Restaurants Overview

Las Vegas has -- however improbably -- become America's hottest restaurant market. Each new megaresort brings its own multiple dining options, with celebrity chefs adding clones of famous signature restaurants and newborn establishments to the mix. And while bargain buffets and coffee shops still abound, the arrival of the superchefs has left its mark on the steak houses and buffets -- many of the latter of which have gone upscale. Away from the Strip, the unprecedented population growth in the city's suburbs has brought with it a separate and continuous wave of new restaurants, both familiar chains and independent spots opened by local and nationally based entrepreneurs.

Joining a few gourmet pioneers such as Hugo's Cellar and Andre's, and spurred on by Wolfgang Puck, who tested the desert waters with Spago in 1992, a flood of newer restaurants and ever-more-prominent chefs have radically changed the experience of eating in Las Vegas. Status-conscious hotel-casinos now compete for star chefs and create lavish, built-to-order dining rooms for well-known tenants. These new establishments rival the upscale restaurants of the country's dining capitals in quality and service.

The restaurant explosion has been partially geared to satisfying high rollers, who are fed for free as a reward for their often-astronomical bets at the blackjack and baccarat tables, but the city's new reputation as a culinary capital is also drawing attention from those who simply enjoy outstanding food. Las Vegas's tendency to do everything to an extreme creates the possibility that too many spectacular restaurants will starve each other, but there's no sign of that yet. Although Sin City's reputation as being recession-proof may be a bit overstated, the city knows how to continually reinvent itself to ensure the 40 million or so visitors -- many of them with fat expense accounts -- keep on coming.

Even low rollers with thin wallets have plenty of dining options in Las Vegas. Despite the influx of upscale restaurants, you can still find a complete steak dinner for only $4.95 (Ellis Island), a 99¢ shrimp cocktail (Golden Gate), and $2.79 breakfast specials (Arizona Charlie's). And of course, the ever-popular buffet is found in nearly every casino in town.

Crowds at the hotels, long lines at the buffets, and the jangling noise of slot machines prompt some to seek refuge away from the casinos. Venture into the residential areas for a steadily increasing variety of restaurants that satisfy most pocketbooks. Rosemary's, Andre's, Lotus Thai, and other off-Strip dining rooms satisfy the craving for a civilized meal. Mid-price family eateries (such as Memphis Championship Barbecue, India Oven, Doña Maria, and Billy Bob's Steak House) offer reliable quality at reasonable prices.