treasure island.

Another big sign of shit times in Vegas: MGM Mirage is selling Treasure Island to the dude who used to own the Frontier. Here's the RJ story. Here's the Movable Buffet's take. This is not a huge disaster, it's just another odd thing to see for those who thought Vegas indestructible.

I have always had mixed feelings about Treasure Island. Steve Wynn opened the pirate-themed joint in 1993 and MGM Mirage has owned it since 2000. In 2003 things were changed quite a bit when they took down the skull and crossbones marquee, tried to hip it up by calling it TI and sexifying the pirate battle show, and painted the hotel a weird brownish red color. Bad moves, all.

I remember the place being one of the few hotel casinos on the Strip I wandered around as a high school kid. The tacky and useless Kahunaville restaurant used to be an arcade with carnival games that served as a funny little nerd date destination. Today, outside of the Mexican restaurant Isla and the once-hipster Social House, there is no good reason to eat here and really never has been. I've already expressed my disappointment with Canter's Deli. What was once a semi-interesting club, Tangerine, has been replaced with the pinnacle of Vegas douchebaggery, Christian Audigier The Nightclub. (Just typing the name of this place inspires throw-up-in-the-mouth.) And the only notable lounge at Treasure Island is the utterly unremarkable Mist. The hotel rooms, also, are nothing special.

No food, no cool boozing spots, no reason to be here. But, because the Strip and Spring Mountain intersection is where most of my Vegas action happens lately (Treasure Island, Fashion Show mall, Wynn Las Vegas, Palazzo, Venetian), I have spent too much time at this hotel. I don't know if a change in ownership will translate into any changes at the property; certainly not soon.

yellowtail. border grill. payard.

Just because there is a ton of food in the house doesn't mean we shouldn't go out. Actually, it does, so the blame for going out on Thanksgiving weekend falls to those friends who come to town. There is a slightly odd feeling when "entertaining" friends who grew up in Vegas with you and return to see their families for holidays. You try to pick a place to go out together, but you can't really impress them because they know everything already, and they're over it. There's pressure and no pressure at the same time. It's strange.

The friends, S+M, grew up Vegas and have since been all over the world. They currently reside in Sacramento for no good reason. They greatly appreciate epicurean adventures and we always say we're going to do grand dining tours of Vegas' top restaurants, but we seldom have the time or disposable income to realize the dinners of our collective dreams. On our last adventure, I foolishly took them to the then-newly opened Company in Luxor and although the food was tasty, it managed to become a disaster.

This time around, because of Thanksgiving and family commitments, we didn't do dinner but we did get some drinks and snacks at the newest restaurant in the Bellagio, Yellowtail. Sitting at a small, comfy table in front of the bar, adjacent to the casino, perfect for people watching as douchebags, girls with super short dresses and George Maloof wandered about, we had dirty martinis and too-sweet bourbon drinks and a pleasant variety of delicious vegetarian small plates. The seaweed salad was a simple and pure revelation, putting anything else I've ever had to shame. It was a colorful red, white and green plate, and all the varieties were tender and clean-tasting, except for one leafy green selection that appeared to be lightly fried. I never thought I'd think seaweed amazing. We also had sea salted and chili-sauced edamame and grilled eggplant skewers, bathed in a sweet miso. Yellowtail, headed by Korean chef and former pro snowboarder Akira Back, has been very well reviewed and apparently deserves the accolades. I'm looking forward to a proper meal there, perhaps with S+M.

Saturday marked a return to what I am now convinced is the definitive Mexican restaurant in Las Vegas, Border Grill at Mandalay Bay. I accept that I am partial to Mexican food and so it is hard to be critical, especially when so many restaurants are so similar in quality and cuisine. I generally prefer the more creative spots on the Strip (Diego at MGM, Isla at Treasure Island) to the more traditional, home-style eateries around Vegas. But this was my third time at Border Grill and it keeps getting better. Well, at least the food does. The restaurant was renovated over the summer and it looks a little boring. Formerly colorful, open and lively, it's now trying to be a sleek, dark steakhouse. (At least the upstairs is. I didn't go down there, but I'm assuming the lower level is still a little more bright and casual to match the poolside patio.) The new decor threw me off a little, but the food was beyond impressive so I guess we'll let it slide. Along with perfectly adequate chips and salsa, we started with plantain empanadas, a perfect salty-and-sweet bite. A favorite we've sampled before, the smoked brisket taquitos, were great again. But the star was Cochinita Pibil, tender marinated pork roasted in a banana leaf with cinnamon, orange and other tasty things and served with caramelized plantains, pickled onions and two handmade corn tortillas. I didn't even touch the tortillas. The flavor of the moist pork was so warm and satisfying, I couldn't bring myself to consume a forkful of anything else. Well, except for the sweet plantains. They were a perfect match, like having dinner and dessert all at once.

Later that night we met again with S+M at Payard patisserie, the Caesars Palace playground of probably the best pastry chef around, Francois Payard. I was still too full, although we did buy a flourless chocolate chip cookie that I'm eyeballing as I type this. But S+M polished off a banana nutella crepe, which sounds pretty fucking good. As we were reflecting on the pastries, chocolates and coffees to be had, S revealed that these French goodies are, in fact, not really better in France. He says they're the same. They just taste better because you know you're in Paris. And you can get them from a street cart instead of parking at some goliath casino resort and walking forever to find and purchase something that costs three times as much. Yes, this is our problem in Vegas; we've got the goods, all of them, but we know it. And shit, how awesome would it be if the Strip was lined with litte streetfood vendors?

what do i have in common with obama? we both love plate lunch.

Although my grandma was Hawaiian, I've never been to the islands and I don't have any sort of understanding of the culture or the food. Because there is a massive Hawaiian population in Vegas, there are some "Hawaiian" restaurants around town, most of which focus on the traditional plate lunch.

The plate lunch is the perfect explanation for why so many islanders are giant people. It includes large portions of meat (fried chicken, fish or shrimp, teriyaki-style beef or beef shortribs, or slow-cooked pork, among others), rice, and macaroni salad. It is a super protein and carb load, and it hurts later on. But it's delicious and worth the punishment, like any good comfort food.

My introduction to this type of food -- other than a vague memory of grandma making lau lau and learning from my mother to cook simple stewed chicken and spinach with coconut milk -- came at Aloha Kitchen. This place was opened 10 years ago by a UNLV graduate and now has three locations, and it's perhaps the best known Vegas Hawaiian restaurant. The menu is a little bigger than other Hawaiian joints. Aloha Kitchen's "Local Plate" has teriyaki chicken and beef and adds two Spam musubi.

Although I don't eat here as often as I'd like, I love Aloha Kitchen because they do a combo plate with my two favorites, chicken katsu (chickens fried in crispy panko breadcrumbs) and kalua pig (moist pork butt, shredded and wondrous). At other places, I have to work around their combinations to make this baby up. Aloha Kitchen also does a mean Loco Moco, homemade hamburger patties over rice with fried eggs and gravy on top. I think "mean" is actually the best way to describe this dish. It seems angry. And delicious.

Lately I'm getting my plate lunch from L&L, which is reliably adequate. Kalua pig is good here, too. Ordering lau lau, pork chuck steamed in taro leaves, is tempting but remember that real lau lau, as far as grandma was concerned, contained pork and fish. Just fatty piggy here.

Another option for plate lunch is Maui Rose, which has two locations in Vegas and also serves a little sushi and some other Japanese and Korean eats. Eat in here and get your plate lunch with a little salad and a cup of miso soup, and then regret getting a plate lunch instead of some tasty looking noodle dishes. Not so great here.

The newest contender for best Vegas plate lunch is Aloha A Go Go, which has two Vegas locations opened by the guys behind China A Go Go, a successful local Chinese franchise. The portions here seem extra big, and the plate lunches come with some vegetables, too, which are nice because then you can totally pretend like you're not eating one of the least healthy meals in existence.

firefly. bradley ogden.

It's a tough job, when you're me, to settle on a location for an afternoon of eating and drinking somewhere in Vegas. I want to try new stuff. I want to get not-so-new stuff that I haven't been able to get yet. I also have a hard time not going for something reliably awesome. So we combined two of those factors on Saturday, going for a late lunch of tapas and cocktails at Firefly and then wandering around the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace before getting another drink and snack at Bradley Ogden.

Firefly has got to be one of the most beloved restaurants in Vegas. Tourists love it and eat there when they're hungover. Locals will tell you it's the best spot for tapas. It's kind of a hipster joint, which can lead to some douchey surroundings at times, but the food and drink are worth putting up with such a minor annoyance. Mojitos and sangria are mandatory, as are one of the tastiest bites I've ever had: the stuffed dates. It's a smoked almond crammed inside a date, wrapped with bacon and served with a red wine reduction and crumbles of bleu cheese. It's as good as it sounds. On this visit, we also sampled perfect portions of gazpacho, boquerones (white anchovies on baby toasts), a veggie empanada with a great tang from herb cream cheese, stuffed red peppers and ham and manchego cheese croquetas. As usual, everything was great, complemented by a table on the patio and perfect weather. It got me to thinking: is this the best Spanish restaurant in Vegas? And are there Spanish restaurants in Vegas that aren't all about the tapas? (Firefly does serve paella, although I've never tried it.) When Julian Serrano opens his at CityCenter next year, I'm sure that will answer questions like those.

Meanwhile, at Caesars, everybody is wandering around the Forum and not buying anything, and we are no different. After planning to grab a drink at either Joe's Stone Crab or Boa Steakhouse, I instead opted for Bradley Ogden's bar. This place is in my top 5 when it comes to Not New Restaurants I Still Haven't Eaten At. If I wasn't still partially full from lunch, I would have tried what many have hailed as the best burger in Vegas, the ground steak burger served at this bar. But instead, we munched a tasty plate of hummus and grilled flatbread and sipped two slightly disappointing cocktails: a Dirty Laundry, an extremely olivey vodka martini, and a Drunken Tortuga, basically a glass of gin with cilantro floating in it. I'm all for ordering expensive "signature" cocktails at expensive restaurant bars, but more often than not I regret it and wish I'd gone for some whiskey or a plain old gin and tonic. These drinks were not so great, but the hummus was. Still, it was nice to finally step foot in this restaurant and I look forward to returning for that burger.

change in the north.

When the $660 million Aliante Station resort and casino opens in North Las Vegas next Tuesday, it will redefine the idea of dining out in the northwest part of Vegas. Actually, it doesn't need to redefine, because I'm probably the only person who maintains there is worthwhile dining in the area.

Well, there is. The big Centennial Center shopping area boasts the formidable Sushi Loca and is about to get decent Mexican and Indian eateries. Vega's Cafe is a reliable family Mexican restaurant. The best experience in the area is the Charcoal Room, the steakhouse at the Santa Fe Station.

But Aliante Station, the newest from the Station Casinos company that also includes the posh Red Rock Resort in Summerlin, is officially in North Las Vegas, specifically in the master planned community of Aliante. It's sort of a mini-Red Rock in a mini-Summerlin. NLV folks are pretty excited about it, but the restaurants will be the biggest highlight. The lineup includes:

MRKT, a steak and seafood spot from Station. As they've done at Charcoal Room and Red Rock's T-Bones Chophouse, the Station guys will no doubt prove they know how to operate a steakhouse.

TGI Friday's. They can't all be winners.

Camacho's Cantina, a Mexican restaurant and tequila bar from a family of restaurateurs based in Southern California. The most popular location is at Universal Studios.

Original Pancake House, which serves great breakfast all over Vegas, including one at Green Valley Ranch, another Station Casino.

Pip's Cucina, an Italian restaurant and wine bar notable because it's the first restaurant endeavor from Rino Armeni, the former head of Southern Nevada Wine & Spirits and an ex-Caesars Palace food and bev honcho.

A food court with Capriotti's, Villa pizza, Rubio's, Panda Express, and Johnny Rockets burgers.

Trying out these restaurants -- particularly the non-Station ones -- and imbibing at the hopefully cool bars littered around the new casino will keep me busy for a while, and I'm not the only one. But even if Aliante Station doesn't find the success of a place like Red Rock (and it won't, not in this economy), it will definitely set a new standard for eating out in North Las Vegas. It already has, and it's not open yet.

canter's deli vs. capriotti's.

The best deli in Vegas probably doesn't exist yet. There are plenty of sandwich shops, and there are deli-style restaurants. There are a few that would probably fit into most people's definition of a true deli, places like the Bagel Cafe near Summerlin and Weiss Deli in Henderson. But I think that one day soon, someone will open a real neighborhood deli somewhere in the Vegas suburbs and it will be the shit. I might not wait for someone else to do it.


When it opened in 2003 in the Treasure Island, Canter's Deli should have filled the void. Even though it was in a Strip casino, it has the reputation of the beloved Canter's name, and it had the terrible example set by Carnegie Deli in the Mirage to avoid. But now, after five years and a renovation or two, the little space next to the TI sportsbook is only slightly more palatable than the wasteful, offensive, tourist trap hellhole of Carnegie. The dining area has no sign of the charm of the famed Fairfax eatery in L.A. There are still not enough great lunch spots on the Strip, which is why I've returned to Canter's several times. But my last visit resulted in a good turkey sandwich, a large but forgettable order of fries, wilted pickles and the feeling that I've been had. And for that, I shelled out almost $20. I understand I'm on the Strip, but come on ... it's a turkey sandwich. It's not The Turkey Sandwich. The corned beef is good here. The pastrami is good. The food at Canter's is just good, and that's not enough. I'm done with this place.


So instead, I've been getting my sandwich fix from the shop most Vegas people swear by: Capriotti's. I'd like to agree with most of these locals and claim this is our city's homegrown sandwich spot, but despite the fact there are about 22 of these joints sprinkled around the valley, these guys actually started out in Delaware. And I'd like to name my favorite item on the menu, the Capastrami (pictured: pastrami, melted swiss, cole slow with a lot of Russian dressing on a soft hoagie roll), as Vegas' own sandwich. But Capriotti's started out making sandwiches with their own roasted turkeys, so they kind of specialize in that instead. The Bobbie, basically Thanksgiving on a roll, is probably the most popular item. All extraneous information aside, Capriotti's serves great food and the service is friendly.


But it's not a deli.

i know roberto's taco shop and you, sir, are no roberto's taco shop.

As a respectable human, I am obligated to try every taco shop I see, especially those located within a short distance of my northwest Las Vegas home. Super Taco opened just days ago in a big, bland Wal-Mart shopping center nearby, so I gave it a shot. I don't recommend it. The tacos, stuffed with shredded beef, lettuce and cheese, were fine and standard, but the chips were greasy, freshly fried and draped in an extremely suspect light green substance described as guacamole but closer to the consistency of, as Chi put it, baby poo.

It doesn't matter. Ninety percent of the taco shops in Las Vegas are Roberto's or some lesser clone of Roberto's. And even though the menu is mostly basic, the food is more American-Mexican than authentic Mexican, and the chances of food poisoning are pretty high, Roberto's is reliable and delicious. Though it may not be true, I have no problem calling this the best taco in Vegas. This place is really a regional institution, having been born in San Diego's Mission Beach and expanding all over. At last count, there were 753,054 Roberto's taco shops in Las Vegas.

And the places that rip off Roberto's, they don't even try to hide it. The menu is exactly the same. A number four is two beef tacos, rice and beans, no matter what the sign out front says. It's ridiculous.

Here are the top five things I'm likely to order at Roberto's at 2 in the morning, which is usually the time I'll eat at Roberto's:
1. Two beef tacos, one order of taquitos with guacamole.
2. The aforementioned number four.
3. Two beef tacos, two chicken tacos.
4. Chicken burrito with rice, beans, and whatever weird vegetables they feel like wrapping into this bitch.
5. Carnitas plate (Only if I feel bad about myself).

red 8. cut. restaurant charlie.

Chinese oxtail soup is kinda strange because most Chinese soups aren't much like a stew; they typically contain chopped vegetables, meats and other ingredients rather than large chunks of floating goodness. Oxtail soup, which is made with beef tails but not necessarily a particular stock, also is made in various ways depending on the region, like most things. I haven't tasted a lot of oxtail soup, but damn, the stuff at Red 8 Asian Bistro at Steve Wynn's joint is very, very good.

As a matter of full disclosure, I will tell you I don't remember the specifics of the soup, i.e. what was in it besides the most salty, satisfying broth I've ever tasted and a huge chunk of fatty, flavorful beef. I think there was a vegetable or two in there. But I can't say for sure. I had some drinks before my meal. And perhaps my judgment was tainted by the cocktail hour(s), but the food at Red 8 was surprisingly great and the soup was the highlight. For a beef broth, it had so many other pointed, clean flavors. It was shockingly good. And I felt like I had superpowers the next day.

My visit to the Wynn restaurant capped an evening of Strip adventuring that included a fun spell at Palazzo. Made my debut at Barney's and just missed a visit from the one and only Pharrell by a couple of hours. Too bad. Guess he was drinking champagne and dropping off a few BBC/Ice Cream hoodies. I would like to do some shopping there. Also visited the fine bars of Wolfgang Puck's CUT steakhouse and Charlie Trotter's Restaurant Charlie seafood house, both wonderful places that I will fantasize about returning to for dinner until my own personal recession lets up. CUT poured us a fine martini with an even better bleu cheese stuffed olive attached, and served up a fun little tray of bar snacks including wasabi peas and tasty seasoned almonds. Charlie's bar, hosted by a former UNLV baseball player who really knows his shit, served a variety of vintage cocktails including a sazerac ("the original American cocktail") and my new favorite drink, the Bugs Bunny. All I can say about the bunny is it's orange, it tastes like a carrot only better, and it wouldn't take many to put me on my ass.

I think the fact that I can critique the quality of a bar's martini olives in the current economy really speaks to how ridiculous I have become and how adjusted I am to living far, far beyond my means. They were fucking good olives.

t-bones chophouse.

Station Casinos has proven it is dedicated to the steakhouse. Starting with Austin's at the Texas Station and continuing with the Charcoal Room at Santa Fe Station and Hank's at the Green Valley Ranch Resort, these guys have clearly made the decision to upgrade the typical dining offerings at your friendly neighborhood casino. And with the Red Rock Resort, they broke the mold in off-the-Strip niceness, an endeavor that translates into the property's restaurants as well. The crowning achievement is T-Bones Chophouse.

Though unfortunately named, the restaurant would not be out of place in a luxury Strip resort. But that's pretty much the deal at Red Rock, the coolest joint in Vegas not on the Strip. Ultra-sleek in red, silver and black, the space is set off by a large oval bar boasting a fine selection of boozes. The dining room, divided by a large, glass covered fireplace, is upscale without losing warmth. The plush booths are cushy enough that you'll have a hard time sliding out after a satisfying meal. Out back, on the patio, another bar serves up plenty of patrons gathered around a fire pit eyeballing the decadent pool area and neighboring Cherry nightclub space. And this steakhouse serves our favorite vegetarian meal, blue cheese stuffed olives in your martini.

The menu offers traditional steak options; fish dishes of salmon, swordfish, scallops, lobster, dover sole, ahi tuna, and whatever is special that night; rotisserie chicken; a pork chop; a veal chop; and for couples, rack of lamb and Chateaubriand. The beef, aged 48 days, is done very well if not perfectly, a nice char outside and of course your choice of temp inside. The Scottish salmon on a recent visit was incredible and large.

Salads, starters and side dishes are equally delicious. The Caesar is fine but the trademark Steakhouse salad is T-Bones' version of the chop, with bacon and a smooth white French dressing. Potato options, one of our favorite things about the classic steakhouse, run the complete gamut from horseradish mash to fries, tots with truffles to a baked sweet potato. Yes to all.

T-Bones success is not altogether surprising. This is a billion dollar resort. But for the residents of the affluent Summerlin community enveloping it, and other people who live out in these burbs, it is something dreamt of for years: a great steakhouse close to home, a consistently awesome meal off the Strip.

sensi.

The phrase "all over the place" usually does not apply to highly successful restaurants. Many
a restaurant has died a quick death due to a wildly experimental menu, or an attempt to blend too many styles and cuisines into one seamless experience.

The fact that Sensi pulls off that "all over the place" menu, incorporating Italian, Asian and
Indian tastes along with traditional American steak and seafood dishes, is one of two primary factors that make it so unique. The other is the striking decor, which combines carved stone, water, wood and metal into a peaceful and enjoyable setting (No wonder -- it's designed by acclaimed Japanese firm SuperPotato). Imagine if the Flintstones constructed an incredibly upscale day spa, and you're having lunch there. And the food is good.

Executive chef Martin Heierling, born in Germany, raised in New Zealand and educated all
over, gets the credit for the eccentric menu, which is squarely portioned off into categories.
You can stick to Asian, if you like, by starting with Thai chicken and cilantro soup and finishing with miso-glazed sea bass. Or if you're in the mood to sample from the Little Italy section, try a Pizza Margherita from the wood-fired oven with a roasted beet and arugula salad. There's also a strong raw bar from which to order oysters, clams, crab legs or live Santa Barbara prawns. And the beef selections are more than respectable, highlighted by an American Kobe beef tenderloin and a wonderfully tender braised short rib.

For what seems like a pretty fancy joint in Bellagio, still one of the fanciest joints on the Strip,
the service at Sensi is comfortable and friendly. On one of our trips here, we took a break from devouring the short rib to notice that our vegetarian companion was being supplied with an off-the-menu veggie curry dish that turned out to be one of the most delicately delicious things we've tried here. A little touch like that goes a long way in the competitive world of Strip dining.

There are newer restaurants in newer hotels, and there are plenty of more trendy eateries that blend cuisines. But Sensi should not be forgotten. Instead, it should be remembered as a
relaxing retreat from all the noisy hipness.