Strip dining

I have a trip to Vegas on the horizon. Looking for restaurants that are overrated and overpriced to make me feel good about my return home. What do you suggest?

I recommend the $1 footlong hotdog at the Casino Royal snack bar near the back of the casino. 

The good news is, such restaurants will be very easy to find. Just about anything on the Strip will meet your two criteria (overrated and overpriced) quite handsomely.

I also think that pretty much every aspect of a Vegas trip this summer will make you glad to return home. What happens in Vegas appears on your credit card statement.

The $1 hot dog is overpriced? (I'm not saying this is impossible, I just want to know what the experience is like.)

You want to end your vacation on a cynical note?    Hmmm, I'm inclined not to play !      

From what I've heard most restaurants are charging more and giving you less right now because they can.

So I suspect there is no shortage of places that meet your criteria.    

My favorite places to dump on are the gourmet-burger joints.    Gordon Ramsay Burger, for example.

You'll easily drop $35 for a burger, fries and milkshake....and they are good for sure but not $35 good.   I'm not a fan of gourmet burgers.    I'll happily go to Five Guys for 1/3 the price.

After years of trying eateries in the N,S,E, and West of the US, high profile ones, highly recommended ones, (newspaper food section, books, magazines), celebrity restaurants (almost always disappointing) high priced and low, I have come to one overwhelming conclusion (JMHO, BTW):  The food in every region generally has a unique flavor which often disappoints, especially if high priced.  Not that it isn't good, just that it isn't like the favorites back home...my favorites, the way foods are prepared, seasoned, served, etc., atmosphere, where drinks are the best (consistently), all that.   I guess I am a true homebody, whatever that is.

When somebody writes in their TR that they ate at Outback or other chain during their Vegas visit, somebody will pounce, criticise like "Why would you eat at a chain when in Vegas?"  Well, I understand why.  You can better predict how much you will enjoy a certain entree, maybe tired of being diappointed with 'unusual' food, price is predictable, etc.

Actually, that's all.  Thanks for reading.  I might try that foot long hot dog at Casino Royale next trip just so I can answer Kevin's question!

Candy

Candy, I feel the exact opposite way. I want to try food that isn't prepared the same way as "back home." That way, I quite often find some amazing stuff. And yes, I quite often find some horrible swill as well. But if I find something amazing, I can repeat it again and again, whereas if I'm served some terrible food, I can spit it out on the floor, scream at the waiter, go back and beat up the cook, and run out the front door without paying.

This may have something to do with my upbringing. My mother learned to cook during the Depression, and in general subscribed to the American "cook it till it's tasteless" mantra. So for instance, I learned to loathe vegetables because no matter what they were before cooking, they were all eventually transformed into a gooey, shapeless mass that tasted like some farm animal had pooped it out. Later in life, I tried those various vegetables and found, to my great surprise, that when prepared properly, they could be delicious. In particular, Asian food showed me that veggies didn't have to be farm poop.

As far as patronizing a restaurant where I haven't eaten before--well, one metric is the greater the hype, the worse the food (or at least, the worse value--like three delicious scallops that cost $57). When I lived in Vegas, I made a point of poking my head into every little joint and dive where you wondered if the roof might cave in. Those places often had all seven or ten members of the same extended family working there. The food was always amazing and usually a bargain. I'll take that over a $165 meal at the Le Palace du Snobby Fromage at Caesar's any day.

I try to avoid fast food/chain restaurants when on vacation. The only exception on this last trip was in and out burger on the Link Promoande and I can't get that back home. It takes work to find cheap meals on the strip but I managed. Downtown is a different story all together.

EllenMonster ---- The restaurants in the Strip casinos are everything you will be expecting....High priced and Overrated but there are some gems out there that you will find which are high priced but well worth the money.

I would nominate Lemongrass in the Aria as one you should try. (assuming you can get in the place - reservations recommended) Awesome food and great service.

Like Candy (O2BNVegas) I do not mind eating at places that I can get at home. Last trip we did Brios due to us having some "gift cards" and the food was great and plentiful. Not too sure about fast food chains though.

Like Kevin L I do not mind trying different places such as the Pahrump Winery. A bit off the strip (50 mins - 1 hour) but well worth going just for the "fish & chips". Best we have had in the USA...period

Keep safe

Terry

Kevin... check your Sarcasm filter, I think its out of adjustment !