Las Vegas’ newest food hall, the Canteen at the Rio has opened. It has some interesting outlets and we’ll eventually try them all, but we wanted to get one in right away,, so where to start? Easy choice. Everyone’s crowing about Tender Crush having the best chicken tenders (we call them fingers) in town. Really? Better than the Crown & Anchors? OK, let’s find out.
Canteen Food Hall
First the venue. The Canteen Food Hall is in part of the space that was the Carnival World Buffet. Not the entire space—the buffet was huge—but on a big part of the footprint, right across from the sports book. There’s seating if you want to eat there or you can take out. Ordering is easy. They even accept cash (what?). They take your cell number and text when the order is ready, so you can mosey over to the book to watch a game or play a bit if you like.
Tenders
The tenders come crispy or grilled, three to an order for $10. Then there are about 10 choices of dipping sauce that are $2 each. Or you can have them tossed in a sauce for $12. There’s also a crispy chicken sandwich, also $10. We opted for the crispy tenders straight up and the sandwich. So what do you dip chicken fingers in? If you’re like us, you dip ’em in hot sauce and ranch dressing. But of the nine sauces available—Harlem hot sauce, lime honey mustard, bird pepper, etc.—there was no ranch. We settled for the closest thing, buttermilk dill.
More
They also serve kale, beans, and mac ‘n’ cheese sides ($7), fries ($5), New York drafts ($9), and a “Coney Island Cooler” made from vodka, tequila, and rum ($15). That Cooler sounds good, but we didn’t partake.
Verdict
These are good fingers. Big ones (three is plenty) and made from real chicken breast. Less than awesome is the breading: tasty, yes, but made from cornmeal we think with no crunch at all, which is important. And buttermilk dill is OK, but we prefer ranch. We like and recommend these, but not over Crown’s. Oh, the sandwich is good, too. On to the next at Canteen. Tony Luke’s cheesesteaks anyone?
When is the online coupon for the Rio coming for no resort fee?
Any day. The hold-up is getting the process programmed in their system. Almost certainly sometime next week.