Eately is a larger-than-life Italian food hall and marketplace at Park MGM. Walking in via the monumental Strip-side entrance, you’re immediately overwhelmed by the 40,000-square-foot venue comprising food and beverage counters, bakery, retail area, and sit-down restaurants — and this is the smallest Eately.
There are eight food islands: a bakery and pizza-by-the-slice counter; hand-crafted Italian pastries and espresso; cannoli, Nutella crepes, and gelato counters; the Mozzarella Bar, La Rosticceria (rotisserie chicken), and Il Fritto (fried street food); La Salumeria (cheeses and salumi); a pizzeria; a pasta station; La Pescheria (fresh fish); and La Macelleria (meats).
You select your item from the menu (every station has a paper menu at the counter, along with the chalkboard above), then place your order with the cashier and pay. You’re given a buzzer; when your food is ready, you pick it up.
All the stations serve beer ($8) and wine by the glass ($10-$24) and bottle (sky’s the limit). But if you want to drink, bring your ID; we were told that they ID everyone. There are also two bars, Enoteca for wine and the Gran Café Milano, which also serves three meals.
The two sit-down restaurants are La Pizza e La Pasta and Manzo (a steakhouse).
Retail offerings include selling china, T-shirts, books, and logo merchandise in one area, Italian goods, such as breadsticks, pasta, risotto, cheese, salami, olives, bottled juices, Italian water and soda, olive oil, spices, sauces, and fresh bread in the other.
Eately is certainly exotic and inviting, definitely worth a visit. Just expect to pay about double your average food-court prices.
The restaurants in the Eataly Marketplace was reviewed in the April 2019 LVA; some of the information contained in this review may no longer be accurate.
If you haven’t heard, Eataly is the larger-than-life Italian food hall and marketplace that opened in late December at Park MGM. Walking in via the monumental Strip-side entrance, you’re immediately overwhelmed by the 40,000-square-foot venue comprising food and beverage counters, a bakery, a retail area, and sit-down restaurants—and this is the smallest Eataly (the one in Chicago is nearly twice the size and the one in Bologna, Italy, bills itself as “the largest food park in the world”).
You first encounter the bakery and pizza-by-the-slice counter on the left, beyond which is the wine store and a retail area selling china, T-shirts, books, and logo merchandise. On the right is La Lavazza, selling hand-crafted Italian pastries and espresso. Next to that are the cannoli, Nutella crêpes, and gelato stations. Across from those is another retail area, selling Italian goods (breadsticks, pasta, risotto, cheese, salami, olives, bottled juices, Italian water and soda, olive oil, spices, sauces, fresh bread, and much more). Then you walk up a few stairs into the food district. Going clockwise, you encounter the Mozzarella Bar; at this station is also La Rosticceria, for rotisserie chicken, prime rib, and Italian sides, and Il Fritto for lightly fried Italian street food. La Salumeria has the cheese and salumi boards. Next up is the Pizzeria, next to which is La Pasta. La Pescheria sells fresh fish with the day’s selections hand-written on a whiteboard. La Macelleria is the butcher/meat-to-order counter.
Signs describe “How It Works.” You select items from the menu (every station has a paper menu at the counter, along with the chalkboard above), then place your order with the cashier and pay. You’re given a buzzer; when your food is ready, you pick it up. All the stations serve beer ($8) and wine by the glass ($10-$24) and bottle (sky’s the limit). But if you want to drink, bring your ID; we were told that they ID everyone. There are also two bars, Enoteca for wine and the Gran Café Milano, which also serves three meals.
What could be bad about all this? Prices! Almost every review we’ve seen complains about the high prices. We agree. We ordered a seafood-ravioli plate at La Pescheria. A dozen or so mini-ravs and a beer came to $31.39—it was a good snack, but pretty steep for a warm-up to dinner. Frankly, what would you expect? Eataly’s general manager told USA Today that he believed everything is “well-priced.” But he added, “Even MGM was telling us, ‘You can go a little higher.’” (Of course they did.)
Eataly is certainly exotic and inviting, definitely worth a visit. Just be prepared to be a bit overwhelmed by the choices and hubbub and to dig a little deeper into your pocket than you might have expected for the experience.
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Dave
Jul-07-2021
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