Wow. How is it that we never even heard of this place until Yelp named it the number-one brunch restaurant in the entire country? Talk about under the radar.
In May, Yelp compiled its annual list of the 100 top brunch restaurants in the U.S. based on reviews on the site. Though California had the most brunches at 15, followed by Florida (11) and Texas (9), Las Vegas had the number-one-ranked restaurant. Toasted Gastrobrunch moved into the top spot after being ranked #22 last year.
It’s been in business in Las Vegas for five years and has two locations, both out in the western valley near the Beltway (9516 W. Flamingo right at the Beltway and 7345 Arroyo Crossing Parkway just south of the Beltway a bit west of Buffalo), plus three in San Diego.
With that kind of recommendation, we ran out to the one on Flamingo to see what all the fuss was about. We saw!
To start with, it’s an Interesting place, full of farm-animal decor.
The brander/decorator also has a distinct sense of humor.
It also has a seven-seat counter, outdoor patios on two sides, and plenty of tables inside, but the word is out. When we arrived at 11:30 on a Monday morning, Toasted was less than half full, but by the time we left at 12:15, every inside table was taken (the counter had availability).
The menu is extensive and creative to the point of innovative, no mean feat for breakfast/brunch.
Eggs start with the Plain Jane — two eggs, bacon or Portuguese sausage, truffle potatoes, and a roasted half-tomato ($17) — then go off on flights of fancy all the way to Eggs in Purgatory, a sunnyside egg in a sourdough bowl with shakshuka sauce, scallions, and mint ($18). They also come with smoked brisket, veggie, or ABC (avocado, pork belly, and cheddar) hash, steak ($28), just the whites, omelet, and scrambles. Benedict fans (like us) choose from short ribs, fried chicken, regular bacon, and veggie with nut-free pesto hollandaise ($17-$19.50). Then there are four French toasts ($12-$18), four south-of-the-border breakfasts, three toasts including salmon and lobster ($17-$18), plus sandwiches, burgers, and desserts.
The drink menu features eight mimosas, including a four-drink flight ($22), three Bellinis ($11), cocktails, wine, beer, flaming coffees, and all the lattes, capuccinos, and espressos you’d expect.
We went for the regular bacon Benny. The bacon was thick (good), the asparagus was thin (better), the eggs runny (perfect), the English muffins crisp (they barely got soggy throughout the meal), the hollandaise creamy (beautiful), and the roasted half-tomato with parmesan juicy (excellent). It also came with a big bowl of truffle potatos, similar to tater tots, but round, with a stainless-steel cup of ketchup. Trust us when we tell you that it was an astounding meal, both in quality and quantity, and we had to consciously stop ourselves from moaning in culinary rapture from start to finish.
Speaking of finish, we couldn’t. It was a ridiculous amount of food, especially for the price ($18). All the dishes we spied at tables around us were the same. It seems that it doesn’t matter what you order or how big an appetite you have, you probably won’t be able to eat your entire meal.
We can easily see how Yelpers rated Toasted Gastrobrunch the nation’s number one.