Thanks everyone,

Wish we were going for longer than four days to be able to try all of the restaurants mentioned.

Keep 'em coming and thanks again!

Hi Doug,
We changed our plans a little and I thought I would tell you about it..
We are skipping Zefferinos and going to Aqua on Friday night.
My husband says that all of his clients rave about how good it is there, so we will finish the week there with one more wonderful meal.
They may have to give me an extra wide seat on the flight home
They take your confirmation number for your hotel reservation instead of a credit card. They tell you to dress Business casual, no tees, etc.
What have you decided on so far?

Two places that i thought were just outstanding were Big Al's Oyster Bar at The Orleans and PF Chang's in Aladdin. When i go back in December i want to get some outstanding reviews from some of the Fodorites ...nothing that requires a jacket though.

Doug, my husband and I are also going to be in Vegas over Thanksgiving weekend. We are having Thursday dinner at Drai's at the Barbary Coast, thinking of Aureole for Friday night and have reservations Sat. night at Picasso. It's been 6 yrs since I've been but I am very excited! Can anyone tell me if it will be hard to get into any of the "casual" restaurants Thanksgiving weekend and how crowded do you expect it to be? Thanks. My dh and I were also talking recently about people's lack of appropriate dress in restaurants -we feel that the way you dress reflects your appreciation of a particular restaurant. Just MHO! =)

Got back from Vegas on 9/27 ate at Onda before the Danny Gans show and we really enjoyed it. Food was good and had a nice atmosphere. We also ate at Rosemary's at the Rio, from many postings, it got great reviews and we were not dissapointed, the food was excellent along with the service. I believe you can check out a sample menu on line on the Rio web-site. They have 2 locations one at the Rio and another outside of the strip... The only negative thing I can say is that my husband ordered a glass of the house cabernet and it as $16.00, thought that was a bit much. We ate at the Bellagio buffet and that was good, my husband enjoyed the buffalo and venison. Had breakfest at the Paris LeVillage Buffet and it was WONDERFUL.. We have decided that we'd probably never do another dinner buffet but would go back in a minute to the breakfeast buffet at Paris...
Go to the Eiffel Tower Restaurant just before sunset and have a drink at the bar or at a table, fabulous view.. Enjoy

The finest restaurant we have ever eaten at in Vegas food-wise is the one at Mandalay Bay which is named after the street number of the hotel. It's contemporary in atmosphere (not too warm and cozy), but fabulous wine, food and service. We also enjoyed the steakhouse at Monte Carlo.

CJC - the name of the restaurant is 3950 and it is one of my favorites in Vegas also. The food, service and atmosphere has been excellent each time I've been there.

I ate at Roy's Hawaiian Fusion just over a month ago. Yes, it's a chain. It's off the strip. But it was excellent: very fresh sushi, great wine list, very good service. Went on a Sunday nite and no ties or jackets on the men, just nice upper-casual attire.

OMG the best restraunt in las vegas at bellagio is AQUA hands down reservations usually 3 months in advance but try .... nine at the palms for great steaks .....

That is nice to know, rbrad3, we are having dinner at Aqua Thanksgiving week. When I made the reservations about a month ago, they only had two left.

We had an anniversary dinner at Renoir two years ago and loved it. Part of it was those beautiful paintings on the walls but the food was wonderful too. Give us a trip report when you return. I'm getting hungry just thinking of those great meals you'll be having. I'm not a gambler but I'll go to Vegas for the restaurants (and the people watching!)

Sorry haven't posted back after all of your great recommendations. Had a family emergency to take care of. Anyway, to answer Scarlett's question from almost a month back, haven't made any further reservations beyond Circo on Saturday nite before O. Since I last posted, got tix to Celine Dion for Thanksgiving nite and really wasn't sure what we wanted to do for Thanksgiving dinner before the show. Also, not sure I want us to be tied to a strict schedule as having reservations every nite would call for. So we may just wing it the other nites. Still a little up in the air about it though (which is obviously not good as we're only 3 weeks away).

Any other thoughts out there to aid in my decision? And if I do decide to make reservations for another place, which ones would still have availability at this late date?

Thanks again for all your help....

scarlet food is intense small but great prsentaton s $$$ chefs tasting is a great way to go sample all deserts also u are aware its95percent fish goose liver the best have fun service awsume let me know

Try Zefferino... They may be able to fit you in. We ate there not too long ago- it was excellent! If you want to wing it around Caesers, there's the Cheescake Factory and numerous other restaurants in the Forum Shops. There might be a wait, but no reservations necessary. There's also no dress codes- most of the restaurants there are much more casual.

I second Zeffirino at the Venetian. I was just there this past weekend.

Very elegant and arguably the most authentic Italian (albeit Venice) restaurant in Vegas. I thought the food was worth the high cost. The atmosphere and service were stellar despite being perched over the tacky "grand canal." If you do go, definitely order the zabaglione fredo for dessert...a light, heavenly delight!

I've had mixed feelings about Zefferino's - the first time I ate there it was wondrous, the second time I took a large group of clients for a special treat for lunch and it was just so-so. Both times the Carpaccio was perfect and if you can get a seat upstairs near the windows/balcony, it's a lovely place to enjoy the Venetian sky shifting to dusk.

Not sure if it's still there, but the Venetian also had a great sushi bar called Tsunami - worth a visit. The sushi bar at the Luxor is also great - I usually stay there and have a late night sushi snack when I arrive and its perfect.

A large group of us had dinner at the restaurant atop the Eiffel Tower at Paris and the food was astonishingly good. The service though did not match the quality of the food - I can still hear my visiting German colleagues trying not to laugh as the all too american waiter approached the table with the "Hi, my name is Scott and I'll be your waiter" line... not quite in keeping with the caviar our Herr Managing Director was ordering! Still, I'd happily giggle again to have such good food.

There also used to be a very good moderately priced Italian place in the Fashion Mall on the Strip - very good roast meats and salads and the steak house at Harrahs is nicely done in a very traditional way - fair prices and comfortable but serious about reservations even when LV is not busy.

Have fun!

May try Zefferino now based on the great reviews....question, though: jacket required? Like I said originally, I'd love to not have to bring one.

Thanks.......

The people next to us were in jeans and nice shirts. I would recommend dressing nicer, but it doesn't seem to me like a jacket is required.