Posted earlier but making my title more specific, so we are going to Vegas in a couple of weeks, looking for a restaurant that is in the $15-$25 range, fun, but good food. Notice there are lots of steak houses in town but anything else? ethnic? cool nonchain?

A lot of the coffee shops at the casino hotels have reasonably priced, decent food. As a general rule, the nicer the hotel, the nicer/more expensive the coffee shop...but, I seem to recall having a nice dinner at the coffee shop at Paris and it was in your price range.

Mexican restaurants in the hotels are usually reasonably priced - offhand, I recall one at the Luxor and Rio. (Mandalay Bay has a nice one, but it manages to be a bit pricey.)

There's also the Brew Pub at the Monte Carlo, which is fun, casual, burgers, sandwiches, salads, some entrees, and, of course beer.

Will you have a car to get off the strip? If so, there are LOTS of good ethnic places in town.

Each hotel on the strip usually has a food court and a couple of more casual restaurants in addition to the steakhouses and pricier restaurants. Try www.cheapovegas.com for reviews and more info on what each hotel has for dining.

Last time I was there, we tried the Toby Keith's "I Love This Bar" and Grill in Harrah's. It was in your price range and had good food. Plus, when they played the title song, they gave out free shots!

In the Venetian, by the canal, there are a couple of nice restaurants, with good food (we went Italian), that have options in that price range. And the people watching is great.

Though you did say non-chain, we like:

Margaritville at the Flamingo
Grande Lux Cafe in the Venetian
Cheesecake Factory at Caesars
Rainforest Cafe at MGM
Peppermills across from Stardust
Commander's Palace .25 cent Martini lunch at Aladdin. Their fixed menu is $18 p/p.
Kuhunaville in TI
Gonzalez Y Gonzalez at NY NY
VooDoo Cafe at Rio
Brew Pub at Monte Carlo

We are going to try "I Love This Bar" and Grill on our next visit in 2 weeks.

If you don't mind noise/music and lots of people try Hofbrauhas. It's German food/beer, music, etc. and alot of fun. It's on Paradise Rd. at Harmon, across from Hard Rock Hotel. They have a website with menu/prices. It's really a fun place with a group.

I know PF Chang's is a chain, but if you do not have one in your city I'd recommend it. The one on the Strip is in the Aladdin.

Also recommend Kahunaville (Treasure Island) and Margueritaville (Flamingo).

For lunch try Grand Lux Cafe at Venetian, they actually have 1/2 portions of some of their more huge offerings, i.e. salads, soup & sandwich combo. Many other places to eat at Venetian as well.

thanks for suggestions & yeah chain wouldn't be a basd choice if something we don't have here

Go here http://www.lasvegas24hours.com/vegas...ning/index.jsp and you can search for dining by fppd type, cost, location, etc. This is a GREAT site!