Does the name of this restaurant ring a bell? It might if you’re into politics, as it was where Donald Trump held his rally in Las Vegas when he announced his “no tax on tips” plan. Photos of that event are hanging in the lobby, which is an interesting aside, but the reason we went was to try the Sunday brunch buffet.
Surprise Location
Though we’d heard of Il Toro e La Capra, we didn’t realize until we got there that it had taken over the two-story building at 6435 S. Decatur that was formerly Rhythm Kitchen. It’s an impressive place with dining rooms on both floors. The buffet is served upstairs, a nice setting with a view. There’s a live mariachi band and the buffet is served Sundays (10 am-1 pm), so the TVs were tuned to the NFL games.
Enticing Price
What got our attention, aside from it’s being a rare new buffet to try, was the price: $34 for the buffet, $40 with unlimited sangria and mimosas. That’s an enticing price for a buffet these days and even better is the $6 all-you-can-drink add-on.
The Buffet
So far, so good. What about the food? Uh oh. Let’s get it out of the way right from the start: This is a distinctly low-end spread. Il Toro e La Capra serves a mix of Mexican and Italian food, but it’s almost all Mexican at the buffet, and kind of a strange mix at that. No enchiladas, no tamales, no chili relleno, not even guacamole. Wouldn’t you expect some version of huevos rancheros at a brunch? Nope. In fact, the only eggs presence was steam-tray scrambled. Chicharron verde, fajita fixings with fresh tortillas, chile Colorado, menudo, and nopales (marinated cactus pads) accompany some uninspiring pasta and pizza. They need to do better.
The sangria was good enough that we didn’t veer to the mimosas.
The Verdict
What sounded like a deal isn’t, given the quality of the buffet. There’s an argument that you can make it close with the drinks, but that won’t cut it for most. Maybe if they added some enchiladas and tamales.
Circus Circus – Circus Buffet: This week’s buffet schedule is: Brunch is Tuesday-Sunday, 7 a.m.-2 p.m. for $33.95. Dinner is Tuesday-Sunday, 4:30 p.m.-10 p.m. for $39.99. Prices are higher due to New Year’s Eve.
Westgate – Fresh Buffet: The Crab Leg Brunch was removed. Daily Brunch Buffet is the same time 7 a.m.-2 p.m. for $30 instead of $33.
We stumbled on Downtown Terrace, located on the second floor of a Container Park retail building, and were surprised by what we found. It’s a below-the-radar full-service restaurant and bar with an outdoor patio that overlooks the common area and stage of Container Park, with a view of the 40-foot praying mantis.
In addition, it’s something of foodie scene. We were there between two and three on a Saturday afternoon and the place, both inside and out, was packed with young locals in on the secret.
Open till 7 p.m. daily, starting at 11 a.m. Mon., Tues., and Thurs., and 9 a.m. Wed., Fri., Sat., and Sun., Downtown Terrace serves all-day breakfasts, appetizers, salads, sandwiches, and entrées, all in the $12-$21 range, quite reasonable for what you get. Breakfasts start at two eggs and bacon or sausage ($14) and go up to steak Benedict and two eggs and a bacon burger or chicken fried steak ($19). Salads include Caesars ($14), chicken tostada ($18), and pomegranate-glazed salmon ($19). Caprese or avocado grilled cheese, bacon burger, spicy chicken, and steak sandwiches run $16-$19. And “Just a Little More” shrimp and pasta, blackened salmon, carne asada fries, and lemon chicken entrées go for $18 to $21.
What drew us to Downtown Terrace was the shrimp and salmon ceviche ($17); you don’t often see salmon as a ceviche ingredient. It was as good as we’d hoped, if not better.
If we hadn’t also ordered the chilaquiles (a traditional Mexican breakfast with pieces of corn tortillas cooked in salsa, sprinkled with cheese, and served with eggs and sour cream, also $17), we would’ve been tempted to get another plate of ceviche! The chilaquiles definitely hit the spot and together, they made for an unusual and filling lunch for $36.84 with tax, without tip.
All in all, the foodie scene, good service, reasonable prices, excellent food, and outdoor seating looking over Container Park are plenty to recommend Downtown Terrace — and you’ll feel like you know something that 40 million Las Vegas visitors don’t.
Fat Sal’s, a sandwich shop with six locations in southern California, opened in late October at Neonopolis, which also hosts the Heart Attack Grill. The two are of a kind — guilty pleasures calorie-wise if you’re of a mind to really indulge. A second location for Fat Sal’s has been announced for the Miracle Eats food hall at Miracle Mile Shops, opening shortly.
Fat Sal’s offers Fat sandwiches, such as the Fat Breakfast, with two fried eggs, ham, bacon, sausage, mozzarella sticks, American cheese, and tater tots on a butter-grilled hero ($19); Fat Texas, with pastrami, chicken fingers, bacon, mozzarella sticks, melted mozzarella and cheddar, grilled onions, and fries on a garlic hero ($20); Fat burgers with quarter-pound patties and all kinds of add-ons, such as chicken fingers and mozzarella sticks on the Buffalo chicken ($14.99) and pastrami, chicken fingers, and onion rings on the Pastrami Western ($15.99). Standard burgers are $8.99-$14.99 and heroes are $16-$17 with plenty of Make It Fatter additions for $1 to $7.50. Fat shakes with various combos of ice cream, peanut butter, cheesecake, Oreos, marshmallows, pretzels, and syrup are $13.
Not enough for you? The Big Fat Fatty is a 30-inch (yes, two and half feet long and it weighs 10 pounds) hero with cheesesteak, a double cheeseburger, pastrami, chicken fingers, bacon, mozzarella sticks, fried eggs, fries, onion rings, chili, and marinara. The Big Fat Shake is served with 30 scoops of vanilla and chocolate ice cream each, along with cake, cookies, pretzels, syrup, and whipped cream. They’re both $99.99, but finish the Fatty in 40 minutes or the shake in 10 and they’re free.
Not being into quite that much Fat in our low-metabolism dotage, we tried the standard turkey club with bacon, avocado, lettuce, and tomato on a hero. Frankly, we weren’t expecting much, so we were surprised how good it was. Even without the Fat, it was big enough to make two lunches out of.
Fat Sal’s is all about the kitchen-sink sandwiches and subs, a good gimmick, plus the extensive branding — all the Fat Fat Fat and Sal’s jowly mug, mustache, toque, and shades (a caricature of co-founder Sal Capek, who looks like he tips the scale at around 300) gracing various signs and murals around and outside the joint. It’s clever and fun and popular and the food, at least the little we tried, wasn’t worth going out of the way for, but good enough to sample for the experience.
Note that unless you walk in from somewhere, you’ll pay a minimum of $4 to park in the Fremont Street garage.
We reviewed dinner at the Main Street Station Garden Buffet in the September 2023 issue of the Advisor after trying it on a Friday night in August. The title of the post was “Where Is Everyone?” Here’s how it began: “We arrived right at 6 p.m., thinking we might have to wait in line for 20 to 30 minutes to get into the only downtown buffet, which serves dinner Fri. and Sat. nights only. Au contraire! We didn’t have to wait even 20 seconds. We walked right up to the cashier, paid, and had plate in hand within a minute.” The room remained mostly empty for the next 90 minutes while we were there and we wondered if the buffet might be this empty regularly.
When we stayed at the Plazathe weekend before F1 in November, we were a five-minute walk from Main Street Station, so we determined to check out the line situation at various times.
We started walking over at 1 p.m. on Saturday. No one was in line and not much was happening with an hour to go for brunch, which closes at 2 p.m.
We went back at 4 p.m. for the opening of dinner. This time, the line filled up all three rows of fixed barriers, then stretched to the door; the 70 people or so were handled by two cashiers, one for the VIP line. By 4:15, even with another 25 or so stragglers showing up just after opening, the line was pretty well handled. By six, however, there were two lines, one backed up most of the way to the entrance with people waiting to pay, the other 10 deep after paying and waiting to be seated. The room was pretty full, so tables needed to be cleared before the second line moved. The same pattern repeated on a couple of checks on Sunday evening as well.
Sunday morning we went back and got there right at 8 a.m. to review brunch. Frankly, we weren’t expecting a line that early, so we were a bit surprised that 25 people were ahead of us, almost all hungry Hawaiians (mostly Japanese-Americans). There was only one cashier, but she was very efficient, handling both the VIP and HP (hoi polloi) lines in staggered fashion. By about 8:30, most of the early activity had been handled, but around 9, the later crowd started showing up and the line stayed long until we left at 9:30. Plus, the tables had filled up, so the second line had formed.
Our conclusion? The reason we walked right in to review dinner was that it was a particularly slow weekend night in August. But over a busy weekend in November, the Garden Buffet fills up and the lines get long. For both brunch and dinner, it’s best to arrive as early as you can; for brunch, late is also the better play.
As for the brunch buffet itself, the selection was as extensive as dinner and the quality was about equal, which is to say good enough for downtown’s only buffet.
Being brunch, the salad bar had romaine, spinach, and toppings right next to bagels, lox, sliced tomato, kimchee, namasu (sliced cucumbers and carrots in a light vinegar sauce), and a toaster. Next to cold cereal and milk were six different kinds of pizza and garlic toast, crepes, corned beef hash, pancakes, waffles, and French toast. Steam-table eggs were scrambled plain or with chorizo, along with bacon, sausage, and home fries. The carving station offered ham, chicken, and three kinds of sausage (kielbasa, Italian, and Portuguese). Our cooked-to-order cheese omelet came out in less than a minute.
The lunch food included pulled pork and cabbage, Hawaiian beef stew, fried and shoyu chicken, fish of the day, roasted yams, green-bean casserole, mashed potatoes with turkey gravy, and mac and cheese.
The desserts occupy an entire serving island: self-serve soft chocolate and vanilla with toppings, pies, pastries, puddings, cakes, cookies, muffins, and sugar-free selections.
We went back for seconds and thirds of namasu, a second bagel and lox, pulled pork and mashed, and desserts.
The total price came to $29.95, which in this day and age is quite reasonable for the only Las Vegas buffet within several miles and a decent one at that.
Remember the Bally’s Sterling Brunch? M Resort’s Sunday-only brunch in Anthony’s Prime Steak & Seafood (APS&S) is reminiscent in price ($99) and high-end buffet-style offerings. So reminiscent, in fact, that there was a two-month waiting list when it debuted. The mania has worn off, however, as we were able to book a reservation on two days’ notice. Was there a reason for that?
Getting In
We’d been wanting to try this brunch since we first heard about it in May 2023, but hadn’t because of the wait. It’s served Sundays only in a short window from 11 am to 1:30 pm, so there’s not a lot of availability. On a whim, hoping that things might have calmed down after a year and a half, we called on a Friday night and got a seating for two at 1 pm. (we had a woman who’s bubbly on the phone make the call, so that might have helped). Actually, we’ve heard that walk-ups are now being accepted if there’s an opening, but it’s certainly better to reserve, and the farther ahead the better your chances.
The Selection
Similar to the Sterling Brunch, the APS&S line-up is impressive. A big raw-seafood section includes crab legs and claws, peeled shrimp, lox, and sushi. There’s also a good charcuterie selection, deviled eggs, and different kinds of salads for starters. An egg station cooks omelets to order, and carving stations serve up prime rib, rack of lamb, and beef Wellington. The star of the show? Lobster tails (“roasted”)—all you can eat. Surprisingly few sides (couple kinds of potatoes and asparagus), some pasta, clam chowder and lobster bisque, fresh fruit, and a big dessert selection.
The Sampling
The legs are snow crab, but they’re big snow (blizzard crab?) that aren’t that far off king. The sushi isn’t primo, but it’s not grocery-store level, either. The lobster was a bit overcooked, which is gonna happen the way it’s put out in warm pans after being roasted. We took a tail to the eggs guy who made an excellent omelet out of it (he called it a “Dragon omelet”).
Charcuterie good. Desserts good. Meats mostly too done. Unimpressive eggs Benedict. Best was the raw seafood and the lobster omelet
Versus Sterling
It’s not as good as Bally’s Sterling, which had everything mentioned here and more: caviar, poached lobster, king crab legs, smoked fish, goblets of blueberries and raspberries, and flowing champagne (see “Flaw”). By the way, the Sterling Brunch debuted for $29.99 in the early ‘90s and gradually climbed in price until it topped out at $125 before closing in 2020.
Ambiance/Service
M Resort is beautiful and so is the APS&S room, with big picture windows overlooking the pool and providing a view of Las Vegas (M is elevated). Seating is out in the open, but it’s still a good date atmosphere. Service was excellent. We asked for rare lamb and the server requested it from the kitchen and brought a rack out to the table.
The Fatal Flaw
The big miss? No drinks component. How you put together this kind of offering for $99 and don’t even provide some cheap sparkling wine is beyond us (Sterling served unlimited Laurent-Perrier Brut). They at least have a drinks add-on—unlimited Mimosa’s, maybe—for an additional charge, right? Nope. All drinks come off the regular menu. We had a Heineken ($9) and a Mimosa ($15.85). No drinks at an elaborate Sunday brunch is a major buzz kill.
The Verdict
In Batman Forever, the Riddler (Jim Carrey) says to Two-Face (Tommy Lee Jones), “Your entrance was good, his was better.” That pretty much sums it up for APS&S vs. Sterling. Any way you cut it, this isn’t the Sterling reincarnated. But since there is no more Sterling, APS&S is it for the big brunch splurge, and all in all, we’re OK with the $99 per for what you get. The extra for just two drinks took the bill for two to $222.85, so after tax and tip, it’s $300 for a couple. A bit steep. Still worth it. Note to M: Add a drink component.
The first Norms Restaurant debuted in 1949 near the famed Hollywood corner of Sunset and Vine and has since expanded to 23 locations in southern California — and one in Las Vegas.
The Vegas outpost, on the south side of W. Charleston just east of S. Decatur, opened on October 30. This is as classic a diner as you’ll ever see, with a huge 11-page menu of big food, including steak and eggs, Benedicts, omelets, pancakes, soups, salads, burgers, sandwiches and melts, pasta, chicken and steak dinners, meat loaf, seafood, desserts, and milk shakes. Everything is priced between $11.79 (for the breakfast burrito) and $23.99 (six-ounce sirloin, fried shrimp, and chicken tenders). You can see the entire menu at Norms’ website, complete with prices (rare these days), which they’re obviously proud of and for good reason.
In addition, Norms is open 24 hours, so it’s a great anytime-of-the-day-or-night play. It’s not only a classic, it’s a throwback to when all restaurant meals consisted of what’s now called “comfort food” and these diners were “everything restaurants,” exactly the way it was in the ’50s and ’60s when Norms was making its early mark.
We were curious about the quality and service, so we checked out Norms 10 days after it opened. We were greeted immediately, everyone was authentically friendly, the service was fast, and the food comes out surprisingly quickly. We tried one of the healthiest dinners, blackened salmon. All dinners come with soup and salad, which showed up almost before we were done choosing navy bean or gumbo and the salad dressing. The gumbo was nicely spiced and full of veggies, rice, and sausage. The salmon was decent, the creamed corn was edible, and the baked potato (fries or mashed are the other options) came with butter and sour cream/chives.
Our overall impression was that this is a fine place to fuel up. Rather than a foodies excursion, Norms is more for waitresses, bussers, and dishwashers, with its workman-like atmosphere and working-class crowd. The size of the meals doesn’t compete with, say, the Peppermill, but the prices certainly reflect that; our salmon dinner was $18.99; with tax it came to all of $20.58.
For a new restaurant to open in Las Vegas, this one’s outside the norm (pardon the pun) of what happens around here, a stark contrast to the newest, trendiest, high-priced celebrity-chef haunts. But in another way, it’s also a good example of what happens around here, because everything is happening around here in the food and beverage business and Norms proves the rule.
Angie’s Lobster, with seven restaurants in Phoenix, has come to Las Vegas.
Angie’s is well known in the Valley of the Sun for its $9.99-$10.99 lobster rolls, made possible by Angie’s owning a wharf in Maine, buying lobster and seafood right off the boats, and processing it all in its own plant nearby. Then, Angie’s ships the product to Arizona, and now southern Nevada, in its own reefer trucks. The owners opened their first shop in Phoenix in 2021 after selling Salad & Go, which has 150 locations throughout the Southwest.
We wonder if this is the future of “fast food.” It’s definitely fast and amazingly inexpensive, but it’s several cuts above Carl’s Jr. and KFC; it is lobster after all.
Also, it’s completely cashless. You walk in and go right to one of three ordering screens, which are pretty easy to navigate. The first screen shows you the meals that come with fries and a drink for $12.99. If you want a la carte, you change the screen with a tab on the top nav. Other tabs take you to the drinks and add-ons. If you want a receipt, it’s digital, so you have to input your phone number or email address.
Angie’s menu also features shrimp, snow crab, and cod rolls from $6.49 to $10.99, along with two breakfast rolls (eggs and bacon, eggs and lobster) and French toast ($3.19-$7.99).
We went twice, once when it first opened just to see, the second time to try everything by feeding the office. We were unimpressed with the snow crab roll. We also got four lobster rolls, two chilled, two warm (for $1 extra). Even if you’re eating at Angie’s at one of six tables inside or six outside on the patio, 32 seats altogether, there’s no real reason to get the warmed-up lobster (by the time we got the food back to the office, both were room temperature). We also tried the scallop roll, clam roll, and a side of fried cod ($2.99).
Even with the big order and a busy room at lunchtime, we were in and out of the place in 13 minutes flat. Very efficient and, as we say, fast. The only time you see anyone is when they call your name to pick up your order at the window.
The lobster was a bit mushy, but tasty. The cod was big, firm, and moist, though mostly tasteless, like most whitefish. The clams, however, stole the show. Big, juicy, and tasty, they melt in your mouth — again, surprising for fast food. The scallops are small, but definitely scallopy. Melted butter and tartar sauce come in small sealed plastic bags. The only thing missing are lemon wedges. But the house-made lemonade is an adequate substitute.
For the six rolls a la carte, side of cod, and lemonade, the bill came to just over $63 including tax.
Angie’s is located on the south side of Blue Diamond a half-block east of Decatur.
In our extensive survey of Las Vegas barbecue restaurants a couple of years ago, one of the 10 we reviewed was Braeswood, which billed itself as Tex-Mex BBQ. We loved the smoked carnitas and Creole rice. Unfortunately, Braeswood was locked in a Coke-Pepsi competition, being directly across South Main Street from the uber-popular Soulbelly Barbecue, and didn’t survive. We were sorry when it closed last April.
So when we learned that another south-of-the-border ‘cue joint had opened in Henderson around a year ago, we had high hopes for it and finally got around to trying it.
Humo Barbecue (pronounced “umo”; the “h” is almost always silent in Spanish) is on Sunset Road about a mile east of the airport runway viewing area near the corner of Sandhill. Appropriately meaning “Smoke” in Spanish, Humo is situated in perhaps the most nondescript strip mall you’ve ever seen. The good news is there’s free parking as far as the eye can see.
Humo occupies two storefronts in the center and was crowded with large tables of las familias Latinas on a late Sunday afternoon.
It’s typically colorful, with a wall mural and a couple of interesting signs, two touting the “Mexicue.”
The menu features ribs, brisket, pulled chicken and pork, burnt ends, and barbacoa (one meat/two sides $19, two meat/two sides $26), along with baked potatoes stuffed with brisket, pork, or barbacoa ($16) and tacos ($3), salads and sandwiches ($14-$15), sides such as Hatch-chile mac ‘n’ cheese, chorizo refried beans, potato salad, and street corn, and for dessert flan and churro-banana and bread pudding ($6).
We tried the burnt ends and barbacoa. We don’t often see burnt ends in Vegas, but they’re indicative of the kind of smoking process a barbecue uses; from the fatty end of the brisket, they’re generally cooked longer than the lean meat in order to render the fat, so they’re infused with the smokiness that barbecue aficionados live for. These weren’t that. They weren’t bad, just not up to what we consider the standard. The barbacoa was beef (it can also be lamb and goat) and again, it was okay, just not enough cumin, garlic, and oregano for our taste, so it was bland, plus a bit greasy. For the sides, we got the chorizo refried beans, which were excellent — creamy, mildly spicy, and light — as was the mac ‘n’ cheese, in which the Hatch chiles were plentiful and definitely jazzed up the dish.
For a barbecue place called Smoke, the smoke is mild at best and lacking at worst. We can say that there was plenty of food, enough for two full meals. Still, the bill came to $34 including tax and tip, not a bargain by any means. All in all, we give Humo an A for effort, a B for quality, and a C for value. We wouldn’t go out of our way to return.
Cosmopolitan – Wicked Spoon: Daily Brunch is now 8 a.m.-3 p.m. instead of 8 a.m.-2 p.m. for $47 on weekdays and $54 on weekends.
Excalibur – The Buffet at Excalibur: Weekend Brunch is Friday only instead of Friday – Sunday. Same time 7 a.m.-2 p.m. for $37.99. Now Saturday & Sunday is Mimosa Brunch 7 a.m.-2 p.m. for $43.99.
South Point – Garden Buffet: All buffet prices went up by $1-$3. Breakfast is now $19.95, Lunch is now $24.95, Prime Rib & Champagne Brunch is now $33.95, Prime Rib Dinner is now $33.95, and Seafood Dinner is now $52.95.
