Las Vegas is the most populous city in the state of Nevada and an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, fine dining, and entertainment. Las Vegas, which bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, is famous for the number of casino resorts and associated entertainment. It is also a growing retirement and family city, the Las Vegas metropolitan area has an estimated population of close to 2 million. It also has the distinction of being the fastest growing city in the United States as well.
For many years, the dining scene at Las Vegas restaurants was considered sub par when compared to major cities like New York or Los Angeles. However, Las Vegas has become America’s hottest restaurant market. Each new mega resort brings its own multiple dining options, with celebrity chefs adding clones of famous signature restaurants and newborn establishments to the mix. No longer will you only find buffets in Las Vegas, the restaurant scene has been completely revamped, with overwhelmingly positive results. Here you can find outposts of the country’s most famous chefs, including Wolfgang Puck, who has Las Vegas restaurants at five area hotels, and Emeril Lagasse, who brings bam-worthy Cajun-Creole style to his New Orleans Fish House and Delmonico Steakhouse. The Joël Robuchon at the Mansion is often considered the place to go for that once-in-a-lifetime dining experience. This is Las Vegas fine dining at its best. Chef Robuchon is one of a limited quantity of Michelin three-star chefs, and he is known worldwide as the “Chef of the Century”. His restaurant at the MGM Grand is the first that he opened in the United States. It is considered the cream of the crop when it comes to restaurants in Las Vegas
Other than Wolfgang Puck and Emeril Lagasse, the list of top chefs who have made their mark on the Las Vegas dining scene is remarkable, the list includes Helene An (Crustacean at the Desert Passage); Gian Paulo Belloni (Zeffirino Ristorante at the Venetian); Tom Colicchio (Craftsteak at MGM Grand); Todd English (Olives at Bellagio; Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken of the Food Network’s (Border Grill at Mandalay Bay); Jean-Marie Josselin (8-0-8 at Caesars Palace); Thomas Keller (Bouchon at the Venetian; Sirio Maccioni (Le Cirque at Bellagio); Nobu Matsuhisa (Nobu at Hard Rock Hotel); Maurizio Mazzon (Canaletto at the Venetian and Il Fornaio at the New York-New York and Green Valley Ranch); Michael Mina (Nobhill and Seablue at MGM Grand and Aqua at Bellagio; Tom Moloney (AquaKnox at the Venetian; Charlie Palmer (Aureole at Mandalay Bay and Charlie Palmer Steakhouse at the Four Seasons); André Rochat (Alizé at The Palms and Andre’s in downtown Las Vegas and at the Monte Carlo); Julian Serrano (Picasso at Bellagio; Kerry Simon (Simon Kitchen and Bar at Hard Rock Hotel; Joachim Splichal (Pinot Brasserie at the Venetian, Jean-Georges Vongerichten (Prime at Bellagio), Michael White (Fiamma at MGM Grand); Piero Selvaggio (Valentino at the Venetian and Caffe Giorgio at Mandalay Place); Alessandro Stratta (Renoir at the Mirage; and Bradley Ogden (Bradley Ogden at Caesars Palace). This is just a small sample of the chefs who have found the restaurant scene in Las Vegas to be amazing and decided to open restaurants of their own. These chefs are also very competitive and all try to upstage one another to have their restaurant called the best in Las Vegas. In the end, this only helps the visitors to this town, who will get the best meal every time they frequent one of these lavish restaurants.
The arrival of the super chefs has left its mark on the entire restaurant scene, not just steak houses and buffets. 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. 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
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. Even chefs who only built their restaurants on the infamous Las Vegas Strip have expanded operations all over Las Vegas. These chefs have opened restaurants at many North Las Vegas casinos and even some as far south as Henderson at many of the hotels in that area including the Green Valley Ranch.
And of course, you must sample at least one of the notoriously famous Las Vegas buffets that dot the Strip. Some of the best include the elaborate Spice Market Buffet at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino, the MGM Grand Buffet, Cravings Buffet at the Mirage, and Le Village Buffet at Paris Las Vegas. With lavish decor and a stunning abundance of food, these dining spots are a great place to experience the city’s belief that too much is never enough.
In Las Vegas, the choices are endless as to what someone can eat during a vacation to this desert oasis. The growth of this city has coincided with the growth of the culinary experience that one can have during a stay in Las Vegas. The opening of many restaurants by some of the top chefs of the world has added to this tourism capital of the world and many high rollers plan trips at hotels that have some of their favorite restaurants at which to dine.