The plates that define Las Vegas: what they are, and where to eat the canonical version.
The plates that define Las Vegas. what they are, where they came from, and where to eat the canonical version.
Vegas's defining cut: a New York strip, dry-aged and seared at one of the Strip steakhouses (Bavette's, SW, Carversteak, Delmonico), plated bone-in or boneless with bordelaise on the side.
Where: Bavette's Steakhouse and Bar, SW Steakhouse, Carversteak, Delmonico Steakhouse
Price: $85-145
Vegas's $0.99 mascot: cold-poached shrimp, horseradish-laced cocktail sauce, lemon wedge, served in a sundae glass at downtown casinos since 1959 and still pulling crowds at Du-par's.
Price: $5-15
Northern Thai coconut curry noodle soup, made canonical in the western US by Lotus of Siam: braised chicken or beef, egg noodles, crispy noodle nest on top, lime and pickled mustard at the side.
Where: Lotus of Siam (Sahara), Lotus of Siam (Flamingo), Weera Thai
Price: $16-22
The signature plate at Wing Lei, the first Michelin-starred Chinese kitchen in North America: tableside-carved duck, mandarin pancakes, scallion brush, sweet bean sauce, two services.
Where: Wing Lei, Mott 32
Price: $98-185
Japanese binchotan-charcoal skewers, made canonical in Vegas by Raku since 2008: pork belly, chicken thigh and skin, asparagus wrapped in beef, all cooked over imported white-oak charcoal.
Where: Raku
Price: $4-9 per skewer
Tacos El Gordo's signature plate: marinated pork shaved off a vertical trompo, double corn tortilla, pineapple, white onion, fresh coriander.
Price: $3-5 per taco
The Strip's all-you-can-eat ritual: from Bacchanal Buffet's 250-item global spread at Caesars Palace to Wicked Spoon's small-plate brunch at the Cosmopolitan. Crab leg, prime rib, dim sum, dessert, all on one tray.
Price: $45-95 per person
Vegas's late-night ritual: oversized New York-style slices at Secret Pizza inside the Cosmopolitan (unmarked third-floor counter) or Pin-Up Pizza on the Planet Hollywood plaza, open into the early morning.
Price: $6-10 per slice
Chinatown's high-end ritual: aged tuna, white fish, salmon roe and nigiri at Yui or Kabuto Edomae, fish flown from Toyosu Market, seven seats at the counter and a tasting menu only.
Where: Yui Edomae Sushi, Kabuto Edomae Sushi
Price: $190-340
Thomas Keller's brioche French toast at Bouchon Venetian, an oven-finished version with custard-soaked brioche, brown butter, vanilla bean and grade-A maple syrup. Brunch's most photographed plate.
Price: $20-26
Vegas's defining cut: a New York strip, dry-aged and seared at one of the Strip steakhouses (Bavette's, SW, Carversteak, Delmonico), plated bone-in or boneless with bordelaise on the side.
History: The strip steak takes its name from New York's Strip District but became the canonical Las Vegas plate after the 1990s steakhouse boom. Steve Wynn's Bellagio opened in 1998 with a 200-seat steakhouse; Smith and Wollensky followed at the Venetian. By 2005 Bobby Flay, Charlie Palmer, Bradley Ogden and Wolfgang Puck all ran prime steakhouses on the Strip. The Vegas cut is typically dry-aged 28 to 45 days, seared at 800F in salamander broilers and served with bordelaise, peppercorn or Diane sauces on the side. Bavette's at Park MGM (Chicago, 2017), SW Steakhouse at Wynn (Alfred Portale) and Carversteak at Resorts World (2021) run the current category.
Where to try it: Bavette's Steakhouse and Bar, SW Steakhouse, Carversteak, Delmonico Steakhouse
Vegas's $0.99 mascot: cold-poached shrimp, horseradish-laced cocktail sauce, lemon wedge, served in a sundae glass at downtown casinos since 1959 and still pulling crowds at Du-par's.
History: The 99-cent shrimp cocktail debuted in 1959 at the Golden Gate Casino on Fremont Street, a loss-leader to keep gamblers at the tables. Within a decade every downtown casino ran a version. The Golden Gate retired the original recipe in 2017 (it had risen to $3.99 by then) but Du-par's Restaurant at the Golden Gate brought it back. The plate is canonical Vegas: cold-poached shrimp in a parfait glass, classic tomato horseradish sauce, served with a lemon wedge and oyster crackers. The Peppermill on the Strip and several downtown counters still run it for under $10.
Watch out for: Shellfish
Northern Thai coconut curry noodle soup, made canonical in the western US by Lotus of Siam: braised chicken or beef, egg noodles, crispy noodle nest on top, lime and pickled mustard at the side.
History: Khao soi is a Burmese-influenced Northern Thai dish from Chiang Mai, brought to Las Vegas by Saipin and Bill Chutima when they opened Lotus of Siam at the Commercial Center on East Sahara in 1999. Saipin Chutima was a James Beard co-winner of Best Chef Southwest in 2011, the first Thai chef to take the award. The Lotus version uses egg noodles in a coconut-curry broth with braised chicken or beef, garnished with a crisp noodle nest, lime, pickled mustard greens and red onion. Lotus moved to Flamingo Road in 2017 after a roof collapse, then reopened the original Sahara location on May 8 2026.
Where to try it: Lotus of Siam (Sahara), Lotus of Siam (Flamingo), Weera Thai
Watch out for: Gluten, Eggs
The signature plate at Wing Lei, the first Michelin-starred Chinese kitchen in North America: tableside-carved duck, mandarin pancakes, scallion brush, sweet bean sauce, two services.
History: Peking duck arrived on the Strip in 2005 when Wynn Las Vegas opened Wing Lei under chef Richard Chen. The restaurant became the first Michelin-starred Chinese room in North America that same year. Chef Ming Yu now runs the kitchen, carving the duck tableside in the gold dining room. Mott 32 (Hong Kong export) opened at the Venetian in 2018 with a separate 48-hour apple-wood Peking duck, building a Strip duck rivalry. The Wing Lei service is two-course: skin and meat with pancakes first, then a stir-fry or congee with the carcass meat.
Where to try it: Wing Lei, Mott 32
Watch out for: Gluten
Japanese binchotan-charcoal skewers, made canonical in Vegas by Raku since 2008: pork belly, chicken thigh and skin, asparagus wrapped in beef, all cooked over imported white-oak charcoal.
History: Robata grilling came to Las Vegas with chef Mitsuo Endo at Raku on Spring Mountain Road in 2008. The kitchen runs imported Japanese binchotan, white-oak charcoal that burns at 800C with almost no smoke. Endo's skewers cover the full Japanese izakaya canon: kushiyaki of pork belly, chicken skin, chicken thigh with green onion (negima), asparagus wrapped in beef, quail eggs and Japanese mushrooms. Raku earned multiple James Beard nominations and became the off-Strip room Vegas chefs ate at after their own shifts ended. Endo opened Sweets Raku in 2011 and Raku NYC in 2018.
Where to try it: Raku
Tacos El Gordo's signature plate: marinated pork shaved off a vertical trompo, double corn tortilla, pineapple, white onion, fresh coriander.
History: Al pastor tacos arrived in Las Vegas as a Tijuana import. Tacos El Gordo opened on the Strip in 2010 (3041 Las Vegas Blvd S) and a downtown branch shortly after, both running vertical trompos with pork marinated in achiote, guajillo chile and pineapple. The Strip location is one of the few places in Vegas that runs the trompo until 4am Friday and Saturday. The Vegas version is closer to the Tijuana style than the Mexico City style: shorter pineapple top on the spit, smaller tortillas, less garnish.
Watch out for: Gluten
The Strip's all-you-can-eat ritual: from Bacchanal Buffet's 250-item global spread at Caesars Palace to Wicked Spoon's small-plate brunch at the Cosmopolitan. Crab leg, prime rib, dim sum, dessert, all on one tray.
History: The Vegas buffet was invented in 1946 by Beldon Katleman at the El Rancho Vegas hotel as a midnight 'Buckaroo Buffet' to keep gamblers in the casino. By the 1960s every Strip hotel ran one; the format ran 24 hours at most casinos until the 1990s. The pandemic of 2020 thinned the herd severely: by 2026 only a handful of Strip buffets remain. Bacchanal at Caesars Palace ($65 brunch to $85 weekend dinner, 250 items, 10 kitchens) is the gold standard. Wicked Spoon at the Cosmopolitan runs small-plate brunch. The Buffet at Wynn returned in 2022. Most off-Strip and downtown buffets are gone for good.
Watch out for: Shellfish, Gluten, Dairy
Vegas's late-night ritual: oversized New York-style slices at Secret Pizza inside the Cosmopolitan (unmarked third-floor counter) or Pin-Up Pizza on the Planet Hollywood plaza, open into the early morning.
History: The Strip's late-night pizza-by-the-slice trade emerged when the Cosmopolitan opened in 2010 with Secret Pizza, an unmarked third-floor counter accessible through a hallway lined with vintage album covers. The room runs until 04:00 and the slices are oversized New York-style on a tile-baked crust. Pin-Up Pizza opened on the Planet Hollywood plaza around the same time, selling Naples-imported pomodorini tomato pies in slices that hang off the plate. Both rooms became the post-club refuelling stop on the Strip. Off-Strip, Naked City Pizza and Pop Up Pizza at the Plaza downtown run the Strip-style trade for locals.
Watch out for: Gluten, Dairy
Chinatown's high-end ritual: aged tuna, white fish, salmon roe and nigiri at Yui or Kabuto Edomae, fish flown from Toyosu Market, seven seats at the counter and a tasting menu only.
History: Edomae sushi, the Tokyo-bay-style nigiri tradition, arrived in Las Vegas in 2008 when Hiroshi Kurita opened Yui in Spring Mountain Chinatown. Kabuto Edomae opened next door in 2013 under chef Gen Mizoguchi (who later moved to Yui). The room runs traditional Edomae technique: aged tuna and white fish, light vinegar in the rice, nigiri shaped to order at the counter. Both Yui and Kabuto fly fish daily from Toyosu Market in Tokyo, the wholesale market that replaced Tsukiji in 2018. Tasting menus run $190 to $340 per seat; counter seating only and reservations open 30 days out.
Where to try it: Yui Edomae Sushi, Kabuto Edomae Sushi
Watch out for: Fish, Shellfish
Thomas Keller's brioche French toast at Bouchon Venetian, an oven-finished version with custard-soaked brioche, brown butter, vanilla bean and grade-A maple syrup. Brunch's most photographed plate.
History: Brioche French toast became a Vegas signature when Thomas Keller opened Bouchon at the Venetian in 2004, a French bistro built around the Las Vegas brunch. The recipe was a refinement of Keller's Yountville version: brioche from the Bouchon Bakery, custard-soaked overnight, oven-finished rather than fried. Keller's team teaches the technique through the Bouchon Bakery cookbook. The plate is the most-photographed brunch in Vegas and runs daily on the Bouchon menu (the Bistro and the Bakery counter both).
Watch out for: Gluten, Dairy, Eggs
Peak food season in Las Vegas is year-round.
Local dining hours: lunch around 12:30, dinner from 19:30.
service is typically included; small extra is welcome but not expected.
If you only have one meal, eat Strip steak. It is the dish most associated with Las Vegas.