FIRST! The portions in most places are HUGE. We noticed this almost everywhere so sharing is sometimes a good option. Be aware of the extra plate charges in some restaurants if you can't bear the thought of the food going to waste. We go for casual dining most times & we have not visited a lot of the high-end establishments mainly because we’re usually not organized enough to make reservations ahead of time..
PLACES WE LIKE & RECOMMEND OR WANT TO TRY...
Let's start with breakfast & what to do about the line-ups if you need a kick-start just to wait for a table...
I'M LEAVING THIS POST UP FOR NOW... SADLY BILL'S IS NO LONGER. It has been renovated and expanded and is now The Cromwell. Looks far more upscale than old Bill's. Sad to see it gone. But anyway, feeling nostalgic and want to know what Bill's was like read on.... Right next to the Flamingo is Bill's Gamblin' Hall...a step back in time to seriously old-school Vegas. It is a very tiny casino by Vegas standards & very smoky with a crazy, eclectic mix of clientele. We like to go here for a hearty breakfast at the "Award Winning Victoria Room". Not sure when this award was bestowed on the establishment but you are reminded of it every few minutes. There is always a 20-30 minute wait for a table but you just give them your name, then hit the slots (& play really SLOW………) & wait for them to call you over the intercom system to the......(wait for it!).........."Award Winning Victoria Room". You can also grab a latte from the Seattle's Best coffee shop that's in the casino & drink that while waiting for your table & 'slottin'. It's always a bit disconcerting to be sitting at the slots waiting for a table for breakfast at 9:30 or so in the morning & having cocktail waitress whizzing by asking for drink orders. Sure, it's 5 o'clock somewhere on the planet but that is still a wee bit too early to start drinking, especially on an empty tummy.
Most of the servers in this restaurant seem to be long-time employees, (most) are really friendly & treat everyone like 'regulars'. They all wear the ubiquitous name tags that also includes the name of their hometown. It's kind of interesting to see how far people have traveled to work and live in the crazy town that is 24/7. I'm sure there are a lot of stories that can be told.... I digress.
Just one more aside.........also at Bill's in the late afternoon to early evening, an impersonator by the name of Big Elvis is on stage for a few sessions. Big Elvis used to weigh well over 400lbs but he's lost a bunch of weight in order to save his life. He has an incredible voice. Other bands hit the stage after Big Elvis.
And back to the topic of food.........Just a few of the many good places to eat: California Pizza Kitchen (at the Mirage and Fashion Show Mall), Carnegie Deli (at the Mirage), Jimmy Buffett's (at the Flamingo), Bill's, the fish & chip place at NY NY, Grotto at the Golden Nugget,...............We have been told good things about Maggiano's Little Italy and heard the portions are huge so it's best to tackle the 1/2 orders if you hope to try anything other then the entree. We plan to try it on our next trip as well as:
- Taqueria Canonita at the Venetian for Mexican food,
- Strip Steak House at Planet Hollywood,
- Mon Ami Gabi at the Paris,
- Le Village Buffet at the Paris, and
- Palio Espresso & Pastries at the Bellagio for a quick bite and a coffee.
Funnily enough, we don't do buffets (not big eaters) and have a hard time justifying the expense since we know we won't eat $20-$35 worth of food. Yet we have no problem spending $30 on a beer and a burger with tip! ??? Where are our priorities?! On upcoming trips we'll probably start checking out the buffets so that we can have something new to report and the one at the Paris might be a good place to start. In the coupon books you can often find 2 for 1 coupons for buffets or dining.
Fremont has a number of restaurants in each of the casinos. There are a few stand alone restaurant/pubs with patios at the east end of the street (look for the giant pint of beer). Next to the pub is Mickey Finn's. We have dined on the patio here a few times and the food is typical of this kind of joint. Decent pub fare but nothing to write home about. The mojitos are quite good and the people watching is fun!
A few dining notes... Pick up the coupon books that are in the taxi cab when you are riding from the airport or check out some of the various ones offered in your hotel usually near the registration desk or gift shop (or somewhere totally unexpected).
If your taste buds are more 'continental' may I suggest the Eiffel Tower Restaurant. Here you can enjoy, quail, pheasant, duck, lamb, foie gras and sweet breads. Or not! They also serve beef, chicken and an assortment of seafood. It is verrrrrry Frrrrench so expect high prices and tiny, but mouthwatering creations. The presentation of the food is worth the price! You may have to go for a second dinner afterwards but it is definitely a treat and the Green Apple Martini and the view are to die for. Business casual attire for the gents which can loosely translate to mean your brand new $100 golf shirt. Ladies can dress up [a bit] or in a suitable manner for fine dining. We saw the extremes of both business casual and [over-dressed] formal attire.
Most dining establishments have dress codes, albeit very reasonable ones...i.e., no flip flops, no sneakers, no torn jeans, no t-shirts. Some may actually state 'casual business attire' which means men need to wear a shirt with a collar or a sports jacket (and shirt with a collar). You may find yourself casually attired and sitting in a dining room next to a table of formally dressed folks. If you stay away from either extreme - too casual, too dressy - you will usually fit right in and feel comfortable.
One experience involving improperly dressed diners was a tad uncomfortable for us for reasons that will be revealed soon.... We went to Treasure Island or TI as it is now known for Vietnamese food and were seated quite close to the front of the restaurant with one side of our table adjacent to the hostess stand. Three very drunk, very hungry, bikini-clad girls staggered in after what appeared to be a boozy afternoon of lounging at the pool and requested a table. The hostess refused them on account they were not suitably attired. The girls were obviously confused by this concept since they thought their swimsuits were very, very cute and so why wouldn't everyone else think so too!!! We were most amused by their cluelessness. The hostess insisted that clothes and shoes must be worn. The girls tried to make up for the 'shortcoming' by wrapping their wet towels around their waists. During the entire time their backsides were in rather close proximity to the edge of our table and we quickly became most unamused with the flinging of wet towels and wet hair that commenced in their desperate attempt to gain entry. I found this really distasteful and was glad that our food had not yet arrived otherwise I likely would not have wanted to eat it. If we were a table full of guys, no doubt this would have been one of the highlights of the evening. The hostess finally asked them to leave because one of the girls did not even have flip flops on her feet. I'm sure the bare feet would have been overlooked if they were actually wearing clothes at this point. Crazy!
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