Las Vegas is nirvana for obsessives.
With 24/7 gambling action, A-list (and risqué) spectacles galore and seriously luxe shopping, Vegas knows how to entertain its more than 40 million visitors a year. For food freaks, though, it’s nirvana on steroids. Constantly reinventing itself with the latest and flashiest culinary offerings, Las Vegas is arguably America’s most dynamic dining city.
It would impossible to list all of the restaurants that have opened in the past year or so, so here’s just a select list of where to eat in Vegas these days (and nights).
MB Steak at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
A new luxury steakhouse from brothers David and Michael Morton — of Morton’s fame — it’s a sexy and swanky take on a timeless restaurant concept. The two-story dining room and lounge are stunning. The menu features three kinds of waygu beef, American, Australian and Japanese, and a lobster mac ’n’ cheese with crustacean chunks the size of mandarins.
Dish not to miss: American Caviar Sliders, with blinis, chive crème fraiche and fingerling potato chips promise to pop . 4455 Paradise Road, Las Vegas. (702) 483-4888 or mbsteaklv.com
Bavette’s Steakhouse & Bar at The Monte Carlo
As The Monte Carlo gets upgraded and transformed into the Park MGM — construction is expected to be completed by April — this new Parisian-chic steakhouse offers a window into the luxury conversion to come. Chicago’s Hogsalt Hospitality group reportedly spent $5.2 million on Bavette’s plush space. Traditional dishes (shellfish towers, primo steaks with béarnaise, creamed spinach) are ed on the menu by next-gen fare (elote-style corn, spiced fried chicken, roasted bone marrow).
Dish not to miss: The “Baked Goat Cheese (Circa 1992)” screams delicious retro fun. 3770 Las Vegas Blvd. S., Las Vegas. (702) 730-6700 or montecarlo.com/en/restaurants/bavettes.html
Burger Bar at the Fulton Street Food Hall (Harrah’s)
There will probably come that time during your Vegas visit when you just won’t be able to look at another fancy, multi-course restaurant menu. So head for the Fulton Street Food Hall at Harrah’s Las Vegas where you can snack on pizza, tacos, crepes, sushi, salad, breakfast, pastries, and the newest option, Burger Bar. Get creative with the beef, turkey and veggie patties, which can be fixed with an endless variety of toppings.
Dish not to miss: The pedigreed Angus burger is made with beef from Nebraska’s Red River Farms. 3475 Las Vegas Boulevard S., Las Vegas. (702) 369-5000 or bit.ly/2jxD3Yi.
Canter’s Deli at The Linq Promenade
The second Las Vegas offshoot of the legendary L.A. deli opened for full service on Nov. 16. Their shtick is a throwback — think meatloaf sandwiches, bagels, lox and cream cheese platters, matzo ball soup, massive pastrami and corned beef sandwiches. Happily, they still do everything the old-fashioned way too, like curing their own meat, roasting their coffee beans and baking their own rye bread.
Dish not to miss: Any of the five (!) kinds of cheesecakes. 3545 Las Vegas Blvd. S., Las Vegas. (702) 754-4400. bit.ly/2yNSwX7.
Pearl Ocean at Lucky Dragon Hotel and Casino
Las Vegas has been going all in trying to woo and cater to Asian travelers. A year ago today, the boutique Asia-centric Lucky Dragon Hotel and Casino opened, just one day after the first Beijing-Las Vegas direct flight took off. Cultural authenticity here is key (signs are in Chinese first, English second), so why would you eat Asian food anywhere else? There are five eateries: a high-end restaurant, night market, feng-shui tea garden, bao bar and, our pick, Pearl Ocean, for dim sum and exotic seafood.
Dishes not to miss: Crab roe siu mai and Szechuan peppercorn frog legs. 300 W. Sahara Ave., Las Vegas. (702) 579-1287 or luckydragonlv.com/dining-pearl-ocean
Morimoto at MGM Grand
Iron chef Masaharu Morimoto, who creates ingenious dishes almost too beautiful to eat, recently celebrated the first anniversary of Morimoto at the MGM Grand. There you can feast on toro tartare with sturgeon caviar, “Duck Duck Goose” — duck meatball soup, duck confit fried rice and gooseberry compote — and if available, sea urchin udon noodles carbonara. If he’s in town, he’ll be behind the sushi bar, slicing your fish with the precision of a surgeon.
Dish not to be missed: Yellowtail “pastrami,” with togarashi spices, gin crème fraîche, candied olives and Morimoto’s own grapeseed oil. 3799 Las Vegas Blvd S., Las Vegas. (702) 891-3001 or mgmgrand.com/en/restaurants/morimoto.html.
é by José Andrés at The Cosmopolitan
é by José Andrés didn’t just open but what is brand new is that it’s now easier to make a reservation for the exclusive eight-seat tasting bar enclave inside Jaleo at The Cosmopolitan. We didn’t say snagging a spot is easier, just the reservation system. Tickets for the $250, 20-dish avant-garde culinary extravaganza can be pre-paid online three months in advance through Tock and you can request being wait-listed. After the Spanish-born chef showed himself be superhuman — preparing nearly 3 million meals with his World Central Kitchen team in hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico — no wait would be too long to eat at one of Andrés’ restaurants. 3708 Las Vegas Blvd. S., Las Vegas. (702) 698-7950 or ebyjoseandres.com.