home again: bagel cafe, grape street.

So I moved. It'd be easy to see, if you keep track of which restaurants I write or rave about, that I've been partial to the west side of Las Vegas. That's because it's been my home for the better part of the last 22 years. I think I get down to eat on the Strip as much as any other local, and I'm up for a jaunt out to Henderson, the south end or any other distance if there's great food to be found. But like any other suburban eater, I'm more likely to be found in my neighborhood. For the last three-plus years, that's been the northwest suburb of Centennial Hills, where I discovered some great places to eat: Indian Curry Bowl, Vega's Cafe, Retro Bakery, Sushi Loca, and the Charcoal Room, to name a handful. There really is outstanding dining to be found in every corner of the Las Vegas Valley.

But now I'm back home again, the neighborhood I more or less grew up in: the very tip of Summerlin, right along the Pueblo Park. Sure, it's not far from my previous location, just a few minutes on U.S. Highway 95. But it offers a certain comfort to me, a familiarity, and there are even more delicious restaurants nearby. Probably the best closest joint is the beloved French bistro Marche Bacchus, and I have to admit I have not been there recently. It won't be long before I return. But I have already paid a visit to two other long-popular destinations.

Bagel Cafe is quite simply the best deli-style restaurant in Vegas. This is the place for huge, homemade bagels, in every flavor variety you could think of and topped with every flavor of cream cheese imaginable; terrific, soul-satisfying matzoh ball soup; super-stacked deli sandwiches; gigantic fresh salads; and my personal favorite, monstrous fish platters with fresh, colorful vegetables. This morning I went overboard (pictured) with a plate stocked with dill shrimp salad, baked smoked salmon salad, coleslaw and potato salad, and an array of juicy red tomatoes, cucumbers, homemade pickles, olives and red onion to top my toasted sesame bagel with scallion cream cheese. It's easy to see (and taste) why the Bagel Cafe is packed for lunch during the week and all morning long on the weekends; it's truly a Vegas favorite. I also like to drool over the fresh pastries and cookies in the case up front.

Grape Street Cafe is almost as popular, a friendly neighborhood wine bar serving a lot of salads, some steak and seafood, pasta and pizza to a very Summerlin crowd. (What I mean by this: middle aged white people.) The wine selection is extensive and there's usually a seat at the bar if you're looking to do some sampling, but they stay pretty busy for dinner. A light dinner last night consisted of crostini, crisp toast with gorgonzola, goat cheese and roasted peppers; a pizza margherita and a tasty flank steak salad that could have been vastly improved by using any lettuce other than iceberg. I've never had a bad appetizer or dessert at Grape Street, and the kitchen handles fish well, too. The prices could be a bit lower, but it's not a bad deal for a reliably good meal from a diverse menu and a great bunch of bottles to choose from.