encore. sushisamba. dos caminos.

I didn't think one Saturday would be enough to properly peruse the dining and drinking options in Encore, Wynn, Palazzo and Venetian, but we actually managed to cover quite a bit of ground.


While browsing menus at Encore, trying to decide where dinner would be taking place, a question struck: why don't these swanky Strip super resorts have cool little joints to stop in for a quick bite? Casino tapas bars. Where are they? The thought had little time to mature before we found what we were looking for: the Lobby Bar & Cafe. Like everything else here, it's red and gold. We took a seat a cozy little table surrounding a giant golden tree person statue. Don't you like how normal that sounds? This nook appears to be a place for coffee or cocktail, but it also serves perfect desserts and small plates. We shared a tapas tree consisting of three of them: tomato and mozzarella skewers, cheese and bacon croquettes, and prosciutto-wrapped, almond-stuffed dates. Also, we ordered a hummus sampler, which was actually a small tasting of hummus, creamed feta and completely non-bitter babaganoush. All bites were delicious and accompanied by mimosas and pear ginger martinis.


That was breakfast. Yes.


Before leaving Encore we stopped for an additional cocktail at the nearby Eastside Lounge, another cool place with a shitty name. This bar has lounge seating overlooking the pool, or outdoor patio seating right on top of the pool. The unseasonably warm weather took us outside. A munchies plate of homemade, greasy-but-good potato chips and spicy little Japanese cracker snacks arrived, and we drank weird drinks: a raspberry-tinted version of a French 75 (vodka and champagne) and a cherry-tinted Tom Collins. Encore, you are a good place to drinky.


Sticking with the theme of out with the old, we completely bypassed Wynn Las Vegas and moved on to Palazzo, wandering through expensive, empty shops. Despite the fact that it opened at a terrible moment in time, despite the fact the restaurants and nightclubs inside of it have already shuttered or been horrifically re-done, I have developed a strong affinity for this place. Not sure why.


For no reason, we decided our next stop would be SushiSamba, a restaurant I previously had no interest in. Think of it as a sort of mini-Tao: a menu with multiple personality disorder, a scattered, urban decor, and generally a place selling experience over food. But after a few of the best Caipirinhas I've tasted in Vegas, I'm ready to give this shit a try. To snack on, we ordered sweet coconut rice, black beans and crispy plaintains, and it was solid. Other dishes swing Asian or Latin, but overall the menu looked interesting enough.


After more walking and store gazing through the busy Grand Canal shops of the Venetian, we decided to come back through Palazzo and have dinner at Dos Caminos (pictured), a New York transplant and product of the same company behind Fiamma in MGM Grand (which is great). After weaving through the dark, hipster lounge, we found ourselves in a truly massive dining room that included a private space where a wedding reception was taking place. Other than that, business was light in the early Saturday evening. Started with the obligatory guacamole and asked for it spicy; it did not disappoint. Feeling the effects of a day spent boozing and noshing, we decided to keep it simple. Tacos.


On the menu, they were called Tacos en Cazuela. Chipotle chile roasted chicken tinga tacos came with corn done Mexico street-style, spicy slaw that was not very spicy and simmered pinto beans with a bacon kick. Tamarind braised beef shortribs tacos came with sweet potato croquettes and a useless zucchini salad. Both dishes were great, particularly the shortribs. The meat was tender and crazy rich. Dos Caminos is officially on the map and ready to challenge Border Grill for the title of Best Mexican Restaurant on the Strip.

los tacos.

Anytime I've ever walked into a little restaurant and I was the whitest guy in there, the food has always been good. Always.

There is no shortage of taco shops along East Charleston Boulevard, and many of them are too scary looking for me to try. But I will return to Los Tacos, a taco shop that clearly used to be something else, but I'm not sure what. What it is now is a friendly little restaurant with delicious food, including a selection of lean meats from which to choose from when piecing together tacos, burritos, tortas, quesadillas or tostadas.

Actually, the tostadas are strictly seafood, either shrimp or a ceviche of oyster, shrimp and octopus. Looked interesting, but I stuck to basics on my first visit: two tacos of carne asada with a side of rice and beans. The large tacos, two soft, fresh, corn tortillas to each of them, start with melted white cheese and whole pinto beans, topped with your meat and two large stripes of smooth avocado and a pulpy pico de gallo. I don't know if tacos in this style are traditional from a certain area or what, but one of them would have been plenty. The steak was tender and juicy, if underseasoned, but the other toppings made up for that. The beans and rice were simple and great, perfectly cooked.

I probably should have got a combo plate, your choice of meat with rice, beans and tortillas. More meat options are carnitas (yes), chorizo, the beef head scrapin's dubbed "cabeza," tongue, al pastor (marinated pork), chicken or a ham and cheese setup. The menu is simple like a great taco shop should be. Sometimes the risk (of eating in a strange health department hazardish joint) brings a great reward.

another try at ti.

It's easy to shit talk a joint on the Strip and say there's no reason to go, especially if it's older and less hip and not overflowing with exciting restaurants or clubs. But when you want a mini-vacation and you don't want to pay $300 a night (or when the economy sucks and every hotel is reducing room rates, and you want to find the best value), you might find yourself doing a weekend in a place just like that. A place you just shit talked.


But even though we had a lot of fun with our two-night stay at Treasure Island, the original assessment still holds true. Most of that fun was spent roaming, drinking, shopping and eating at Encore, Wynn, Palazzo and Venetian, TI's superior neighbors. Although it was beautifully sunny and probably warm enough, the TI pool was closed. A Friday night dinner at Isla was once again reliably good, but outdone by a Saturday night dinner at Palazzo's Dos Caminos Mexican restaurant. The standard king bed hotel room was nice enough (the bed was great), but obviously an old room with a few modern touches (flatscreen TV) and not really a room renovated. Skipped room service, didn't do the spa ... because we were too busy enjoying the amenities of better hotels within a short walking distance.


There is something to be said for TI's steakhouse offering, however. Boringly named The Steak House, we paid it a visit for a late snack Friday night, crashed the bar and received superior service from our barman. He let us sample wine, speedily brought more plus martinis plus a shrimp cocktail, garlic whipped potatoes and a delicious endive salad with slab bacon, and capped it off by advising that the best dessert in the house was actually served at the coffee shop next door. Then he sent somebody to grab one. (It was chocolate cake, not that special. But it's the effort that counts.) Let this be a lesson: When in doubt, head to the hotel steakhouse bar.


Perhaps the best example of TI's stature is its respected but now sleepy sushi restaurant, Social House. Buzzed about for months when it opened in 2006, the place seems to be a shell of its former fast-paced self. (Full disclaimer: I've never eaten there. I'm sure it's great. But it looks like it's been forgotten completely.) Last year you couldn't squeeze your way in to get a drink in the lounge downstairs. That lounge was crickets Friday night, and the staff was slow, too.

pop's.

Weeks back I caught a Food Network show that was illustrating the great rivalry between Pat's and Geno's, warring cheesesteak factions of south Philly. They're across the street from each other. Pat's is pretty much credited with inventing the cheesesteak and stays true to the belief that Cheez Whiz is the way to go. Geno's chops its beef a little differently and touts Provolone or American as more authentic. If you watch the show, or if you know these joints, there really isn't a big difference between them.

I've never been to Philadelphia, but when I do, I plan to eat one at Pat's and then walk across the street and eat one at Geno's. That'll clear up a few things around here.

Above all else, the show made me want to go for the best cheesesteak I can get my hands on in Vegas, and there's really no competition. Pop's can be found on the corner of Decatur Boulevard and Alta Drive. The building (It looks like a fucked up barn and there's nothing in it but the kitchen; all eating is outside) was constructed in the '60s as a WeinerSchnitzel, and it's gone through several owners and versions. It's been a cheesesteak joint for at least 15 years. As Pop's, it's open 24 hours, every day, all year.

The nine-inch rolls are baked by the Amoroso Company in Philadelphia. The meat is thinly sliced, marinated sirloin. The cheeses are from the East Coast or the Midwest, but I don't really care about that because I believe a cheeseteak is steak, peppers and onions, and Kraft fucking Cheez Whiz. Sure, you can get mushrooms on it, or Swiss or Provolone or whatever. Chicken instead of steak. Bacon. Chili. There are options at Pop's. There's a pepperoni pizza cheesesteak. I'm sure it's awesome. I'll stick with mine.

So I was waiting for my sandwich, nibbling on fries, watching the cook chop shit up on the big flat top. It was damn cold outside, and I wasn't a bit worried about perching on a plastic stool and freezing my ass while I devoured this thing. There was a group of five pseudo gangsters behind me, wannabe-thug high school kids smelling of weed, ordering up all kinds of shit and taking some grief from the cooks. Traffic flew by on Decatur. I could have been anywhere else, a real city instead of Vegas. It could have been Philly, I guess. The cheesesteak was better than I remembered.

walking through the new.

It may be amazing to consider Vegas is still opening billion dollar hotel casino resorts in the midst of this recession, but we are. And there may be no one in them, but they are really, really nice.

On the Strip, Steve Wynn opened Encore days ago. Like the Palazzo is the connected, sister property to Venetian, so is Encore to Wynn Las Vegas. The two towers are identical, and although Vegas architecture haters don't have many positives to expel about the exteriors ("A UPS truck turned on its side"), I kinda like the shiny bronze curves. They're simple and they stand out.

Inside, compared to Wynn, Encore is a little more alive and alert. Reds and golds dominate, but somehow things are more relaxed. Energizing instead of energized. Perhaps this is because a large portion of the casino is made to look, sound and feel like a secluded tropical garden, with the actual gaming areas and restaurants hiding under big white gazebos. I particularly like the crimson, spidery fixtures of the casino. The place might be overdone, but that's what Steve Wynn does best. And no one's walking in here and thinking, "Eh, it's just like Bellagio." Or any other Strip joint. It's fresh.

The hotel's restaurants look exciting. Grabbing the first headlines probably are Sinatra, helmed by L.A. chef Theo Schoenegger and featuring a swanky Italian menu the chairman would likely be proud of; and Switch, from chef Marc Poidevin, which plates lots of seafood and steak and has a dining room that allegedly changes its own atmosphere every 20 minutes. Not sure how that works. I'm more excited by Wazuzu, an Asian restaurant from chef Jet Tila, whose family owns L.A.'s Bangkok Market. His flavors come from all over, and he even stated that Thai food has been misrepresented and so he wants to bust that out. I noticed a few interesting dishes on the menu, Thai and otherwise, and this is probably the first Encore restaurant I'll try.

But you know what? This is Steve Wynn, and this is the Strip, so of course the place is amazing. Maybe more surprising is the niceness of Aliante Station, the newest Station Casino sprinkled around the valley's suburbs. And this one's way out, way way out in North Las Vegas. The Fertittas could have cut back and gone old-school neighborhood grind joint out here, and maybe they wish they had considering their company's current flirtations with bankruptcy. But they didn't. They set a new standard in off-Strip resorts with Red Rock in Summerlin, and Aliante is merely a smaller, slightly rectangular version of the big, round Red Rock. The modern desert decor serves the place well. The subdued pool area is lovely. Even the lobby is cool, although it lacks a bar like the dramatic one at Red Rock. The rooms are peerless, for miles, although also a bit smaller.

In addition to what is surely another great steakhouse concept from Station in MRKT, two outside operators bring Pip's, Italian, and Camacho's, Mexican, to the dining options. (For my first preview of Aliante's restaurants, look at this.) And the family friendly TGI Friday's and Original Pancake House should do well by the neighbors out here.

So how do we keep building big, beautiful casinos when no one's playing? Easy. These two joints were financed before things went poopy. (It should be noted that Wynn is doing much better than Station.) I need things in Vegas to pick up again, too, but I'm looking at the bright side. I'm happy to pillage Aliante and Encore while other locals and tourists stay away.

settebello = best pie.

You could make a case, without even tasting it, that Settebello makes the best pizza in Las Vegas. It is, after all, the only restaurant in Nevada to be officially certified by the Vera Pizza Napoletana, a real organization with the sole purpose of protecting the integrity and origins of pizza-making as it began in Naples a long, long time ago. Certified eateries have to use specific ingredients to make the dough, which also must be worked only with the hands and cooked directly on the surface of a bell-shaped oven fueled only by wood. Only certain toppings are acceptable, too.

Sure, you can make that case, but all that stuff wouldn't mean much if the pizza wasn't absolutely delicious: A thin, crisp and chewy crust with a flavor profile of its own, topped in minimalist fashion with crushed tomatoes, mozzarella, basil, parmigiano reggiano and extra virgin olive oil, served unsliced, and torn up and devoured by you, someone who simply cannot stop eating it once you get a taste.

And that's just the margherita, the original, traditional pizza. Add your own toppings to that template, including peppered salami, Italian bacon, olive, pine nuts, arugola or roasted bell peppers. Not too many though; you don't want to overwhelm perfection. Or go the spicy route with the Diavola (crushed tomatoes, salami, roasted red peppers and crushed red peppers, garlic, mozzarella). Or sample a little of everything with the Quattro Stagioni, a pie divided into four sections topped separately with wood oven roasted sausage, salami, roasted mushrooms and calamata olives.

Settebello is the best because it's so different from Vegas pizza. It's truly in a class of its own.
Heed this warning from the menu: "A note about take-out: Pizza in the U.S. has become synonymous with take out and delivery. In Italy pizza is enjoyed directly out of the oven in a pizzeria, not from a box. We strongly recommend (especially if you have never experienced our pizza) that our pizza be eaten in our pizzeria immediately after coming out of the oven." And since they're plating your pizza straight from that fancy oven, we suggest you take their word for it.

charcoal room.

EatingLV recently blogged about the impending closing of A.J.'s Steakhouse at the Hard Rock, even managing to get a little emotional in his farewell to one of the few remaining venues in the city to capture that cool, Old Vegas, Rat Pack vibe. Regrettably, I've never eaten at A.J.'s but always wanted to. I've hit the bar a few times for a martini and it's true about the vibe there.

But I've had to say goodbye to my own comfy steakhouse experience recently. Few people take my recommendation seriously when I tell them I really like the Charcoal Room at the Santa Fe Station, and I admit that a big part of why I like it is because it's a few miles from home. But the proximity and the urge to stray from the Station Casinos neighborhood entertainment center template don't change the facts: the menu is classic steakhouse, the food is outstanding, the room is cool, the bar is red (pictured) and has nice TVs, and the service has been great every time. I don't know how many perfect meals I've had at the bar here, how many icy martinis. Giant shrimp cocktails. Filet mignon-stuffed mushrooms. Caesar salads, or spinach salad with balsamic and a cake of goat cheese, or chopped salad with everything good in it. Ribeye burgers. Three peppercorn filets cooked perfectly. Lobster mac and cheese. Potatoes au gratin. I am fucking starving right now.

But the Charcoal Room is not closing, oh no. You can go there and have the same great experience. My Charcoal Room experience is over because our bartender, Christy, has relocated to the Texas Station and I don't think I could ever rebuild that kind of relationship. She knew to make the Sapphire martinis unless otherwise instructed. She knew to bring a bit of spicy mustard for the bread basket's soft, warm pretzel bread. She'd even change the TV to a shitty NBA game. We can't go back now. It's not the same.

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.