Category: Dining

The iconic and beloved Peppermill Restaurant and Fireside Lounge on the north Strip celebrated its 50th anniversary the day after Christmas 2022. It was one of six restaurants in the U.S. singled out earlier this year by the James Beard Foundation for an America’s Classics Award. The Foundation cited the Peppermill’s “welcoming atmosphere” and the long-time waitresses who know customers’ names. Indeed, the general manager started as a waitress in her teens and has been there for nearly the whole five decades of the restaurant’s history and her son is executive chef.

It’s a pilgrimage site for visiting old-timers who remember when it was one of the in places on the Boulevard and it garnered the number-one spot in two of our recent polls: the best restaurant for first-timers and the best breakfasts in the resort corridor.

Several items remain from the offerings on opening day 51-plus years ago, such as the fabulous fresh fruit salad (that comes with ice cream, house-baked banana-nut bread, and marshmallow sauce), the sinful French toast ambrosia, and of course the half-pound Peppermill burger. The adjoining Fireside Lounge is as cozy as it gets and that 64-ounce Scorpion starts or ends your Vegas party with a sting.

The Vegas Peppermill is one of six in Nevada; the other five are hotel-casinos: the flagship in Reno, Western Village in Sparks, and three in Wendover. They’re unmistakable for their design and décor, including big video screens with scenes from around the world, myriad concrete tree trunks and lush plastic foliage, Tiffany-style lamps, and pink and purple border tubing above the counters and along the walls. This restaurant also has big windows looking out to the Strip.

Even seating 232, it’s unbelievably busy. There are 32 parking spaces in front and 50 in back and they’re almost always full.

We hadn’t eaten there in a while and though we’ve done so countless times, we’d never reviewed it! In honor of the America’s Classics award, we went back for a late breakfast at noon on a Thursday.

It was an hour wait for a table, so we immediately seated ourselves at the 18-seat counter. It wasn’t exactly a relaxing meal, with 10 cooks bustling around the kitchen, eight waitresses rushing to and fro, loading up their hands and arms with a dozen huge heavy plates of food, clanking dishes and scraping silverware, but it sure beat waiting an hour for bacon and eggs.

Prices have crept up over the years, of course, but shrinkflation hasn’t come anywhere near the place; you either take half your meal back to your hotel room or finish for your one splurge of the day. These meals aren’t cheap, and note that the prices on the restaurant menu are different than the ones on the online menu, but if you want huge portions, the Peppermill is the place to get them.

We had the basic breakfast: three eggs, bacon, hash browns, and bagel ($23) and an a la carte raspberry-lemon muffin ($4.95), which came to $29.15 after tax and before tip. Hefty for breakfast for one, but It was also and lunch and dinner was necessarily light.

In 2015 in conjunction with the next-door Riviera closing and imploding, rumors swirled that the Peppermill might be in jeopardy from the LVCVA’s expansion juggernaut. But it was learned that the lease runs through 2027. So it’s not going anywhere anytime soon and there’s plenty of time to experience it anew.

The Mirage is closing next month, so why are we reviewing Otoro Robata Grill now? Two reasons. First, we had a terrific meal there. Second, we figure lots of people will be heading over for a last look at the casino, so dinner at Otoro might work in well with that plan.

As the name indicates, this is robata cooking, which pretty much means skewers cooked over very hot charcoal. There’s also a full sushi/sashimi menu. The oysters in truffle ponzu with kizami and chives are a great starter if you don’t mind fading $39 for eight ($4.88 per). Sweet-and-sour calamari with wasabi vinaigrette ($18) is another winner.

A tall Kirin beer was $22 and a single Murai Nigori sake was $13.

The Skewers

Meat skewers are $10 (chicken) to $32 (baby lamb chop), seafood is $10 (salmon) to $28 (lobster), and vegetable is $6-$10. Trying all three categories, we went with Togarashiu sirloin steak, lamb chop, Chilean sea bass, and shishito peppers. We haven’t reviewed many robata restaurants, so we don’t have a lot to compare to, but the Otoro skewers were as good as any we’ve had. They’re not the teeny skewers you get at the Japanese Izakaya’s; instead, they’re substantial and three to four per person are enough.

The Sushi

Sushi and skewers make a good combo. There’s nigiri, rolls, and sashimi. The nigiri comes two pieces to an order, most selections priced $10-$14 ($21 for uni, $38 for bluefin tuna belly). We had several, including akimi tuna and a spicy yellowtail hand roll. Although the robata cooking is the main focus, the restaurant’s name comes from otoro bluefiin tuna, so the sushi is also a priority.

The Verdict

Everything we tried was good. It’s ironic that we’d have the best meal we’ve ever had at the Mirage (except for some buffet visits when it was there) just as the casino is about to close. It’s not cheap—the bill was $263 for two, including $55 for drinks—but you can get the experience for less during the Fri.-Tues. happy hour (see ENTERTAINMENT), which might fit in even better on a farewell visit to the Mirage. Check out the full menu here.

A Reader Leader alerted us to the great scene and good affordable food at the venerable Chicago Brewing Company in the back of Four Queens. Though we’ve had drinks and watched games at this venue’s bar many times since it opened in 1999, we couldn’t recall eating there and a search of the archives turned up no review. Given the attention that Terry Caudill, the owner of Four Queens and Binion’s, has given us over the years with coupons (plus a recent two-part Question of the Day interview), we were happpy to give it a try.

In the far corner of the casino, you walk up a short staircase and enter the bar. With its brick walls and picture windows overlooking the slots, it’s a classic brew-pub and sports-bar scene, with numerous screens filling the walls, all showing sports.

It’s open 24/7, serves breakfast all hours, and boasts a non-smoking taproom. Cigars are available for the smoking section. The beer brewed on the premises has won awards at the Great American Beer Festival and the World Beer Cup. Ales include golden, brown, and pale; you’ll also find American amber, Bavarian wheat, and Irish stout, among other small batches and specials.

The food, as our LVA correspondent insisted, is good at great prices from a big menu.

Appetizers start at $6 for garlic knots and include meatballs, quesadillas, fries, chicken tenders and jumbo wings, calamari, and shrimp cocktail ($8-$16). Soup, chili, and side salads are $5-$6. Numerous sandwiches and burgers (including filet mignon sliders) go for $10-$15. Thin crust and deep-dish Chicago-style (natch) pizzas come in 9-, 10-, and 16-inch pies from $10 to $15 with various toppings at $1, $2, and $3 extra. Desserts are $4-$6. As you’d expect from the same casino with Magnolia’s and Hugo’s Cellar, it’s big food at reasonable prices. There’s also a happy hour Sun.- Thurs. 3-6 p.m. and 11 p.m.-1 a.m. with $2 off drafts and 50% off house wines and well drinks.

We tried the raspberry-pear-almond salad and chicken club with onion rings, both excellent and filling.

Best of all, we had the pleasure of lunch with our very old and dear friend and best-selling author Jean Scott. It was appropriate that we ate at Chicago Brewing with her; this reviewer first met Jean and her husband Brad in a room upstairs (comped, of course) way back in 1992. She was here on a visit from Georgia to play in a mahjong tournament, her new passion. We’re happy to report that she’s still as vital, frugal, and, as you can see from the photo beautiful, inside and out, as she was 32 years ago.

There are a lot of good bar steak specials out there—Mr. D’s. Jake’s, Jackson’s—but this one at Scoundrels Tavern & Eatery might be the best (not counting our Member Rewards deal at Jacksons). It’s served Tuesdays only from 3 pm until they’re gone. It’s a 16-ounce ribeye that comes with salad, loaded baked potato, vegetable, and garlic toast for $19.99.

This meal is terrific and it’s huge—one dinner will easily feed two. The salad is a notch above to start, the big baked potato comes with butter, sour cream, bacon bits, and cheese, and if they’re lying about the in-house-cut ribeyes being 16 ounces, it’s because they’re bigger than that.

Do They Get Gone?

Yes, they do. Lots of steaks come out of the kitchen and we’ve been there around 8:30 pm when they’ve sold out . They usually last longer, though (the bartender usually knows exactly how many are left). Best to order as soon as you get there.

Other Items

There’s a big menu. We’ve tried the burger ($12.99), the cheesesteak ($13.99), and chicken fingers ($13.99). None of these stood out like the steak, but they’re decent options if it’s not Tuesday.

Parlay With the Bonuses

Scoundrels has a play-$250-get-$50 sign-up bonus and a play $500-get-$50-bonus Sun.-Tues. from 8 to 10 pm. These can be played on the same day. Show up before 8 for dinner, then play after.

Watch the Games

Scoundrels is a good sports bar to boot, with sports always on the big screens. The only negative is the location, way out on the north side at 6310 N. Lamb Blvd., but it’s a straight shot out I-15 N near the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.