Vintage Vegas Vickie sign at Circa. (Photo Credit: Lark Gould)
The buffet, that bottomless monument to Las Vegas excess,
may be going the way of the lounge act. Cheap food—once a Las Vegas staple—has
given way to food halls selling all manner of newfangled fast food, while casino-fueled
gourmet rooms have long since morphed into the Michelin-starred showrooms of
the Strip.
Vegas has always been as much about food as it is about gaming and
entertainment, but for some new gastronomical wows, visitors may have to move
out from under the neon to find fantastic food scenes rising all over the city.
The change is visible in the neighborhoods west and north of the Strip,
where independent restaurants, ambitious chefs, neighborhood bars and
destination-worthy cafés are creating a dining culture that feels less like an
extension of casino hospitality and more like a city finding its own culinary
identity. Chinatown, the Arts District, Downtown and the rapidly developing
areas to the west of the Strip are among the places where that evolution is
easiest to taste.
Chinatown Rising
Nowhere is the shift more apparent than along Spring Mountain Road, the
three-mile corridor commonly called Chinatown. What began with Chinese
restaurants and markets has grown into a multicultural dining district with
hundreds of venues representing Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese,
Filipino and other cuisines, as well as increasingly ambitious chef-driven kitchens.
Diners treat the neighborhood itself as a destination. Las Vegas tourism
officials now describe this stretch of Spring Mountain as one of the country's
most dynamic dining corridors, with some 250 sit-down food and beverage
establishments packed into the area.
Three restaurants offer a particularly good introduction to what is
happening there.
At Kaiseki Yuzu, chef
Kaoru Azeuchi serves Japanese kaiseki dinners on Spring Mountain Road, bringing
a highly formal and highly personal tradition to a neighborhood better known
for casual Asian restaurants. Azeuchi was a finalist for Best Chef in the
Southwest by the James Beard Foundation.
Then there is Lamaii, featured in the Michelin Guide
Southwest selection. Here, bold Thai cooking is paired with an unusually
serious wine program. Its philosophy is simple but ambitious: the food and wine
are considered together, not as separate parts of the meal.
At Sparrow + Wolf, chef
Brian Howard has helped show how far an off-Strip restaurant can stretch the
definition of contemporary American food. The kitchen is grounded in
high-quality meats, locally sourced produce, house-baked breads and surprising,
artful fusions. The ambiance is “chic date” décor with low lights and hidden
banquettes, plus spunky, creative cocktails.
One of the many venues available through Corner Bar Management in Downtown Las Vegas. (Photo Credit: Lark Gould)
Down with Downtown
Here at the birthplace of Las Vegas, dining is a tight thread woven
through an ecosystem of bars, music, entertainment and a cool cocktail scene. Corner Bar Management, a Las Vegas
hospitality company, operates a cluster of Downtown nightlife, restaurant and
entertainment concepts, ranging from cocktail bars and rooftop venues to
live-music and destination-dining spaces. Its venues have become part of the
Fremont East Entertainment District's identity.
For lost youth seeking fantasy settings where décor dictates the
experience, these spots will not disappoint. Live music, unusual and affordable
food, and wild rooms full of whatnots from eras gone by keep venues hopping.
Advisors looking for party locations or meeting planners seeking intimate spaces
that can deliver wide-eyed moments just four miles from the saturated
mega-resorts will want to explore the options here.
Thursday through Saturday, a single wristband sold at Park on Fremont
covers a drink at each of five venues, a self-guided crawl the company calls
the Block.
For a more upscale vibe, Circa is the spot. Barry's Downtown Prime is
the place to take a business meeting or a birthday celebration. It’s part
steakhouse, part gourmet room, and it’s all quite Vegas, with doting service
and indulgent surf-and-turf dishes, all a block or two from the Mob Museum. It
is named for the chef Barry Dakake, who made his name at N9NE at the Palms and
still works the dining room. Choose your cut and save room for the baked Alaska
set alight.
Afterward, ride the elevator 60 floors to the Legacy Club,
a rooftop lounge featuring a curious display of 1,000 ounces of gold. Watch
city lights and fireworks while sitting around fire pits on the terrace and
sipping build-your-own Old Fashioneds.
Arts District Divas
The city’s Arts District of antique
shops, novelty boutiques, art galleries, artist studios, inspired cocktail bars
and cafés has evolved over the last decade or more into its own well-deserved
spot on the map. It is now a compact and crazy few blocks of fun worth
exploring along Main Street.
The destination has matured from a First Friday curiosity into a genuine
dining quarter. Anchoring Main Street is James Tree's Esther's Kitchen, which
earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand this summer.
A worthy stop during an evening of sipping would be the Doberman Drawing Room. Tucked into
a 3,400-square-foot converted space, the cocktail lounge and social club feels
like the eccentric estate of a well-traveled collector, with heavy woods,
leather, vintage books, antiques, taxidermy, bizarre art and plenty of nooks
and crannies to sit and gawk. Part time machine, part film set, you really
aren’t in Vegas anymore. The cocktail menu draws from global flavors and
changes with the seasons. Consider the Tom Kha Fizz, which reworks the flavors
of a Thai soup into a savory, spicy gin cocktail. It’s a perfect after-dinner
spot, or a destination for a group function.
For the morning after, make it 1228
Main, named for its address. The roomy café brings a San Francisco
bakery sensibility with crème brûlée croissants, shakshuka and a weekend brunch
with cocktails.
One of the many venues available through Corner Bar Management in Downtown Las Vegas. (Photo Credit: Lark Gould)
Mex Must
The clearest sign of where Las Vegas is headed may lie 20 minutes
southwest, where locals actually live. Milpa,
in a strip mall on South Durango Drive, is the work of DJ Flores. He is a Las
Vegas native who cooked at Jaleo and Border Grill before a stage at Quintonil
in Mexico City converted him to heirloom corn. He nixtamalizes red, yellow and
blue varieties in-house and grinds his own masa for tortillas, tetelas and
blue-corn pinole pancakes. His hands-on masa classes (call for times and
spots), paired with breakfast, are the best argument in town for getting up
early in Las Vegas.
Westward Wow
Not far down the road, Durango
Casino & Resort, which Station Casinos opened at the end of 2023,
is a locals' casino built to tourist-grade standards. Nicco's Prime Cuts
& Fresh Fish pairs dry-aged and Wagyu steaks with a daily fish display
and a raw bar; begin at the bar with a dry martini. On the way out, stop at the
Cookie Bar by Summer House for an oversize signature cookie, a La
Colombe iced coffee or a swirl of fresh soft-serve for the drive home.
For buffet devotees or high-roller gourmet room fans, the Strip still
delivers. But the city's more interesting story is now being written in strip
malls and converted brick storefronts, by chefs who chose Las Vegas as a place
to live rather than a market to conquer. The appetite that built Las Vegas is
on the move and finding tables. For visitors willing to take a short ride off
the Boulevard, the reward is a Las Vegas that locals have long kept to
themselves.
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