Cosmopolitan has confirmed the name of its new Mexican restaurant coming to the now-shuttered Holsteins space: Amaya Modern Mexican Restaurant.

The new restaurant opens at the popular resort in January 2025.

“The cutting-edge dining destination will fuse captivating energy with the coastal flavors and bold spices of Mexico, capturing the vibrant spirit of Tulum,” whatever that might actually be.

Back in August, it was reported the new restaurant would be called Mariposa Rosa Mexican Restaurant, but that was apparently a placeholder name for permitting purposes.

This is typically the place in our story where we remind you we broke the news Holsteins would close months before it was announced, but we are experimenting with “modesty.”

First word Holsteins, the burger place at Cosmopolitan, is closing. No chatter yet on what might replace it, but rumor is Clique Hospitality will operate the new venue.

— Vital Vegas (@VitalVegas) April 22, 2024

Here’s more about the restaurant: “Created by acclaimed Michelin-starred chef Jason McLeod, the menu reimagines modern Mexican cuisine, featuring dishes such as the two-pound whole lobster paired with chili lobster cream sauce and drizzled with lime; Birria Short Rib, slow-cooked and served with corn puree, pickled onion and cotija cheese; and a show-stopping Fajita Board that captivates the senses from presentation to palate. Other signature dishes include citrusy ceviche, zesty aguachile, fiery tiradito and irresistible lobster enchiladas.”

We reached out to the lobster community, and received this statement, “Seriously? How about laying off lobsters for a change? How about squid? They’re assholes. Same with monkfish. And what is the deal with crawfish? We’re a crustacean and we barely know what those creepy things are. Scallops! Try scallops. They don’t have faces. We have faces. Not cute faces, but still.”

Here’s more food from Amaya, much of it without faces.

Amaya hasn’t shared any renderings yet (the official Web site is more of a mood board), so we will once again rely on A.I. to whip up its best guess.

To help A.I. get the vibe of Amaya, we used this blurb from the news release as a prompt: “Amaya will welcome guests to an ambiance inspired by the rustic elegance and lush, tree-canopied tropics of the Yucatan Peninsula. The design artfully blends intimate alcoves with social spaces, creating a refined yet evocative setting that transports diners to a sophisticated beachside retreat.”

Here’s what A.I. whipped up for Amaya’s interior design.

Amaya was created by Clique Hospitality for Gen3 Hospitality, designed by Peter Max Bowden and Petermax Co. Petermax has done several Las Vegas venues, including Scarpetta at Cosmo and Javier’s at Aria.

One more announcement blurb to get a feel for the vibe: “Dinner at Amaya will be an electrifying celebration, with the pulsating beats of DJs and other mesmerizing performances and entertainment, inviting guests to dance in their seats and embrace the carefree spirit of the night.”

So, loud. Think STK, but with queso dip.

Holstein’s at Cosmo is officially past tense. Yes, we shared news of the closure first, but it’s not always about us, probably. Archive: https://t.co/1G5NrySADJ pic.twitter.com/PTL2pcWhjD

— Vital Vegas (@VitalVegas) July 24, 2024

Amaya’s beverage program will include a “catador” (tequila expert) to “oversee the meticulously curated selection of smooth, aged tequilas and complex mezcals, taking guests on an immersive journey through the rich, multi-generational heritage of Jalisco.”

Every Las Vegas-related news release has to include the word “immersive” now. It’s the law.

We saved the awkward part for last, of course. There’s sort of a Mexican restaurant at Cosmo already: China Poblano by Jose Andres. China Pablano isn’t a purely Mexican restaurant, as it attempts to meld Mexican and Chinese. We say attempts, because it’s the weakest offering from Jose Andres in Las Vegas.

There’s also é by Jose Andres at Cosmopolitan, but that’s Spanish food. Ditto Jaleo by Jose Andres.

So, yes, there are a lot of Mexican-adjacent restaurants at Cosmopolitan.

In the Vegas restaurant realm, only the strong survive.

“Amaya” can mean “goodness” or “mother city” or “the end.” Used in a sentence: “We couldn’t think of anything better, so this is the amaya of our story.”

The post Cosmo Confirms Amaya Mexican Restaurant Will Replace Holsteins appeared first on Vital Vegas.

That casino cafe you never went to is closing.

Avenue Cafe, possibly with an accent mark over the “e,” at MGM Grand will close permanently after business on Nov. 17, 2024.

According to a news release, “The venue will transition into a new food and beverage concept with an anticipated opening in February 2025.”

That’s pretty much the whole story. Granted, we probably should’ve put “story” in quotation marks.

It’s worth noting the adjacent Starbucks has closed. Well, possibly “worth noting.” Slow news day.

While we don’t know what’s next for the Avenue Cafe space, you can rest assured it will be interactive and immersive.

Here’s a photo of Avenue Cafe at MGM Grand for posterity.

Avenue Cafe wasn’t really on anyone’s radar, and the restaurant only operated for breakfast and lunch, daily from 7:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

For those of us who are normal, Avenue Cafe was never open when we were. Who in their right mind gets up at 7:00 a.m.? And who eats breakfast? Unless it’s French toast at midnight. You know, like normal people.

Casino cafes are supposed to be open 24/7. That’s what they do. Or did. Thanks for ruining everything, pandemic.

Since this story is a little thin on details, we asked A.I. to design a new cafe for MGM Grand.

It’s unclear if A.I. understands what dice look like, but even humans get pips wrong a lot.

We are sure MGM Resorts will whip up something much less colorful and whimsical for its new restaurant. We’d love to see something with a “wow” factor, but without the quotation marks.

The post Avenue Cafe to Close at MGM Grand, Adjacent Starbucks Shutters appeared first on Vital Vegas.

Caesars Palace has snagged another great concept for its food court (sorry, Forum Food Hall). Mokbar (technically, Mŏkbar) by Esther Choi will open in fall of 2024.

We haven’t heard of Esther Choi, either, but apparently she’s a pretty big deal.

Mainly, we’re just surprised anyone under the age of 60 is named Esther.

Mokbar will move into the former Tiger Wok & Ramen space.

This new offering at Caesars will be Chef Choi’s fifth restaurant, “combining traditional and modern takes on Korean cuisine,” including “ramen, dumplings and buns galore.”

Note: We counted five restaurants on the Mokbar site (Chelsea Market, Gahm by Mokbar, Midtown, Ms. Yoo and Newark Gateway) so this would be the sixth, but we try to never question news releases. In another section of the site, it says there are three Mokbar locations, which would make the one at Caesars the fourth. Somebody who cares more than we do needs to get to the bottom of this controversy.

From the official announcement: “Mokbar will offer a diverse menu for both seasoned Korean food enthusiasts and newcomers alike. The fast-casual experience will feature classics like Pan-fried Dumplings, Buns, Fried Chicken, Bibimbap and Dumplings in Broth. Guests can choose from an array of rich ramen flavors and multiple rice bowl options. The Bulgogi Bowl will feature thinly sliced ribeye marinated in K-BBQ sauce with sauteed carrots, onions, duo seasonal kimchi, poached egg, scallions and sesame seeds. The Salmon Avocado Bowl will include seared marinated salmon, avocado, crispy tofu, mixed greens, cucumber, pickled daikon and furikake, served with a ginger scallion dressing. Mokbar will also offer non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages, including Mokbar’s signature iced teas, sparkling soju cocktails and beer.”

Esther Choi’s backstory is fascinating, and since it’s easier to just provide a link than paraphrasing, here you go.

The chef is known to foodies from her TV appearances, including “Bobby’s Triple Threat,” “Throwdown with Michael Symon,” “Chopped,” “Battle of the Brothers” and “Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend” and “Heat Eaters.” She is also the co-host of Food Network’s “Last Chef Standing.”

Related: She’s adorable. Which in no way takes away from her professional accomplishments. We know how you are.

Choi’s stall at the Forum Food Hall joins several other concepts from chefs and other high-profile personalities.

Already in the food court are Bobby’s Burgers by Bobby Flay (terrible) and Guy Fieri’s Chicken Guy (surprisingly great).

Also in the works are Tortazo by Rick Bayless and Buddy V’s Pizzeria by Buddy Valastro, set to open later this year.

Food courts and halls and collectives, of course, are the new Las Vegas buffet. Caesars Palace has both a food hall and the Bacchanal Buffet, while most buffets at Caesars Entertainment resorts shuttered during or following the pandemic.

That’s because buffets at Caesars Entertainment casinos were losing an average of $3 million a year. The price tag at Bacchanal is hefty, and presumably it’s not a loss leader as were buffets of the past, but we suspect its days could be numbered.

It seems like the Caesars Palace food court has most of the requisite cuisines covered at this point. They are American, Asian, Italian, Mexican (Tortazo) and Gyros (which is not a cuisine so much, but they have those at The Halal Guys).

Missing: Cuban, Greek, Indian. Give it a minute.

Caesars Entertainment gets a lot of international travelers, so that has to be taken into account when considering concepts for this busy venue.

While we grew up in Hawaii, we are not all that familiar with Korean food, but we’re up for trying it when Mokbar opens. We are addicted to the dumplings at Circa’s 8 East, so we’ll order those first at Mokbar.

We are nervous about the “Bulgogi Bowl,” mainly because it sounds like something that might happen on Pornhub. Ditto “furikake.” Just saying. Choi’s menus also have an item called “Ho’Cake.” We are not making this up.

We don’t really understand ramen, either. It’s soup, right? We understand soup, we just don’t understand why anyone would order it in Las Vegas, where temperatures can exceed those of a smelting furnace.

Until Mokbar opens at the Forum Food Hall (not to be confused with the Caesars Forum, a conference center nowhere near Caesars Palace), we’re all about Guy Fieri’s Chicken Guy.

Celeb sighting: TV personality Guy Fieri was spotted choking the chicken at the Caesars Palace food court tonight. pic.twitter.com/6bjMEcAN5J

— Vital Vegas (@VitalVegas) November 15, 2023

Keep tabs on all things Forum Food Hall on the official site. Also, if you’re keeping tabs on food courts, you really need to get out of the house more and find a significant other or hobby. Do as we say, not as we do.

The post Caesars Palace Food Court Ups Its Game Again With Mokbar appeared first on Vital Vegas.

As announced back in July 2024, Noodles restaurant at Bellagio has, in fact, closed for a renovation. Noodles closed temporarily on Aug. 25, 2024.

The renovated Noodles is expected to reopen in January 2025.

Fun fact: Renovated Noodles was the name of our band in high school.

Noodles is popular with baccarat players, several of whom are Asian. Noodles is sort of smushed up against Bellagio’s baccarat salon, so players can get their noodle fix with as little time away from the tables as possible.

Noodles fans need not weep or gnash their teeth, however.

That’s because during the renovation, Noodles will be serving out of the nearby Jasmine restaurant.

Basically, Noodles is doing lunch each day from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. (with dim sum service available Friday through Sunday), and Jasmine will do dinner nightly from 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. (A sign at the restaurant says 5:30 to 10:30 p.m., but days and times on the Bellagio site don’t match the news release.)

You can check out the official page for Noodles on these new-fangled “Internets.”

There, you’ll find a weird photo of the Noodles Executive Chef without a head, but with a weird elbow in his arm to make up for it.

Why would someone come all the way from Asia to eat the food they can have back home when there are so many other options in Las Vegas?

1) Convenience. 2) They do eat at others restaurants. 2) Familiarity. Like you didn’t hit McDonald’s or Pizza Hut during your visit to the U.K. or Italy.

Noodles will make its return soon. Or possibly “their” return. Whatever. We’re only doing this story as an excuse to use A.I. Noodles are weird unless they’re smothered in marinara. Ramen noodles are the most popular kind of Asian noodles, and they’re served in hot water, a sort of soup. Who the hell is eating hot soup in Las Vegas, especially when it’s 140-degrees outside?

These are very important questions, but we must be moving on to our next cancelation.

The post Noodles Restaurant at Bellagio Closes for Renovation appeared first on Vital Vegas.

It’s a slow news day in Las Vegas and that means we get to coast and do a round-up of restaurant news from Venetian and Palazzo.

Breaking news constantly is exhausting. News round-ups are like taking a day off. In the social media world, of course, “taking a day off” is always in quotation marks because social media never ends.

Yes, round-ups are incredibly boring, but they require introductory paragraphs (sometimes several), and all those words means we’re that much closer to hitting the casino to lose our mortgage payment on Double Double Bonus video poker. Which is an odd thing to lose given we don’t have a mortgage anymore. No car payments, either. Thank you, Casino.org. Moving on.

Anyway, there’s a lot going on a Venetian and Palazzo in the restaurant realm, mainly because between Venetian, Palazzo and the Grand Canal Shoppes, these venues are collectively home to 4,600 restaurants and are roughly the size of Djibouti. Which may lead to you asking, “How big is Djibouti?” First, never ask a woman that question if you value your life. Second, about 9,000 square miles.

We just really like saying Djibouti.

Let’s start with a couple of very exciting restaurant announcements about famed restaurants we’ve never heard of before.

Gjelina opens in Venetian’s “Restaurant Row” later this year. We are already annoyed by the whole “produce-forward” thing, but other people seem to hold this restaurant in very high regard.

Gjelina sits in the spot formerly occupied by a sweet photo op at Venetian. We have a vague memory of the sign saying “Celebrate You” at one point, but it changed from time to time.

Also planned for Venetian is Cote Korean Steakhouse.

Cote, irksomely stylized in all caps in the news release, arrives in 2025. “Cote” is a Korean word that means “flower” or “bloom.” When capitalized, COTE can also mean “subject to occasional episodes of Tourette syndrome.”

Cote is touted as “America’s first and only Michelin-starred Korean steakhouse.” It’s also described as “blending the conviviality of Korean barbeque together with the hallmarks of a classic American steakhouse.” Any restaurant that serves its dishes with blended conviviality, we’re so there.

Cote Vegas will be located in the Waterfall Atrium at The Venetian. They thought about making the venue an indoor/outdoor restaurant, but Las Vegas gets chilly in the winter, so that plan was nixed because it was determined it’s too damn Cote outside.

Let’s move on to some renovations, shan’t we?

Lavo Italian Restaurant at Palazzo recently closed for a renovation. Lavo has been around since 2008, so it was about time for a refresh. Lavo reopens in fall 2024.

Sugarcane Las Vegas has also closed for a renovation. Sugarcane, too, sits in Venetian’s “Restaurant Row.” We have had some very enjoyable experiences at Sugarcane, so we hope the overhaul helps it keep its mojo.

In other Venetian and Palazzo restaurant news, we’ve heard once Bazaar Meat closes at its current location on the north Strip, it will move into the closed Dal Toro Ristorante space at Palazzo.

Latest rumor is Bazaar Meat may have extended its lease at its current shitty location. Too many pots on the stove for Jose Andres and his team? When they move, high probability is it will be into the Dal Toro Ristorante space at Palazzo.

— Vital Vegas (@VitalVegas) August 7, 2024

Grand Canal Shoppes is a whole other realm of openings and closings at Venetian, technically. Keeping track of all that would involve “research” or “effort,” so good luck with that.

That said, as we shared recently on another slow news day, Royal Britannia Gastro Pub recently closed and Fogo de Chao is rumored to be taking over the space.

To help keep track of all these restaurant moves, Venetian has a page of “recently opened restaurants” on its Web site. It defines “recently” very loosely, however. Chica opened in May 2017. Wakuda opened two years ago. Hey, it’s a search engine optimization thing.

All these restaurant changes (openings, closings and renovations) are happening during an interesting period for Venetian and Palazzo. Las Vegas Sands sold the resort to Apollo Global Management and Vici Properties in 2022.

In honor of the resort’s 25th anniversary, the new owners have undertaken a $1.5 billion refresh. The renovation will touch just about every part of the resort. As the kids who write news releases say, “a comprehensive top to bottom reimagining.”

The list of changes is long, so just read the news release, already.

Construction walls have come down on Venetian’s renovated ballroom. The project was done by a local company, Tre Builders. Tre has its hands in a lot of projects in Vegas, but we mostly know Tre because one of the partners runs the Project BBQ truck at Circa and they are putting our name on their menu because we love their BBQ chicken pizza. Hey, that’s sort of a restaurant update! Not that everything has to be about us.

Venetian also opened its new poker room. Fun fact: The Venetian poker room is nowhere the Venetian anymore. It’s in the Grand Canal Shoppes. Park in Palazzo’s self-park garage, go up to the second level of Grand Canal Shoppes, it’s 30 feet from the elevator. Open 24/7, unlike most things in Las Vegas as the moment. Don’t get us started. Here’s more.

Las Vegas never fails to deliver new and different and delicious. Only the strong survive, and there are new temptations around every corner.

Oh, hell, let’s let ChatGPT take a stab at it, “Las Vegas presents an unparalleled symposium of epicurean delights, wherein an extravaganza of resplendent dining venues proffers an exquisite melange of gastronomic masterpieces, each dish meticulously curated to evoke a transcendent synthesis of sensory euphoria and culinary virtuosity, thus elevating the art of haute cuisine to unprecedented zeniths of sumptuous magnificence.” Reminder: You’re this close to being replaced, casino public relations persons.

We’re dying.

The post Perfunctory Round-Up: A Metric Ass-Ton of Venetian Restaurant Goings-On appeared first on Vital Vegas.

A longtime fixture on the Las Vegas Strip, The Buffet at Bellagio, is rumored to be closing.

The buffet will be replaced by a (wait for it) food hall, as has been the law in Las Vegas since the pandemic.

Casino buffets are famous for being money-losers, so it’s no surprise The Buffet at Bellagio will close. No official announcement about the closure has been made yet, but give it a minute. (Note: MGM says the buffet will NOT close, see below for an update.)

According to our friend Corey Levitan, who also writes for Casino.org, at least 10 of the Strip’s 18 buffets have closed permanently. We are not a math person, but we can confirm it’s a metric hell-ton.

Closed buffets include the ones at Aria, Mirage (the entire resort closed), Paris, Treasure Island, Harrah’s, Horseshoe (previously Bally’s, remember the Sterling Brunch?), M Resort, Planet Hollywood, Mandalay Bay, The Strat and Flamingo, among others.

Which is a shame, because about three of those were actually good.

Casinos were looking for an excuse to get rid of buffets, beloved but expensive loss leaders (Caesars Entertainment famously said its buffets in Las Vegas lost an average of $3 million a year each), for years before COVID, then the pandemic provided the perfect cover.

Food courts, sometimes called “food halls,” are the new Las Vegas buffets. Oh, Miracle Mile Shops calls its under-construction food court, Miracle Eats, a “food collective.” No, really. We can’t convince them to stop.

We’re sure Bellagio, operated by MGM Resorts, will curate a fine collection of “accessible” food concepts for its new food court.

We also trust the hours of operation at the food court will be normal, as opposed to the half-assed hours for the buffet. On Saturday and Sunday, the buffet is open 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., but Monday through Friday, hours are 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. No dinner at a buffet? That was a pretty big red flag Bellagio’s buffet’s days were numbered.

If you’re a buffet person, there are still some reasonably good buffets in Las Vegas.

Bacchanal Buffet at Caesars Palace is the undisputed champ, but it’s not cheap (you get what you pay for). Also very good is the A.Y.C.E. (all you can eat) Buffet at Palms. It’s prices just jumped up recently.

Prices going up a smidge at the Palms buffet. Loss leaders aren’t a thing in Vegas anymore. (h/t @Pennys4Vegas) pic.twitter.com/DF9WsYEKgv

— Vital Vegas (@VitalVegas) August 11, 2024

There was a rumor the Wicked Spoon Buffet (at Cosmo) was closing, but MGM Resorts reached out to put the kibosh on that one. It’s pretty clear now our tipster got wind of the impending Bellagio buffet closure and mistook it for Wicked Spoon, as both resorts are under the MGM Resorts umbrella now.

Other buffets: Luxor, Wynn, Excalibur, Westgate, South Point, Main Street, MGM Grand and Rampart in Summerlin.

We sort of did the list that way just to make our public relations friends at Wynn Las Vegas squirm about being wedged between Luxor and Excalibur.

We reached out to MGM Resorts about the Bellagio buffet news, but haven’t heard back yet.

A little housekeeping you don’t care about, but should.

The tip about the closure of the Bellagio buffet was submitted to us via Twitter direct message at 10:11 p.m., August 18, 2024. We immediately headed to Bellagio for photos of the buffet, which we somehow have never visited or photographed in more than 11 years of blogging. Our friend Las Vegas Locally Tweeted the item at 11:59 p.m. on August 18, 2024. We Tweeted it at 12:30 a.m., August 19, 2024. So, he technically scooped us, which is really annoying. He, however, did not include the fact a food court will replace the buffet, and he also doesn’t have a blog (Twitter can’t really be monetized), so technically, we still win. Fine, it’s a tie. Yes, this matters. It matters because we try to give credit where it’s due, unlike the Las Vegas Review-Journal, which gets its information from Twitter but never acknowledges virtually all its stories are stolen from social media. The Las Vegas Review-Journal believes a social media post isn’t legitimate media, so no attribution to the original source of a story is required. They’re wrong. They also sometimes claim they got a story from somewhere other than social media. In most cases, that’s a blatant and obvious lie. They use social media as a free news feed, confirming stories and presenting them as original reporting. It’s horseshit and they should be embarrassed. In this case, we legitimately did not get this story from Twitter, we got it from a source who also shared the information with Las Vegas Locally. We’re still giving a hat tip to Las Vegas Locally because he was the first to share it on Twitter. The whole situation serves as a reminder that ethics matter, professional courtesy isn’t dead and also the Las Vegas Review-Journal sucks. We all deserve better. It’s the “paper of record.” Yes, in quotation marks, but still.

Anyway, the Bellagio buffet is closing and will be replaced by a food court. Timeline unknown.

Buffets are sort of a holdover from an era when Las Vegas was trying to be “everything to everyone.” It was also a time when gambling revenue subsidized just about everything at a resort. Shows, restaurants, the whole nine. At one time, gambling revenue even made it possible for guests to park for free. Crazy but true.

Update (8/19/24): We heard back from MGM Resorts and the company says The Buffet at Bellagio will not close. It is odd employees of both Bellagio and Cosmopolitan are telling guests these buffets will close, but MGM Resorts has no reason to misrepresent their plans (unless it’s to retain employees). Here’s what an MGM Resorts rep said via e-mail: “Bellagio Buffet will not close. As of May, dinner service was added on Saturday and Sunday from 1:00 p.m. to 8 p.m., along with daily brunch programming, as the venue continues to be a popular culinary destination for guests and visitors.” You are still free to ridicule the Las Vegas Review-Journal. They were giddy this rumor was shot down. We share what we hear. If you want to be right most of the time, don’t do anything interesting.

The post Rumor: The Buffet at Bellagio to Close for Food Hall appeared first on Vital Vegas.

We don’t really get pop-up things, especially pop-up restaurants. Pop-up restaurants are like restaurants, but with commitment issues.

Something we know absolutely nothing about.

Anyway, a pop-up restaurant, Four Sixes Ranch Steakhouse, is set to open Sep. 16, 2024 at Wynn Las Vegas.

The restaurant will be located at Tableau in the Wynn Tower Suites, whatever those might actually be.

Here are some words from the news release: “Spanning more than 260,000 acres in Northern Texas, the Four Sixes Ranch is a prominent leader in high quality beef production, strategic land stewardship and raising of the world’s most sought-after ranch horses for cowboys who travel miles across pastures, rolling hills and rocky terrain.”

None of these words answer the most important question: Will the eight ounce filet break the $100 mark?

For the pop-up concept, Wynn is partnering with Taylor Sheridan, “the ranch owner known for creating ‘Yellowstone,’ ‘1883’ and ‘1923,’ [who] has reignited the spirit of the American West with a deep respect for heritage through his compelling narratives.”

Sheridan’s real name is Sheridan Taylor Gibler Jr., which is a terrible name for a cowboy unless that cowboy enjoys being endlessly taunted by other cowboys.

Sheridan learned how to be a cowboy from his frequent childhood visits to a Texas ranch in Cranfills Gap, which sounds a lot dirtier than it really is.

Beyond his rootin’ tootin’ cowboy projects. Sheridan also wrote “Sicario,” which was excellent.

In interviews, Sheridan has said he has an “allergy to exposition,” which makes him instantly likeable.

Wynn has a longstanding partnership with Taylor Sheridan and David Glasser, producer of “Yellowstone.”

Here’s more about the Four Sixes Steakhouse: “The Four Sixes Ranch Steakhouse menu, led by chef David Middleton, will focus on prime steaks and cuts from Four Sixes Ranch and American classic cocktails and decadent desserts. The curated menu mirrors that of a boutique steakhouse and places emphasis on ingredients local to Texas. Bold, fiery flavors are found throughout many of the signature dishes.”

They keep dancing around the filet price, but that’s fine, we’ve already girded our sirloins.

Chef David Middleton was the Executive Chef at Lakeside, which is being replaced by Fiola Mare in 2025. Middleton was previously Executive Chef of the beloved Marche Bacchus in Summerlin.

Read this blurb from the news release while we look up the origin of the name “Four Sixes”: “Menu highlights will include a showstopping Caviar Tower, served with potato tots, kettle chips, brioche toast, country fried chicken tenders, chive crema, deviled quail eggs, lemon zest, parsley and bacon bits; Tableside Prime Beef Tartare prepared with grilled shallots, serrano peppers, mustard, and housemade Texas corn tortillas chips; a signature cut 6666’s Branded 28-ounce Cowboy Steak; a full breed wagyu cattle 40-ounce Tomahawk Steak carved tableside; and a Tumbleweed Banana Pudding with vanilla wafers, butterscotch custard, and spun sugar.”

Sorry, we got a cramp removing all the superfluous Oxford commas.

It seems there’s a Four Sixes Ranch in Guthrie, Texas that inspired the name of the restaurant. The myth is the ranch was named after a winning poker hand (four sixes), but the name actually comes from the first herd the ranch’s original owner, Samuel Burk Burnett, raised there, branded “6666.”

The beverage program at Four Sixes will be led by one of our favorite Las Vegas boozologists, Mariena Mercer Boarini.

The drink menu will feature “an array of specialty craft cocktails including the Campfire Old Fashioned, smoked tableside on a whiskey barrel stove, made with Buffalo Trace Bourbon, charred sweet corn and Merchant’s Exchange orange bitters; Wide Open Spaces, a play on the trending ‘Ranch Water’ cocktail made with Don Julio Blanco Tequila, lime, housemade watermelon soda and cilantro-spiced salt served in a soda siphon; and the Honky Tonk, a spicy margarita made with Casamigos Reposado Tequila, jalapeno, prickly pear, lime, organic agave nectar and 6666 Ranch’s ‘Taylor Sheridan’ cowboy salt.”

Fun fact: Mariena Mercer Boarini invented Cosmopolitan’s Verbena cocktail, a drink nearly as famous as Cosmopolitan itself.

Four Sixes Ranch Steakhouse will serve nightly from 5:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, 5:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

Learn more or make a reservation on the Wynn Las Vegas Web site.

Will Four Sixes Steakhouse stick around? Not without an O.K. Corral type throwdown with the resort’s beloved SW Steakhouse.

By the way, the gunfight at the O.K. Corral lasted 30 seconds.

Something we know absolutely nothing about.

The post Four Sixes Ranch Steakhouse Pop-Up is Coming to Wynn appeared first on Vital Vegas.

You can never have too much golf, apparently.

Swingers Las Vegas, a new golf-themed lounge and restaurant at Mandalay Bay, has set an opening date: November 8, 2024. That’s the news. All of it.

Yes, it’s a slow news day.

Swingers will cost $50 million and encompass 40,000-square-feet with multiple bars, minigolf, food and something called the “Swingers Arcade.”

Which we’re pretty sure is going to lead to a lot of disappointment in the swingers community.

The new venue will be inspired by an English country estate, although nobody’s really sure why.

The news release does say, “As guests enjoy the venue, the country house will come alive with double-height, animated projection mapping that changes from day to night and with the seasons, transporting guests to the bucolic English countryside and setting the scene for the ultimate house party.”

“Bucolic”? Why bring up a plague, or possibly babies crying? Weird marketing.

According to the official announcement of the opening date, Swingers Las Vegas will feature: “Crazy Golf Courses” (four golf courses across three floors, each featuring its own layout), “Caddies with Cocktails” (guest can purchase drinks from caddies going hole to hole), “Bars and Beats” (Swingers’ Sunken Garden, main level; Estate Bar will span the length of the venue; The Clubhouse, upper level), “Street Food Eats” (food), “Swingers Carnival” (old-school games, points can be earned at the Swingers Carnival and used to redeem an array of prizes that will take guests back to their childhood) and “New Vegas Nightlife” (DJs).

Swingers is described as being “located only steps away from the Mandalay Bay parking garage entrance.” That’s the former Light nightclub space. You can see S Bar in the background.

Here’s the official Swingers site.

Because this story doesn’t feel enough about us, here’s the previous version of the Swingers.

In our original story about Swingers, we pointed out some nuances in the rendering. To the credit of Swingers, they appear to have adjusted the rendering accordingly.

Opportunities to smack balls abound in Las Vegas. There’s the O.G. Topgolf near MGM Grand, Atomic Golf at Strat and PopStroke at Town Square, a mall five minutes south of the Las Vegas sign.

Have golf venues hit their expiration date? Read more about how Topgolf is struggling.

We were going to predict tough times for Swingers, given the over-abundance of “interactive, immersive, competitive socializing” offerings in Las Vegas at the moment, but our crystal ball has been off ever since Play Playground opened at Luxor and made us look like a clueless idiot. The place is printing money.

Companies with deep pockets continue to take big swings with venues like Atomic Golf. That complex at Strat cost $75 million to build.

These venues aren’t really about sports. They’re lounges and restaurants with sports activities to give people something to do and talk about.

You can throw darts at Flight Club at Venetian or throw axes at places like Axehole at Neonopolis and Dueling Axes at Area 15.

That was a shorter list than we thought it would be, but we’re exhausted from padding this story and don’t have the time or energy to Google anything. You get the idea.

Longtime Vegas obsessives will recall there was a short-lived (it survived about a year) Swingers Club minigolf bar at Plaza back in 2011. That was the brainchild of Anthony Cools, a comedy-hypnotist who now seems to be enjoying retirement. Swingers Club became the similarly short-lived The Drink. Plaza’s Sand Dollar has fared much better without golf, but it does have pool tables.

Minigolf is a tried-and-true way to spend an evening without breaking the bank, along with not having to be interesting or a good conversationalist.

It’s fascinating such venues are opening in and near casinos, as back in the day, casinos did everything they could to avoid customers doing anything but gamble. That’s why Las Vegas shows are shorter than other places. Shows can actually be penalized for running long, as it keeps gamblers away from the tables and machines.

Today, casinos are very interested in margins and monetizing idle spaces, and rent for a venue like Swingers is substantial. Attractions can draw bodies to a resort, some of whom might not have visited otherwise. Such attractions also appeal to a younger customer demographic, something casinos are very interested in given their core customer base is aging and dying off. Sorry, maturing and dwindling in size. It’s the circle of life!

We are not really a golf (or socializing) person, but we love TopGolf and Atomic Golf, so we’ll definitely give Swingers a go. There’s something for everyone in Las Vegas, and if you can’t beat ’em, you may as well join the club.

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Royal Britannia Gastro Pub has closed at Venetian. Technically, in the Grand Canal Shoppes at Venetian.

We probably wouldn’t be writing about this had we not strolled by the other day and taken a photo.

Prior to closing, staff informed customers the pub would be replaced with a Fogo de Chao, which you have probably been mispronouncing.

The Royal Britannia Gastro Pub had its fans, but it was a bit tough to find deep in the bowels of the sprawling Grand Canal Shoppes. Maybe not the bowels, but certainly the small intestine, also known as the “west wing.”

It was next to Smith & Wollensky.

Royal Britannia served its takes on British food, which might have been part of the problem right there, all due respect.

The pub also served bespoke scotches and whiskeys. All scotches are whiskey, but not the other way around. This is literally the full extent of our knowledge of scotches and whiskeys, except to say bourbon is also a whiskey and also that we sometimes misuse the word “literally.”

All the pub signs are gone, but a few remnants of Royal Britannia Gastro Pub remain.

Here’s a peek inside the gutted pub. Which, honestly, would make a great name for a pub.

As for what’s next, the rumored Fogo de Chao, sometimes with a squiggly line over the “a,” is all about the meat.

The Brazilian steakhouse is pronounced “fo-go dee shown,” but they let even uncultured customers in.

Here’s another story we wrote about Fogo de Chao. You’re still saying it wrong in your head! Give it time.

Another popular British pub in Las Vegas closed recently, Crown & Anchor.

Is this a trend? No, weirdo. Not everything is a trend.

You can still get great fish and chips. Try Gordon Ramsay Fish & Chips at The Linq, McMullan’s Irish Pub near The Orleans and the Village Pub at Ellis Island.

Ketchup, not tartar sauce, weirdo.

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The infamous McDonald’s at The D in downtown Las Vegas is set to close Aug. 25, 2024.

The closure of a fast food restaurant wouldn’t typically warrant a story on a blog of this undeniable magnificence, but the shuttering of this particular McDonald’s is newsworthy for reasons you won’t get from those shitheads at the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Sorry, we’re still agog at their overt and shameless theft of our story about layoffs at Rio. And a million other scoops over the years.

Essentially, The D has bought out the McDonald’s lease. We haven’t heard an exact number, but understand it’s really, really big. Cue the sad clown.

For some backstory, McDonald’s has been around since The D was Fitzgerald’s. The restaurant, possibly in quotes, was inherited by Derek and Greg Stevens when they bought the place in 2011. Derek Stevens owns 78% of the casino, Greg Stevens owns 22%.

The Stevens also own Circa, Golden Gate and the Downtown Events Center.

From day one, the McDonald’s at The D (just inside the casino entrance from Fremont Street and directly behind the casino’s Longbar) has been a thorn in the side of The D’s owners and employees.

Here’s a look inside. In the video, we say McDonald’s closes in September. That’s the date they have to be gone: Sep. 2, 2024. The last day to get your McCoronary or whatever is Aug. 25, 2024.

This McDonald’s has been a magnet for vagrants and panhandlers and tweakers (and others with substance abuse or mental health challenges) and the domicile-challenged and an often seedy element. And us when we’re hangry, but mostly those other people.

The McDonald’s at The D is corporate owned, which means they pretty much grind out as much profit as possible with little attention to quality or service, and give exactly zero thought to augmenting the casino guest experience. It’s all take, zero give.

Vagrants and others use the McDonald’s as a way to enter the casino when they’d typically be kicked out.

We actually heard one particularly charming street person (with B.O. that could peel paint, apparently) told an executive at The D while standing just inside the entrance to McDonald’s, “I’m allowed to be here, I have money.” There was also an f-bomb between each of the words in that quote. The individual had three giant bags of personal possessions with him, contents unknown.

While one can certainly feel compassion for someone down on their luck, one can also sympathize with a casino trying to create a positive experience for their customers, which doesn’t typically include threatening behavior, obscenities, soiled clothing or a wide variety of bodily odors.

The desire to kick this McDonald’s to the curb has been talked about for years, but the lease seemed unbreakable, stretching into the future for decades.

Finally, a deal was reached, with many terms of the agreement confidential.

As mentioned, this McDonald’s is contractually obligated to get out by Sep. 2, 2024 at 8:00 p.m. The restaurant decided to pull the plug early, and has already absorbed some of the employees into other locations, we’re told.

The McDonald’s team member who told us about the closing date of Aug. 25, 2024 seemed resigned to his fate.

During our visit, we paused our dogged investigative journalism to have a final ice cream cone.

If this whole scenario sounds familiar, it’s because Plaza recently booted its McDonald’s as well, for many of the same reasons The D wanted the store out.

McDonald's is done at Plaza. "Sonofa!" ~The D https://t.co/bDqiW9vGrK

— Vital Vegas (@VitalVegas) December 19, 2023

While a McDonald’s can draw foot traffic to a venue, that traffic doesn’t translate into a desirable customer for the casino.

The McDonald’s at Plaza had a lot of patrons who just got off the bus at the now-closed Greyhound bus station a few feet away. We are not judging people who take busses, at all. Buses do, however, sometimes transport questionable characters. They would often make a beeline to the McDonald’s. It also attracted transients, along with those recently released from the Clark County Detention Center. It’s less than two blocks from Fremont Street. Good times, and awkward, so nobody really talks about it for fear of cancellation.

Anyway, we’re saying all this in as diplomatic a way as possible, but downtown has a lot of challenges. We are a longtime bleeding heart, and homeless advocate. We used to take portraits of the homeless to raise awareness of their plight on and around Fremont Street. We clench when people sometimes call these folks “bums.” The fact is we aren’t doing enough to help, on the city, county or federal level. That doesn’t change the fact the homeless don’t make places like Fremont Street better. They sometimes make a visit more memorable, but not in a good way. We have the luxury of compassion because we don’t have any skin in the game. We don’t have millions of dollars invested in a casino or payroll to make.

Law enforcement and our elected officials (such as our City of Las Vegas Councilpersons) often don’t do a great job of helping businesses deal with their various headaches. Whenever ordinances are proposed to help alleviate some of the problems, the ACLU jumps in and reminds everyone Fremont Street is a public street and panhandling is a First Amendment right of some sort. You won’t find the homeless or tweakers or convicts roaming The Park or Linq promenade on The Strip, they’re private property. Security and law enforcement can show people the figurative door as they see fit, and the operators can do quality control on any buskers. Downtown, casinos only control who’s on the stages. The buskers enter a lottery for performance circles on the street, and there’s zero quality control.

An important aside: Please don’t let your kids take photos with costumed characters. That’s all we’re going to say about that. Also beware of the showgirl photo ops. They can’t legally charge you for a photo, but they certainly make the completely voluntary tips sound required. Tip $5 and keep moving.

The discussion about what we’re collectively doing (or not) for the poor and mentally ill is complicated and nuanced, so we definitely aren’t interested in stepping into that minefield. We are a humor-based blog, in case that were not evident based upon, you know, the lack of things you find humorous.

We tend to lean toward the position of downtown casinos (we worked in digital marketing at Fremont Street Experience, the marketing arm of the casinos along Fremont Street): They pay the lion’s share of what makes Fremont Street unique and popular (including maintenance, security and live entertainment, etc.), they should be able to operate their businesses without being hamstrung. That includes flexibility and leeway in dealing with the homeless, people with substance abuse and mental health issues, and buskers banging on pickle drums or weaving palm fronds outside their doors.

There are plenty of other places to take care of your drunchies on Fremont Street. The D will now, at long last, be free of McDonald’s.

We asked Derek Stevens to comment on this story, but he declined. That has non-disparagement clause written all over it, but we will accommodate his “no comment.”

Nobody really has to make a statement. You just have to watch how many times a night the bartenders at Longbar have to tell drunk people they can’t eat their McDonald’s meal at the bar.

We’ll keep digging to try and find out how much this lease buy-out cost, but we’re pretty sure it was about as much as The D cost. It means that much to have it gone.

We’ll also keep poking to try and find out what The D will do with the McDonald’s space once it’s vacant. It’s oddly positioned, and has weird glass windows that don’t really fit with a casino’s mojo. (Casinos often don’t have windows so patrons presumably will lose track of time. It’s probably a myth now, but that was always a fun yarn.)

We’re pretty sure the area will be reclaimed and be an expansion of the casino, just as La Bayou was acquired and became a part of Golden Gate.

Or Longbar could just wrap around the wall and be rebranded Longerbar. We should probably put a “TM” after that, but we give our genius freely when it comes to making our favorite places better.

The more video poker the better, we say.

Here’s some history about The D (formerly Sundance) and the McDonald’s that became part of Fitzgerald’s in the 1990s. They were probably annoyed by it as well.

We will miss our occasional McDonald’s cones, but the closure of the McDonald’s at The D is far more important than our own personal indulgences. Especially because Derek and Greg Stevens can now revel in their longtime dream of being free of the yoke of the once-revered McDonald’s brand, despite the fact we’re pretty sure Greg Stevens is in physical pain at seeing how much this is going to cost. (He mostly works in Detroit, so he doesn’t see all the colorful characters/asshats every day as Derek Stevens and his team do.)

If the Stevens go with another restaurant in the McDonald’s space at The D, we’re up for that, too. Just not sushi, please. Sushi is weird and also attracts an undesirable crowd. All due respect.

Update (8/26/24): The McDonald’s at The D has permanently closed.

The post Shocker: McDonald’s to Close at The D, Here’s Why It’s a Big Deal appeared first on Vital Vegas.