As recently as the early 1990s, the
restaurant
scene in Las Vegas was governed by
the notion that visitors were not
prepared to pay for gourmet food.
All the casinos laid on both pile-'em-high
buffets at knock-down prices, and
24-hour coffeeshops offering bargain
steak-and-egg deals, but virtually
the only quality restaurants in town
were upscale Italian places well
away from the Strip. The theory was
that the longer tourists spent
lingering over their meals, the less
time they had left to play the
tables.
Now, however, the situation has
reversed, as the major casinos
compete to attract culinary
superstars from all over the country
to open Vegas outlets. The first
such venture was Wolfgang Puck's Spago
in Caesars Palace , back in
1992; these days, as each new casino
opens, it's taken for granted that
it will have as many as ten
world-class restaurants. Asked what
had persuaded him to relocate to Las
Vegas, one leading chef replied
"three million dollars."
Many tourists now visit the city
specifically to eat at several of
the best restaurants in the United
States, without having to reserve a
table months in advance or pay
sky-high prices. Which is not to say
that fine dining comes cheap in Las
Vegas, just that most of the
big-name restaurants are less
expensive, and less snooty, than
they are in their home cities.
Another break with tradition is
that these days the accountants
require each sector of a
casino-resort to be financially
solvent. Where once it was
considered worth running the
restaurants and showrooms at a loss
because they lured in gamblers, they
now have to be self-supporting. Thus
prices are not what they were, with
buffets more like $8 rather than $3,
and breakfast specials at $4.50 not
$1.99. Even so, for budget eating
Las Vegas still beats anywhere else
in the country.
At most times, it's generally
possible to get a same-day
reservation for any Las Vegas
restaurant; to secure a table for
Friday or Saturday night, however,
call as far in advance as you can.
Guests in the same hotel as a
particular restaurant seldom get any
special priority.
The restaurants reviewed in this
section form only a tiny proportion
of the total. If you're staying on
the Strip in particular, the choice
is overwhelming, and you'll almost
certainly find a good restaurant to
suit your tastes and budget in your
own hotel. For that reason, the
places reviewed in this section tend
towards the higher end of the
spectrum - it takes an exceptional
restaurant to be worth making a
special effort to reach.
In terms of price or quality, let
alone convenience, there are few
reasons to venture off into the rest
of the city; good places do exist
away from the Strip and downtown,
but the best are right where the
tourists are. The one exception to
that rule is that certain cuisines
have as yet been unable to get a
foothold on the Strip; if you want
Indian, Thai, or healthy Greek food,
for example, you'll have to drive
out and find it.
Las Vegas favorites
| Asian |
Noodles |
| Breakfast |
Il
Fornaio |
| Buffet |
Bellagio |
| Burger |
Fatburger |
| Coffee
Shop |
Mr
Lucky's 24/7 |
| Creole |
Commander's
Palace |
| Decor |
rumjungle |
| Desserts |
Commander's
Palace |
| Family |
Lombardi's |
| Fusion |
8-0-8 |
| Indian |
Shalimar |
| Italian |
Zefferino's |
| Mexican |
Border
Grill |
| Middle
Eastern |
Mediterranean
Cafe & Market |
| Seafood |
Aqua |
| Soul
food |
Simply
Southern Caf้ |
| Southwest |
Coyote
Caf้ |
| Steak |
Delmonico's |
| Sushi |
Nobu |
| Views |
Top
of the World |
And finally, for a perfect day on
the Strip, how about:
| Breakfast |
Il
Fornaio |
| Lunch |
Mon
Ami Gabi |
| Dinner |
Commander's
Palace |
Buffets
Almost every casino in Las Vegas
has an all-you-can-eat
buffet
, open to guests and non-guests
alike for every meal of the week.
Even at the worst you're bound to
find something you can keep down,
and the cost is low enough that in
any case you won't feel ripped
off. At its best, the traditional
buffet experience is in terms of
both decor and flavor like being
granted unrestricted access to the
food court in an upmarket mall;
you'll get top-quality fast food,
but not a gourmet feast.
It's no coincidence that in
strictly monetary terms the better
buffets tend to be in casinos that
are neither on the Strip nor
downtown , and depend on
locals as well as tourists. At
places like the Rio and
casinos in the Stations chain, the
buffet still serves the
fundamental purpose of enticing in
customers from elsewhere. Thus
they've been at the forefront of
innovations like having separate
named areas serving different
cuisines, or offering "action
cooking," where your
stir-fry, omelette, fajita or
whatever is cooked to your
specific order. By contrast, the
buffets at the very largest
casinos only have to be good
enough to ensure that the crowds
already in the building don't
leave, while also coping with a
daily deluge of customers. Hence
the poor quality of the buffets at
Excalibur and the MGM
Grand , for example.
A new development, however, has
been for high-end casinos to raise
buffet prices to a level that
makes it possible to provide true
gourmet feasts. The opening of The
Buffet at Bellagio in
1998 represented a quantum leap in
standards, in serving food that
would be considered excellent in
any conventional restaurant. With
dinner priced at $25, however -
and $32 on weekends - it also
dispensed with the idea that
buffets are supposed to be cheap. Le
Village at Paris
swiftly unveiled a less varied but
equally delectable and expensive
spread, but the title of best
buffet has to belong to Bellagio
. The best old-style bargains are
the Feast Around The World
buffets at Sunset Station
and Texas Station .
As a rule, buffet prices
include unlimited refills on
juices and sodas, but you have to
pay extra for any alcoholic
drinks. You'll also have to pay
tax, plus a conventional $1 tip
per person. If possible, try to
avoid eating between 6pm and 9pm,
when the lines at the larger
casinos can be endless. Arriving
early for breakfast (before 8am)
and late for lunch (around 2pm or
so) can also save time otherwise
spent in line.
