|
|
As
recently as the early 1990s, the restaurant scene in Las Vegas was
governed by the notion that isitors were not prepared to pay for
gourmet food.
All
the casinos laid on both pile-'em-high buffets at knock-down prices, and
24-hour coffee-shops offering bargain steak-and-egg deals, but irtually
the only quality restaurants in town were upscale Italian places well
away from the Strip.
The
theory was that the longer tourists spent lingering over their meals,
the less time they had left to play the tables.
Now, however, the situation has reversed, as the major casinos compete
to attract culinary superstars from all over the country to open egas
outlets.
The
first such enture was Wolfgang Puck's Spago in Caesars Palace, back in
1992; these days, as each new casino opens, it's taken for granted that
it will have as many as ten world-class restaurants. Asked what had
persuaded him to relocate to Las Vegas, one leading chef replied "three
million dollars." Many tourists now isit the city specifically to eat
at several of the best restaurants in the United States, without haing
to resere a table months in adance or pay sky-high prices. Which is
not to say that fine dining comes cheap in Las Vegas, just that most of
the big-name restaurants are less expensie, and less snooty, than they
are in their home cities.
Another break with tradition is that these days the accountants require
each sector of a casino-resort to be financially solent.
Where once it was considered worth running the restaurants and showrooms
at a loss because they lured in gamblers, they now have to be
self-supporting.
|
Thus prices are not what they were, with buffets more
like $10 rather than $3, and breakfast specials at $4.50 not $1.99. even
so, for budget eating Las Vegas still beats anywhere else in the
country.
At most times, it's generally possible to get a same-day reseration for
any Las Vegas restaurant; to secure a table for Friday or Saturday
night, however, call as far in adance as you can. Guests in the same
hotel as a particular restaurant seldom get any special priority.
The restaurants reiewed in this section form only a tiny proportion of
the total. If you're staying on the Strip in particular, the choice is
overwhelming, and you'll almost certainly find a good restaurant to suit
your tastes and budget in your own hotel. For that reason, the places
reiewed in this section tend towards the higher end of the spectrum -
it takes an exceptional restaurant to be worth making a special effort
to reach.
In
terms of price or quality, let alone conenience, there are few reasons
to enture off into the rest of the city; good places do exist away from
the Strip and downtown, but the best are right where the tourists are.
The one exception to that rule is that certain cuisines have as yet beven
unable to get a foothold on the Strip; if you want Indian, Thai, or
healthy Greek food, for example, you'll have to drive out and find it
|
Las Vegas
travel guide
 Tours
Shows
Hotels
acation
Rental
 Restaurants
Madame Tussauds
Wax Museum
Tips from egas
locals
 Nightlife
Kids
Car rental
Babysitter
proisions @ hotels
Pools
Spas
Attractions
Buffets
Bars and Lounges
 egas
Golf
|
|
