Cosmopolitan –The Wicked Spoon: Daily Brunch is now 8 a.m.-2 p.m. instead of 8 a.m.-3 p.m. for $47 on weekdays and $54 on weekends.
Circus Circus – Circus Buffet: This week’s buffet schedule is: Weekend Brunch is Saturday and Sunday, 7 a.m.-2 p.m. for $24.95. Weekend Dinner is Friday, 4:30 p.m.-10 p.m. for $27.
Palms – A.Y.C.E. Buffet: Released their upcoming themed nights and holiday events: 9th Island Night – Saturday, September 28, 2024 Latin Night – Saturday, October 26, 2024 Halloween – Thursday, October 31, 2024 Veteran’s Day – Monday, November 11, 2024 Thanksgiving – Thursday, November 28, 2024 National Finals Rodeo (NFR) – December 5-14, 2024 Christmas Eve and Christmas Day – Tuesday, December 24 and Wednesday, December 25, 2024 New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day – Tuesday, December 31, 2024 and Wednesday, January 1, 2025
Anime is a style of animation that originated in Japan and has become popular worldwide. “One Piece” is a long-running (1997) anime and manga (graphic-novel) series, one of the most popular in Japan. It chronicles the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy and his Straw Hat pirate crew as they search for the ultimate treasure known as One Piece. It combines elements of action, adventure, comedy, drama, and fantasy in various formats, including a TV series, movies, and video games.
posters along the waiting-line wall
“One Piece” opened its first U.S. fast-food cafe in Las Vegas in mid-May. It’s located in Chinatown at 5600 Spring Mountain Rd. (north side just west of Lindell). The U.S. fan base is huge, if the lines out the door, along the storefront, and around the corner were any indication. We finally got near the place after two months.
Even then, we waited in 112-degree heat with a dozen other people to get in the door, where the line continues. It took 35 minutes from the back of the line to the counter, then another five for the food.
It’s a two-store restaurant, with six four-tops in the front room; the 24 seats can accommodate the number of people waiting in line inside. In the second room are three high tables to stand at and 14 seats in two big booths.
Mostly, the second room is devoted to a wall-length “One Piece” mural and a half-wall selfie station. In all, around 38 can sit, 12 can stand. Everyone else, say “sayonara.”
The menu is fries ($5), beef skewers and pepper and egg friend rice ($10 each), tuna casserole, seafood fried rice, and beef curry ($16), burger and fries ($18), and the Mighty Meats platter ($30), along with a half-dozen desserts ($5.50-$25).
We ordered the beef skewers, a matcha mochi cookie (matcha is green-tea powder, mochi glutinous rice dough pounded into different shapes), and a yuzu (Asian lemon) lemonade ($6). It was … edible. The bill came to $23.30 with tax.
For that price, we could’ve gotten bigger, better, cheaper food at any of 10 other places within walking distance in Chinatown.
The food is more of an afterthought to the ambience, murals, and gathering of fans and, of course, the merchandise: T-shirts, sweatshirts, hoodies, beanies, caps, plush dolls, keychains, lanyards, stickers, pins, jigsaw puzzle, all in the expensive range ($12 for a pin to $80 for a hoodie). Both the merch and food were flying out the door.
If you’re a fan of the show or culture or have kids in tow who are, this is the only place in the country to get a vicarious experience of “One Piece.” Or if you really want to see what all the fuss is about, check it out. Otherwise, it’s a pass.
The original Parm Famous Italian casual eatery opened in Little Italy in Manhattan in 2011, a spinoff of the famed restaurant Carbone. The Las Vegas version of Carbone opened at Aria in late 2015, so it was a natural fit for Parm to occupy the space at Aria’s Proper Eats Food Hall that was vacated by the failed Shalom Y’All. Parm opened in May.
Parm is touted as “a great way to get a taste of Carbone’s acclaimed recipes if you can’t nab a reservation at the signature restaurant.” We could grab a reservation, but we aren’t anxious to pay $19 for broccoli, $20 for a bowl of minestrone, $36 for tortellini, $40 for clams, or $84 for veal parmesan.
Like all the outlets at Proper Eats (and the other Vegas food halls), the choices at Parm are limited. Appetizers include buffalo cucumbers ($7), meatballs ($10) and mozzarella sticks ($12). There’s one salad, a Caesar ($15). The pair of pasta dishes are spicy rotini and spaghetti and meatballs ($19) and the four sandwiches are a five-meat Italian combo, meatball parm, chicken parm, and roast beef (all $18).
None of the choices is particularly inspiring, at least to us. But to get even an inkling of the fare at Carbone and knowing that Parm has spread to six locations in New York, one in Boston, and all the way out to Las Vegas, we figured we’d give it a try.
We went for what’s described as the most popular and signature item, the chicken parm sandwich. It’s a breaded cutlet coated with tomato sauce and awash in melted cheese in a seeded Italian hero roll. Perhaps you can tell from the photo that we were underwhelmed at best. The cutlet was dry and tasteless, the sauce and cheese were average at best; what we liked most were the sesame seeds on the bun. Suffice it to say that we had trouble giving away the half-sandwich we didn’t want. To add insult to injury, the total bill, with tax and a $1.50 tip, came to $21.01. For that price, we could get a whole best-in-U.S. pie at Double Zero Pizza.
So this review is better spent reexamining the digital-ordering process on the Proper Eats kiosk screens in case you missed our original coverage (LVA May 2023). Here it is in photos.
This isn’t your old-time Disneyland kid’s miniature golf by any stretch of the imagination. You won’t find drawbridges, windmills, castles, clown heads, or log tunnels at Las Vegas’ newest miniature-golf course, Pop Stroke. What you will find is a serious putters’ challenge, with all kinds of sand traps and roughs, contouring from gentle to wild with all kinds of banks, humps, turns, and waves, and different grades of synthetic surfaces. Which is appropriate for a mini-golf company in which Tiger Woods and Taylor Made Golf are partners.
Pop Stroke was founded all of six years ago and now has 16 locations in six states; the one at Town Square near the junction of I-15 and the 215 Beltway, which opened in April, is the only location in Nevada.
Pop Stroke features two 18-hole courses, one easier than the other. You can bring your own putter or pick one of Pop Strokes’ based on your height; the balls come in different colors and you get to keep the one you play with. You can download the app to keep score and order drinks from the three bars and food from the sports bar, which the staff delivers to you on the course. Shareables include chicken tenders, hummus platter, nachos, wings, and tuna tartare ($12-$21), while tacos, sandwiches, burgers, wraps, and steak are $13-$24.
There’s also an ice cream counter, with 25 flavors (1/2/3 scoops $6/$8/$10) and a variety of toppings ($1 each), plus floats and milkshakes ($9-$12).
An outdoor play area offers a couple of foosball tables, ping pong, and cornhole. There’s a warm-up green for practicing, but it’s not really necessary; admission is good for all day, so you can play as long as you like, hang around the game area or bar and start up again, or even leave and come back.
Being barely six months old, Pop Stroke’s palm trees are young and provide little shade. We were there during the heat wave in July when it was 115 out and it was sizzling out on the greens. But plenty of water, wet towels, fans, and misters are stationed around the property that help to keep things if not exactly cool, at least not roasting.
This place is very popular. There’s plenty of free parking, but the lot does get full. And depending on the size of the group/groups in front of yours, you might have to stand around and wait for everyone to take a turn. We saw a group of eight take 15 minutes on a hole.
We also watched couples and groups of three and four bypass them to the next hole. Since you can play all day, unless you’re intent on competing and the score really matters, anything basically goes. From our observations, groups of two to four seem to be the best size.
All in all, Pop Stroke puts a new spin, so to speak, on mini-golf and in clement weather or at night, it’s a very fun outdoor activity. It’s open 9 a.m. to midnight Sun.-Thurs., till 1 a.m. on Fri-Saturday. Summer pricing is Mon.-Thurs. $35, Fri,-Sat. $40 per person, locals $30/$35. Kids 3-12 are 40% off, seniors/military/twilight (two hours prior to closing) 20%. Special events happen almost every day: Mondays senior day, Tuesdays kids day, Wednesday college day, Thursday ladies night. And there’s a happy hour Mon.-Thurs. 3-6 p.m. with 50% off drinks and a discounted food menu.
Bellagio –The Buffet at Bellagio: After this weekend Bellagio is removing their dinner buffet until further notice.
Circus Circus – Circus Buffet: This week’s buffet schedule is: Weekend Brunch is Saturday and Sunday, 7 a.m.-2 p.m. for $24.95. Weekend Dinner is Friday-Sunday, 4:30 p.m.-10 p.m. for $27.
Emmitt’s is named for its founder and major partner Emmitt Smith, the National Football League’s all-time leading rusher and touchdown scorer. This restaurant was a long time coming to the Fashion Show Mall. But it finally arrived in March and ever-curious, we stopped off during “social hour” (4-6 p.m. daily) to see what it’s all about.
The main challenge is finding the place. It’s at, but not in, the Fashion Show and no signs direct you there. Located in the very front of the mall, it borders the Strip sidewalk and you have to go outside to access it. (Follow the signs to Abercrombie and Fitch; from there, follow signs to Plaza/Las Vegas Blvd., then go out the door and down the stairs. The Blue parking lot in the garage underneath is closest.)
The restaurant seats 105, with a private back room for 36 and 10 tables on the front patio. Everything revolves around the central 22-seat bar and the nearby wine fridge holds 1,000 bottles. The menu is described as “new American classics with traditional steakhouse offerings and sushi,” but it seemed to us that sushi dominates the actual menu, which is different than the virtual one online, indicating more of a steakhouse. Also, lunch was announced and offered for a while, but discontinued. Social hour is advertised as 3-6, but Emmitt’s doesn’t open till 4.
And though the reviews are uniformly laudatory, when we were there on a Wednesday evening from 5:30 to 6:30, the place was empty, except for us and three other people at the bar.
We weren’t there for dinner, which is as expensive as you’d expect from a restaurant right on the Strip, just the social hour, during which the choices are a burger and fries ($11), hanger steak and fries, and a tuna and California roll with edamame ($22); seven draft beers, including Heineken, are $4 each and wine by the glass is half-price.
We tried the burger and were allowed to substitute a Caesar salad for the fries. Gracious, especially for a happy hour. The big fat patty, cooked to perfection, comes with lettuce, tomato, pickle, and caramelized onion on a toasted brioche bun — an excellent advertisement for the food at Emmitt’s and a great deal on its own. That, the salad, and the Heineken came to all of $17.34 with tax and we walked away satisfied and impressed.
Though the scene at Emmitt’s is somewhat sparse (a number of online reviews comment on the lack of patrons) and the changing menu and hours are a bit mystifying, when this place settles down and grows into itself, it should do well —if it lasts that long. While it’s there, the social hour is definitely worth doing.
Nathan Burton Comedy Magic has been around the Vegas block a time or two. Burton’s show first opened at the Aladdin in 2006, then moved to the Flamingo in 2008 (we reviewed it in the July 2008 LVA) and the Saxe Theater at the Miracle Mile Shops in 2012. Last year, Burton landed at a new theater in the Flyover motion-simulator building on the south Strip across from Park MGM and we finally satisfied our curiosity about the new venue and old show.
The Nathan Burton Theater is literally two steps in from the south Strip sidewalk. Crowd control at the entrance to the theater is rough; stanchions define two short lines for 30 people, while 175 are waiting to get into this popular afternoon performance. The other interesting thing is that the ushers are all dolled-up in Vegas showgirl costumes; as soon as the performance starts, you realize they also are the showgirls!
The theater is 5,000 square feet and seats 189, with four TV size video screens in the audience and a 30- by 18-foot video wall at the back of the stage.
In our review 16 years ago, we wrote, “Burton’s show is mostly small-box magic, displaying a lot of the bits you’ve probably seen before. Consequently, our first impression was ‘nothing special.’
Well, it’s still mostly box illusions, maybe a dozen of those in all, plus some mind-reading, a levitation, and tricks involving a transparent straight jacket, audience cell phones, playing and bingo cards, confetti, a couple of fast switcheroos, and an audience member’s drink in a bag disappearing (beer bottle in our show).
The invisible-deck-of-cards segment is cute and the bingo bit is very funny — we’ve never saw an audience go so crazy and we were watching closely, having spotted this outcome from a mile away. The other cool routine involved mind-reading a six-year-old.
Overall, however, the comedy can’t compare to Mac King (now at Excalibur) or even Adam London (in his very small show at the Orleans), but the nonstop onslaught of tricks has a madcap feel to them and don’t blink or you’ll miss one or two. We can say that Nathan Burton works up a righteous sweat. This is definitely a family-friendly show (70 minutes) and there were lots of kids in the nearly sold-out crowd on a Tuesday afternoon.
We opted for the second least expensive section and sat in Row K, right in the middle of the room. Those seats were fine, though the base price of $28 quickly rose to $45.51 with a $7.56 service fee and $9.95 processing fee. The cheapest seats in the back might be a bit far away. Show your ticket at the Flyover box office and get a 30% discount to that attraction.
When we reviewed Zippy’s, we weren’t particularly complimentary, especially considering the irrational exuberance over the place. But 808 Caféwas a vast improvement, so when we read a highly positive review of Ai Pono on a San Francisco news site, we took notice.
Ai Pono (“Good Eats” or “Eat Right” in Hawaiian) Café is one of the sit-down eateries at the Eat Your Heart Out food hall at Durango.
It’s the brainchild of Hawaiian-born and -raised Las Vegan Gene Villiatora, a 30-year local who’s cooked at numerous restaurants around town and had a mostly successful run on “Top Chef: New York”; he opened the first Ai Pono in Orange County, California, in 2019.
The word is out about Durango’s Ai Pono. We were there at 4:30 on a Saturday, figuring to beat the dinner rush. No such luck. We waited a few minutes to order, but behind us, nine people were in line.
The menu is amusing, with names like Mento Bento, Dim Sum and Den Sum, Crackhead chicken (“everyone keeps coming back for seconds in one sitting”), and Ham Buggah steak. Most dishes are a major carb fest, with two scoops of rice and one of macaroni salad, along with some Asian slaw.
But the proteins and sauces are the stars of the show. The Crackhead chicken ($17) is sauteed in Ai Pono’s “secret batter” and topped with a coconut-garlic miso glaze. You’ll also find guava-chili chicken, Japanese chicken in a katsu sauce, and Korean chicken in a truffle sauce ($17 each), pork chops in a spicy garlic barbecue glaze ($18), mahi mahi in a garlic-butter-white-wine sauce ($18), and Korean short rib ($20). You can also get bowls ($14-$16), sampler plates ($20-$23), and add-ons such as kim chee, lumpia, potstickers, and lollipop shrimp ($5-$10).
We sampled the garlic shrimp in a cilantro-citrus-chili sauce, which comes with a fried egg on the rice, and the OG beef, hibachi-style slices of striploin marinated in “black-magic” teriyaki (both $19). Each ushered the Zippy-style Hawaiian plate lunch into a whole other dimension— a very good thing. Our bill, including a pickled-mango lemonade (delicious), came to a reasonable $48.77 (including tax, not tip).
The verdict: This is the kind of menu that, beyond our reviewer responsibilities, tempts us to go back and try everything else that looks so good. Villiatora claims that Ai Pono is on its way to becoming the standard of Hawaii fast-casual and street food and it might just succeed.
50 Top Pizza is an independent online ranking service that’s dear to our hearts; like us, they evaluate restaurants, in this case pizzerias, with anonymous inspections, then pay in full for their meals. In this year’s 50 Top Pizzas USA Guide, two pizzerias in Las Vegas made the list, one of which is Døuble Zerø (or ØØ) Pie & Pub. TastingTable.com, a popular site that covers all things in the food and restaurant world, also identified ØØ as one of the top 14 pizzerias in Las Vegas. And ØØ being located within a three-minute drive of our office doesn’t hurt.
First, about the name. “00” is the most finely sifted flour, common in Italian pizza, calzone, and focaccia making, perfect for airy crispy crusts. Second, the pizza chef, Michael Vakneen of Popup Pizza fame (at the Plaza downtown since 2012), lets the dough rise enough to stretch it out in such a way that the crust blisters, then he burns it slightly to perfection.
Third, Vakneen, a New York Italian, went to Tokyo to learn how to perfect his Neapolitan pizza technique. Yes, it sounds like the start of a joke (with the punchline something like, Do Tokyo chefs go to Rome to improve on their sushi?). Apparently, in Tokyo, Neapolitan pizza is made with the obsessive and perfectionist attention that’s invested in sushi and rice. Oh, and did we mention that the ØØ oven is wood-fired? Heating pizza ovens with wood is classic Naples style that dates back to the 1700s, adds special flavors and textures, and retains the freshness of the toppings.
It all adds up, as the experts attest, to some of the best pizza in the country.
The restaurant is on Spring Mountain Rd. on the western edge of Chinatown near the corner of Valley View. It’s a pub as well as pizzeria, with a long bar and brick walls giving it an industrial feel. The kitchen, complete with pizza oven, is right out in the open next to the bar, so you can see everything that goes into making these fantastic pies.
The food menu is limited to antipasti, starting with the house pickles ($8) and a couple of salads, including Caesars, and roasted red peppers ($10) and going up to wagyu carpaccio ($20). There are eight pizzas — marinara, mushroom, pepperoni, eggplant, short rib, etc. ($17-$26) — with a choice of three special sauces. They’re smallish, though big enough for two if you start with an appetizer or salad.
house pickles
We tried the house pickles, seasonal vegetables naturally fermented, and a Caesar salad that were both as good as we’ve ever had.
Caesar
Then we got a marinara pizza topped with speck, cured ham that’s like prosciutto, but with the added factor of a smokiness that can’t be beat. We took home one slice and the next day, the crust was as crisp and airy as when it came out of the oven; the sauce, cheese, and meat hadn’t caused any sogginess at all. (Note that ØØ doesn’t do takeout; they’ll give you a box for leftovers, but you have to eat in.)
marinara with speck
It was an unforgettable meal — simple, striking, and scrumptious. The bill, with one glass of ale, came to $50 including tax, which was almost ridiculously modest for such an exquisite dining experience. We can’t wait to return.
Scotch 80 Prime is high-end steakhouse at the Palms (formerly N9NE). The food is big and so are the prices. So a happy hour with several of its best dishes—appetizers and entrées—for 50%-off sounds ridiculous. An 8-ounce ribeye cap for $31? Yes, it’s good, but you need to know a few things going in.
Best HH in Vegas?
There are two happy hours Mon.-Thurs. from 5 to 6:30 pm and 8:30 to 10 pm. The number of HH items is amazing: oysters (6/$12.50), jumbo shrimp cocktail ($13.50), soups and salads ($8.50-$9), ribeye cap ($31), 8-ounce filet (32.50), New Zealand king salmon ($26), Chilean sea bass ($27), sides ($6-$7.50). Crazy. Beer is $5, wine $12, and cocktails $12. We went with appetizers: steak tartare, wedge salad, Caesar salad, brie fondue, grilled asparagus, and the snow beef burger. That’s a lot of food for a tab of $79 before tax. It sounds good, right? Heck, yeah. This HH was immediately anointed one of the best in Vegas. But we ran into some problems.
Caesar SaladWedge SaladSteak TartarBrie Fondue
No Oysters
Our first choice was a couple orders of oysters on the half shell. At $12.50 for 6, that’s a pretty wallet-friendly $2.08-per in a fancy joint like this. Nope.
“Sorry, we’re out of oysters.”
“Really? Is that normal?”
“Yes. Everyone orders them. We run out every day.”
OK, we were at the late happy hour, so lesson learned, go to the early one.
No Sharing Entrees
Our food was delivered. That is, all except for the Scotch 80 Burger. This thing is $50 retail, so we had to try it for $25, but it never came. When we finished, we requested the check and asked the waiter to make sure we weren’t charged for the no-show item. “But it’s ready now” he said. We’d been there for 45 minutes and were ready to leave, but shrugged and told him to bring it with a couple of extra plates so we could split it between the three of us, since no one was in the mood to eat a big burger at that point. He did. We ate it. He brought the check. The price hawk in our party looked it over and saw that we’d been charged the full $50 for the late-arriving burger. When we brought it up to the waiter, he pointed out a clause on the menu indicating that entrées would not be given the discount if shared. Given the circumstances, we eventually got the discount, but that rule is brutal. What constitutes “sharing”? A bite? Several bites? Be aware of this one and make sure that if you order an entrée you can eat it all yourself.
The Verdict
So you need to come early for oysters and understand the sharing rule. Aside from that, this HH is a bargain on the high end, and we didn’t even do the big bangers on the menu. The restaurant is beautiful and, as pointed out, there are lots of discounted options. Of the items we sampled the winners were the fondue and the Caesar salad. We were disappointed in the tartare and that burger was too fancy for us (squid ink on the bun isn’t really our thing). We’re gonna try it again, going early for the oysters and one of those steaks.
