Simon Price Keys, Per Person, No Alcohol: $ = <$15 $$ = $16-25 $$$ = $26-$35 $$$$ = $36+

Thursday, January 02, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Mercury

Eat: Recommended Restaurants

This week's theme: See & Be Seen

By James Reza

Simon

4455 Paradise Road (in the Hard Rock Hotel)

693-5000

$$$

Smart Casual/Trendy

Playgirl chef Kerry Simon (of Bellagio's Prime) had big shoes to fill when Hard Rock honcho Peter Morton agreed to vacate his successful vanity project Mortoni's to make way for Simon's trendy Palm Springs-style eatery. So far, the fear factor has proved unwarranted; Simon is the new spot for the underdressed and overtressed, where beautiful design feeds the eye while good food satiates the palate. The comfort food trend launched years ago in New York and London makes old Vegas new again with super steaks, seafood and pasta. Meanwhile, signature desserts like freshly spun cotton candy, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (an updated cookies and ice cream) and topless apple pie--our fave--melt in your wet, lip gloss-covered mouth. Want to sample the scene without committing to a table? Snag a seat at the bar.

Bootlegger Bistro

7700 Las Vegas Blvd. South

736-4939

$$

Casual/Smart Casual

This 24-hour Vegas institution serves some of the best Southern Italian in town. Typically, this bistro bustles with cooing couples and smartly dressed families, but on the weekends, when '50s-era Strip entertainers sing and dance, it's a who's who of Old Vegas. On any swing shift, you'll find the city's best servers and strippers in the lounge, sampling the satisfying menu.

Hamada of Japan

365 E. Flamingo Road

733-3005

$$$

Smart Casual/Trendy

Dating to an era when Japanese teppan-yaki was a trendy fave, Hamada offers the perfect combination of kitsch and style. There's standard table service here, but the fun (and the parade of beautiful people) can be found at the sushi bar or the teppan room, where food is sliced, diced and sizzled before your eyes.

Little Buddha

4321 W. Flamingo Road

942-7778

$$

Smart Casual/Trendy

Elevating the concept of scene restaurant to its apex, the Vegas version of Paris' notorious Buddha Bar is at once a cocktail lounge, sushi bar and restaurant. Groovy electronic lounge music pulses in the foreground (Buddha sells its own soundtrack CDs) while the fashion-capable nosh tasty French-Asian fusion cuisine.

Mediterranean Café/Hookah Lounge

4147 S. Maryland Parkway

731-6030

$-$$

Casual/Smart Casual

Before the local palate appreciated ethnic dining, Paymon Raouf was serving tasty tabouleh and fab falafel to the college crowd. As the city sophisticated, so went the Cafe, adding a Hookah Lounge (with full bar) and expanding the hours and menu. Lunch tables are prime real estate, dinner crowds pleasantly hip and articulate.

Mr. Lucky's 24/7

4455 Paradise Road (in the Hard Rock Hotel)

693-5592

$-$$

Casual/Trendy

A revisiting of the casino coffee shop, Mr. Lucky's modernizes the standard and makes us wonder why it ever disappeared. You can order pasta and pizza here, but why? With breakfast served 24 hours, the tastiest veggie burger in Vegas and the unlisted steak-and-shrimp special (ask for it), there's nothing left but dessert and eye candy.

Nine

4321 W. Flamingo Road

942-7777

$$-$$$

Smart Casual/Trendy

Any restaurant from the N9ne Group (Rain and Ghostbar) had better deliver The Scene right to the dinner table, and Nine does so with aplomb. Upscale modern in decor and futuristic in accouterments (check out those plasma screens), Nine's sexy lounge, where the beautiful thirtysomethings meet, eats a third of the space, while steak and seafood tables surround a round center bar. Music, hotties, liquor...you get the idea.

P.F. Chang's China Bistro

4165 Paradise Road

792-2207

1095 S. Rampart Blvd.

968-8885

$-$$

Smart Casual/Trendy

Yes, you can get noodles here. And rice. But the honest draw is the people parade: The hostesses are beautiful, the wait staff quick and quirky, and the bar slammed with hipsters. If you still want to eat, try the tofu lettuce wraps, the garlic noodles and the Szechwan long beans--but beware: What sounds vegetarian often is not. In Summerlin, suits and trendy entrepreneurs sip Sapphire side by side.

Pink Taco

4455 Paradise Road (in the Hard Rock Hotel)

693-5000

$

Casual/Trendy

This is the Ÿber-sexy beachside taqueria in the Cabo of your dreams. Everyone--staff, sexpots, satyrs--looks to have been plucked from MTV, and the music volume boosts conversation to strip club levels. Unexpectedly, the Mexican menu (by chef Tacho Kneeland) is as appealing as the people, with unusual items like chilaquiles emerging properly tasteful.

Tre

1050 S. Rampart Blvd.

946-6200

$$-$$$

Smart Casual/Trendy

Tre--from New York's famed Maccioni restaurant family (Circo)--is the most impressive off-Strip eatery in Vegas. A freestanding Summerlin building, Tre is modern Mediterranean--Arabesque, Moorish, Italianate--with an inspired menu to match. Already, Tre is the west end place for ladies who lunch, not to mention a dinner spot for those accustomed to the style and service of the Strip.