Once known mostly for all-you-can-eat buffets, Las Vegas has since branched out and is now a haute cuisine hotspot, with tastes from far-flung corners. Historically, buffets started in the ‘40s at the original El Rancho Vegas Hotel to keep patrons on premises. This idea soon caught on, and legendary buffets now feature dozens of items per meal, sometimes specializing in seafood. grills or ethnic taste sensations. Hotel-casino “gourmet rooms” catering to high rollers followed buffets, and now Las Vegas high-end dining options are hot across the board, often featuring celebrity chefs. If you get off the strip you can also find interesting options at much cheaper prices.
Steakhouse Cuisine
Buffet Cuisine
Asian Cuisine
Italian Cuisine
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Dan Marino’sHere you are rewarded with a solidly good, more affordably priced establishment than comparable spots in higher-profile Strip hotels. Lots of finger food, lots of meat, lots of fat, lots of calories, but we mean that in the good way; starters like a three-cheese spinach dip (topped with sour cream, onions, and bacon) indicate that much of the menu is more or less high-falutin' versions of Sunday-afternoon-sports TV-watching munchies. Prime rib has an unexpectedly smoky flavor and Lawry's seasonings, while juicy filet tips are served with garlic mashed potatoes and crispy onions.
Address: Hooters Casino Hotel, 115 E. Tropicana Avenue
The Range SteakhouseThis place is worth visiting if only for the spectacular view of the Strip (few Strip restaurants take advantage of this view, oddly enough) from 40-foot-high wraparound windows. The menu features the usual steakhouse offerings, various cuts of beef and chicken dishes, plus a selection of salads. The filet mignon on a Gorgonzola-onion croustade is a tasty favourite.
Address: Harrah’s, 3475 Las Vegas Boulevard South
Lawry’s The Prime RibIf you love prime rib, come here. If you could take or leave prime rib, Lawry's will turn you into a believer. Eating at Lawry's is a ceremony, with all the parts played the same way for the past 60 years. Waitresses in brown-and-white English-maid uniforms, complete with starched white cap, take your order, for side dishes, that is. The real decision, what cut of rib you are going to have, comes later. Actually, that's the only part of the tradition that has changed. Originally, all Lawry's offered was prime rib, which they did perfectly and with tremendous style. Now they have added fresh fish (halibut, salmon, or swordfish, depending on the evening) to the menu.
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Main street Station Garden CourtLocated in one of the most attractive buffet spaces in town (and certainly in Downtown), with very high ceilings and tall windows bringing in much-needed natural light, the Main Street Station Garden Court buffet is one of the best in town. It consists nine live-action stations where you can watch your food being prepared, including a wood-fired, brick-oven pizza; many fresh salsas at the Mexican station; a barbecue rotisserie; fresh meats at the carving station; Chinese, Hawaiian, and Southern specialties.
Address: Main Street Station, 200 North Main Street
The Buffet at TIA fabulous buffet makeover, now easily the best looking buffet space in town, sort of a contemporary diner with dark gleaming wood, mirrors, and geometric lines. There is a god selection of food choices including Italian, Japanese and Southern dishes and the choice of desserts is mouthwatering.
Address: Treasure Island Hotel, 3300 Las Vegas Boulevard South
Palms Fantasy Market BuffetThe Palms buffet looks great and tastes great and since the owners of the hotel are from a Middle Eastern background, that translates into some fresher concepts at the stations, most notably an emphasis on Middle Eastern fare such as gyros with warm pita bread, hummus, baba ghanouj, and kabobs of every variety. Plus, there's a huge Chinese station, complete with dumplings, a Mongolian barbecue section (where they toss all your chosen ingredients in one stir-fry vat), some "Jewish" foods (knishes and kugel), an ambitious carving station with ribs and pastrami, and great desserts.
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Lotus of SiamCritic Jonathan Gold of Gourmet magazine called this place no less than the best Thai restaurant in North America. What makes this place so darn special? First of all, in addition to all the usual beloved Thai favorites, they have a separate menu featuring lesser-known dishes from northern Thailand -- they don't routinely hand this one out. Second, the owner drives at least twice a week back to Los Angeles to pick up the freshest herbs and other ingredients needed for his dishes' authenticity. That's dedication that should be rewarded with superlatives.
Address: Commercial Centre, 953 E. Sahara Avenue
Grand WokA Pan-Asian restaurant that features Japanese, Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese cuisines. Hotel Asian restaurants are often a bit dubious, especially if they try to have too much variety, but this one really is marvelous, and the primarily Asian clientele clearly agrees. Note that soup portions are most generous; four people could easily split one order and have a nice and very inexpensive lunch, an unexpected bargain option for the Strip.
Address: MGM Grand, 3799 Las Vegas Boulevard South
Red 8In a usually pricey Wynn, Red 8 offers a good and affordable dining option. This is a popular restaurant given the location, size, and pricing -- and the quality of the food. Covering a sort of pan-Asiatic (Southeast Asia, anyway) terrain, look for noodle dishes both wet (soup) and dry (pan-fried), rice (including porridge), dim sum, Korean barbeque, Mongolian beef, vegetarian options, and more.
Address: Wynn Las Vegas, 3131 Las Vegas Boulevard South
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CanalettoCome here for solid, true Italian fare. Here, the emphasis is on the pasta, not the accompaniments. This place is all the more enjoyable for being perched on the faux St. Mark's Square; in theory, you can pretend you are sitting on the edge of the real thing.
Address: The Venetian Hotel, 3377 Las Vegas Boulevard South
OlivesA branch of Todd English's original Boston-based restaurant, Olives is a strong choice for a light lunch that need not be as expensive as you might think. Here's how to enjoy a moderately priced meal here: Munch on the focaccia bread, olives, and excellent tapenade they give you at the start, have a lovely salad (maybe of Bibb lettuce, Maytag bleu cheese, and walnut dressing), and then split a flatbread. Think pizza with an ultrathin crust (like a slightly limp cracker), topped with delicious combinations such as the highly recommended Moroccan spiced lamb, eggplant purée, and feta cheese. The constructed, but not too fussy, food gets more complicated and costly at night, adding an array of meats and chickens, plus pastas such as butternut squash with brown butter and sage.
Address: Bellagio, 3600 Las Vegas Boulevard South
OndaOnda is anything but a run-of-the-mill hotel restaurant. Chef Todd English, offers a Mediterranean slant on Italian cooking, coming up with a menu that's full of pleasant thrills, putting most other Italian joints in town to shame. The restaurant itself is pretty and comfortable (dress is casual chic), with a particularly good vibe later in the evening (after 9pm, say), for some reason, the staff doesn't tire but is still ready to take care of your every wish, allowing you to linger as much as you like.
Address: Mirage Hotel, 3400 Las Vegas Boulevard South.
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