Travel Review Guides
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The Las Vegas restaurant scene has evolved over the past decade in nothing short of a remarkable way. For the longest time, the food wasn’t much more than an afterthought. While the majority of hotel/casinos had a gourmet room on the property to keep customers happy, fed, and playing, Las Vegas was hardly thought of as having a world-class dining experience. Today, however, Las Vegas restaurant are viewed as some of the world’s greatest, and feature a long list of renowned chefs and dishes that are recognized for their lavish degree of creativity. What used to be nothing more than a ancillary detail of a Las Vegas vacation is now one of their major draws for tourism and travel.
A pivotal moment in the emergence of Las Vegas restaurant fever took place in the early 90’s, when highly-respected chef Wolfgang Puck opened Spago at Caesars Palace. Many criticized Puck for what was perceived as a risky venture, but it turns out he knew exactly what he was doing. In fact, his vision was years ahead of everyone else, and Spago became a magnificent success. Puck now owns three additional upscale Las Vegas restaurants—Chinois, also at Caesars Palace; Trattoria de Lupo at Mandalay Bay; and the Wolfgang Puck Café and Grille at the MGM Grand, all of which have received rave reviews and are featured in countless “best of” Las Vegas guides.
Fast forward ten years later, and the man who was considered a Las Vegas culinary pioneer now finds himself in some pretty great company, as the list of celebrity chefs who operate in Las Vegas has grown considerably with each passing year. Emeril Lagasse opened Emeril’s New Orleans Fish House at the MGM Grand, as well as Delmonico at the Venetian. Thomas Keller, proprietor of French Laundry in California’s wine country, opened Bouchon at the Venetian. These and so many other remarkable chefs make for a fantastically entertaining experience, while reinforcing that when it comes to Las Vegas restaurants, it’s all about bringing dining up to an entirely new plane.
In respect to the Las Vegas vacation way of doing things, it would be wholly inappropriate to leave out the infamous buffets of the strip. Here the thrifty collides with the culinary in an understated arena for some of Vegas’ best eats. The most famous buffets can be found at the Rio, Paris, and Planet Hollywood, with the Bellagio having (arguably) the most enticing buffet around, whose dinner menu includes crab legs, venison, Kobe beef, and wild boar, with an impressive all-you-can-eat price of around $30. Come early and bring the big purse.