of downtown Los Angeles. Then co-owner Matteo Ferdinandi lent his name to the proceedings, and it came storming back as a contender for the best Italian in town, with a menu as bold and ambitious as any on the Strip. Four years on, it now thrives on Restaurant Row in the Venetian/Palazzo, pouring forth a culinary tour of Italy worthy of Stanley Tucci – a journey which will open your eyes to the possibilities of real Italian food.

Guiding you from Sicily to the Cinque Terre is a team of restaurant veterans who have been setting the standard for this cuisine for decades. Chef Angelo Auriana spent years helming the kitchen at Valentino in Santa Monica when it was widely considered the finest Italian restaurant in the country. He and Ferdinandi had the good sense to tap two Las Vegas virtuosos – Eduardo Pėrez and Paulo Duran – to manage the back and front of the house. Pėrez is a pasta master who had worked his way up from Guatemalan dishwasher to running the kitchens of Spago. (You might recognize him from a national Modelo beer commercial.) Duran has been charming Las Vegas customers since his days at B & B Ristorante. Put all four of them in the same room, and you have a powerhouse of talent presenting authentic, highly refined cooking, in a casual space, which is as far from chicken Parm as Naples is from Nashville. That they do so at a reasonable price point, in comfortable space (that feels cozier than its size belies), with a nice bar, and thoughtful, gently-priced wine list, is incredible. At a time when the Strip feels ever more corporate and unfeeling, Matteo’s represents something in short supply: a restaurant where Italian aficionados can feel right at home.

 

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Monzú – Gio Mauro is doing pizzas and pastas like no one else in Vegas. His rectangular Sicilian pies are strewn with top-shelf ingredients (and would cover a small desk), and his pastas as different from your standard Bolognese as Piacenza is from Peoria. We’re talking Carbonara with smoked goose guanciale, Paccheri alla Genovese swimming in stewed onions and braised veal, and Pisarei e faso (bread dumplings) thick with sausage and borlotti beans. One menu glance tells you this is not your mother’s Maggiano’s. Nor is it priced like a special occasion restaurant: the wine list (above) is an all-Italian dream come true, and the 32 oz. rib eye ($89) costs half of what it would on the Strip. Even with Gio’s success, this is still the great, unsung gem of local Italian ristorante.

Mott 32 -As slick as Peking duck skin and just as satisfying. A huge, expensive, well-financed chain of upscale Chinese eats, with a luxurious vibe and ingredient-forward cooking calculated to appeal to purists and tourists alike. The lighting is diffused and muted, but not too much, and the young women dotting the place are as sexy and shiny as a lacquered Chinese box. Dresses are short, black and tight, and the cleavage so profound, this joint’s nickname ought to be Mott 32D. But don’t let the comeliness fool you though, because the food is the tits as well — with a bases-covering menu of everything from Cantonese dim sum to hand-pulled noodles to Peking duck. That duck is the centerpiece of every meal here and it deserves to be — its bronzed, brittle, gleaming skin, precisely flensed from succulent muscle, and  having the bite-resistance of a thin potato chip, caresses perfectly-carved slices of deeply-flavored meat. Duck doesn’t get any duckier, nor Chinese any swankier.

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Naxos Greek Taverna – now competes with Elia as our best off-Strip Greek, simply on the strength of a more ambitious menu, bigger bucks behind it, and a slick casino location. Elia remains close to our hearts as a go-to taverna you can visit like an old friend and never tire of the conversation, but chef Mark Andelbradt (a very sad update: Chef Mark Andelbradt died of a sudden illness in early 2024) sends out some astonishing mezze, seafood and savories which its smaller competition doesn’t have the firepower to match. And you won’t find a better braised lamb shank (above) anywhere. Desert Companion’s New Restaurant of the Year 2023.

New Asian BBQSometimes you don’t want fancy. Sometimes it is not about new and exciting and more about the tried and true. Chinese comfort food fills this bill better than any — with the kind of cuisine that has been satisfying immigrants and Americans since the California Gold Rush. (Fun Fact: there are more independently-owned Chinese restaurants in America than there are all the KFCs, McDonald’s and Taco Bells combined.) Step into the narrow foyer of New Asian and you enter a world of shimmering, honey-glazed pork ribs, tea-smoked chickens and lacquered ducks, hanging from hooks and signalling food both soothing and familiar.  Service is perfunctory and punctual (as it is in thousands of restaurants like this around the globe), and no one lingers so turnover is fast. Solid dim sum, seven days a week and the best Peking duck deal on SMR road.

Oscar’s SteakhouseOscar’s hums with old school cool….right down to slugging martinis with our ex-mayor…who may be getting long in the tooth but whose steakhouse is even better than when it opened. Credit Ben Jenkin’s for bringing Oscar’s into the upper tier of beef emporiums, and for conjuring one of the great double cheeseburgers in the history of burgerdom.

Osteria FiorellaDespite a serious upswing in competition, still one of the best Italians in the ‘burbs. Marc Vetri rarely makes a menu misstep, and Vegas is lucky to have him and his crew at two hotels (Palms and Red Rock) elevating our taste-buds with tonnarelli caci e pepe, rigatoni with sausage ragu, and the best double-cut pork chop this side of the Schuykill.

Partage  – We love Partage even though we don’t go there anymore. The food is superb (if you can look past their affinity for smoking everything from the cocktails to ice cream); the wine list a French-filled winner; and the service always as smooth as Hollandaise on a halibut. But we have zero interest in “food as art” tasting menus anymore, so until Chef Yuri Szarzewski opens his more casual spot a couple of doors down, we’ll keep lauding this place and encouraging people to dine here…even if what we’re mostly craving is a simple steak frites and a profiterole.

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Peter LugerSee my review here, go order the steak for two (which actually feeds three), and thank me later. Awesome burger, too, and open for lunch, which is a YUGE plus for those craving a midday slab of sirloin.

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Just for strips and giggles, here’s our list of the best of the rest when it comes to premier purveyors of prime. Each is worthy in its own right, and would be the top steakhouse in town, almost anywhere else in America that isn’t New York, Chicago or California. So, even though we don’t consider them “essential” to the Vegas food scene. If you have a favorite, based upon atmosphere, service, or a particular cut or side dish, who are we to argue?

Barry’s Downtown Prime

Bavette’s

Carversteak

Gordon Ramsay Steak

Hank’s Fine Steaks

Jean-Georges Steakhouse

Ocean Prime

Prime

Strip House

Strip Steak

SW Steakhouse

Vic & Anthony’s

RakuJust slightly older than this website, Mitsuo Endo’s intimate izakaya sparked a revolution when it opened in January, 2008 — igniting a demand for sophisticated Japanese cooking on an avenue previously known for bubble tea, mochi, and moo goo gai pan. Over the years it has expanded slightly, but lost none of its charm or refinement.  It also spawned a number of competitors, none of which have managed to knock it off its crown as the Nipponese king of Spring Mountain.

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Scotch 80 PrimeIn my Bottom 10 (below) I write about how much better steakhouses have become in Las Vegas over the past ten years. Consider this a prime example. Marty Lopez’s food is as far from the dated steaks of THE Steakhouse as the rebooted Palms Hotel is from Circus Circus.

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SoulBelly BBQLas Vegas is no longer the barbecue wasteland it was a decade ago, but world class ‘cue is still rarer than pulled pork at a bar mitzvah.  Luckily we have SoulBelly to sooth our savage breast, with world-class brisket, hot links (above) and sides worthy of a Texas roadhouse. Also worth a taste: Wild Fig BBQ.

Shanghai TasteChina Mama is two doors down, and Xiao Long Dumpling is across the street, and the just opened (and excellent) Palette Tea Lounge also with walking distance. So why do we prefer Shanghai Taste? Because it is small, simple, brimming with buns, and loaded with the flavors of eastern China — all emanating from an open kitchen behind large glass windows adjacent to the cracker-box-sized dining room.  The turnover is fast and the service never fails. A picture menu also makes navigation easy for gwailos.  Like a lot of better spots up and down Chinatown, you’ll find the experience more enjoyable on weekdays, when you’re not competing with selfie-stick tourists, head-in-their-phones Asian teens, and the worst drivers on earth competing for a parking spot.

Sparrow + Wolf Sparrow + Wolf is sleek and small (60 seats) and smells of wood smoke — all indicia of the haute-eclectic-bistro cooking that has taken over America in the past decade. Gastronomades who wander the earth searching for oases of ingenious edibles have already pitched their tents here. Intrepid gastronauts, addicted to traveling where no man has gone before, have been here since day one.  Simple gastronomes who revel in chef-enhanced, high-quality ingredients will not be disappointed, either.   Chef Brian Howard specializes in high-wire cooking without a net, and when he pulls it off, the results are thrilling indeed. The wine list matches the menu and the crowd, even if it doesn’t match what a wine snob might want to drink.

Sushi Hiro – the best Japanese spot not on Spring Mountain Road, which entices sushi hounds from across the valley to make the trek to Henderson. The fact that it is on godforsaken Eastern Avenue causes The Food Gal and yours truly great distress when we are craving the cleanest fish, in a decent-sized restaurant, with accommodating chefs, which doesn’t require a second mortgage or a reservation weeks in advance to enjoy. But the trip is always worth it. Just let them know how much you want to eat and to spend and be prepared to be dazzled.

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Yummy Kitchen – CLOSED ;-(     They don’t get much more tucked away than Yummy Kitchen, tossing its chili crab and other Singaporean-Malaysian delights inside an Asian supermarket, far across a parking lot at Spring Mountain and Decatur. The crabs are still-moving fresh, and the garlic shrimp, roti, Hainanese chicken, and Malay curries will save you plane fare to Disneyland-with-the-death-penalty.

Chef Marc Vetri in the dining room of Vetri Las Vegas on the 56th floor of the Palms Casino Resort.

Vetri Cucina -Even at its most basic level, Italian food is soothing. Average Italian food satisfies the way pop music does: it is catchy and forgettable. Great Italian food, like great opera, will take your breath away. Vetri, if you let it, will take your breath away. The qualifier is important, because, splendid as it is, Vetri, like opera, isn’t for everyone. There are no easy answers here, toe-tapping is kept to a minimum, and crowd-pleasing isn’t in its vocabulary. But  like all great Italian food, it often accomplishes more with less. Consider the following: Clichés of all kinds have been canned. Pizzas are kaput. Soups and scampi have been scuttled. Meatballs are missing in action. Place settings are Spartan; Caesar is nowhere to be found. No giant hunks of cheese or curled ribbons of prosciutto will be ceremoniously brought to your table. The chicken Parm crowd is not welcomed.

But if you have the chops for a modern Italian food experience — like the best ristorante in Italy are putting forth these days — you’ll think you’ve died and gone to Bergamo. All of it served in a nonpareil setting — 56 floors up, overlooking the Strip – a location that puts to lie the old adage about the higher off the ground you get, the worse the food is. Your dinner here should start with foie gras pastrami with brioche and mostarda. From there, proceed to emerald green Swiss chard gnocchi with brown butter, tonnarelli grano arso (toasted wheat pasta, with seafood); and then dark, slightly gamy slices of roasted baby goat. For something lighter, dive into a squid and artichoke galette, raw fish crudo, and a pickled veggie/antipasti platter, followed by simple spaghetti, swirled with chunky San Marzano tomatoes and basil.

If you in the mood to dance with the big boys, then take down a compacted disc of veal tartare garnished with crisp sweetbreads, a sweet onion crepe (really more like a thick, sweet-savory, puck-sized tart) served with white truffle fondue, followed by either a whole roasted branzino, or a brontosaurian bistecca Fiorentina (also for two). Like the sea bass, it is enough to keep 3-4 trenchermen occupied. Mere plebes will be happy with a gorgeous stuffed guinea hen breast, thinly-sliced porchetta with tuna sauce, casoncelli alla bergamasca (Lombardy’s crinkled version of ravioli), and the cutest little bone marrow raviolini you’ve ever seen.

After that, you’ll want to navigate the wine list, which isn’t exactly chock full of bargains, but at least the prices don’t match the altitude — which means there’s plenty of drinkable stuff mere mortals can afford.

HONORABLE MENTION

Are any of these “essential”? Well, to our well-being they are. Although maybe less than iconic, most of these venues are places we couldn’t live without, i.e., they make our life in Vegas a much tastier place. Some we visit monthly; others maybe once a year. A select few we hardly ever get to (hello, Japaneiro!) but we love what they bring to the table.

Image(Thai roast duck at Lamoon)

Cafe Breizh

Good Pie (A serious oversight when I first published this a few days ago, now corrected with apologies to Vincent Rotolo.)

Lamoon

Legends Oyster Bar

Letty’s

Japaneiro

Joe’s Prime Steaks and Seafood

Kabuto

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PublicUs

Rainbow Kitchen

Rebellion Pizza

Rincon Buenos Aires

7th & Carson

Shang Artisan Noodle

Sin Fronteras Tacos

Trattoria Nakamura-Ya

Water Grill

Win Kee HK BBQ & Noodle

Yukon Pizza

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Yu-Or-Mi Sushi

Winnie and Ethel’s

And now, food fans, the one(s) you’ve been waiting for…the best of the worst…restaurants so rancid I wouldn’t eat there if the meal was comped and they were pouring DRC for free:

BOTTOM TEN

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Cathédrale – The only thing interesting about this Tao Group clone of a clone of a decent restaurant is the l’accent aigu over the “e”. The decor looks like a mash-up of every bad design idea currently in vogue (Hard surfaces! Giant lamps! Ginormous/pointless chandelier-thing!), and the food either by-the-numbers, all-over-the-map (Crudo! French! Pasta!) or downright felonious (20 second crepes Suzette – don’t ask). Be forewarned: no matter when you go, the joint will be crawling with women who’ve memorized the Vanderpump Rules.

Hasalon – The whole thing reeks of cynical corporate calculation and forced fun. Every night at 8 o’clock it turns into a disco for the party-as-a-verb crowd…because, you know, everyone loves partying on schedule, don’t they?  This buzzkill is proudly announced at the beginning of your meal, as if they expect everyone to be excited about choking down $47 hummus (with lamb ragu!) and farm-raised fish before the “fun” starts….EXACTLY AT 8 O’CLOCK! …which means that’s when you start shouting at each other over ear-splitting 80s rock. I didn’t think anything could make me hate Israeli-Mediterranean cooking, buy Hasalon did it in one, absurdly-priced meal. Strictly for showoffs and saps and those who think Adam Sandler is funny…but I repeat myself.

Lago – I know it’s been over a year, but I’m still recovering from PTSD (Post Traumatic Shitty Dinner syndrome) since our meal here. On the other hand, I should be grateful for the place, since it gives me somewhere to recommend when I want to visit revenge upon the chicken Parm crowd.

Michael’s – Michael’s charges $42 for this crab cake filled with more saltines than shellfish:

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The Steakhouse at Circus Circus –  charges $27 for a much better one:

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So why are they both “Bottom 10” material? Because the crab was the only decent thing we had at Circus Circus, and you have to endure the indignity of walking through a Wal-mart of a hotel (South Pointe) to get hosed by Michael’s. (Circus Circus is more akin to a trailer park filled with snotty kids and meth heads.) Both stand as testaments to a time when tourists would endure these insults because they were the only games in town. There is no longer a reason to subject yourself to such insults unless you’re the type who enjoys gargling with razor blades or taken to the cleaners by hotels who think you’re too stupid to notice the supermarket food they’re slinging at eye-watering prices.

Majordomo (CLOSED!) – You’ve got to be one whale of an arrogant idiot to fail with a steakhouse in Las Vegas. Paging David Chang….

M.Y. Asia (CLOSED!)

The Bedford by Martha Stewart

Martin Yan’s cash-grab disaster didn’t last five months. Martha Stewart’s shameless brand-whoring will probably still be with us when they implode the Fountainebleau. But count her (and him) as the last of the breed: long past their prime “names” with enough clout to pull the last of the Baby Boomers into an eatery by promising nothing more than a familiar face fronting predictable mediocrity. Together with Chang’s flame-out, they represent the final phase of Vegas’s celeb chef obsession. Going forward, educated palates are more excited about Evan Funke bringing Mother Wolf here from SoCal, than whatever crap Guy Fieri is slinging. Look closely and you’ll see that neither the Fountainebleau nor Durango Station is hyping anything more than really good cooking from highly competent chefs — the polar opposite of Bobby Flay, Gordon Ramsay and Giada slapping their names on a door and laughing all the way to the bank. Celebrity chefs may have put Las Vegas on the map, but it’s time we put them out to pasture in favor of those who are actually at the stoves.

Vic’s – So bad we thought we were being punked. Then we looked at all the gray hairs waiting to sway to the song stylings of someone who hasn’t had a hit record since 1977 (or some Disney-fied musical), and everything made sense.  Strictly for the not-quite-yet-in-a-wheelchair crowd, who’ve thrown on the good golf shirt just for the occasion.

Viet Noodle Cafe – Worst meat we’ve had on Spring Mountain Road in a decade. Cheap ingredients, poorly cooked, slung at people who are only there for the price. We normally leave small Asian purveyors alone, but this gristle-fest was a new low.

Final Thoughts…

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When I started writing about food back in the Stone Age, the Monte Carlo Restaurant in the Desert Inn (above) was the ne plus ultra of Vegas dining Now we’re overloaded with French chefs from France, impeccable Italians, and Asian credentials only exceeded by the SoCal food scene. Right along side them are neighborhood joints springing forth to feed an ever-surging appetite for their cooking. With all of this in front of us, and decades of drum-thumping behind me, it’s tempting to say, “My work is done here,” and ride into the sunset.

I am not retiring, just dialing it back to a more rational level — as in 3-4 restaurants a week instead of the 8-10 I’ve averaged over the past thirty years. But my compulsion to eat myself silly all over Las Vegas is just not there anymore. And writing is hard, a real pain in the brain (ask any writer), so I’m dialing that back, too, and this will be my last Essential 52 list.

To come full circle from the beginning of this piece, writing is also not the reward it used to be. Reading these words, you’re probably among a thousand or two hungry souls. A dozen years ago, our audience was ten times that. Some months, a hundred times. Thus do I often feel like a musician who once had a much bigger stage, and now plays in local cafes to a few fans. Gratifying, but often not worth the work.

But I’ll continue to file things on these pages whenever the muse strikes.

In the meantime, follow me on “X”, Instagram, and Tik Tok (yes, I’m on Tik Tok, as absurd as that sounds, and is!), and tune into our podcast (Eat. Talk. Repeat.) weekly to get the scoops on my gastronomic gallivanting. Between them, you can expect me to stay in the game, in some manner,  until they pry this keyboard from my cold, dead fingers.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, and Happy New Year, from all of us at #BeingJohnCurtas:

drunk baby drinking GIF

52 Things I Know I Know…and Some I Wish I Didn’t Know

Image(Wagyu coming soon to an Outback near you)

1) I know that Main Street Provisions ought to be my favorite restaurant but isn’t, and this makes me sad. There, I said it.

2) I know the only seafood worth eating on the regular is at Japanese restaurants.

3) I know that chicken parm in any guise sucks donkey dicks and anyone who says otherwise is a prole-pandering know-nothing who touts it simply for clicks from hicks who get their licks and their kicks from endless breadsticks.

4) I know that anyone who stands in line to eat food standing up is a fool.

5) Enough with the hot honey already.

6) When it comes to French bistros, Bouchon has it all over Mon Ami Gabi (which hasn’t changed its menu since Bill Clinton was President).

7) The days of the $15 cocktail are deader than Siegfried & Roy.

8) I don’t care how good you think Din Tai Fung is. It’s a chain and isn’t worth the indignity of trying to dine there. Aria parking bullshit, lines, reservations, and selfie walls…screw that noise. It’s goddamn dim sum, not haute cuisine. BONUS NEGATIVITY ALERT! It’s also full of white girls and FOMO Instagrammers…but I repeat myself.

Africa white people GIF - Find on GIFER

9) I know that the best murder’s row of restaurants these days is at Resorts World. With better marketing, it could be to the 2020s what the Bellagio was to the early aughts.

10)  Prepare yourselves for bread and butter charges (à la 1965). With accountants now running things on the Strip, the nickel and dime-ing will soon creep into your bill faster than a $78 bottle of water:

Image(Lap dances much cheaper)

11) The better the hotel, the better the restaurants. (Exception: the Sahara – a meh of a hotel housing one of America’s greatest steakhouses: Bazaar Meat.)

12) This whole kaiseki thing must be stopped before it gets out of hand. What was once special (A-5 wagyu, o-toro, uni...) has become so over-hyped and commonplace that it will soon be overrun by the sushi-bro crowd — dudes who didn’t know their unagi from their anago four years ago — douchenozzles who ten years ago were throwing down five-hundy on vodka in hopes of getting laid. Now they’re invading our better sushi bars and harshing my mellow. F**k sushi bros with a splintered chopstick.

The Real Bros Of Simi Valley GIFs - Get the best GIF on GIPHY(I am not your bro, bro)

13) Money (the pursuit thereof) and marketing ruins everything in food.

14) There is absolutely no reason to go to the Strip for Japanese anymore.

15) If you want great sushi the way it was meant to be (sliced by dedicated chefs without pretension) head to Sushi Hiroyoshi on west Charleston, or Sushi Hiro on south Eastern, or the granddaddy of our Vegas scene, Yui Edomae Sushi. The first will remind you of a Shibuya hole-in-the wall, the latter two may have the best selection of fish in town. Kabuto is so crowded, no one goes there anymore.

16) I know I am rediscovering my passion for home cooking, and still retain some skillz taught to me by the master teachers of the late 20th Century: Julia Child, James Beard, Craig Claiborne, Pierre Franey, Marcella Hazan (in person) Jacques Pepin (ditto), and others. In gleaning through old cookbooks, I also remembered how terrible most chef cookbooks are (exception(s): Wolfgang Puck and Jamie Oliver – whose books are remarkably straightforward, tasty and easy to follow). Famous restaurant cookbooks are even worse. This little veal roast (from Featherblade Craft Butchery, natch) with a tarragon-mustard sauce was whipped up in about an hour:

Image(Boy’z got skillz)

Image(Just say no to sauce dots and smudges)

17)  I am so over pizza it isn’t even funny. Wanna go get a pizza?

18) I wish Japaneiro were closer to my house.

19) I wish Jamon Jamon had more customers.

20) I know the boom in Spanish food (in Vegas) has reached peak tapas. Probably in the rest of the U.S. as well.

21) You officially have my permission to stop caring about the restaurants in the Bellagio.

22) I know Noodlehead is the restaurant you go to when China Mama is packed to the rafters. What it lacks in size and variety it makes up for in (Chinese) pasta punch and tasty skewered fish balls:

Image(Ballsy)

23) I know that restaurants need to give up their addiction to branzino and find another easy-to-pronounce pisces: Orange Roughy, Chilean sea bass, etc… to sell for the sake of upscale fish fanciers.

24) I know I hate summer truffles and you should too. Summer truffles bring nothing to the party but the name.

25) I know that the minute you see an AYCE sign go up at a restaurant, they are serving the cheapest, shittiest food money can buy.

26) The whole restaurant-cum-nightclub thing (Tao, STK, et al) is so cheugy it hurts. (Look it up.)

27) So is caviar on everything.

28) If you find yourself scratching your head over the weird similarity in menus (roasted Brussels sprouts, fried cauliflower, yellowtail crudo, tuna tartares here, salmon, chicken, steak there, always concluding with a smattering of vegan/vegetarian (to appease those with fear of food)….welcome to the club:

Image(Chou-fleur is so ten minutes ago)

29) Face it: mezcal sucks. It doesn’t suck as much as natural wine, but it blows as much as Moby Dick.

30) Casa Playa is terrible just like I told you it would be.

31) Viva! by Ray Garcia in Resorts World pretty much kicks every Mexicans’ ass in town.

32) Thankfully, no one is inviting me to whiskey-food pairing dinners anymore. Whiskey and food go together like hot fudge and monkfish.

33) I know I am, in every restaurant I enter, usually the oldest person in the room. Which leads me to ask: What happened to all the Boomers? Are they home sipping supper through a straw? Door Dashing every dinner? Consuming all calories on the couch? We are the generation that put T.G.I. Fridays and its ilk on the map, but we also sowed the seeds, 40 years ago, of the food revolution that brought better cooking to all corners of America. Instead of reaping our just desserts, we’ve become a generation of house-bound retirees consuming pre-chewed food in-between Netflix and Fox News updates. Or even worse: we’re cruising our way to god’s waiting room. I blame the Great Recession of 2008-2012, which legitimized hard surfaces, cheap seating, and military jet afterburner noise levels — all in the name of creating a “party atmosphere” — ALL of which came at the expense of comfort. Covid only made things worse. Now it seems, an entire generation is in hiding…or perhaps just seeking peace and quiet before we’re shown the door:

Boomer GIFs - Get the best GIF on GIPHY

34) We are more excited about Half-Bird opening than anything on the Strip.

35) Awkward, but those who go to very popular (and entertaining) Twitter feeds like Vital Vegas and Las Vegas Locally for food recommendations always read like people with no taste asking people with no palate to send them to places with no clue. I rest my case.

WHATSHOULDWECALLGRADSCHOOL — HOW I FEEL LEARNING FROM OLDER GRAD STUDENTS

36) I know that I don’t know what’s going on at Eater Vegas and barely care. Apparently I am still blocked from the Twitter feed, even though the previous (hideous) human in charge is long gone. I’ve asked the current custodian to unblock me because I sincerely want it/her to succeed and do some good for our food scene.

37) I know you shouldn’t sleep on Vic & Anthony’s as your go-to downtown steakhouse. The food is solid, the wine list full of finds, and there’s none of that celebrity-touting bullshit to put up with. (Ed. note: I don’t give a shit how many celebrities eat at your restaurants. Celebrities don’t go to great restaurants; they go to places where they’ll be treated like bigshots. Celebrities and good food go together like lamb and tuna fish.  On Strip, don’t forget Delmonico — it is huge but welcoming, and open on weekends (Fri.-Sun.) for lunch, with a great bar and a winning wine list.

38) I know I like the food at Carson Kitchen but hate the atmosphere — beautiful food (like this terrific tempura) served in a cold, impersonal setting which has not improved with age (its or mine):

Image(Hot food, cold decor)

39) I know I’m back to eating Indian again (dots not feathers), thanks to Mt. Everest India’s Cuisine.

40) I know if there’s a restaurant in the ‘burbs I wish I ate at more often, it is probably Khoury’s:

Image(Khoury’s knows how to mezze around)

41) I know that I’m still waiting for the menu at Marché Bacchus to be more ambitiously French. But I never tire of going there.

42) Some days I’d give a digit for a decent green chile cheeseburger.

43) I know dipping a bunch of stuff in a hot pot until it all comes out tasting the same is an Asian thing I will never understand. Nor do I wish to.

Image(The X-Pot packs ’em in)

44) Live fire cooking is overdone and overrated and you know it.

45) So is yellowtail crudo.

46) So are chef pop-up dinners.

47) There are still gems aplenty in Chinatown, but it’s in danger of being overrun by corporate Korean and cookie-cutter Vietnamese.

48) I know that the ghosts of Joël Robuchon, Marcella Hazan, and Pierre Troisgros could reappear with whisks in hand and you still couldn’t get me to eat at that sorry, saddle-sore lowbrow bastion of the faux-cowboy crowd known as the Mount Charleston Lodge.

49) Stop eating food in quotes, i.e., some reshaped chemical experiment pretending to be something you remember from childhood — ersatz edibles that aren’t what they call themselves — all done in service of tricking you into eating them. Fake bacon, cheese made of nut paste, “milk” made of soy juice, “chicken” that isn’t chicken, impossible burgers….just how stupid are you? The question answers itself. F**k you and your fraudulent, dumbass, politically correct fake food diet with a lamb shank.

Image(Vegan “butchers” are a thing, people)

50) For the 10,000th time: tipping is sexist, classist, racist, and elitist. And probably a dozen other ists which I can’t think of right now. If you’re in favor of tipping, you are buttressing the evil confederacy of cheapskate restaurant owners and self-serving servers — neither of whom give a damn about anything but the bottom line in their pocket. As Wendell Berry once said, “Eating is a political act,” and your attitudes about tipping have far-reaching consequences for society. Choose one: Am I a selfish asshole? Or someone who believes in fairness? It’s that simple. You’re welcome.

51) Yu-Or-Mi Sushi has gotten scary good. You heard it here first:

Image(Spooky sushi)

52) I wish I didn’t know that the foodie explosion of the past forty years is inversely proportional to the sustainability of life on this planet. What we have gained in the knowledge and enjoyment of better food has been devastating to our climate and the species we rely upon for our proteins. And by “we” I mean middle and upper-income Americans, Europeans, and Asians.

Every time you eat a piece of sushi, cheap salmon, free-range filet, or Chick-Fil-A, you are contributing to the unholy union, and devastating effects, of human avarice and appetite. True Beluga caviar does not exist anymore because short-term greed triumphed over long term husbandry. Tuna and who knows how many other fish will be next. Chicken dinners used to be special. Now we raise and kill them by the billions to feed our ever-hungry maws. As a species, we are addicted to cheap eats and advertising, and every living thing on the planet is suffering for it.

I have been fortunate in my life to taste the best meat and poultry money can buy. I’ve eaten oysters straight from the Bay of Mont Saint-Michel and striped bass right off a  Nantucket boat. (Once you’ve tasted a proper king salmon, in season, in the Pacific Northwest, you’ll never again order it  anywhere else.) I’ve had wild game and elusive birds brought to my table by chefs who bought them that morning from the hunters who claimed them. My fork has torn at the sweet, gamy well-traveled flesh of langoustines and wild turbot, flown 6,000 miles from their source for my amusement. Fromages fit for a king have sated my taste buds, just miles from where they were made. But it is all to end soon and I know it.

Flavorless truffles will soon be as ubiquitous as Portobellos.  Japan now makes “scotch” whisky. China is getting into the wine game, and what they produce will be passable, but not as good as those they seek to imitate. Uni from Hokkaido or Santa Barbara used to be a treat reserved for those in the know. Pretty soon someone will figure out how to farm them and they’ll appear at Red Lobster. (Okay, maybe that’s an analogy too far, but you get my point.)

Regardless, in a couple more centuries, humans will have used up the animals that have sustained us for millions of years. Overfishing destroyed the Atlantic cod stocks in half a century, probably never to return. We should be ashamed of ourselves but lust and commerce do not allow for such reflection. We are destined to be vegetarians and vegans (as soon as they figure out a proper food replacement for animal protein), and I’m kinda glad I won’t be around to see it.

So the last thing I know I know is to enjoy the earth’s cornucopia of great taste while we still can. Because soon enough, this dude will be making all the rules:

Best Vegan Problems GIFs | Gfycat

Bon appétit!

The Final List – 2021

Image(Bento lunch at PublicUs lately?)

Try as we might, it doesn’t look like we’ll get to 400 restaurants this year. As of this writing, we’ve hit 333 establishments, and even if we kick it into high gear, it’s doubtful we have 70 more meals in us in the next 50 days.

By way of comparison, back in my halcyon/salad days (ten years ago), 500/year was pretty much the norm…for 20 years in a row.

Now, The Food Gal and I will go two, three, sometimes even four days in a row without eating out. Once unthinkable, now, a concession to the down-sized Strip  and our not-getting-any-younger selves.

But serious ground was still plowed in the past few months….with some new and not-so joints floating our boat in all the right ways.

Compared to a year ago, Las Vegas is now a target-rich environment, but lezbee honest here: it is still a pretty weird place, restaurant-wise.

The Strip has rebounded, but has become something of a shitshow on weekends. There has been a tectonic shift in the food and beverage industry here, but the ground is still moving beneath our feet and I cannot yet opine on just how the dust will settle. Suffice it to say, things are palpably different: options are down, prices are up, reservations challenging, and sourcing a real problem at the epicurean end of things. All of our big-hitter spots want to pretend they have gotten back to their 2019 selves, but they have not and you can feel it.

The newly re-opened Le Cirque, for example, seats only on Thurs.-Saturday nights. If you’re hungry for better restaurants Mon.-Weds., good luck picking your way through the meager offerings available on Las Vegas Boulevard. Things are easier in the ‘burbs, but aside from Italian, very few interesting ideas are floating out there.

And when you run off one of the best Mexican chefs in the world (Enrique Olvera) for a joint called “Casa Playa ” (at the Wynn), include me out.

So, the Strip is mostly a pain (or, even worse, boring), but local eateries are booming, so you would think that would satisfy us, wouldn’t you?

Wrong.

Both have a long way to go before Vegas claims its destiny — which is to be one of the most exciting restaurant cities (for tourists and locals) in the world.

A short list of what we still need (in the neighborhoods):

Some decent French bistros. It seems like every other opening is Italian these days. C’mon frogs! Show the flag! Vive La France and all that!

More affordable wine, less crappy “craft” beer.

A few new interesting Mexicans (to compete with a raft of mediocre places going through the motions for the mucho macho grande burrito crowd).

Who does a guy have to blow to get a decent sandwich shop around here?

Less shitty breakfast joints; more in-house baking.

For all the Insta love for John Arena and friends, there are still only about four places in Vegas to get a decent pizza.

Why isn’t there a ramen shop downtown?

How about a good, retail bread bakery somewhere fer chrissakes?

Or gelato? (There is an ice cream shop on Main Street, but it is terrible.)

It’s time for crepes and fondues to make a comeback.

Outside sidewalk dining….EVERYWHERE!

And finally, what the f*ck happened to good Indian food in this town?

(As usual, all restaurants come highly recommended unless otherwise noted.)

THE LIST

MANGIA MANGIA!

Italian food never goes out of style, but the boom in quality over the past few years has been a little crazy. No longer is Vegas the home to cookie-cutter eye-talian straight from a can. There are so many good ones popping up (and older ones upping their game), that we thought we do homage to Italy by painting THE LIST in the color of its flag.

Milano

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Of all the beautiful Italian food now available in town, this may be the most compelling. Simple, striking dishes that let the elemental flavors of Italy shine through. Great breads, challenging location, reasonable prices. Too hip for the room, but southern Strip foodies, and industry pros (starved for decent, non-franchise food in this part of town) may save it.

Aromi

We need to get back here. Best cioppino you’ll find this far from the Amalfi Coast.

Brezza

Open every night and already a tough ticket. Set to become the worthy successor to Carnevino as our best Italian steakhouse.

Cipriani

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Every Friday for a reason. Northern Italy served by the smoothest crew in town.

Esther’s Kitchen

My last lunch was a disappointment. Covid hangover? Staffing issues? Coasting on reputation? Sadly, I fear my love affair with Esther’s has run its course. Remember that hottie who once fascinated you? The one of whom you could never get enough? The mere mention of her name aroused something primal — passions rumbling deep and seemingly forever, never to be quenched. Then, time, the enemy of us all, came between you. You see her again after you’ve both strayed and what once seemed fresh, so beckoning, now suddenly feels forced and stilted. Both your energies falter at the sight of each other. The sparks that once ignited, the fires that once burned so brightly have been dampened forever. You try, but both of you know you’re just going through the motions.

Yeah, that’s me with Esther’s. Nice new barstools, though.

Ferraro’s Italian Restaurant and Wine Bar

The only reason I don’t eat here more often is I would end up spending my children’s inheritance (we’re talking hundreds and hundreds of $s here) drinking from this wine list.

Matteo’s/Brera

Eduardo Perez does some of our town’s most impressive pastas at these sister restaurants in the Venetian. Great pizzas too. And salads, and carne, and deserts, and…

.Osteria Fiorella

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Our cheffiest Italian. Marc Vetri (above) can stun you with his in-your-face flavor combinations…and the restaurant can stun you with the size of the bill.

FRENCH CONNECTION

We’re light on French food this year — a condition that will be rectified with a vengeance come January.

Burgundy French Bakery and Cafe

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First class French pastries (above) have made a name for themselves off the Strip, and there’s no putting that genie back in the bottle.

Le Cirque

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Love what they’ve done to the place (above). We don’t love the exclusively prix fixe tasting menu (with no a la carte options). At this point, Le Cirque is like the grande dame of Vegas: an aging diva seeking to recapture her past glories. Can she do it? Well, just about everyone is rooting for her, but the applause may dim once they realize it will cost a house payment to eat here.

GO FISH

Good seafood in the dessert used to be harder to find than a hooker who would take a check. No longer. The wonders of air freight have brought the best stuff to the ‘burbs.

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The Legends Oyster Bar & Grill

Top shelf seafood in an unlikely location. All-over-the-map menu seems disjointed, but the quality of the cooking (and those groceries,) comes through in the gumbo (above). About the only thing I wouldn’t order here is the beef stroganoff.

Saga Pastries + Sandwich

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There is no better tube steak in Vegas. Or waffles. Or breakfast sandwich. Or the tiny, open-faced shrimp sandwiches (the shrimp not the sandwiches).

Yu-Or-Mi Sushi Bar

Great neighborhood sushi. Great bar too.

Elia Authentic Greek Taverna

Don’t even think of eating Greek anywhere else.

Jamon Jamon

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The name means “ham ham” but the seafood is fine fine indeed. I’d eat here every week if a dozen other restaurants weren’t beckoning me.

WORKING CLASS

Informal eats that have fueled us to a fare thee well over the past six months.

Nevada Brew Works

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The Food Gal® prefers this smashed/caramelized/fromage-filled beauty (above) to Soulbelly’s thicker, juicier patty:

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We’ve almost come to blows debating the issue.

Letty’s de Leticia’s Cocina

…and on the eighth day, the lord invented the quesotaco:

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Black & Blue Diner

Reminds me of the Connecticut roadside diners of my youth. Nothing fancy, but decent eggs, biscuits and gravy, and great service.

Hard Hat Lounge

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The idea of finding me in a joint called the “Hard Hat Lounge” would seem as unlikely as finding me changing my spurs at a rodeo. But the square, Detroit-style (thick, cheese-encrusted crust) pies (found on the “Guerilla Pizza Menu”) have developed a real following in this “upscale dive bar.” It’s stoner food to be sure, but it is good stoner food….even if you’re not stoned.

Soulbelly BBQ

The best ‘cue in town. One of the best burgers, too. ‘Nuff said.

PublicUs

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Coffee, baked good, and breakfasts fit for the gods (see above).

Serrano’s Mexican Food

Nothing fancy, just solid Mexican home cooking with a friendly and appreciative staff. At lunch it is filled with day-laborers who know a good thing and a good deal when they eat one.

Real Donuts

…has re-opened! On West Charleston.

Homer Donut GIFs | Tenor

Saginaw’s

My go-to for deli. Nothing else in town can touch it. Wish it was easier to get to.

Windy City Beef ‘N Dogs

Oh those snap dogs from Vienna beef. The Polish is a winner, and like everything here, is straight from the City of Big Shoulders.

Pop Up Pizza

A nice slice from a place you would never expect to find one.

PACIFIC RIM

It wouldn’t surprise me if one day our Asian food scene surpasses the Strip in gastronomic preeminence. 

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Xiao Long Dumplings

There’s a new dumpling in town. Actually, they now seem to be popping up all over. This one is serious about their folds, and its gigantic selfie-magnet mascot (above). Nice build-out of the old Harbor Palace space — so sleek and clean will make you forget how badly the former operation sucked.

Chinglish Wine Bar

The Cantonese food impressed us more than the “wine bar” did. But we’ll go back for the mapo dofu (pockmarked woman’s bean curd) along with a more than decent Peking duck.

8East

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We don’t get here often, but when we do, we kick ourselves for not coming more.

Nittaya’s Secret Kitchen

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New digs, better food, fun place for a full panoply of sweet-hot Thai classics.

Chanko Shabu & Izakaya

Dark and cozy, feeling almost illicit when you enter, like it’s a speakeasy with a secret password. Those feelings evaporate as you’re taken to high chairs around a U-shaped central bar where waiters deliver decent sushi, potstickers, swish-swish (shabu-shabu), and other izakaya fare. Not in the same league as Raku, but fun and informal at a gentler price point.

Shanghai Taste

Still our go-to for xiao long bao and other starchy delights.

China Mama

Every Chinese restaurant in Vegas is judged by a single standard: Is it as good or not as good as China Mama?

Rainbow Kitchen

…is as good as China Mama. Better in some areas (roasted fowl, seafood, dim sum); not as good in others (noodles, soups, stir-fries and such).

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DE Thai Kitchen

On our regular DTLV lunch rotation for a reason. The small menu never gets old and still will kick your ass.

LET’S MEAT

Inviolable Food Axiom No. 26: Every restaurant in Las Vegas would be steakhouse if it could be.

Bazaar Meat by José Andrés

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Someone asked me the other day what was my favorite steak in Vegas and I said the “vaca vieja chuleton” from here. They’ve reduced the menu and the wine list, but I’d still put it up against any steakhouse in America. With Candace Ochoa (above) at the stoves, there’s no doubt it will stay that way.

Main Street Provisions

Justin Kingsley Hall does a lot of things well — from Scotch eggs to hummus to empanadas — but it’s his burger, steaks and (rabbit) boudin that keep us intrigued.

8oz Korean Steakhouse

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A few years ago, in the space of about a year, Vegas went from having like two Korean steakhouses to having ten of them. 8oz. is, far and away, our favorite.

Ricon de Buenos Aires

It’d been years, but then we went back twice in a month. A meat fest at a good price for all the steer muscle you need. Nice service; nice Argentine wines too., but we wish there were more of them.

SW Steakhouse

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God bless Mark LoRusso: he’s one of the few chefs in town who could move seamlessly from upscale Italian seafood (the closed Costa di Mare) to helming a big-hitter American steakhouse without missing a beef. Thanks to him and his crackerjack team, including Michael Outlaw, and Lauren Adkins:

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….this bastion of beef has taken on a whole new level of sophistication.

Vic & Anthony’s Steakhouse

Difficult to get into these days. Don’t even think of showing up without a res. Competes with Oscar’s across the street, and Barry’s down the street for downtown prime supremacy. As our foodie friend JB says: “Solid. Unspectacular but solid across the board.” GREAT wine list chock full of bargains.

Capital Grille

A white tablecloth lunch with a view to boot!

Wally’s

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We are of several minds about Wally’s. We love the wine list, the wine store, the menu, the cooking of Chef Eric L’Huillier (who does the best steak frites in town), and just about everything we’ve tasted (except the pizza). We’re glad it’s open for lunch and staffed by a bunch of old Vegas pros. On the other hand, you’ll easily drop a hundy for two for lunch without whetting your whistle a bit.

FUGGIDABADIT

“Not plain terrible, but fancy terrible. Terrible with raisins in it.” – Dorothy Parker

Delilah

Food and decor by Carnival Cruise Lines. You will be told upon entering that you have two hours to eat and to listen to a lot of dumb music.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>

That’s it. My last list of the year. We’ll probably weigh in on these pages in another few weeks with our Best Of/Worst Of year-end “major awards”, but in the meantime, eat out often and eat out locally. And if you eat out more than me, we need to talk.

And remember: Life is short; eat more doughnuts.

Image(You donut want to miss Tonya and her sprinkly cakes of pure pleasure)

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THE END