A Vegas vacation offers more than just bright lights, chaotic casinos and dazzling shows. It’s also famous for its fabulous food. For the past decade or two, Sin City has reinvented itself into a culinary capital, with world-class fare in sought-after venues. Many of the popular dining spots are helmed by star chefs with a cult following of foodie fans. Here are 10 celebrity chef restaurants in Las Vegas to check out next time your heading to the strip.
1. Wolfgang Puck’s Spago
Austrian-American Wolfgang Puck was one of the first chefs to become celebrity in his own right by catering to Hollywood celebrities at the annual Academy Awards. His flagship L.A. restaurant, Spago, opened a Las Vegas location in 1992 at Ceasar’s Palace Forum Shops. Spago is a stylish yet casual venue with eclectic California cuisine. Its popularity sparked the trend for celebrity chef restaurants along the strip and opened the door for other restauranteurs to hit the spotlight. Puck now runs an empire of 20 restaurants, with six on Las Vegas Boulevard. These include CUT, Postrio and Wolfgang Puck Bar and Grill.
2. Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill
Bobby Flay parlayed his success as a restauranteur into celebrity chef status on such Food Network programs as Throwdown! with Bobby Flay and the Iron Chef. He opened a location of his popular Mesa Grill at Caesars Palace in 2004, which earned him a Michelin star in 2008. It offers flavors of the American Southwest in signature dishes like Chiptole Glazed Rib-Eye and Ancho Chile Honey Glazed Salmon. Flay also owns the casual Bobby’s Burger Palace location on the Las Vegas strip, plus several other notable restaurants across the U.S. and the Bahamas.
3. Emeril Legasse’s Delmonico Steakhouse
Emeril Legasse is one of America’s most celebrated chefs, restauranteurs, cook book authors and television personalities. His “BAM!” and “kick it up a notch” catchphrases have become part of the foodie vernacular. One of Bravo’s Top Chef judges and star of several cooking shows, Legasse is known for his New Orleans Creole cuisine. He has a fleet of 13 restaurants across the United States, including three in Vegas. If you can’t get into the divine Delmonico Steakhouse at The Venetian, try Emeril’s New Orleans Fish House at the MGM Grand or Table 10 at The Palazzo.
4. Giada de Laurentiis’s GIADA
Giada de Laurentiis as been a popular food personality and cookbook author for over a decade, but she has only just recently opened her first restaurant in 2014. It’s aptly called GIADA, and is located inside the Cromwell, a boutique hotel on the Las Vegas strip. Not surprisingly, the Everyday Italian host’s restaurant features Italian cuisine fused with Californian touches. The food is spectacular, as is the patio view of the Bellagio fountains.
5. Gordon Ramsay’s BurGR
One of Britain’s most famous chefs is as known for his cantankerous persona as he is his culinary skills. He is the hotheaded host of such shows as Hell’s Kitchen, Kitchen Nightmares and MasterChef. He is also a three-time Michelin star honoree. He boasts a fleet of restaurants around the world. Three of these are in Las Vegas, including his Steakhouse in Paris Las Vegas and his Pub & Grill in Caesar’s Palace. His popular retro-styled BurGR joint in Planet Hollywood takes traditional U.S. comfort food to a whole other level. Top off your all-American meal with a distinctively British sticky toffee pudding push-pop.
6. Nobuyuki Matsuhisa’s NOBU
Celebrity chef Nobu Matsuhisa is one of Japan’s pioneers of fusion cuisine, blending Asian with Peruvian influences. He parlayed his restauranteur notoriety into star status when he befriended actor Robert DeNiro. The two opened NOBU in New York’s Tribeca neighborhood, and 20+ locations across the globe followed suit. Not only is there a NOBU restaurant at the Las Vegas Hard Rock Hotel, but Matsuhisa opened his own Vegas boutique hotel, Nobu Hotel Caesars Palace, in 2013. Its flagship 12,775 square foot restaurant is the largest NOBU in the world – and they don’t have trouble filling the seats.
7. Mario Batali’s B&B Ristorante
Mario Batali is another American chef who has made a household name for himself. His renowned Italian restaurants in New York and his Food Network show, Molto Mario, helped springboard him to celebrity chef status. He has 25 restaurants in his global empire, including several popular venues in Las Vegas. His B&B Ristorante is a casually elegant classic Italian eatery in The Venetian (where else), but Carnevino and Otto Enoteca Pizzeria are also worth a table.
8. Todd English’s P.U.B.
Boston-based celebrity chef Todd English is one of the most respected restauranteurs in the business. His PBS cooking show, Food Trip with Todd English, helped bring him fame. The Todd English P.U.B. at Crystals is a modern take on the gastro pub, complete with a carvery, raw bar, gourmet fish ‘n chips and dart boards on the wall. His Mediterranean-inspired Olives restaurant at the five-star Bellagio hotel is a coveted Vegas venue to score a reservation.
9. é by José Andrés
Spanish-American José Andrés runs one of the most respected celebrity chef restaurants in Las Vegas. Inspired by the tapas tradition of his native Spain, he helped popularize the concept of “small plate” dining in America. é by José Andrés, set in The Cosmopolitan, is a tiny in-demand hotspot on the strip famed for its innovative 15-course molecular gastronomy tasting menu. It’s a boutique “restaurant-within-a-restaurant” concept inside Andrés’ popular paellea grill, Jaleo. His Vegas venues also include the groundbreaking Bazaar Meat restaurant and China Poblano, an Asian-Mexican noodles and tacos fusion restaurant.
10. Guy Fieri’s Vegas Kitchen and Bar
Guy’s guy Guy Fieri has become one of America’s most popular celebrity chefs after winning the second season of The Next Food Network Star. His Vegas Kitchen and Bar at the LINQ Hotel and Casino offers a fresh, bold and funky approach to burgers, wings, tacos, small bites and shareable nibbles, akin to what he praises on his hit show, Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. Rumor has he might be opening another eatery at The Quad soon. There’s no end in sight to celebrity chef restaurants in Las Vegas.
