Las Vegas Carb Loading Restaurant?
 

Any great suggestions for a restaurant for carb loading the night before the Las Vegas Marathon? There will be 12 of us. If it matters the date is December 1st.

budget?

Years sgo, my brother went to this marathon years ago and the marathon had a spaghetti dinner the night before. Don't know if they still do that.

Batista's Hole in the Wall. It's not great Italian- about on par with Bucca de Beppo. But it is definitely edible and carb heavy.

www.battistaslasvegas.com

Do tell GoTravel, price, people watching, type of food?

Budget is probably under $50 per person but only four will be drinking wine as eight of us are running.

A hole in the wall is fine but if I drag this group to a hole in the wall I hope it is a good one.

We will probably drop bucks on dinner Friday night and Sunday night.

Okay, have to do some errands this morning, will write back later today:) Perhaps others will have some suggestions in the meantime.

My suggestion would be Piero's just across from the convention center. It's a landmark LV restaurant visited by celebs and "good fellas". Parts of the movie Casino were shot in the restaurant for authenticity. Excellent pasta and there is also seafood and steak. Carbs galore with the bread and pastas.

Oh yes, I wanted to add one more suggestion, Bartolatta at the Wynn. I haven't eaten there yet but I know a few people that have and they say it's very good. Meat dishes are > 50 but regular pasta is in the $20-$30 range, entree appetizers of pasta are also availible as an entree.

Here's the menu:
http://www.wynnlasvegas.com/media/pd...u_12_01_06.pdf

www.chowhound.com is a good forum to post this too.

Just in case someone does a text search on Bartolatta, we ate there last night and I have to rate it as one of the best restaurants in Las Vegas. We were with a high roller acquiantence and had a 5 course comped meal.

There are more than 30 varieties of seafood on the menu with fresh fish flown in daily from Sicily and Africa.

There was a dessert with figs that was one of the best desserts I've ever tasted. The pasta was very rich = high calorie but good. The gnocci was cheesy which I didn't care for as I grew up on my grandparent's homemade pasta which was with more potato, less high calorie sauce. This meal cost far more than the above mentioned budget but I felt I needed to come back and add a review because there are so many negative comments on TripAdvisor. I don't get it. The restaurant was packed and we enjoyed the outdoor decorative pool seating. Can't say enough good things about Bartolotta.

http://www.battistaslasvegas.com/menu.html

Battistas menu...I gained a pound reading it.

Another off strip idea but not sure about how carb loading it is would be Lotus of Siam...oh sooo good!

travelinwify, have you heard of Cafe Mortarano? Freinds going are insane about how good it is in Fort Lauderdale and how impossible it is to get into.

This would be for Friday night.

$125 per person not including wine.

Hi GoTravel, I saw a news clip about it on a local tv station, the people in there said it was great but we haven't tried it yet. I know people were waiting hours to get in but I think the Rio takes reservations. If you do go let me know how it is! Now I'm curious.

We once did Battista's Hole in the Wall. Huge portions? Yes. Tons of carb? Yes. Fattening? Yes. Inexpensive? Definitely. Noisy and busy? Oh yes. Quatlity? About two steps below Olive Garden.

I found the video clip regarding Cafe Marterano I saw on the news:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAeEkSCzZ-s

Thanks travelinwifey! We do have a reservation for Friday night so we are pretty excited. I'll definitely let you know if it is worth the $125 pp. The Fort Lauderdale location doesn't take reservations.

GoT..
Have a great time at the LV Marathon..
Party like a rock star when it's all said and done!
Hope your staying at the Wynn, if not try and eat there..all the restaurants are really good.
Best to you!

Wow, that's great! I'm glad you could get a reservation. I am looking forward to hearing about it.

A lot of people complain that there aren't really good Italian restaurants in Las Vegas, most of the ones with good reputations ship in water from other places and don't use our local tap water which tastes like rocks!

Good luck on the marathon:)

Thanks!

We will be partying like rock stars on Friday and Sunday!

Saturday night have to bed down early.

BTW, our crowd has grown to 20!

We're all excited and getting together Friday night for a meet and greet.

Only four of us are not running.

OMG The Wynn was amazing! One of our runners's husband's college best friend is married to the former art director of Steve Wynn's former museum at The Bellagio. When Steve Wynn sold the Bellagio, he took her with them.

They got a behind the scenes tour of The Wynn and then the next day directed us where to go.

Evidently when Steve Wynn built The Wynn he did not want any of his diners to have a view of the strip.

OMG the views from the restaurants are off the chart! Every one is different and every one had to cost him a coupld of million dollars and this is just for the view.

The food at Cafe Martorano was outstanding. The service sucked. They tried to rip us off by serving Voss water that we did not ask for ($77) and got taken off the bill and the waiters only served half of the table.

Best meatballs on the planet no lie. Go if you can but don't go with a big group or you will be charged $125 per person not including drinks, tax, or tip. Way overpriced but very very good.

GoT..
Sounds like you had a blast!
The Wynn is really stunning and I try and steer people there whether they can stay or eat or drink..
The restaurants are off the chart with views and the food to match..
Too bad they were trying to rip you off on the still water..hate when they do crap like that.
Do sign up for their e-mail specials on the website and the deals are wonderful..$119 a night for a 5*..for you and Mr. GoT!
Everything about this place just reeks of luxury..
Glad you had fun..

wynnlasvegas.com

Really? $119 per night?

I'll have to sign up.

When we were leaving the Wynn, we exited through the Towers VIP exit by accident. We should have known when we saw all of the Rolls lined up.

Anyway we told the valet we needed a cab to the Westin. He was like, "Huh? What is that?". We said "The Westin Hotel" he said "Why?".

Got in the cab and told the driver the same thing. He said "Why?".

It was too funny.

Ferraro's. A bit off the strip on Flamingo. A few blocks past the Palm. Absolutely fab family run Italian. The risotto with slipper lobster is to die for. You could carb load there like crazy. The best meal I had on my last trip to Vegas, which was in Sept. Also ate at Rao's (sucked), and Bartolotta's. That set us back $450 a couple for the tasting menu.

Glad you had a good time GoTravel! Was thinking of you when they showed the Marathon on local tv. Also, I'm glad you liked Martorano's restaurant, I think I'll take my dad when he visits Las Vegas next month for his 70th. But I don't want your waiter!

Also I am extremely happy your niece was found. All the best to your family.

Finally, I also wanted to thank you for all your previous Fodors advice on Miami and Islamorada. We were trying to visit earlier this year until we realized is was superbowl weekend, we are now leaving tomorrow for a much awaited visit and warm weather. We're staying at the Moorings as you previously suggested and the Loews. Again, thanks a lot for the advice, it helped us decide on which Key to visit.

How sweet! Thanks!

You'll love both The Loews and The Moorings.

Will you be in Miami tomorrow? If so it is Art Basel and try and get your concierge at The Loews to get you party invites and go see all the exhibits in South Beach. I'm pretty sure those are free.

No wonder all the hotel rates were sold out or so high! We wanted to go to Miami first then Islamorada but we ended up going to Islamorada because either the hotels were sold out or the rates were really high. We'll be in Islamorada Sat-Tues and then in Miami until Friday night, my husband is excited because we are going to see a Miami heat game! Do you think anyone would notice if I was reading a book? Lol I will people watch I guess:)

Poo, I just looked up Art Basel on the internet, I wish we could see it:( The Moorings is so much we want to spend every possible minute there to get out money's worth! Will arrive at 1:30 and hope to make it to the hotel by 4.

Forget trying to rush in the keys and if you wear anything other than flip flops, you will be overdressed and looked at as suspect.

Take Card Sound Road and stop at Alabama Jacks for a beer. Breath in and Breath out. Then pinch yourself and scream, "WoooHooo!! I'm in the keys!!!".

Have a fabulous time and please have a mojito for me at the Delano pool bar in South Beach? Pretty please?

Okay, I'm taking notes:

1. Card Sound Road and stop at Alabama Jacks for Beer and holla!

2. Have a Mojito at the Delano.

Two will do's. Just googled Alabama Jack's and I think we'll have dinner there on the way down with some surely fattening fried food or a fresh fish sandwich.

I'm also really looking forward to taking a charter eco-tour. We have no wildlife here so it is always so exotic when we go somewhere with rare wildlife, and to us everything is rare from the desert!

Make sure you get out over the water in the keys.

One of my most favorite experiences ever was when Mr.GoTravel and I spent a week fishing in the keys. One morning a pod of dolphin including a mother and her calf swam up to our boat and just hung out with us for about an hour.

It was one of the most amazing things I've ever experienced.

Now I've seen probably thousands of dolphin in the wild but this left both of us speechless.

You'll have a fabulous time and I'm so jealous!