Where to Eat in Las Vegas

If you know me, you know I am a foodie. And there is no better place for a variety of high quality (and big dollar) food options than Las Vegas. And by the way, there’s also nowhere else you can surf the all-you-can-eat buffets at low low prices. But, I’ll be honest, I don’t do buffets. I find, in general, I always eat more than I should and never eat enough to make the cost worthwhile. So, if Vegas Buffets are your thing, you can probably move on from this article! 🙂

I just returned from a week in Las Vegas – and this is my 10th trip there (and my 8th year teaching) for the WPPI (Wedding and Portrait Photographer’s International) conference. And after 10 years of eating my way through this city, I have favorites (new and old) that are worth going back for. Many of these don’t even make the hottest top 10 lists right now for Vegas, but they are all recommendation-worthy in my book. So here is my short list of places to eat in Las Vegas:

Mon Ami Gabi – a delightful Parisian restaurant with an outdoor patio that overlooks the Vegas Strip right outside the Eiffel Tower (Vegas Version). They have a nice cafe menu, theeee best bread, and I love that there is an outdoor option for when the sun edges out Vegas’ desert winter chill.
Bouchon – celebrity chef followers will recognize that the chef behind this swanky French restaurant at the Venetian is Thomas Keller, the very same behind The French Laundry, an impossibly difficult to get into super expensive restaurant in Yountville CA (that happens to be on my must-eat list). The food at Bouchon is very French, consistently good, and the walk to the restaurant through the high-arched ornate hallway will really make you think you are in Italy (ironic, yes, considering you are heading towards a French restaurant). This time I ordered the Trout and it was amazing, and the Beignets they featured for dessert were to-die-for.
Ramen in Chinatown – if you want to talk cheap eats that are simply delicious, take a stroll down the main drag of the slightly dodgy-looking Chinatown in Las Vegas. I have had some incredible Pho and Ramen at several of the establishments there and the costs are 1/10th of what you pay on the Strip with way more authentically delicious flavor. Don’t believe me? Ask Google.
Eataly Las Vegas – So Eataly and I have a great relationship, but a very new one. I just went to Eataly LA for the first time last month, and ate my way through the food offerings there (and yes, had a drink on their rooftop bar). But the Eataly Las Vegas is new (very new) and I just had to go in and compare. And you know what? Barring the presence of the rooftop bar in LA (which you know I love) I actually liked the Vegas version better. Eataly is a shopping and dining experience, combining food vendors / food hall style Italian offerings, from dessert to drinks to meat and cheese plates, but also offering sit down restaurants serving everything from fresh pasta to handmade Mozzarella, among many other things. What Vegas had that LA did not was a way to graze easily through the food offerings at the various “stalls”. I felt like LA was more focused on being a fresh food market where you take the ingredients home with you (butcher, bread, cheese, pasta) and make your own creations. Vegas, understandably so, focused more on people walking around and trying a little of everything. We tried the pasta bar (I wasn’t impressed) and the Italy Street Food bar where we ordered Arancini (also not impressed) but the meat and cheese board featured the most delicious Prosciutto I have ever had. And the cheeses (all Italian) were amazing. And dessert….the cannoli was incredible though the fresh Bomboloni we also ordered (cream filled donut) was tasty but not as fresh as I would have liked (and would have tasted better warm from the fryer). They had tons of fresh pastries though, among other things, as did the version in LA, and what I like about the concept (despite my somewhat lukewarm reviews regarding the food) is that you can try a little of everything and feel like you’ve been to Italy. And they are popping up all over the country.
Oh, Bobby Flay. I love me some Bobby Flay. He’s always been one of my favorite Food Network Chefs and I remember eating at his Mesa Grill in Las Vegas (before I moved to the Southwest) and delighting at the novelty of Southwest flavor. The porkchop there is amazing. This time we went back for Burgers, and even though Chef Flay has a burger – centric restaurant on the strip, the burgers at Mesa perhaps are better (though more expensive). I ordered the Mesa burger and the BF had the Green Chile Cheeseburger, and I liked mine better. I don’t know if it’s the best burger in Vegas, but if you’re looking for some authentic Southwest flavor, I’d give Mesa grill a try.
The best place for a drink with a view is at the hidden gem SkyBar at The Waldorff Astoria. And they even bring out bar snackies (which scores major points in my book). But prepare to pay top dollar here, as it’s pricey, even for Vegas.
The honorable mentions on this trip go to the Pierogies on the appetizer menu at The Red Square (I grew up making pierogies and these were simply a taste of my childhood, done right), and the French Dip (great post-club food) at Citizens Kitchen and Bar (despite the ratings on Google) the sushi at Mizuya which I swear had the best Black Miso Cod I’ve ever had and also came in at an A+ for everything we ordered (and gets major props for offering a Protein Roll, with no rice, for those of us counting carbs). Previous HM goes to L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon at the MGM Grand for the best mashed potatoes I have ever put in my mouth (and I also got to meet him, and got a photo with him, before he passed away).