The first Rachel’s Kitchen opened in Las Vegas in 2006 at Town Center in Summerlin. Its formula was an order-at-the-counter café serving fresh, wholesome, high-quality breakfast and lunch food, plus juices and smoothies, “with a gourmet touch” at affordable prices.
It was such a successful concept that today, Rachel’s (named for the owner’s daughter) has eight locations around Las Vegas. It’s won a number of Best of Vegas awards: for juice bar/smoothies, chain restaurant, downtown restaurant, power lunches, and catering. The company is also expanding out of state; the first franchise is opening soon in Frisco, Texas, in the Star District, the entertainment, shopping, and dining center around the headquarters of the Dallas Cowboys.
When we heard about the Lone Star expansion, we figured it was about time to try the place — after 17 years of watching it grow. We went to the location at Town Square (Las Vegas Blvd. and Sunset), closest to our office.
It’s an airy, bright, and welcoming space; you order, pay, and pick up at the counter and you can eat inside or out. The tables in front of the cafe look over at the central common, with greenery and sizable palm trees. Parking in a nearby garage or surface lot is easy and free.
The menu consists of breakfast burritos and wraps, bacon and eggs, omelets and scrambles, and huevos rancheros ($10-$12.50), plus oatmeal, pancakes, and French toast ($6-$9). Ten salads, from Cobb and Caesars to Chinese and curry chicken, come with a choice of six dressings ($10-$15). Such sandwiches and wraps as smoked turkey and avocado, grilled cheese, chicken salad, and vegetarian come on a choice of four breads with lettuce; soup of the day is $6 or $14 accompanied by half-salad or half-sandwich. Six pastas with marinara, pesto, or alfredo are $12-$15.50. Fresh vegetables juices and fruit smoothies are $5.50-$9. Everything is made to order and you can specify gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegan.
We went for the grilled vegetable salad and chicken ($15) and a berry-mania smoothie ($8) and we can say that the formula works: Both the food and drink were wholesome, tasty, and not too dear. The tab after tax came to just under $25 and though we finished the smoothie on the spot, we got two meals out of the salad.
It’s no accident that this brand has been around for nearly two decades, has expanded throughout the valley, and is about to spread some interstate wings.