Las Vegas restaurant openings in 2025 didn’t tell a single story. So rather than offering a traditional year-end list of the “Best New Restaurants,” I’m taking a look at what the year’s most significant openings reveal about larger dining trends. (If you’re looking for “Best Of” lists, I publish more than 100 of them at Neon Feast.)

In the first two parts of this series, we saw how restaurant openings on and off Las Vegas Boulevard in 2025 reflected very different dynamics. On the Strip, casino resorts stunned diners with openings that redefined just how luxurious a Las Vegas restaurant can be. In the suburbs, established pockets of culinary excellence matured while new ones emerged, delivering both everyday dining and special-occasion restaurants across a wide range of prices.

That split created an opportunity for neighborhood casinos to attract diners across income brackets who had grown weary of traveling to the Strip for nights out. Several responded with aggressive revamps and reboots of their culinary lineups.

Summerlin: Suncoast and JW Marriott/Rampart Casino

For years, Tivoli Village and Boca Park dominated the dining scene on the outskirts of northern Summerlin. In 2025, two neighborhood hotel-casinos emerged as serious contenders for the area’s best dining destinations.

Suncoast launched a major renovation in late 2023 that brought William B’s Steakhouse and Taste of Asia to the resort. As the project continued through 2025, the property temporarily closed its beloved pancake spot, Du-Par’s, for several months to accommodate a full renovation. All of this while Brigg’s Oyster Co. lured in customers with some fantastic oyster specials that fluctuated throughout the year.

Not to be outdone, Suncoast’s next-door neighbor — the JW Marriott Las Vegas and Rampart Casino, aka The Resort At Summerlin — embarked on its own renovation, adding significant new dining options. In 2025 alone, the resort introduced two celebrity chefs, one New York City institution, and a total of five new restaurants.

Celebrity chef Fabio Viviani made the biggest splash, rolling out three concepts in less than four months. Ai Pazzi, an upscale Italian restaurant, and Pearls Oyster and Crudo Bar opened in July, the former replacing Spiedini Fiamma. They were quickly followed by the casual ai Pazzi Pizza.

Recognizing the growing popularity of approachable dim sum, the resort looked to New York City, landing Nom Wah Tea Parlor. In September, the Big Apple’s oldest dim sum restaurant — founded in 1920 — opened its first Las Vegas outpost along the hotel-casino’s restaurant row. The following month, celebrity chef Shawn McClain opened a second location of his popular off-Strip wine bar, Wineaux, at the JW.

Notably, these additions have not disrupted the resort’s most popular existing restaurants. Hawthorn Grill, Jade Asian Kitchen, The Market Buffet, and the Earl Grey Café continue serving loyal followings alongside the new arrivals.

Station Casinos

Station Casinos, long regarded as the gold standard for off-Strip casino dining, shifted much of its focus to the valley’s outer edges in 2025. While 2024 centered on the debut of Durango Resort and major moves at Green Valley Ranch, the past year emphasized neighborhood taverns and renewed attention to the Boulder Highway corridor.

The company opened its second Seventy-Six Tavern location early in the year along Aliante Parkway in North Las Vegas. Meanwhile, Boulder Station continued upgrading its culinary offerings with the addition of Leticia’s Cocina and Cantina by chef Leticia Mitchell, along with the return of the unlimited salad bar at The Broiler Steakhouse.

Looking ahead, the Vegas-born Good Pie brand is hard at work on a state-of-the-art pizzeria at Red Rock Resort. The property is also preparing for the return of Hearthstone Kitchen after a nearly three-year absence. And food lovers are anxiously awaiting news of what Durango’s second phase will bring.

The Rio

With its location just off Las Vegas Boulevard, the Rio has long marketed itself to both tourists and locals. In 2025, it reinforced that local connection by giving prime real estate atop its main tower to James Trees.

The result is High Steaks, a modern steakhouse designed to recapture the spirit of old-school Vegas at prices that appeal to both local diners and value-conscious visitors.

The Bigger Picture

All of these moves suggest that off-Strip casinos no longer see their restaurants as simple amenities for their regular gamblers. Instead, they’re increasingly positioning themselves as destinations in their own right, for guests in all income brackets.

For more on restaurant trends in 2025, please check out:

2025 Restaurant Recap, PART 1: Strip Casinos

2025 Restaurant Recap, PART 2: Neighborhood Restaurants

Las Vegas dining didn’t move in a single direction in 2025. While Strip casinos leaned harder into luxury and high-profile experiences, neighborhood restaurants told a very different story — one shaped by geography, resilience, and a growing emphasis on permanence over novelty.

Rather than offering a traditional year-end list of the “Best Restaurants,” this series looks at what the year’s most significant openings reveal about larger trends. (You can find recommendations in over 100 categories at Neon Feast.) When put in the proper context, new openings say a lot about where their neighborhoods are headed — or would like to be.

This second installment focuses on neighborhood dining, where the biggest developments clustered in specific areas rather than across the city as a whole. From the accelerating maturation of the Arts District, to Carson Avenue’s slow recovery from prolonged construction, to the explosive growth of The Bend, these pockets of activity reveal how off-Strip dining continues to evolve — often in ways that feel more grounded and more local than anything happening on Las Vegas Boulevard.

The Arts District

As Arts District development accelerates at a breakneck pace, the neighborhood continues to grow as a drinking and dining destination for both visitors and residents. And while its footprint has expanded in all directions, the heart and soul remain the five blocks of Main Street between Wyoming Avenue and Charleston Boulevard.

The Las Vegas–born Holsteins, which operated for 15 years in The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas before shuttering in May of 2024, has brought its gourmet burgers and boozy shakes to a Main Street location between Velveteen Rabbit and Good Pie.

Downtown pioneers Jerad Howard (Vesta Coffee) and Dan Coughlin (Le Thai, 8 East) have joined forces to channel the essence of their favorite Utah snowboarding bar at Viking Mike’s Alpine Yurt Bar, on the corner of Main Street and Utah Avenue.

Chef Natalie Young has closed Eat on Carson Avenue to focus on Echo Taste and Sound — an audiophile’s dream listening lounge that doubles as a restaurant and bar, on the ground floor of the Colorado Building at the corner of Main Street and Colorado Avenue.

And the chef who put this neighborhood on the culinary map has made major moves to consolidate much of his growing empire within a few blocks of where it started. After moving Esther’s Kitchen to a larger location in 2024, Chef James Trees made some serious moves over the past 12 months. His gorgeous French bistro Bar Boheme joined its smaller sister bar, Petite Boheme, on Main Street and Imperial Avenue. And his experimental Ada’s Food & Wine relocated from Tivoli Village to the original Esther’s Kitchen space on Imperial Avenue.

Fremont East / Carson Avenue

Carson Avenue has long been the unofficial Restaurant Row of the Fremont East District. Unfortunately, the city’s plans to make that title official have been delayed, in part due to continuing construction to prepare the street for a new bus route. As a result, it’s been a tough couple of years for the neighborhood.

Neighborhood stalwarts 7th & Carson and Carson Kitchen have carried on through the construction and continue to be two of the area’s best restaurants. This year, however, they’ve gotten some new neighbors that are worth noting — many replacing spots that couldn’t wait out the construction.

The San Diego–based Sayulitas chain has replaced the plant-based VegeNation, blending Mexican and Filipino flavors in what it affectionately refers to as “Big Ass Burritos.” And the Colorado-based Chili Shack has taken over the space at Carson Avenue and 7th Street that previously housed Eat by Chef Natalie Young.

A block to the west, the renovation of the old Post Office building continued this year, with a pair of Las Vegas–based operations joining its culinary lineup. Pachi Pachi is a truly unique jungle-themed concept restaurant designed by the man who created The Golden Tiki, offering some truly Instagrammable dishes (try the Ghost Noodles) and décor (pose in front of the giant pachinko machine). Just next door, Baguette Café brings the French breakfasts, sandwiches, and parties that have made it a hit at locations in Henderson and the Southwest.

The Bend

The area surrounding the curve in Interstate 215, between Durango Drive and Sunset Road, exploded onto the culinary scene in 2023 and 2024, thanks to impressive restaurant collections at both Durango Resort and the UnCommons development. But 2025 brought it to a new level, as The Bend — located just across the freeway from those two — brought a huge collection of restaurants and bars online.

Butcher and Thief — Carson Kitchen co-creator Cory Harwell offering a steakhouse experience at family-friendly prices.

Evolve Brewing — the first brewery from the Aces & Ales craft bar chain.

Freed’s Dessert Shop — sweet treats from the famed Las Vegas bakery.

Marafuku Ramen — a San Francisco–based chain specializing in Japanese noodles and bar snacks.

St. Felix Las Vegas — a Hollywood import that combines nightlife and dining for the party crowd.

Union Biscuit — a locally owned breakfast and lunch spot specializing in Southern biscuits and gravy.

With Love, Always — the latest smashburger spot from the Las Vegas–based team that also developed the Sorry, Not Sorry gourmet ice cream chain.

The Great Greek — a local chain offering casual, counter-service Greek cuisine.

Coming Soon — Sliceteria by Metro Pizza

Worth Exploring

While the areas above provided some of the most high-profile neighborhood restaurant openings of the year, they didn’t monopolize the conversation. In fact, the two most exciting off-Strip restaurants of the year, at least in this author’s opinion, opened elsewhere.

When Chef Oscar Amador and his partners decided to close EDO Tapas in Chinatown to focus on other new and existing restaurants, he wasn’t ready to give up the intimate space where it all began. So he converted the Jones Boulevard restaurant into a new solo endeavor. Amador Cocina Fina offers creative and elegant fine dining that draws on Spanish and Latin influences, but is never afraid to surprise its audience. It will likely serve as a workshop for the chef to develop new ideas for the other, larger restaurants he has planned for 2026.

In the Desert Breeze Park neighborhood, Chef Dan Krohmer (Other Mama) decided to shutter his breakfast and lunch restaurant Chamana’s Café in order to create an exciting new concept called Durango Social Club. At times, Krohmer uses it to showcase his latest culinary ideas. But when he’s not in the kitchen, the popup spot/culinary incubator invites guest chefs to showcase their own ideas. In the few short months since it opened, Durango Social Club has hosted a fine-dining residency called Lilli by former French Laundry chef Tyler Vorce, a smashburger takeover by the team at In Limbo, and Toddy Shop – The Little Indian Bar food by Hemant Kishore.

For more on restaurant trends in 2025, please check out:

2025 Restaurant Recap, Part 1: Strip Casinos

2025 Restaurant Recap, Part 3: Off-Strip Casinos

If you haven’t been to Las Vegas in a year or more, the restaurant scene you remember is no longer quite the one that exists today. But the changes didn’t move in a single direction. In 2025, different parts of the city responded to very different pressures.

Rather than compiling a traditional year-end list of the “Best Restaurants,” I’ve chosen to look at the trends behind the biggest openings of the year. (I already cover recommendations year-round at Neon Feast.) Because the city’s most ambitious projects say a lot about where Las Vegas dining is heading.

This first installment focuses on Strip casinos, where 2025 made one thing clear: despite persistent claims that Las Vegas has priced itself out of relevance, ultra-luxury dining had a banner year — driven by resorts that continue to invest heavily in spectacle, exclusivity, and once-in-a-trip experiences.

Money Talks On The L.V.B.

While all the talk about Las Vegas becoming unaffordable has been greatly exaggerated, there’s no denying 2025 was a big year for opening ultra-luxury restaurants with serious price tags, within resorts that have always catered to the Platinum Card crowd. Yes, there are still deals to be had on The Strip. But they weren’t what got the headlines this year.

Waterfront Seafood

Wynn Las Vegas raised the bar on Las Vegas seafood early in the year, with the May opening of Pisces on the shore of its Lake of Dreams. The gorgeous dining room is bathed in shades of gold and blue, with shimmers of brass and glass, and luxurious touches like yachtsman chairs covered in fish skin leather. Chef Martin Heierling’s menu utilizes only the finest ingredients, flown in from around the globe, while Wynn’s mixologist Mariena Mercer Boarini provides world-class signature cocktails.

Not to be outdone, Bellagio introduced a world-class seafood restaurant of its own in 2025. Carbone Riviera debuted just in time for the annual arrival of the Formula 1 crowd, in the space that was once home to Picasso. The collaboration with Major Food Group (known for its celebrity clientele), the restaurant features a beautifully renovated interior, al fresco dining on a waterfront dock, and a private mini-yacht to take the resort’s luckiest VIP guests on a cruise around Bellagio’s lake, for a once-in-a-lifetime perspective on the hotel’s famed fountains.

Where’s The Beef?

If you’re looking for world-class steak, The Venetian opened several amazing beef-focused restaurants in 2025.

José Andrés’ award-winning Bazaar Meat relocated to the resort after leaving its longtime home in Sahara Las Vegas (previously the SLS). The new space, built for the celebrity chef and philanthropist on the ground floor of the Palazzo tower, includes a modern lounge, a main dining area with open kitchen and a patio on Las Vegas Boulevard, as well as phenomenal private dining spaces. The menu remains a perfect reflection of Chef Andrés’ dedication to the art of raising, aging, and cooking beef, with some avant garde touches like the famous foie gras cotton candy and air bread stuffed with cheese foam and topped with wagyu beef.

The Venetian also welcomed a Las Vegas outpost of Cote — the only Korean barbecue restaurant to ever earn a Michelin star. Offering guests the chance to cook a selection of USDA Prime and Japanese wagyu on their own smokeless grill, it’s unlike any other steakhouse on The Strip.

To continue the theme, the Los Angeles-based BOA Steakhouse chain returned to Las Vegas after a multi-year absence. Their new spot is in the Grand Canal Shoppes at the Venetian.

For Something Completely Different

While the restaurants above take steak and seafood to new levels of luxury, steakhouses and seafood restaurants have been staples of Las Vegas for a long time. Those who want something that’s both new and different may want to look at Resorts World and Aria.

Resorts World welcomed Chef Jeremy Ford’s Michelin-starred concept Stubborn Seed in 2025, and it was quickly recognized as one of the most original restaurants ever to open in Las Vegas. The wow factor comes from the chef’s tasting menu, with mind-expanding dishes like a sweet champagne-citrus macaron topped with Kaluga caviar, and sea urchin panna cotta with yuzu gelée and orange granite. But you shouldn’t overlook the a la carte menu, which offers more familiar options, including a fantastic smashburger.

Aria closed out the year with the much-anticipated opening of Gymkhana – a Las Vegas spinoff of London’s Michelin two-star Indian restaurant, and The Strip’s first big gamble on Indian cuisine. It’s been sold out since opening. I hope to have more on it when I’m finally able to get in for a seat.

For more on restaurant trends in 2025, please check out:

2025 Restaurant Recap, Part 2: Neighborhood Restaurants

2025 Restaurant Recap, Part 3: Off-Strip Casinos