Category: Neon Feast

It’s early Monday evening, shortly before the start of a sold-out dinner service, and the kitchen at Echo & Rig’s Henderson location is already humming. The team is preparing for the opening night of a new Monday series. It’s called Chef’s Table – a more inclusive version of a coveted dining experience.

Instead of a traditional chef’s table, usually reserved for V.I.P.s and often tucked into a corner of the kitchen, this one takes over the entire restaurant.

“Every table is a chef’s table,” says chef/owner Sam Marvin. “Everyone eats the same thing.”

The concept is simple, but ambitious: a single, curated menu served to the full room, designed to deliver an exclusive, chef-driven experience. Here, it’s scaled up to roughly 200 seats — and priced to bring people out on a night when most restaurants struggle.

The debut dinner, a steak frites–style supper, is priced at $55 per person and leans heavily on value. It begins with an amuse-bouche — house-cured Wagyu pastrami on pumpernickel — followed by unlimited Caesar salad, a 12-ounce fullblood American Wagyu New York strip, unlimited Kennebec fries, and a berry cobbler with vanilla ice cream.

The steak is the centerpiece, sourced from a New York–based producer and new supplier for Echo & Rig.

“I’ve never seen American Wagyu that looks like this,” he says. “It’s off the charts.”

That kind of product is typically associated with much higher price points — a fact Marvin leans into when describing the series. At many Las Vegas steakhouses, even off-Strip, a lesser steak served a la carte can approach or exceed the full cost of this meal.

Chef’s Table is not a one-night experiment. The series will continue on select Mondays throughout the year, each built around a new theme, with the entire restaurant sharing the same menu and experience.

The next dinner, scheduled for April 20, is expected to focus on seafood, with Marvin working closely with longtime vendors to source premium product and maintain the same value-driven approach.

“I’m able to leverage relationships I’ve had for 35 years,” he says. “We’re bringing in things people can’t imagine — at a fraction of the cost.”

Optional add-ons for the debut dinner — including shrimp cocktail, mac and cheese, and spinach — along with curated cocktails and wine pairings, allow guests to customize the experience. But the core idea remains unchanged: one menu, one night, one shared table.

If the concept catches on, Marvin says the goal is to build toward more frequent events, potentially turning Monday into a signature night for the restaurant.

In a city where steakhouses have become prohibitively expensive, Chef’s Table flips the script — offering a full steakhouse experience at a price point designed to fill the room.

You can hear Sam Marvin discussing the Chef’s Table series on the April 3 episode of the Food and Loathing podcast.

There’s nothing like a good smashburger — thin patties pressed hard onto a hot griddle to create a deep, crispy sear and plenty of texture. The classic toppings haven’t changed much over the years: onions, lettuce, tomato, ketchup, mustard. No foie gras, no balsamic drizzles — just the fundamentals.

For decades, smashburgers were largely the domain of burger stands, drive-ins, and fast-food chains, while “serious” restaurants leaned into thick steakhouse-style burgers built from premium cuts and luxury add-ons. But in recent years, the smashburger has made a full comeback, becoming one of the defining burger styles of the 2020s.

Las Vegas has always been a great burger town, and today the city offers standout examples in every style. Increasingly, though, smashburgers are showing up on best-of lists — including ours — coming from everywhere from fine-dining kitchens and casino food halls to neighborhood bars and late-night hangouts, with chefs of all stripes embracing their nostalgic appeal.

So if you’re craving thin, juicy patties with crispy edges and the flavors you grew up loving, start with these spots.

Ada’s

Ada’s has always been the most playful and free-form of Chef James Trees’ Arts District restaurants, and its burger fits that spirit perfectly. Created by a cook in the kitchen rather than designed as a signature showpiece, the Royale with Cheese takes its name from a famous Pulp Fiction exchange and wears its influences lightly. Two thin patties are stacked with melted cheese, crispy onions, shredded lettuce, and classic burger toppings, delivering plenty of crust and balance without unnecessary flourishes. It’s a smashburger in attitude as much as technique — unfussy, indulgent, and deeply satisfying.

Hard Hat Lounge / Stay Tuned Burgers

The Hard Hat Lounge is a true blue-collar dive bar with decades of history, open 24 hours a day since 1962 and proudly catering to a working-class crowd. Since musician Frank Sidoris took over in 2023, the bar has kept its gritty charm while staying current — and it’s now also home to Stay Tuned Burgers, a smashburger concept that built its reputation at the former Vegas Test Kitchen. The burgers have earned praise from chefs and local food insiders alike, thanks to their crisp-edged patties and no-frills execution. Cheap drinks, daily happy hour, and standout smashburgers make this a rare spot where great food and true dive-bar energy coexist.

In Limbo

In Limbo is the roaming smashburger project from Chef Steve Lee, which began as a low-profile ghost kitchen before finding a wider audience through pop-ups around the valley. These days, the most reliable place to catch it is Durango Social Club, where In Limbo runs a regular weekday lunch pop-up, as well as every Tuesday night at Petite Boheme in the Arts District. The menu is intentionally stripped down, focusing on double smashburgers built for crisp edges and bold flavor, including a pickle-and-grilled-onion version and a jalapeño bacon option with onion jam. It’s a straightforward, affordable approach that lets the smashburger speak for itself — wherever it happens to land next.

Naughty Patty’s

Created specifically for Block 16 Urban Food Hall at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, Naughty Patty’s fills a long-standing burger gap with a smashburger designed from the ground up. The patties are a custom blend of ground chuck and brisket, smashed hard on the griddle for crisp edges and a juicy center. Every element — from the bun and sauces to the fries — was carefully dialed in through extensive testing. Burgers are the main attraction, but crispy fries with dipping sauces and rich frozen custard concretes round out the menu, making this a satisfying option whether you’re fueling up late at night or grabbing a quick Strip-side indulgence.

Stubborn Seed

At a restaurant best known for ambitious tasting menus, a smashburger might seem like an unlikely standout — but at Stubborn Seed in Resorts World Las Vegas, it’s one of the most quietly satisfying things you can order. JJ’s Guilty Pleasure Burger appears on the à la carte menu at this Michelin-starred concept from Miami, where precision and restraint carry over even into comfort food. Two 3-ounce onion-smashed patties develop deeply crisp edges while staying juicy, layered with smoked beef bacon, American cheese, crispy onions, and a rich, beefy crave sauce. Everything is anchored by a Martin’s potato bun that lets the burger shine. It’s a reminder that even in a fine-dining kitchen, a properly executed smashburger can hold its own.

With Love, Always

Expect long lines at With Love, Always, which built its following in Centennial Hills and has since added a second location in the Southwest Valley at the Bend, one of the city’s newest mixed-use developments. The menu is intentionally tight, with three burgers that are nearly identical at their core: two thin, smashed Black Angus patties on a Martin’s potato roll. The real choices come down to Love Sauce or ketchup and mustard, and whether you prefer raw onions or onions smashed directly into the griddle with the beef. Fries are cooked in beef tallow, dessert comes in the form of soft-serve cones dipped in hard candy shells, and beer and bubbles round out the experience.

Las Vegas dining didn’t move in a single direction in 2025. While Strip casinos leaned harder into luxury and high-profile experiences, neighborhood restaurants told a very different story — one shaped by geography, resilience, and a growing emphasis on permanence over novelty.

Rather than offering a traditional year-end list of the “Best Restaurants,” this series looks at what the year’s most significant openings reveal about larger trends. (You can find recommendations in over 100 categories at Neon Feast.) When put in the proper context, new openings say a lot about where their neighborhoods are headed — or would like to be.

This second installment focuses on neighborhood dining, where the biggest developments clustered in specific areas rather than across the city as a whole. From the accelerating maturation of the Arts District, to Carson Avenue’s slow recovery from prolonged construction, to the explosive growth of The Bend, these pockets of activity reveal how off-Strip dining continues to evolve — often in ways that feel more grounded and more local than anything happening on Las Vegas Boulevard.

The Arts District

As Arts District development accelerates at a breakneck pace, the neighborhood continues to grow as a drinking and dining destination for both visitors and residents. And while its footprint has expanded in all directions, the heart and soul remain the five blocks of Main Street between Wyoming Avenue and Charleston Boulevard.

The Las Vegas–born Holsteins, which operated for 15 years in The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas before shuttering in May of 2024, has brought its gourmet burgers and boozy shakes to a Main Street location between Velveteen Rabbit and Good Pie.

Downtown pioneers Jerad Howard (Vesta Coffee) and Dan Coughlin (Le Thai, 8 East) have joined forces to channel the essence of their favorite Utah snowboarding bar at Viking Mike’s Alpine Yurt Bar, on the corner of Main Street and Utah Avenue.

Chef Natalie Young has closed Eat on Carson Avenue to focus on Echo Taste and Sound — an audiophile’s dream listening lounge that doubles as a restaurant and bar, on the ground floor of the Colorado Building at the corner of Main Street and Colorado Avenue.

And the chef who put this neighborhood on the culinary map has made major moves to consolidate much of his growing empire within a few blocks of where it started. After moving Esther’s Kitchen to a larger location in 2024, Chef James Trees made some serious moves over the past 12 months. His gorgeous French bistro Bar Boheme joined its smaller sister bar, Petite Boheme, on Main Street and Imperial Avenue. And his experimental Ada’s Food & Wine relocated from Tivoli Village to the original Esther’s Kitchen space on Imperial Avenue.

Fremont East / Carson Avenue

Carson Avenue has long been the unofficial Restaurant Row of the Fremont East District. Unfortunately, the city’s plans to make that title official have been delayed, in part due to continuing construction to prepare the street for a new bus route. As a result, it’s been a tough couple of years for the neighborhood.

Neighborhood stalwarts 7th & Carson and Carson Kitchen have carried on through the construction and continue to be two of the area’s best restaurants. This year, however, they’ve gotten some new neighbors that are worth noting — many replacing spots that couldn’t wait out the construction.

The San Diego–based Sayulitas chain has replaced the plant-based VegeNation, blending Mexican and Filipino flavors in what it affectionately refers to as “Big Ass Burritos.” And the Colorado-based Chili Shack has taken over the space at Carson Avenue and 7th Street that previously housed Eat by Chef Natalie Young.

A block to the west, the renovation of the old Post Office building continued this year, with a pair of Las Vegas–based operations joining its culinary lineup. Pachi Pachi is a truly unique jungle-themed concept restaurant designed by the man who created The Golden Tiki, offering some truly Instagrammable dishes (try the Ghost Noodles) and décor (pose in front of the giant pachinko machine). Just next door, Baguette Café brings the French breakfasts, sandwiches, and parties that have made it a hit at locations in Henderson and the Southwest.

The Bend

The area surrounding the curve in Interstate 215, between Durango Drive and Sunset Road, exploded onto the culinary scene in 2023 and 2024, thanks to impressive restaurant collections at both Durango Resort and the UnCommons development. But 2025 brought it to a new level, as The Bend — located just across the freeway from those two — brought a huge collection of restaurants and bars online.

Butcher and Thief — Carson Kitchen co-creator Cory Harwell offering a steakhouse experience at family-friendly prices.

Evolve Brewing — the first brewery from the Aces & Ales craft bar chain.

Freed’s Dessert Shop — sweet treats from the famed Las Vegas bakery.

Marafuku Ramen — a San Francisco–based chain specializing in Japanese noodles and bar snacks.

St. Felix Las Vegas — a Hollywood import that combines nightlife and dining for the party crowd.

Union Biscuit — a locally owned breakfast and lunch spot specializing in Southern biscuits and gravy.

With Love, Always — the latest smashburger spot from the Las Vegas–based team that also developed the Sorry, Not Sorry gourmet ice cream chain.

The Great Greek — a local chain offering casual, counter-service Greek cuisine.

Coming Soon — Sliceteria by Metro Pizza

Worth Exploring

While the areas above provided some of the most high-profile neighborhood restaurant openings of the year, they didn’t monopolize the conversation. In fact, the two most exciting off-Strip restaurants of the year, at least in this author’s opinion, opened elsewhere.

When Chef Oscar Amador and his partners decided to close EDO Tapas in Chinatown to focus on other new and existing restaurants, he wasn’t ready to give up the intimate space where it all began. So he converted the Jones Boulevard restaurant into a new solo endeavor. Amador Cocina Fina offers creative and elegant fine dining that draws on Spanish and Latin influences, but is never afraid to surprise its audience. It will likely serve as a workshop for the chef to develop new ideas for the other, larger restaurants he has planned for 2026.

In the Desert Breeze Park neighborhood, Chef Dan Krohmer (Other Mama) decided to shutter his breakfast and lunch restaurant Chamana’s Café in order to create an exciting new concept called Durango Social Club. At times, Krohmer uses it to showcase his latest culinary ideas. But when he’s not in the kitchen, the popup spot/culinary incubator invites guest chefs to showcase their own ideas. In the few short months since it opened, Durango Social Club has hosted a fine-dining residency called Lilli by former French Laundry chef Tyler Vorce, a smashburger takeover by the team at In Limbo, and Toddy Shop – The Little Indian Bar food by Hemant Kishore.

For more on restaurant trends in 2025, please check out:

2025 Restaurant Recap, Part 1: Strip Casinos

2025 Restaurant Recap, Part 3: Off-Strip Casinos

Meet Chef Ellie

As Season 24 of Hell’s Kitchen heats up, Las Vegas has its own hometown contender in the national spotlight: Ellie Parker, the 25-year-old Executive Chef of Main St. Provisions in the Las Vegas Arts District. Representing Nevada in the show’s first-ever Battle of the States, Parker has already survived into the Top 9, impressing Gordon Ramsay and viewers with a blend of technical skill, raw competitiveness, and an unmistakably Vegas-honed work ethic.

But long before she stepped onto a soundstage, Parker told The Food and Loathing Podcast that her path into kitchens began at age 12, when she applied to Northwest Career and Technical Academy’s culinary program.

“I discovered my love for cooking just watching the Food Network as a kid,” she recalled.

Parker graduated high school at the top of her culinary class, went on to study Hospitality at UNLV, and cooked in a string of Strip restaurants — including The Venetian, MB Steak, La Cave, ONE Steakhouse, and The Bedford by Martha Stewart — before finding her home at Main St. Provisions.

After joining MSP in 2022 under Chef Patrick Munster, she rose from line cook to Executive Sous Chef. When Munster left for the Fontainebleau, Parker stepped into the Executive Chef role in early 2025 — a full year ahead of her personal goal. It also made her the first woman to run the kitchen at Main St. Provisions, following in the footsteps of chefs Justin Kingsley Hall, Adrian Garcia, and Munster. With owner Kim Owens maintaining continuity on the restaurant’s identity, Parker has helped shepherd MSP’s evolution into a neighborhood favorite known for steakhouse-driven New American cooking blended with eclectic, seasonal creativity.

A New Season of Hell’s Kitchen — and a New Format

Season 24 premiered in September with a new twist: 50 semi-finalists from across the country fought for 20 spots, each assigned to represent their home state. Ramsay split the kitchen into men vs. women on Day One — a dynamic Parker said she was ready for after years as a woman in a male-dominated field.

“I’ve watched the show since season one,” she said. “This is what he’s always done. But I had never worked with all women before in a kitchen… it was very unique.”

The early episodes also highlighted the emotional rollercoaster of living in an isolated production bubble. “It is very isolating,” she explained. “No phones, no smart watches… nothing. But it kept my head in the game.”

Pre-Season Reflections: ‘The Opportunity of a Lifetime’

When Parker spoke to Food and Loathing shortly before the season premiered, the excitement — and nerves — were clear.

“It’s the weirdest feeling in the world,” she said. “Everyone says they want to be on TV… it’s the opportunity of a lifetime, and I can’t wait for everyone to see what I lived through.”

She also revealed how she was cast: Hell’s Kitchen reached out directly through Main St. Provisions’ social media, not the other way around.

“I couldn’t believe it at first… little me? Why me?” she said. “But now I think it’s the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me.”

Where the Season Stands Now: Top 9 Status and Real Competition

When Parker joined Food and Loathing again after Episode 9 — the last to air before Thanksgiving — she had just made it into the Top 9.

“I didn’t even think I was going to make it this far,” she admitted. “But I’m glad I have.”

The show’s interpersonal tensions, she said, are very real.

“It was like 70% Real Housewives and 30% cooking,” she joked. “At the time, it was true dislike [for certain contestants], real disdain.”

But even in the drama, there were bonds — such as her friendship with vegan chef Carrie Marie, whose elimination hit hard.

On the cooking side, some challenges pushed her far outside her comfort zone. A recent French-cuisine task was “very difficult,” she said, because “I’ve never worked with French cuisine… and there were no thermometers, no clocks. You’re cooking proteins blind.”

What She’s Teased About Future Episodes

Parker was careful not to reveal any true spoilers, but she hinted that upcoming episodes introduce ingredients and tasks she had “never worked with before,” and that at least one major challenge — involving multi-tier baking — was far outside her wheelhouse. (“I am not a baker,” she laughed.)

She also confirmed she would love to win the show’s grand prize: a Head Chef position at Foxwoods Resort Casino. While she loves Las Vegas, she said she’d welcome the chance to broaden her horizons, even joking about discovering last call for the first time during her time in Connecticut.

How to Watch Hell’s Kitchen

Hell’s Kitchen: Battle of the States airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. on FOX (returning December. 4 after the holiday break). Full episodes stream on Hulu the following day.

For more on Ellie Parker, you can hear her conversations on
The Food and Loathing Podcast (links below will be embedded in final draft):

• February 2025 interview (background)
• September 2025 pre-season interview
• November 2025 post-Episode-9 interview

And learn more about Main St. Provisions at:
https://www.neonfeast.com/listing/22020337-main-st-provisions

Visit Main St. Provisions at 1214 S. Main St. in the Arts District