Category: Dining

At least three years ago, we had a review in the hopper for BG Bistro on Tropicana. Good salads, stuffed mushrooms, fish, and especially lamb chops. Then it moved to 4435 S. Buffalo and changed its name to Beso.

The Food

The cuisine is now described as “Mediterranean and Eastern European,” but the root nationality is Bulgarian. The selection is vast, including dishes such as cevapi (beef and pork in bread), mititei (sausage), and uviatch (stuffed pork). We haven’t tried them. These we have: blue cheese mushrooms ($15), chicken livers ($14), arugula salad ($14), and branzino ($35). Excellent. The salad selection is one of the best we’ve seen. Along with the arugula are Greek, shopska, and vitamin salad—beets, carrots, apple, and walnuts in a honey citrus dressing—among others, all $13-$17. The lamb chops are served with potatoes and vegetables for $28; you won’t find them this good at this price in many, if any, places.

We can’t list everything on the menu; check it out here.

Then there are daily white-paper specials, off of which we got this lamb shank for $14.

Breakfast

This is new. It starts at 8 a.m. and it’s a good option for a weekend brunch. We had a veggie omelet, salmon Benedict, and ham & cheese crepe. The whole thing came out to $53 and we took the crepes home.

Ambience

While BG Bistro was kinda down and dirty, with Eastern European expats hanging out at the patio tables, Beso is more refined. You can sit at the bar and start a conversation or get a table of your own. It’s comfortable.

The Verdict

This is a good restaurant with a lot of food choices. And as you can see from the examples or by clicking through to the menu, it’s very well priced. You have to travel about seven miles west from the Strip, but if you’re looking for something different and reasonable, this fills the bill. Did we mention those lamb chops?

We talk a lot about the Café at Ellis Island, because it has some of the best food and food deals in town. But we don’t make the point often enough that you can get that same quality and pricing in more than a dozen 24-hour bars all around the Las Vegas area. The 15 or so Village Pubs are owned by Ellis Island boss Gary Ellis and if you eat at one, you pretty much can’t go wrong. The menus are vast and even include the steak special that tops the TOP TEN (though it’s $18.99), but there’s an easy defined strategy of simply going with the daily specials. We tested it.

The Sunday Special

We usually target our days, with pot roast Tuesdays and prime rib Saturdays being at the top of our list. But on this Sunday we were hungry and within walking distance of the Village Pub at 10900 S. Eastern Ave., a perfect time to try our theory. There were two of us and we decided to go with whatever that day’s special was: roast turkey for $14.99. We’ve done this before and knew enough to order just one. It’s turkey & gravy, stuffing, mashed potatoes, a gardens’s worth of steamed vegetables, and some cranberry sauce.

Oh yeah, it also comes with a salad and the Village Pubs salads are among the freshest and best going.

We split it all and barely finished at that.

Locations

As stated, these bars are all over the valley. Did we say 15? There are 16. Here’s the list

Beer

Ellis Island has its own brewery, so you can get EI brews. It’s also a gaming bar, so you can get EI brews comped, though there’s nothing special about the paytables that are governed by the Gambler’s Bonus system.

The Verdict

The theory is sound: If you don’t know what you want, go with the specials for outstanding quality and value. Except in rare circumstances, one special is enough for two to share and single diners will have take-home lunch. The bars are conveniently located everywhere except near the Strip, and you have Ellis Island for that. This is a solid play, available from 11 a.m. on.

The newest Las Vegas food hall is also its most eclectic and lavish. Which is appropriate, we suppose, as it’s right at the end of the extravagant M.C. Escher-like tiled floor that extends from the front desk of the Venetian to the gambling. It’s on the right; emerging into the casino, you’ll see Turkey and the Wolf right there behind Venezia Fine Jewelry.

The only food outlet that might be familiar is All’Antico Vinaio, which has a location at the Uncommons mixed-use district across the street from the Durango. We reviewed All’Antico in the 4/24 issue of LVA just after it opened. Considered by some connoisseurs to be the best sandwich shop in the world, it’s now more conveniently located on the Strip, though there’s also that pesky parking fee if you’re not walking in.

B.S. Taqueria also has a local connection: The first fast-food Mexican counter of the same name opened at the Sundry food hall, also at Uncommons, but didn’t last long. The proprietor, Ray Garcia, also owns and runs ¡VIVA!, the upscale Mexican restaurant at Resorts World. (The B.S. stands for “Broken Spanish,” signifying Garcia’s infusing familiar Mexican flavors and dishes with a modern chef-driven twist, at least according to a story in the Los Angeles Times.)

The other four eateries and one bar at Via Via are all new to the area area. The most-anticipated opening was Howlin’ Ray’s, which serves Nashville-style hot chicken and opened in 2015 in a food truck in L.A.; it was so popular that the restaurant debuted less than a year later. This chicken has six degrees of heat, from Country (none) to Howlin’ (you can’t touch this 10++). We understand that that’s so hot, it’ll make your teeth bleed. And they love their photo taken.

Then there’s Turkey and the Wolf, the New Orleans sandwich shop with such sams as fried bologna and collared-green melt, along with a fried chicken pot pie. Adjacent is Molly’s Rise and Shine, serving breakfasts.

Ivan Ramen, the noodle counter, and Scarr’s Pizza will both be familiar to Manhattanites, where they’re acclaimed or so we understand from the hype. And the Death & Company bar also has locations in New York and Los Angeles, plus Denver, Washington, D.C., and Seattle.

All in all, if you happen to be in the area area and don’t have to pay pay for parking, Via Via is definitely worth checking out out for a curated culinary cruise of the country.