Echo & Rig
440 S. Rampart Blvd., 702-489-3525
This is the place for people who love steakhouses, but are fed up with fancy steakhouse prices. Echo & Rig keeps prices down by offering several non-traditional cuts, such as hanger, flat iron, skirt, spencer, and flank steaks, for under $30. Properly butchered and prepared, these are as good as filets, T-bones, and other more recognized cuts. For example, we had a grilled hanger steak for $26.20 that matched up with steaks we’ve eaten on the Strip at more than twice the price. If you’re stuck on filet, rib eye, and New York strip, Echo & Rig serves those too for $35.80 each, which is as high as prices get on this menu.
The selection is diverse, with fish and other seafood dishes for $22 and chicken for $19. Entrées come with homemade garlic chips, a large (“Rockefeller”) mushroom, and a sauce of your choice, so you’ll probably want to add an appetizer or a salad. The E&R appetizer line-up is epic, with 27 of them spread over three price categories—$5.90, $8.20, and $9.80. From black Tuscan kale to grilled octopus, they’re good enough to order a few and skip the entrée (which we sometimes do when catching a game at the bar). Among the best ones we’ve had are steak tartare, ahi poke, crab cakes, sweet fire cauliflower, and the incredible portabello-mushroom fries.
Along with the food and pricing, a lot going on here contributes to the all-around good experience. Service is first rate, there’s a beautiful patio if you want to eat outside, a full butcher shop is open downstairs, and from 3 to 6 pm and 10 pm to close, E&R puts on one of the most creative happy hours in town. But the real topper is free corkage for wine. Echo & Rig has a good wine selection at decent prices, but if you want to bring in your own, they’ll open and serve it at no charge. This is the only place we know of in Las Vegas with free corkage, and less than a mile south on Rampart a Lee’s Discount Liquor and a Total Wine & More are almost next door to each other. Pick out a bottle or two and bring them along to save another big chunk of change.
Echo & Rig is located in Tivoli Village on the west side of town, across the street from Suncoast. Hours are 11 am-11 pm weekdays and 9 am-11 pm weekends. It’s a bit of a trek, but worth it.
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