Dining OUt in Gay Las Vegas - A guide to Gay Restaurants

Once known for its all-you-can-eat buffets and bargain shrimp cocktails, Las Vegas has transformed itself into a top culinary destination. Today, Las Vegas has the most comprehensive collection of celebrity chefs and world-class restaurants, more Master Sommeliers than any other city in the world and more wine sold per capita than in any other destination. From Mobil Travel Guide awarded restaurants Alex at Wynn Las Vegas and Joël Robuchon at The Mansion at MGM Grand to Simon Restaurant and Lounge at Palms Place and Payard Patisserie and Bistro at Caesars Palace you're sure to find something perfect for your taste buds.

With world-renowned restaurants featuring beautiful views of The Strip and Las Vegas Valley, the culinary scene offers the best from high-end gourmet to casual dining. Nove sits high atop the Fantasy Suite Tower at Palms and provides a sweeping panorama of the city, or check out the view from 64 floors up at miX in THE hotel at Mandalay Bay. If you prefer secluded dining, just 20 miles off-Strip, Lake Las Vegas offers an array of intimate dining options, as do the restaurants surrounding the Lake of Dreams at Wynn Las Vegas, including Daniel Boulud and SW Steakhouse.

Satisfy your sweet spot with Las Vegas’ abundant selection of confectionary delights. The Jean Philippe Pâtisserie at Bellagio is home to an amazing selection of chocolates and delectable pastries, as well as the world’s largest chocolate fountain. Chocolate-lovers can also find paradise at Payard Pâtisserie & Bistro inside Caesars Palace.

The casinos have some of the best all-you-can-eat lunch and dinner buffets anywhere. The most popular are Bellagio, Bally's, Paris, Orleans, Planet Hollywood, Mirage, and MGM -- all on Las Vegas Boulevard. For an economical buffet, try The Sahara with a choice of meats from their cavery, chicken, fish and ample cakes and desserts.
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This city has choices both upmarket and casual (though rarely inexpensive). Society Cafe, in the Encore, easily combines the two atmospheres, feeling both gracious and down-home. The black and white look gives it a restrained elegance, and the menu is full of comfort food with slight twists.

For retro, casual fun, check out BLT Burger, in the Mirage, where you can wash down your turkey, tandoori lamb, or Black Angus beefburger with milkshakes ranging from Campfire Marshmallows to Creamsicle. For oversized appetites, Hash House A Go Go is the place. A long standing off-strip favorite, it has now opened a branch in the Imperial Palace, and after a breakfast of those 14" pancakes or banana cinnamon cream French toast, you’ll be set till dinnertime (or the next day). For rollicking good fun in a hip, far-from-quiet atmosphere, and an eclectic menu from thin-crust pizza to lobster tacos, check out Fix, in Bellagio.

Right across the casino floor from Fix (keep your eyes focused straight ahead as you pass the slots) is one of our favorite Las Vegas eateries, Yellowtail. Part chic bar, part lovely Japanese restaurant, the food is flawless, creative, and amazing.

Splurge on a meal at Joel Rubuchon, the elegant restaurant in the MGM Grand. The room is plush and comfy, the meals are a revelation, delights await, each with Robuchon’s contemporary/classic touch, as beautiful to the eye as to the palate. (MGM Grand, 3799 Las Vegas Blvd. S.; 702-891-7925; 6 course tasting menu $250, 16-course tasting menu $385),Robuchon’s is the first French restaurant in America by the legendary chef of the same name. Considered by some to offer the best French dining in the U.S., Joël Robuchon is refined but delightfully intimate, with limited seating in its gorgeous and deeply-hued Art Deco-inspired setting.

If you have just one meal to eat in the city, make it at Picasso (Bellagio, 3600 Las Vegas Blvd. S.; 702-693-7223 or 866-259-7111; fixed price menus $90/four course, $100/five course). Chef Julian Serrano left Masa's, his San Francisco restaurant, to paint a new canvas at Bellagio. The dining room is sophisticated country elegance, with soft light reflected off high ceilings, brick, tile, wood, and multimillion-dollar Picassos.

Also at Bellagio is the excellent and slightly more casual Sensi (3600 Las Vegas Blvd. S., 866-259-7111 or 702-693-7223, $32-90) with its four melded kitchens (Italian, Asian, American and seafood) on full display just beyond glass walls at center stage.

Wynn Las Vegas has helped raise the standard for outstanding, top-dollar dining. There's Bartolotta (Wynn Las Vegas, 3131 Las Vegas Blvd. S.; 702-248-DINE or 888-352-DINE; $35-54), which is just off the resort's fancy shopping area and serves excellent Italian seafood to a well-dressed bunch; and the French-inspired Alex (Wynn Las Vegas, 3131 Las Vegas Blvd. S.; 702-248-DINE or 888-352-DINE; $145 prix-fixe), an art-filled dining room reached via a grand staircase that might just be the best place in town for a special-occasion meal.

The Las Vegas outpost of Bobby Flay's acclaimed Mesa Grill (Caesars Palace, 3570 Las Vegas Blvd. S.; 877-346-4642; $24-$46) dishes out divine grilled venison chops with cranberry-cascabel chile sauce, and wild blueberry shortcake with lemon ice cream and blueberry basil syrup, for those craving Mesa's Manhattan marvels. Atop the fab 43-story Hotel at Mandalay Bay, world-renowned French chef Alain Ducasse's Mix (Mandalay Bay; 702-632-9500; $39-$59), earns oohs and ahhs for its incredible overlook of the Strip and its 24-foot chandelier, which has 15,000 hand-blown glass globes. While reviews of the lavish French-American fare are uneven, everybody seems to adore the service, décor and views.

Located in a quiet neighborhood off the Strip, the original André's French Restaurant (401 S. 6th St.; 702-385-5016; $31-$68) serves classic French cuisine in a 1930s building that has been decorated with country antiques. The seasonal menu is excellent, and the wine selection of 1,200 is among the most extensive in town.

Also check out André Rochat's latest creation, Alizé (Palms Casino Resort, 4321 W. Flamingo Rd.; 702-951-7000; $34-68), which sits atop the fabulous Palms Casino (on the 56th floor), affording unparalleled views through its 16-foot floor-to-ceiling windows of the Vegas skyline. Sublime modern French dishes like Maine lobster Thermidor and shallot-crusted rack of lamb match the memorable ambience, and the wine list offers some 1,800 selections; the restaurant also boasts one of the most distinguished cognac lists in the world.

The Border Grill (Mandalay Bay, 3950 Las Vegas Blvd. S.; 702-632-7403; $10-$38) is a fabulous spot, run by lesbian chef Susan Feniger with her "Too Hot Tamales" TV show co-presenter, Mary Sue Milliken. Offering Las Vegas visitors a delicious culinary gamble, where every choice is a winner, innovative empanadas and tamales star and Nevada's best margaritas add to the experience. An incredible outdoor patio is the perfect place for delectable desert city dining. Mandalay Bay's Aureole (Mandalay Bay, 3950 Las Vegas Blvd. S.; 702-632-7401; fixed price menus $75-$105) offers fine dining in a brilliantly high-tech and glamorous dining room with an incredible wine selection housed in a two-story glass tower with elevator.Off the Strip and close to the gay quarter, Firefly Tapas Kitchen (3900 Paradise Road; 702-369-3971; $10-$20) offers terrific value, excellent food and a lively ambience. The paella is delicious, as are such tapas treats as crispy duck rolls with cherry hoisin sauce and stuffed, bacon-wrapped dates with smoked almonds and blue cheese.

The China Grill (Mandalay Bay, 3950 Las Vegas Blvd. S.; 702-632-7404; $28-79) serves huge portions of excellent Pan-Asian fare, family-style, in a relaxed, hip atmosphere.

Tao Asian Bistro (3355 Las Vegas Blvd. S.; 702-388-8338; $24-88), a hotshot at The Venetian, blends the swanky, exclusive ambience of a top nightclub with the stellar Pan-Asian cuisine and superb sushi you'd expect of a glamorous Strip restaurant.

The Redwood Bar & Grill (California Hotel, 12 Ogden Ave; 702-385-1222; $15-45) is a local favorite for its $17.99 porterhouse special. The quiet dining room has a comfortable, country English feel. Another great view can be had at Voodoo Steak & Lounge (Rio Hotel, 3700 W. Flamingo Rd.; 702-777-7923; fixed menus $65-95) offering upscale Cajun/Creole cuisine.

Spago (Forum Shops at Caesars, 3500 Las Vegas Blvd. S.; 702-369-6300; $29-68, $11-33 café) is more accessible and just as good as the Los Angeles original(s), with both a restaurant and less formal café. Paymon's (4741 S. Maryland Pkwy.; 702-731-6030; also 8380 W. Sahara Ave; 702-731-6030; $10-$19) is a gay fave for well-prepared Mediterranean, Greek, and Middle Eastern food, including delicious lamb and steak kabobs, spanakopita, moussaka, falafels, and Greek salads.

For Thai, try Lotus of Siam (Commercial Center, 953 E. Sahara Ave.; 702-735-3033; $9-29), a charming small restaurant serving traditional Thai cuisine, hailed by many as one of the best of its kind in the country. Osaka (4205 W. Sahara Ave.; 702-876-4988; $16-$25) serves some of the best Japanese food off the Strip, and it's extremely gay-friendly.

Viva Mercado (6182 W. Flamingo Rd.; 702-871-8826; $13-$23) is the locals' favorite choice for authentic Mexican. The complete $12.95 prime rib dinner at the coffee shop at Binion's Coffee Shop (128 E. Fremont St.; 702-382-1600; $6-$20) is a Vegas legend, but there are several other great deals, too. For great Italian family-style food, try Nora's Cuisine (6020 W. Flamingo Rd. #10; 702-873-8990; $6-19).

Buffet dining is legendary in Las Vegas, the subject of much guidebook and Web commentary. If being surrounded by gross overindulgence doesn't ruin your appetite, the all-you-can-eat buffets offer great value. Most offer bland meat and potatoes, institutional kind of meals, but a few are worth saving an appetite for. Expect to pay from $5 to $15 for lunch and from $5 to $25 for dinner at these altars to gluttony.

The Carnival World Buffet and Village Seafood Buffet at the Rio (3700 W. Flamingo Rd.; 702-777-7777; breakfast $14.99; lunch $16.99; dinner $23.99; weekend Champagne brunch $23.99) offer some of the highest-quality food you'll find on a buffet line, plus some of the best desserts in town -- as if you'd have room. Other recommended buffets include the sleekly designed Cravings (Mirage Hotel, 3400 Las Vegas Blvd. S.; 702-791-7355; breakfast $13, lunch $18, dinner $23, weekend Champagne brunch $21). The Sterling Brunch at Bally's Steakhouse (702-967-7999; $65) offers caviar and all the French champagne you can guzzle.

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