LVGuide
The Best Restaurants In Las Vegas
photo credit: MGM Resorts International
Las Vegas may be synonymous with shotgun weddings and hazy casinos, but look beyond the Elvis impersonators and you'll find a legit network of restaurants. Storied steakhouses, laid-back ramen joints, watering holes for the wealthy, and more make up the dining scene in the Entertainment Capital of the World. You can spend days eating at buzzy favorites up and down the Strip, or have plenty of amazing meals away from Las Vegas Boulevard. This is our guide to the most noteworthy spots in town—just be sure to reserve ahead of time for the real fancy restaurants, since the best places often fill up fast.
Looking for some ideas on where to rehash the night before over a plate of challah french toast? Here’s our roundup of Vegas’ best breakfast and brunch spots. And if you want to give your bank account a breather, check out our guide on where to grab an affordable meal.
THE SPOTS
There are only 16 tables at Le Cirque, a spot on the Strip where you’ll feel like part of the Illuminati as you dine among casino VIPs and look out at the Bellagio fountains. This is the place to splurge in Vegas, so go ahead and commit to the $228 four-course meal. You’ll get to choose from excellent French dishes like velouté with bacon onion jam, rabbit cooked in dijon riesling sauce, and garlic mousse-topped frog legs. If you’re weighing whether you want to spend more on one of the extras like the King crab caviar, it’s better put toward a wine pairing—it’ll save you the trouble of sifting through the 900-bottle list. Plus, you’ll have more time to find the tickets in your email for the Cirque du Soleil show straight across the casino floor.
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Delilah is one of the toughest reservations to get in town, and it’s a fun night out you should work to secure. The Art Deco decor, which could please any picky interior designer, is something you have to see for yourself, as there’s a strict “no photos” policy. Order the Stepford Wife (their take on a French 75), chicken tenders, and carrot soufflé from the menu of throwback American dishes and cocktails. As for the entertainment, you can catch a live jazz band, DJs, and maybe even a surprise celebrity performance—Justin Bieber, John Fogerty, 50 Cent, and more have done secret sets. If your Vegas trip arrives and you’ve yet to nab a table, you can roll the dice on getting in at the Little Bubble Bar, which accepts walk-ins and still has a view of the stage.
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The city’s vintage Carhartt-wearing, artist types hang out and swap gossip over glasses of wine at EDO, a tiny tapas spot in a busy Chinatown strip mall. If it’s your first time here, go with the $89 chef’s tasting menu for eight courses that include plates like octopus charcuterie, tarte flambée with wagyu pastrami, and beef cheeks in Spanish vermouth sauce. Come here for a relaxed dinner off the Strip, where you can actually hear your friend’s latest dating saga, and order the sage-and-blackberry Monkey 47 cocktail from their stellar gin and tonic cart. Space is pretty limited, so reserve ahead of time.
photo credit: Guy Savoy
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Restaurant Guy Savoy is the place to completely ball out on a dinner that might cost more than a hotel room during CES. If this is a huge celebratory meal, such as selling your startup or getting together for your wealthy grandfather’s birthday, go ahead and commit to the seven-course Five Star Celebration menu for $420 per person (or $720 a head if Papaw Warbucks wants the premium wine pairing). It’s an impeccable dining experience, with views of the Strip’s Eiffel Tower and every piece of food looking like it was carved by tiny elves. The courses change every so often, but you’ll always get the signature artichoke and black truffle soup, which has a rich earthy flavor accented by shaved parmesan. Then, it’s onto the top-tier mains, like the “sealand” pairing of wagyu with lobster and coral jus.
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This high-end Chinese restaurant at the Venetian is great for a nicer sit-down dinner in a swanky dining room, decorated with a feather boa chandelier and terrazzo floors. The hot and sour Iberico pork Shanghainese dumplings are a must, as are cocktails like the Hong Kong Iced Tea with tequila and lillet blanc. Mott 32 also accommodates big groups, which turns spinning a platter of food toward you into a meal-time Wheel of Fortune. If you’re wanting a luxe Vegas moment, go for the apple wood-roasted duck that’s aged in a custom air-drying fridge for 42 days—just make sure to reserve it at least three days in advance.
photo credit: Luis Cho
Kame is one of the best omakase experiences in the city, and proves that there are many excellent restaurants in the strip malls of Las Vegas. They have two seatings every night that can accommodate eight people and only take reservations by phone. Courses go heavy on ingredients from Japan’s northernmost island of Hokkaido, such as snow crab, baby congar eel, and live soft shell crab. Depending on the night, you’ll get stuff like caviar, uni, toro, and lobster with 24K gold. This is Vegas, after all.
photo credit: MGM Resorts International
For a fancy-yet-unfussy meal, make a reservation at LPM. Dining at this French-ish spot on the Strip starts with a DIY appetizer: grab the fresh tomato that’s been left on the table for you, cut it up, and dress it with the also-provided lemon and olive oil. Lean into the fantasy of doing this in a European villa, even if you didn’t come to a Vegas restaurant to slice your own produce. Then you can let the kitchen take care of the bigger plates, like plump escargot in garlic butter, grilled baby chicken, and well-marinated lamb cutlets. If you’re here after sunset, take advantage of the indoor patio for views of the Strip’s glowing billboards advertising whichever pop diva’s residency is currently stimulating the local economy.
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Both high-power execs and downtown artists eat at this Italian spot for dishes like tortellini verde and rigatoni carbonara. We can never get enough of the homemade sourdough bread that comes in eight variations (go with a group and get them all). Just be sure to save room for dessert—particularly, the smooth butterscotch budino served with whiskey caramel, honeycomb, and whipped cream.
Michael Mina’s Bellagio restaurant is all about seafood, with preparations from Japanese, French, and Mediterranean cuisines. Like all the billionaires who are eating here, the fish gets flown in by private plane daily, which means the hamachi provençal is so fresh that it’s easy to forget Las Vegas is hundreds of miles from the ocean. The restaurant is close to the Bellagio Conservatory, so after you go to town on charcoal-grilled oysters and lobster pot pie, you can take in the seasonal display of float-sized floral creations.
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Make a reservation at Casa Playa when you want to sip margaritas at a group dinner that goes full glam. The whole place feels like a level from Tomb Raider, but with better graphics—the entrance is guarded by a massive Olmec head and tons of marigolds hang from the dining room ceiling. They even have a delicious mezcal cocktail called Temple of Doom, which you can get as a pitcher. Bring friends so you can share the massive pork belly al pastor served on a vertical rotisserie skewer that comes topped with pineapple. It looks simultaneously gorgeous and intimidating—just like the restaurant’s typical clientele of people hot enough to end up in the PR photos for a Las Vegas pool party.
photo credit: Gabe Bergado
Shanghai Taste is an undisputed local legend when it comes to Chinese food—it’s a tiny, no-reservations spot in Chinatown that’s a portal into soup dumpling heaven. You can feast on excellent xiao long bao and sheng jian bao, filled with steaming, savory broth. To keep yourself busy while the dumplings cool down, get a plate of the fried fat noodles to eat as your first round. You might be asked to order before you sit down, so be prepared with your picks ahead of time. If there’s a bit of a wait for a table, keep yourself entertained by watching the staff fold dumplings behind a glass window.
Golden Steer is the oldest continually-operating restaurant in Las Vegas, which is only part of the reason why this institution, located in a strip mall off the Strip, is packed every night. Celebrities like Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, Joe DiMaggio, Muhammad Ali, and the Rat Pack frequently ate here, so ask for the same red leather banquettes they once sat in—each booth is actually labeled by name. You can’t go wrong with any of the 35-day wet-aged steaks, but for Frank Sinatra’s off-the-menu favorite, order the 16-ounce New York strip cooked medium rare and topped with housemade pizzaiola sauce.
photo credit: L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon
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Whereas Joël Robuchon will have you sharing a bathroom with Vegas high-rollers, its sister restaurant L’Atelier is a slightly more affordable spot where you won’t feel out of place in more casual clothes. You'll still get a a once-in-a-lifetime French meal, all in a clubby setting with great bar seating where you can chat up the stranger next to you and get a bird’s-eye view of the chefs. Order the famous mashed potatoes, langoustine carpaccio with lemon vinaigrette, and the foie gras-stuffed quail.
La Strega is located 25 minutes away from the Strip in suburban Summerlin, and has quickly become one of the busiest restaurants in the area. Their airy dining room is a great romantic spot for a dinner away from the casinos, where you can share a spread of our favorite major food groups: fresh pastas, pizzas, and seafood. The whole grilled Spanish branzino is a must, but equally solid is the flavorful Spicy Pig pizza with soppressata, smoked mozzarella, and chives, or the simple pomodoro pasta with blistered tomatoes and basil.
This Chinatown gem does French tasting menus in five-, seven-, and nine-course seasonal options that change monthly. No matter how many courses you choose, you can expect a stream of well-executed plates like Alaskan king crab jelly with a touch of caviar and seared foie gras topped with cotton candy. If you want to get the full Partage experience, book the chef’s table. You’ll get nine courses with nine wine pairings and watch the kitchen plate each item like you’re a guest judge on a Food Network special.
Named after the flour used to make Neapolitan pizzas, 00 serves top-tier pies in a dimly-lit setting where you can catch a friend up on the last three months of your life. The sure bet on the menu is the pepperoni pizza with creamy vodka sauce and chili crunch, though the more creative options, like the eggplant caponata or bresaola, are also worth considering (get here on the earlier side around 4pm, since their pies sometimes sell out). Then, head a few doors down for a round of flaming drinks and secrets at The Golden Tiki.
Raku is one of the top Japanese restaurants in Vegas, with a menu of oden recipes and robata cooking. They import binchotan charcoal and condiments directly from Japan, and you can often find other chefs and hospitality workers eating here late (they’re open until 3am most nights). Call at least three days ahead to reserve a premium or deluxe omakase, which is the best way to have a meal here. Both tasting menus start with homemade tofu before the mixed appetizers, sashimi, grilled meats, a daily fresh fish, and dessert. Pair it all with something off their long sake menu.
If you want to feel like a yacht owner who gets to summer (yes, as the verb) on the Greek islands every year, head to this spot in the Red Rock Casino that has an olive tree with twinkling lights in the middle of the room. The move here is an early dinner of the seasonal prix-fixe that’s only available daily from 4-6pm. For $55, you’ll get three courses with entree choices like juicy lemon-garlic Jidori chicken and grilled lavraki. Add on a side of the sweet and spicy muhammara dip or the bay scallop served with cucumber, mint, and a hint of jalapeño, which is so fresh you’ll temporarily forget you’re desert-locked.
In a town full of celebrity chef restaurants and recycled concepts, it’s a breath of fresh air to step into an independent Las Vegas institution like Piero’s. If there’s a place where you could find Carrie Underwood sitting near Mike Tyson, and then Bill Clinton at the next table, this is it (and they have all actually been here). Start with the off-menu Garbage Caesar Salad, a twist on the classic upgraded with shrimp, avocado, and crunchy hearts of palm. For your main, get the super-soft osso buco, or a 26-ounce, bone-in veal parmigiana served with a side of fettuccine if it’s one of the daily specials. You could also just stop by for a martini at the restaurant’s moody Monkey Bar, which jokingly refers to when the FBI used to run stakeouts in the restaurant for alleged mafia activity. Carrie Underwood was never charged with anything (this is clearly a joke).
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The Black Sheep specializes in international twists on Vietnamese dishes in a chill space about 20 minutes east of the Strip. There are so many good options on the menu, but you should definitely go heavy on the starters, like the salmon skin tacos and the crispy imperial rolls filled with Duroc pork, shrimp, and pickled carrots. Swing by for lunch before teeing off at the nearby Rhodes Ranch Golf Club or for an easy dinner on the way back from a day trip hiking through Death Valley National Park.
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For an incredible Italian meal off the Strip, head to Ferraro’s for their legendary osso buco and a 62-page wine list. It’s been open since 1985 and is always filled with couples on dates, families, and people celebrating special occasions—whether that’s in the sprawling, dark-wooded space with plenty of private rooms, or on the surprisingly-quiet patio that seats 100 people. Don’t miss their excellent passione, a dessert of layered pistachio cream and cream cheese custard on a walnut crust—you might have to order a few to prevent siblings from fighting over who gets the last bite.
DW Bistro mixes Southwestern and Jamaican food in a dining room flooded with natural light—something you may need more of if you’ve spent the majority of your weekend inside smoky hotels. Here, you’ll find a mix of power launchers and young families sharing spreads of New Mexican green chile mac and cheese and vegetable curry served over couscous. Go on a Saturday or Sunday for brunch, when you can order the jerk pork hash and french toast soufflé.
photo credit: Eugene Dela Cruz
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Carson’s Kitchen does fancy Southern-style comfort food in a restored hotel space downtown. When it isn’t 110 degrees outside, ask for a seat on the rooftop patio where you can drink one of their funky cocktails, like the Let’s Hug It Out made with mezcal, house sour mix, amaro, and lavender bitters. Get the crispy chicken skins with smoked honey to share with the table, their molasses-glazed meatloaf sandwich for your main, and the donut bread pudding for a gooey end to the meal. Carson’s is a great spot to grab a chill dinner before heading to a show at the Smith Center a few blocks away.
photo credit: Wade Vandervort
It makes sense that Good Pie’s owner has studied under some of the best pizzaioli in the world. Almost every type of pizza here is delicious, whether that’s a New York-style slice, thick rectangular Detroit options, or the thinner rectangular Long Island grandma pie. While the window and sidewalk patio in the Arts District are casual, the dining room is a nicer place for some carbs, cocktails, and large pitchers of sangrias. The gluten-free pizza is also a winner, and we love coming here for a low-key lunch, too.
For a quick, piping-hot bowl of ramen, Hashi is the spot. This Chinatown noodle bar with counter service and a few small tables has a ton of different options, all for under $15. Although they’re best known for their shio, the tori paitan is a nice, semi-creamy twist on a classic. You can customize your bowl with extra toppings, such as black garlic oil, tamago, bamboo shoots, or more noodles. They also have delicious non-soup options, like the chashu fried rice.
