Restaurant Guide

Gambling is only one element in a successful Vegas vacation. Along with checking out a show, Sin City’s world-class restaurants are a vital – excuse the pun – ingredient in an enjoyable trip. Las Vegas’ restaurants have had a tough couple of years of it following the financial crisis. Who can forget the Vdara resort’s restaurant, The Silk Road, closing down in March 2011 because they didn’t have enough customers?

Thankfully, the bleak days of the recession are long gone. Earlier this week an article in The New York Times argued that Vegas is most definitely back in business. But don’t take The Grey Lady’s word for it – head to Sin City and check out all the great new restaurants.

Let’s take a look at the proverbial cream of the culinary crop.

RX Boiler Room

Situated inside The Shops at Mandalay Place, RX Boiler Room is the latest offering from Rick Moonen, the celebrity seafood chef behind the RM Seafood restaurant at the Mandalay Bay. This recently-opened place, incorporating a striking steam-punk décor, is far more casual. Signature creations include bacon-wrapped bacon drizzled with bacon vinaigrette (yes, that really was three different variations on humble bacon) as well as kona kampachi tacos stuffed with avocado and grapefruit yuzu in a yucca shell. Who said casual didn’t have to be sophisticated?

Michael Mina PUB 1842 at MGM Grand

You might think this place sounds more like a place to drink – 1842 was the year pilsner beer was created – than eat, but that’s only if you’re not familiar with the name Michael Mina. This Egyptian-born, American-raised chef has earned global renown with his restaurants in San Francisco and Las Vegas. Already running a number of haute cuisine establishments in Sin City, Mina’s newest venture at the MGM Grand Hotel, PUB 1842, elevates pub food into an art-form. Burgers are a staple of most American pubs, but who’s tried anything as innovative as a Peanut Butter Crunch Burger with bacon jam, potato chips and pimento cheese or how about the Korean BBQ Salmon Burger? We’re salivating just writing about it.

FIVE50 Pizza Bar

Only open since the July 4^th holiday weekend, FIVE50 has already garnered rave reviews from food critics for its sophisticated take on that all Italian-American favorite, the pizza. Created by rising culinary star Shawn McClain, who made his name with the Asian-themed restaurant Spring in Chicago, FIVE50 offers some of the tastiest New York and Neapolitan-style pizza we’ve ever crunched on. Perhaps what really puts this restaurant’s head and Italian-American shoulders above the competition, though, is its succulent side dishes like wood-fired clams and marinated octopus crostini.

What do you think of these new additions to Vegas’ culinary scene? Have you eaten in any yet? Tell us in the comments section below about your favorite new Vegas restaurants.