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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.

[Editor’s Note: This is a guest review from friend of LVA George Antanakos.]

The closing of Chinglish out at Charleston and Rampart did away with the best dumplings and dipping sauce in the city and sent me on a hunt for dim sum outside of Chinatown.

Enter Lucky House Seafood Restaurant. Located on Durango just south of Flamingo, it opened early this year and as soon as I walked in, I knew it was authentic: Several gorgeous golden-brown roasted ducks hang near the entrance. Also, it’s a great sign when I’m one of the only non-Asians in the place and it was busy on a random Wednesday at 2 p.m., not exactly prime time.

We ordered up the dim sum and tried a couple of other dishes. We found the truffle and regular siu mai ($6 and $7, respectively) above average, but couldn’t tell the difference, so the regular is the play. The true dim sum stars at Lucky House are the shrimp; the har gow and shrimp-and-chive dumplings were sublime.

We also ordered the “roasted pork” entrée, which is actually pork belly. If you like juicy fatty belly with perfectly crispy skin, this is the dish for you. The kung pao chicken was the big surprise. It’s usually a disappointment, even in Chinatown, but at Lucky House, I tried unsuccessfully to recall another kung pao that even came close. I’m not easily impressed, but this is a must-eat version.

The bill came to $78.03 with tax, but not tip.

All in all, Lucky House is an excellent option and a hidden gem, especially if you don’t want to fade the traffic and parking issues in Chinatown.

Junior’s Cheesecake was founded in 1950 in the heart of Brooklyn on Flatbush Avenue (and DeKalb). The original restaurant remains in place 74 years later; Junior’s has four other locations: two in Times Square, one at Foxwoods, and the 300-seat venue that opened at Resorts World in late February in the space formerly occupied by the Kitchen. Junior’s is, essentially, Resorts World’s new coffee shop.

Junior’s is renowned for the best cheesecake in New York City and beyond, with 25 varieties, plus rich and fancy cakes and pies, along with pastries, brownies, cookies, and more.

It’s also a full-service deli and New York-style diner, with a huge menu of breakfast items and soups, salads, sandwiches, steaks, seafood, barbecue, and chef’s specialties.

On our visit, we opted for the cup of soup and half-sandwich ($19.95), in order to try the matzo ball and corned beef. But the half-san comes on a roll (on the menu, it’s actually called a “plain roll”) and you can’t substitute for bread.

We weren’t about to have a Jewish-style-deli corned-beef sandwich on a hamburger bun (it’s against our religion), so we got the full sandwich (also $19.95, with the soup at $7.95).

We snuck a photo of the half-san on a bun from the table next to ours. Pretty weak.

The sandwich was big, as expected, but not among the better corned beefs we’ve known and loved — dry and tasteless. It comes on marbled rye (so much for good Jewish caraway-seeded rye, let alone double baked) and the house-brand mustard was bland. Likewise, the matzo ball was big and light, but the soup was really salty, indicating the lack of chicken-soup finesse. And the $29.15 (before tax and tip) left us even more unimpressed.

We also got a slice of cheesecake to bring back to the office. That did live up to its reputation. Everyone agreed: rich, creamy, sweet with a little tang, firm rather than full of air, with a soft crust. Redemption!

We’ll probably give Junior’s another chance in the breakfast or all-day-dining department, but so far, we’re considering it go-to place for a decadent dessert.