Las Vegas Restaurant Tips by madamx

Grand Lux Cafe

Here's a little secret, but shhhhh, keep it to yourself. Ok? If you have an endless wait for your table at the Cheesecake Factory, get thyself over to the Grand Lux Cafe pronto! Why? because this place is owned by the Cheesecake Factory. The only thing missing is the massive menu (however the Grand Lux Cafe's is big enough) and the plethora of cheesecake choices. We never had to wait more than 10 minutes for a table, even at their busiest times.

We ate here several times and each and every time our server was smiling, and went that extra mile, a glaring contrast to an expensive restaurant we went to (see my Red 8 review). If you need a sandwich for your return flight home, look no further; they will neatly pack everything up for you in little plastic containers. I cannot go on enough about what great service they have here. Even though it's a busy place serving un-fancy food, the restaurant is decorated elegantly with beautiful murals and pressed tin ceilings, and lots of booths to get comfy in.

Favorite Dish: Everything is good. Trust me. You could blindfold yourself, point at the menu and be happy. The downside of this place is the huge portions that they give you and sadly, leftovers had to go to waste as we had no place to store them and reheat in the hotel room.

Our personal favorites were: The Baja Omelet -- a tender fluffy omelette stuffed with avocado, ripe, red tomatoes, peppers, onions and poblano and green chiles, plus cheese; The Chicken Pot Pie -- a huge bowl enough for two, filled with tender chicken breast, creamy sauce and veggies with a flaky crust; and The Pulled Pork Sandwich -- lean, tender pork tenderloin in a chipotle bbq sauce topped with tangy peanut coleslaw. I could go on and on, but you get the picture, right? And I won't even mention the incredible desserts ...

Address: 3355 Las Vegas Blvd.

Comparison: less expensive than average

Directions: At the back of the casio in the Venetian Hotel. Open a convenient 24 hours a day.
New location at The Palazzo Casino -- and they claim their bakery is better.

Phone: (702) 414-3888

Price: US$11-20

Rating: 5

Theme: Diner

Lenotre

Besides selling premium chocolates and other gourmet food items, Lenotre also has a dazzling display of beautiful French pastries and cakes just begging to be purchased from behind their glass showcase.

They also sell whimsical candy such as giant lollipops in the shape of Eiffel towers and unique gift items. The dining tables are located in a little area outside the shop, and you can dig into your dessert while the world goes by and feel like you're really in Paris.

Favorite Dish: As you can imagine, it was a difficult task just choosing one each, as they were all individual works of art.

After much deliberation, we settled on the raspberry mousse cake and the raspberry almond tart. Both were very tasty, but I must say we had better raspberry mousse cake at Tintoretto's in the Venetian. We found the desserts reasonably priced, about $4.75 each. They would most likely be $10 or more at a restaurant.

Address: 3655 Las Vegas Boulevard South

Comparison: less expensive than average

Directions: Located in the Le Boulevard Shops in Paris, Las Vegas

Price: less than US$10

Rating: 4

Theme: Dessert

Cheeseburger at the Oasis

It's sort of hard to describe this restaurant. The focus is on cheeseburgers (hence part of the name) and the oasis (the other part of the name) describes the kitschy hawaiian decor, but kitschy done very well.

We came here for breakfast, as it was advertised as "the best breakfast in Vegas". The room provided lots of entertainment, just looking at all the hawaiian totchkes collected by the owners over the years. I felt sorry for the staff, who had to wear grass hula skirts (guys too), but at least they got to wear shorts underneath. Service was very pleasant and quick, for 8:00 am on a Saturday morning.

Favorite Dish: There were burgers on the breakfast menu ("This is after all, Las Vegas!" our waitress smiled at our surpise). My husband decided to order a cheeseburger -- just 'cause he could at breakfast, and I stuck to the traditional eggs combo.

My eggs were prefectly cooked sunny side up, and included big wedges of sweet, ripe, pineapple on the side, plus slices of delicious grilled portuguese sausage (sort of a spicy garlic sausage). The breakfast potatoes were of the deep-fried variety, but nicely done, not like the little wood bricks you get at some places. My husband's cheeseburger was massive, and well done, though it was a pre-formed patty. We found our experience quite pleasant, and wouldn't hesitate to come back.

Address: 3667 Las Vegas Blvd. South

Comparison: less expensive than average

Directions: In the Aladdin Desert Passage shops

Phone: (702) 735-8600

Price: less than US$10

Rating: 4

Theme: American

Tintoretto Bakery

Tintoretto's has a good selection of pastries and desserts, and if you want something light for breakfast, as we felt one morning, this is the place to be.

However, don't expect very pleasant service, as we found the counter staff abrupt and disinterested in serving us, not one smile or hello. I think it's one of those "kick the cat" situations, as I noticed the waitresses treating the counterstaff with disdain and rudeness. You can get your food to go and stand at small tables in the cafe or sit outside the shop at other tables. There is also restaurant service at the back for breakfast or lunch.

I would recommend getting your stuff to go, as the disgruntled staff seemed to make the otherwise pleasant and charming atmosphere somewhat unsettling. Perhaps that was why no one was sitting inside.

Favorite Dish: My almond croissant was very large and flaky with delicious, not-to-sweet filling. My husband had a raspberry mouse cake and the filling was very raspberry-ish and not too rich.

Address: 3355 Las Vegas Blvd. South

Comparison: less expensive than average

Directions: In the Grand Canal Shoppes in the Venetian

Phone: (702) 414-3400

Price: less than US$10

Rating: 3

Theme: Dessert

Carnevino

When we saw that Carnevino was a Mario Batali restaurant, we were excited as it was very difficult to get into his NYC restaurants for us this past November. Carnevino serves up mostly meat as the name suggests, with a good selection of pastas to choose from as well; however dining here is not cheap, so be prepared to dig deep.

The decor is Tuscan mixed with modern, and though the restaurant initially looks small, there is a labyrinth of rooms located behind the main dining area, plus they have acquired a space across the hall at The Palazzo, which looked ready to use, with neatly set tables, but the door was locked. The waitstaff were very warm, professional, and down-to-earth, and knew the menu well.

My main concern at this time was that the restroom, even though the restaurant had been open for 2 months, was non-operational. When asked where the restroom was, I was lead on a long walk to the outside of the restaurant, then directed to The Palazzo casino restrooms! This really detracted from the experience and ambiance of the restaurant.

Favorite Dish: We ordered the bone-in Ribeye Steak for two -- basically the size of a two-rib prime rib roast. We were a little disappointed; ordered medium rare, it arrived at our table quite a fair amount on the rare side, plus it was a bit tough. When we brought up our concerns about toughness, the manager gave us this long smoke and mirrors speech about "dry aging v. wet aging" and how the cut is "a masculine cut" and therefore not meant to be tender. I'm sorry, but growing up in Alberta, we know that a rib steak should be tender no matter which way it was aged, especially if it has been aged for 56 days.

The sides were just ok; the pea shoots, pods and baby peas dish was oversalted and the gorgonzola potato croquettes were overpowering. Our gelato dessert was just ok as well, and I feel overpriced for the portion received.

On the upside, the hot foccacia rolls were fantastic, plus our mushroom pappardelle (appetizer size) even though on the small side for $13.00 was perfectly done and delicious.

Overall, I would give Carnevino a second chance, as the pasta was excellent, and I would like to try their other dishes, such as the ossobucco. Hopefully, when we return, they will have the restrooms open!

Address: Bottom floor, The Palazzo

Comparison: more expensive than average

Price: US$41 and up

Rating: 3

Theme: Steakhouse

Website: http://www.palazzolasvegas.com/carnevino.aspx

Wing Lei

Wing Lei is located near the Wynn Tower Suites entrance, and is utterly gorgeous. The interior is luxurious Asian, with the most comfy chairs we have ever experienced in a restaurant, plus the main window looks out onto an Asian garden with three pomegranate trees reputedly over 100 years old.

This is special dress-up date place, and even though we didn't pack dressy clothes after travelling for two weeks in Mexico, the staff treated us wonderfully. Service, though pleasant and pampering, is quiet and discreet.

Favorite Dish: We were seated beside Steve Wynn and his wife, and we thought, "heck, if he's eating here, it MUST be good". We were not disappointed.

The Peking Duck salad is a MUST -- did I mention you MUST order it? It is a combo of -- duck meat, spring greens, some seaweed, toasted almonds, mandarin orange sections, plus a truffle vinagrette, nestled in round, deep-fried spring roll shell. The combination tasted just stunning. My husband's grilled tenderloin with gai lan (chinese brocolli) melted in your mouth, and my steamed Chilean Sea Bass (yes, I know in the same category as foie gras, but hey .... ) was done perfectly.

It is rare to find a restaurant that has fab desserts and Wing Lei is one of those. Highly recommended is the suprisingly large serving of chocolate ice-cream -- very dark, delicious and not overly sweet, which arrived complete with two Chinese almond cookies. My hazelnut dessert -- ganache, mousse, and cake, was probably one of the most perfect desserts I have ever had. Need anyone ask if we will return? haha

Go to the website for stunning pictures of Wing Lei; no need for me to post a pic

Address: In the Wynn Hotel

Comparison: more expensive than average

Price: US$41 and up

Rating: 5

Theme: Chinese/Dim Sum

Website: http://www.wynnlasvegas.com/index.cfm#Dining/winglei

Ethel's Chocolate Lounge

Totally EXHAUSTED from carrying all your purchases you made at The Fashion Show Mall? Limp and tired from trying on all the clothes at Chanel and looking at Rolexes across the street at Wynn? Well, Ethel is here to help.

Ethel's Chocolate Lounge is a cafe with cool and funky decor that serves chocolate instead of coffee, plus part of the Lounge is a chocolate shop. Chocolate desserts are available, as well as a killer chocolate fondue complete with pretzels, graham crackers and marshmallows. None of that cumbersome and "wholesome" fruit for dipping, thank goodness. This place just sells sweet chocolate sugar highs, and nothing else.

The staff are very helpful in explaining the chocolates and are generous with samples. Of course, you can't leave without buying some; I highly recommend the chocolate covered fruit, a great way to get your vitamins and minerals, heh heh.

Favorite Dish: For a mid-afternoon pick-me-up after being too long on our feet at Neiman Marcus, we opted for the chocolate fondue. Reasonably priced at $15.00, our high quality semi-sweet melted chocolate came in a cast-iron pot complete with such generous piles of marshmallows, pretzels, and graham crackers, we couldn't finish them. However, we could't resist scooping up leftover chocolate with spoons and eating it. Our mothers taught us not to waste! We left the lounge giddy and re-energized enough to hit Nordstrom and Bloomie's. Oh! and have a Chocolate Day!!!!

Directions: Ethel's is located on the lower level of The Fashion Show Mall, midstrip.

Price: less than US$10

Rating: 4

Theme: Dessert

Website: http://www.ethelschocolate.com/

Red 8

I'm sort of confused how to describe Red 8. On one hand the food is apallingly overpriced for your standard Chinese fare, yet the quality is incredible. The two servers we had could have actually plastered a smile on their faces and put a little pep in their step; but there was nothing at fault per se with their service, other than them needing personality transplants. The hostesses were extremely gracious and pleasant, which was a glaring contrast to the wait staff.

One thing I am sure about though; the room is incredibly beautiful. The color theme is a strikingly rich combination of red, black and white, and every detail is perfect, down to the design of the tiny black and white floor tiles and the cut velvet booths. It's a perfect date restaurant: small, romantic and intimate, with the feeling of being in an elegant Shanghaiese home.

Favorite Dish: Well... so we're in Vegas. We decided to go for it and order the Nonya Chili Crab. Market price for us that day was $88.00, and I don't know if that was coincidental, taking into the account the name of the restaurant and the Chinese penchant for lucky numbers, 8 being one of them. (For those who don't know, Nonya cooking marries Chinese cooking and Malaysian spices). A huuuuuge dungeness crab arrived on our table, slathered in a hot chili, gingery, sweet, yummy sauce. Well, the numbers were a good omen; we did luck out. this dish is incredible.

Other things to try are the dim sum served from 11:00 to 3:00 pm, and the quality is disturbingly perfect. If I did have a criticism, I would have liked to have seen more creativity with the dim sum, rather than the standard Cantonese choices. We also had a phenomenal Mongolian beef and garlic Gai Lan. I could be wrong, but not a hint of MSG. Overall, we were very happy with Red 8 and ate there twice. If you want amazingly perfect Chinese food, in gorgeous surroundings, go for it. But, it's gonna cost you .....

Address: 3131 Las Vegas Blvd. South

Comparison: more expensive than average

Directions: Red 8 is located in the casino level of Wynn hotel. They DO NOT take reservations. About 5:00 pm is the perfect time for dinner, as it gets extremely busy after that.

Phone: (702) 770-3380

Price: US$31-40

Rating: 5

Theme: Chinese/Dim Sum

Cheesecake Factory Cheesecake Factory Review

The Cheescake Factory is a popular place; so popular in fact, we had to wait 1/2 an hour at 2:00 pm for lunch! It was insanely busy, but the staff were still very polite and efficient.

It's hard to say how big the restaurant is, but it is on three levels, and very big, I'm guessing perhaps a hundred tables; and every table was pretty much filled. The decor of the room is low-key and elegant, I think the look they're going for is bistro-ish, with lots of potted palms and wicker chairs.

Our overworked waiter still had time to chat for a few minutes, and service was extremely pleasant and fast.

Favorite Dish: My grilled avocado chicken club was very well put-together, but the chicken was quite bland and could have used some sort of seasoning. My husband had the Double Barbeque Bacon Cheeseburger, and he raved about it. It also came with some crisped onions on top, which was a unique touch. As we were warned about by other people, the servings are very large, so be hungry. The salads I saw going by were enough to feed 2-3 people.

Of course, we had to try the cheescake, and they are of excellent quality and very decadent and delicious. I highly recommend the Adam's Peanut Butter Cup Fudge Ripple, extremely yummy and peanut-buttery.

Address: 3500 South Las Vegas Blvd

Comparison: about average

Directions: In the Caeser's Palace Forum Shops -- make sure you wear your walking shoes; it's located on the second level, at the very end.

Phone: (702) 792-6888

Price: US$11-20

Rating: 4

Theme: Eclectic/International

Website: http://www.thecheesecakefactory.com/default.asp

The Buffet (Bellagio Hotel) The Buffet at Bellagio Review

The Bellagio has a "gourmet" buffet on the weekends, and we thought we would try it out as we have heard so much about the Bellagio's buffet.

We lined up for the buffet at 4:20 pm, and already, there was approximately 100 people in the queue, so, as you can expect, that did a lot to build anticipation. Again, with most of the popular buffets, try to get there around 5:00 pm or around 9:00 pm, as there were about 200 people queued up when we left.

I am sad to say we were slightly disappointed with the offerings -- mind you, not the variety of food, which was good, but rather the quality. After all for $33.00 a person, I expect excellent quality, which I found lacking here.

The service was overall excellent, though the hostess went through the motions as if we were (and most likely were) the millionth people she has seated. Drinks were brought and plates were taken away very quickly.

The ambiance was not condusive to the elegance the Bellagio likes to portray. We found this place was more of a feeding trough than the Spice Market Buffet (Aladdin Hotel) with people shoving in line, and the way they were acting in the King Crab leg line-up, you'd think they had concealed weapons or something. I almost had a dessert grabbed out of my hands. Also, the loud, blaring rock music, though not ideal as background dinner music, sort of seemed like an appropriate soundtrack for the surrounding feeding frenzy.

Favorite Dish: Everything was generally good quality, and there were "gourmet" items such as the smoked polenta with corn relish, and Kobe beef. However, for $33.00 US, I do not expect overcooked, and therefore tough Kobe beef. Overcooking Kobe beef is almost sacriligeous! Also, the steamed spinach looked great, until you bit into it and realized it was made with a pound of salt. The pecan pie's pecans were rancid, and the bakery staff, when I told them, really did not seem to care.

It may seem like I am picky, but I would expect this stuff from $10.99 buffet, not a $33.00 "gourmet" buffet. There were some dishes that were very well done, don't get me wrong, but for this price I would not return. There's too many other good buffets for less money, like The Spice Market at the Aladdin or the Paris buffet.

Address: 3600 Las Vegas Blvd. South

Comparison: more expensive than average

Phone: 702-693-7111

Price: US$31-40

Rating: 3

Theme: Buffet

Website: http://www.bellagio.com/pages/frameset_flash.asp