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Thursday, January 29, 2004 Eat: Recommended RestaurantsGo southeast
By James P. Reza
So we're snobbish about Las Vegas. And it's been pointed out that we spend too much time dining in restaurants in the central and western sides of the valley. It's not that we don't get to Henderson all that much, it's that... Okay, we don't get to Henderson that much. But that doesn't mean this WWII industrial town (now home to Green Valley and a snobbishness of its own) doesn't have some nice eats. Here are a few.
Bonjour Casual French 8878 S. Eastern Ave.; 270-2102 $$$; Smart Casual Purists take heart: Proprietors Marie and Bernard Calatayund hail from Cannes, so you know the food is authentic, while the service is uncharacteristically friendly--a welcome anomaly. A Green Valley neighborhood fave for several years, the delish French country fare and well chosen wine list make Bonjour worth the drive from nearly anywhere in the valley.
BullShrimp 2300 Paseo Verde Parkway; 617-7777 $$$; Smart Casual Local celeb chef Gustav Mauler's stylish surf and turf is a good reason to venture into the Green Valley Ranch Station resort, particularly if you dig modern, curvaceous interiors served with your meal. The chop salad is a popular favorite, but the lceberg wedge with Maytag blue cheese gets our vote. For dinner choose from dry-aged beef or specialties like pesto crusted Pacific salmon or Macadamia nut crusted seabass.
Carrabba's Italian Grill 8771 W. Charleston Blvd.; 304-2345 10160 S. Eastern Ave.; 990-0650 Lying in an underserved medium between "family" and "upscale," diners at Carrabba's are equally comfortable either after work or play. The dining room is dark enough for a first date, but bright enough for families, and the bar is always busy. Like most chains this size, the food can be a bit bland, but choosing your selections from the specialties menu helps.
Garduño's 777 W. Lake Mead Drive; 558-7000 4321 W. Flamingo Road; 942-7777 $-$$; Casual/Smart Casual A longtime Las Vegas favorite, Garduños is a product of a New Mexican family. Some of the recipes (including the chile stew and posole) and the ingredients (including the region's Hatch chile) are unique to New Mexico, but others carry more of a traditional Mexican influence, making most of the menu familiar. Although this can't honestly be called a traditional New Mexican eatery, the food is still very good.
Il Fornaio 2300 Paseo Verde Parkway; 492-0054 3790 Las Vegas Blvd. South; 650-6500 $$-$$$; Smart Casual Two links in an upper-mid-level Northern Italian (think Bertolini's) chain with a hook, these two resort eateries (Green Valley Ranch Station and New York-New York) boast an in-house bakery with a take-out counter that anyone would love in their neighborhood. The wood-fired pizza and plates full o' pasta are pretty darn good, too.
Original Pancake House 2300 Paseo Verde Pkwy.; 617-7500 4833 W. Charleston Blvd.; 259-7755 $; Casual Every kid leaps at the thought of pancakes, and the ones at this Portland fave are almost too good to be true. There are so many varieties of scratch-made delights that it takes several minutes just to salivate your way through the menu: apple, Swedish, buckwheat... For those who don't dig sweets in the morning, a full breakfast menu is also available.
Romano's Macaroni Grill 573 Stephanie St.; 433-2788 2440 W. Sahara Ave.; 248-9500 $-$$; Casual-Smart Casual This Italian restaurant chain is bistro-inspired but far too big to be one. It is, however, upscale casual, loud, and sturdy enough for children. Parents will love the good food at decent prices, the kids will love coloring on the butcher-paper table tops with provided crayons, and everyone will love being a family and not getting stared down.
Sidewalk Mediterranean Cafe 6250 Mountain Vista St.; 450-1079 $; Casual Green Valley's direct answer to the university district's Mediterranean Cafe (though not affiliated in any way), the Sidewalk Cafe offers a similar menu of hummus, falafel, tabouleh, kabobs, mezze platters...you get the drill. Enjoy live entertainment on the weekends, or a cocktail in the (hookah) bar. Hmmm...
Viaggio's Italian Cuisine 12261 S. Eastern Ave.; 492-6900 $$-$$$; Smart Casual Get vertigo at Viaggio with a view that stuns the uninitiated, not to mention a salad and appetizer menu (Phyllo wrapped shrimp with gorgonzola! Crab ravioli!) that can evolve into a meal in itself. Extensive fresh pasta selections, plus steak and seafood--all at prices the tourists would envy--make this a neighborhood nosh of the first order.
Vigne Cafe 12261 S. Eastern Ave.; 269-8463 $$; Smart Casual If upscale off-Strip restaurant menus follow a pattern, it's contemporary American, and Vigne does it well. Vigne's chef, a veteran of Wolfgang Puck's Postrio, presents items such as duck and mascarpone agnolotti with roasted squash and sage brown butter--an item with a style familiar to anyone who enjoys Rosemary's. A particular attraction of Vigne is that it serves a special late menu until 2 a.m.
James P. Reza is the dining editor of the Las Vegas edition of the 2004 Zagat Survey. Have a hot dining tip? Send it to jpreza@cox.net. |
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