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If just 10% want to eat really well, Curtas said, “you have a perfect petri dish to grow great restaurants.”

But they have to eat when they’re not on the casino floors, attending a UFC event or seeing Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars and Christina Aguilera in concert. Gaming is still the city’s bread and butter, and most people are not coming specifically for the food. Las Vegas draws 42 million visitors annually, creating economic muscle for the burgeoning culinary scene. Everything is flown in here, so we’re a restaurant town rather than a foodie town.” There’s no chicken farms or asparagus fields or fish jumping out of the ocean a few miles away. “We’re in the middle of the high Mojave Desert here,” said John Curtas, author of “Eating Las Vegas 2020: The 52 Essential Restaurants.” “You drive 200 miles in any direction, and all you see is sand. But Las Vegas consistently appears on the latest lists of top foodie destinations, including Wallet-Hub (No. Other out-of-the-way gems in Chinatown (on Spring Mountain Road just west of the Strip) and the eclectic downtown and Arts District are perpetuating the city’s reputation for fine cuisine.īecause Las Vegas is such a young, transient city compared with other renowned culinary destinations such as New Orleans, Chicago and San Francisco, no single dish or cuisine stands out as a specialty.Īnd no one voice of authority proclaims any city as a food destination. Off the Strip, Saipin Chutima’s Lotus of Siam has long been recognized as one of the country’s top Thai restaurants. Celebrity chefs such as Wolfgang Puck, Emeril Lagasse, Nobuyuki “Nobu” Matsuhisa, Bobby Flay and Gordon Ramsay draw ardent fans, social media attention and generally excellent reviews. Nine current restaurants have earned coveted Michelin stars, including Joel Robuchon at MGM Grand, Guy Savoy at Caesars Palace and Julian Serrano’s Picasso at the Bellagio. Among its world-class casinos, resorts and nightclubs today are enviable dining venues featuring myriad cuisines, kitchen personalities and price points, both on the Strip and off.

Having rid itself of its one-time reputation for cheap shrimp cocktails, ubiquitous buffets and prime rib specials, Las Vegas has matured into a robust foodie destination.