Recent Stories (view all stories)

Small wonder

Raku serves up the best Japanese food this side of Tokyo

Thursday, Sept. 25, 2008

My first reaction to Raku, a Japanese pub restaurant on the western edge of Spring Mountain’s Chinatown, may have been undeservedly restrained.

Waistbands beware

You’ll find the city’s best deep-dish pizza—and calories—at Pie Town Pizza

Thursday, Sept. 18, 2008

Transplants love to bring their native comfort foods with them, as witnessed by the proliferation of restaurants in this Valley from places such as Hawaii and Chicago. I can say that in general, most of them are shadowy approximations of the originals, Xeroxed Xerox copies without a soul, poseurs with faded flavors, made with dodgy ingredients.

Steele yourself

The variety of options at this new tapas restaurant are pretty intimidating

Thursday, Sept. 11, 2008

Seafood paella Velazquez is surprisingly good, even if it does take a full 20 minutes to arrive. The rice is moist and chock-full of shellfish and chorizo. Cuban bites are like sliders in the form of three pint-sized Cuban sandwiches.

A (too) sweet time

The food rocks at Thai-themed Basil 'n Lime, but you may want to tell them to leave the sugar off

Thursday, Sept. 4, 2008

I had two very different experiences at Basil ’n Lime, a charming newcomer on the west side, advertising “Authentic Thai Cuisine” on its outside sign. If you’re not Thai, you’re not a favorite to get much of it, even though the kitchen is capable of producing it.

Erin go blah

McFadden's is short on ambiance and authentic pub food, but, oh!--that Reuben

Thursday, Aug. 21, 2008

The food at McFadden’s, a self-styled Irish pub that originated in New York City before expanding into a national chain, is quite good, although only marginally Irish.

The next big thing

Peru's popular dishes get their due in Henderson

Thursday, Aug. 14, 2008

Some have been touting the cooking of Peru as “the next big thing.” I don’t know if this is true, but I can say that Mi Peru, a South American grill housed in the Henderson space once home to Barbecue Masters, serves the best Peruvian food I’ve yet eaten in Vegas

A new dynasty

Noodle Exchange increases the Gold Coast's reputation for Chinese food

Thursday, Aug. 7, 2008

Who would have imagined the Gold Coast casino would be a hotbed for authentic Chinese cooking? Now the recent opening of Noodle Exchange has thrust it into the forefront of Chinese dining in Vegas, and customers are slowly getting the message.

High-concept classics

Espee's Gourmet Tamales puts a spin on an ancient formula

Thursday, July 31, 2008

When I was a university student, my anthropology professor claimed that the first takeout food in North America was the tamale, or tamal, as it is called in the Nauhatl language of southern Mexico.

Ciao Bella!

La Focaccia may just be the best restaurant we've discovered this year

Thursday, July 24, 2008

You mightn’t know it to look at me, but I occasionally work out at Las Vegas Athletic Club on South Eastern Avenue, and a mere stone’s throw away is one of Vegas’ truly great Italian restaurants, the unassuming La Focaccia.

Food by the Yard

A vast, eclectic menu means no one goes hungry at the Yard House. Oh, and there's beer.

Thursday, July 17, 2008

The network of overhead pipes above you carries the world’s largest selection of draft beers, up to 250 delicious brews. And the menu seems almost as encyclopedic, as if the world’s largest selection of dishes were on hand to accompany them.