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Summer arrives in Las Vegas with a bumper crop of new restaurants on the horizon. Water Grill brings its seafood restaurant to Las Vegas, while The Slanted Door brings modern Vietnamese fare after announcing its arrival two years ago. Richard Blais arrives on the Strip, as does a permanent home for the Hello Kitty Cafe And locals’ favorite Dan Krohmer of Other Mama fame has another new restaurant on the way, and Nicole Brisson, formerly of Eataly, opens an Italian restaurant in the southwest. Chinatown’s Shanghai Plaza isn’t done revealing new eateries. Here’s a look at some of the biggest restaurants opening this summer in Las Vegas.
Forum Shops at Caesars
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Projected Opening: July 2019
Water Grill, the vaunted seafood restaurant out of Los Angeles, takes over the former Spago space at the Forum Shops at Caesars with a menu changing daily. A raw bar and chilled shellfish menu features Pacific and Eastern oysters, as well as clams, scallops, lobster, sea urchin, and crab. The lunch and dinner menus will feature more than a dozen varieties of fish options as well as a whole fish options with different preparation styles.
• All Coverage of Water Grill [ELV]
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Projected Opening: August
Two years since first revealed to be headed to the Las Vegas Strip, new updates hint San Francisco’s The Slanted Door may finally debut this summer. Created by award-winning chef Charles Phan, the substantial 8,200-square-foot project at the front of the shopping center plans to serve Vietnamese fare. Dishes include shaking beef, stir-fried organic chicken, a chicken claypot, cellophane noodles with Dungeness crab, wood oven-roasted whole fish with Thai chili fish sauce, spicy Monterey squid, seared ahi tuna with lemongrass coconut cream, and more.
• All Coverage of The Slanted Door [ELV]
Park MGM
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Projected Opening: August
Richard Blais, best known as the winner of Bravo’s Top Chef All-Stars, brings a three-meal casual-dining outlet that features comfort food such as fried chicken, chicken sandwiches, chicken oysters, mini biscuits with miso maple butter, deviled eggs with candied bacon, Mexican poutine with pollo asada and Cheez Whiz, and more. A full bar, bar games, and a patio also will be available. Most importantly, the restaurant devotes itself to all things chicken as well as breakfast for dinner.
• All Coverage of The Crack Shack [ELV]
The Park
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Projected Opening: Early July
The limited-time, pop-up, local appearances by the Hello Kitty Cafe truck created a sensation among Sanrio fans following its first blink-and-miss-it visit to Fashion Show mall back in 2015. Now the Strip will host is own, permanent cafe, moving into The Park and located between the T-Mobile Arena and the Park MGM resort. The three officially licensed Hello Kitty Cafes in California serve seasonal specials, sugar cookies, birthday cake, macaron sets, ”pocket pies,” lemonade, iced teas and coffees, and the very popular “Hello Kitty Bow Bottle Water.” The restaurant also stocks a curated range of official and exclusive merchandise.
• All Coverage of Hello Kitty Cafe [ELV]
Grand Canal Shoppes
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Projected Opening: June 21
Burbank, California’s Trustworthy Brewing Co. brings a brew pub into the shuttered, corner home of I Love Burgers on the upper level. MCC Hospitality Group, which also operates Morels French Bistro & Steakhouse and JuiceFarm within the Palazzo, created the company in early 2017. The original Trustworthy features a short menu of pizzas, burgers, and fries upgraded with visits from local food trucks. On the Strip, future patrons can expect house-smoked meats, plus the Trustworthy custom collection of IPAs, stouts, lagers, barrel-aged beers and sours.
• All Coverage of Trustworthy Brewing Co. [ELV]
Excalibur
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Projected Opening: June 24
Fries specialist Frites Las Vegas debuts in June inside the Castle Walk Food Court at Excalibur, complete with a counter dressed up like a food truck. Frites worked on dozens of potatoes and cuts before opting for triangular-shaped fries, based on the shape of Toblerone candy bars, to get the optimal crunch. The fries then go into a beef tallow, much like old school McDonald’s fries, for the crunch factor. Vegetarians and vegans to get their fries cooked in peanut oil.
• All Coverage of Frites Las Vegas [ELV]
Miracle Mile Shops
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Projected Opening: July 1
Flights brings a California-based tapas-style restaurant with an aviation theme. Former Beauty & Essex chef Kyle Kingrey. Heads up the menu served in trios by a staff wearing custom in-flight uniforms. A flight focuses on one ingredient, such as ahi tuna, shrimp, French fries, and more, and preparations including ceviche, skewers, and salads served in three different styles. Cocktails are also served three different ways. An airplane is mounted over the dining room.
• All Coverage of Flights [ELV]
Downtown
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La Monja
Location: Fergusons Downtown
Projected Opening: Summer
Daniel Krohmer of Other Mama fame opens La Monja, a Mexican restaurant with a fish market feel, in Fergusons Downtown. The menu features coastal seafood with low prices, with fewer burritos and tacos and more ceviches. Noel Flores leads the kitchen at La Monja. The restaurant joins Hatsumi, his Japanese restaurant that opened in May at the former motel.
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Chinatown
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Location: Shanghai Plaza
Projected Opening: Summer
Cult-favorite Pepper Lunch confirms its “sizzle-it-your-way” dining experience is headed to Las Vegas, creating the third U.S. expansion for the Japan-based international chain. The restaurant heads to Chinatown’s Shanghai Plaza on Spring Mountain Road with a menu of sizzling plates of beef, hamburger steak, chicken, pork tonkatsu, tofu, salmon, and Black Angus rib-eye, plus appetizers including calamari, shrimp, oyster, gyoza, and croquette potatoes.
• All Coverage of Pepper Lunch [ELV]
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Location: Shanghai Plaza
Projected Opening: Summer
Tai 2 Chinese Sauerkraut Fish serves five appetizer options and nine cold side dishes, plus its signature single entree, Chinese sauerkraut fish, a hot-and-sour fish soup. The sauerkraut in this regional favorite is created with pickled mustard roots and greens, not cabbage as expected in the west. Described as a “combination of tingly Sichuan peppercorns (ma) and dried chillies (la),” beyond the heat, the fish dish is praised for its abundant infusion of flavors.
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Location: Shanghai Plaza
Projected Opening: July
Combining a large Japanese menu with chance to win a kawaii prize, Kura Revolving Sushi Bar is headed to the Shanghai Plaza on Spring Mountain’s Road, upgrading each diner’s conveyor belt experience with a chance to go home with a bikkura-pon capsule gift. Pre-prepared dishes move around the restaurant inside a container with a flip-up lid known as “Mr. Fresh.” Diners who want to place a special order — including ramen, udon, and tempura choices — have access to a touch-panel terminal at each seat and the food is swiftly delivered via a direct conveyor belt.
• All Coverage of Kura Revolving Sushi [ELV]
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Location: Shanghai Plaza
Projected Opening: Summer
The Taiwanese 85C Bakery Cafe was founded in 2004, rapidly expending to more than 1,000 global outlets and debuting its first U.S. branch in Irvine, California, in 2008. Built on the philosophy of serving “premium coffee, bread, and cake at affordable prices,” the name is inspired by the best temperature to keep a coffee’s flavor. On the menu, sweet and savory breads, cream puffs and egg tarts, slices of cakes, plus hot and cold coffees, teas, and boba drinks.
• All Coverage of 85C Bakery Cafe [ELV]
• Keeping Track of All the Restaurants and Bars Headed to Chinatown [ELV]
Tivoli Village
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Projected Opening: Late summer
El Dorado Cantina takes over the former Leticia’s space at the outdoor shopping mall. The Mexican restaurant, open 24 hours a day at its original location at next to Sapphire Gentleman’s Club, needs about three months to get ready for an opening. Leticia’s abruptly closed in October and has since opened locations at Santa Fe Station and Fiesta Henderson. That restaurant replaced Cantina Laredo after it departed the shopping center in 2017.
Projected Opening: July
Locals Hop Nuts Brewing plans to open a 1,389-square-foot site in the former Chillspot by SasaSweets store on the western end of the outdoor retail and dining hub in July. The compact taproom’s lounge will be large enough to accommodate 27 customers inside, with 12 stools planned for the curved bar. An enclosed 447-square-foot outdoor patio will be roomy enough for an additional 18 customers. The micro-brewers have promised unique brews are in the works, created just for Tivoli Village.
Projected Opening: July
Kuyas, an oyster- and martini-focused restaurant from Hawaii, takes over the former Kabuki space that has been vacant since 2017. The restaurant touts a taste of the Pacific Rim, with a July opening on the horizon.
• Tivoli Village Has Mexican, Pizza, Beer, and Pan-Asian Food on the Way [ELV]
Southwest
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Location: 7995 Blue Diamond Road, Suite 106
Projected Opening: Any day now
Nicole Brisson, formerly of Eataly, teams up with Andy Hooper, one of the co-owners at The Black Sheep, to open Locale Italian Kitchen. The restaurant near Mountain’s Edge plans to serve lunch and dinner daily with a weekend brunch. Italian cuisine in both la cucina povera, peasant cooking, and updated American-Italian styles rule the menu. The 3,000-square-foot restaurant will seat 72, along with more space on the patio. Locale plans to use a wood-fired pizza oven, while Brisson anticipates using products from Heritage Meats as well as dried pastas, olive oils, vinegars, and charcuterie from Italy, according to Food & Wine. Eventually, she may even make her own pastas and charcuterie, and dry-age meats.
• The Black Sheep Partner Plans a New Restaurant Near Mountain’s Edge in 2019 [ELV]
• Eataly’s Top Chef Departs for an Off-Strip Italian Restaurant [ELV]
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Graffiti Bao
Location: Warm Springs Road and Buffalo Drive
Projected Opening: August
Former Tao Group corporate executive chef Marc Marrone plans to expand his culinary empire to the southwest with Graffiti Bao opening in August. The new restaurant mimics his counter-service outlet at T-Mobile Arena with Southeast Asian street food including bao, dumplings, noodles, xian bing, a full bar, and more. A rendering of the space at Buffalo Drive and Warm Springs Road posted on Instagram features an industrial feel.
• All Coverage of Graffiti Bao [ELV]
Henderson
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Location: The District at Green Valley Ranch
Projected Opening: July 1
The Local will slot into 1,000-square-foot space on Village Walk Drive, between Bath & Body Works and Chico’s and a short distance from co-owners Chris Connors and Li Hsun Sun’s three-year old success story, Me Gusta Tacos. Also backed by local real-estate agent Randy Maher and his wife Amy Maher, The Local’s mission is to fill “a void in the Las Vegas/Henderson market of a simple wine bar with delicious food, great energy and a homey atmosphere.” Planned to serve from lunch until evening, the wine bar will feature a weekday happy hour, wine tastings, plus a menu of salads, bruschetta dishes, paninis, and a collection of charcuterie boards, including the namesake “Local” offering three meats, cheeses, vegetables and dipping sauces. A Sunday-only brunch choice is also in the works. Among the the cocktails, a white peach cosmopolitan, the lounge’s spin on an old Fashioned, and the retails hub’s own “District Dirty,” created with Tahoe Blue Vodka, olive brine, and a blue cheese olive.