Seriously - I have been to Las Vegas three times this year for work, and every time I am shocked at how much eating out costs there. Even with the weak dollar, you can definitely eat WAY cheaper in Italy.
I had a glass of wine at a restaurant in the Venetian while waiting for some friends - TWENTY FOUR DOLLARS. For one glass. I saw the same exact bottle of wine on a list two days later in Hollywood - for $55 a bottle.
A plate of pasta in a restaurant off the strip - $25. A piece of halibut at the same place - $40. Four appetizers and a bottle of wine at Valentino - $200. Dinner for four at Fleur de Lys with one bottle of wine - $366, and three of us got the "early bird special." It was a nice dinner, but crikey.
It is hard to find any wine worth drinking for less than $80. I know how much the wine really costs, so it is especially brutal for me to see some of the pricing there. I don't think we ordered too many bottles under $100 (thank goodness I wasn't paying.)
I guess someone has to pay for all that construction.
I know what Deborah is going to say - why did you not go to Lotus of Siam?
If I could turn everything I ate and drank in Vegas for five days this week into cash, I could use that cash to eat in Venice for two weeks. Even with the exchange rate. When I think about how many glasses of wine I could get in Venice with twenty four dollars... sigh. The answer is, about five.
Carole, it was the David Burke restaurant and it was a Robert Stemmler Pinot Noir.
Palma, I agree about Valentino - the one in Santa Monica is really great. Two of our four appetizers were really good - the other two, not so good. I will write a review.
I think there are places to go off the Las Vebas strip for great food and decent wine prices. Have you been to Rosemary's (WAY out on Sahara)? The food is ALWAYS excellent, and the wine prices are not-too-jacked. Then there's the $38 cab ride to get there, and another one back, unless you've got a car, and if you do, Rosemary's is a MUST.
But with FOODIE-NATION coming to Las Vegas, you'd probably be paying similar prices in any of these top chefs' "home" restaurants in NY, or Chicago, or LA, don't you think?
Brad
Posts: 40 | Location: Palm Desert, CA | Registered: 18 April 2008
Originally posted by Brad'll Do It: With FOODIE-NATION coming to Las Vegas, you'd probably be paying similar prices in any of these top chefs' "home" restaurants in NY, or Chicago, or LA, don't you think?
Good point. Last November in San Francisco I found the good restaurants there more expensive than good bistros in Paris, and I was spending euro and hearing my SF friends complain bitterly about the exchange rate. Call me a euro-chauvinist, in terms of value, I find the good restaurants in American cities cost too much compared with similar value in restaurants in Paris, Rome, Venice, Barcelona.
Good point. Last November in San Francisco I found the good restaurants there more expensive than good bistros in Paris, and I was spending euro and hearing my SF friends complain bitterly about the exchange rate. Call me a euro-chauvinist, in terms of value, I find the good restaurants in American cities cost too much compared with similar value in restaurants in Paris, Rome, Venice, Barcelona.
I think that you may be eating in the most hyped restaurants like for example Valentino in LA . Most of the wine producers in Italy have heard of it, and they do have fabulous wines. BUT I would not consider it a top restaurant for Value in LA. RR
It was bad enough when it was just a high-roller city in the casinos, but now it's a high-roller city everywhere. Last time we were there, we were at a business meeting and most of our expenses were comped. I kept looking around our lovely room at the Venetian and thinking, wow, if we had to pay for this, no way. And here I am, wanting to go again to see Bette Midler. Kills me to think about paying those prices.
I LOVE to go to Vegas. The only way to do it is with comp rooms and lots of rationalization. We usually go twice a year. By gambling $100 a day each (not exactly high rollers ) for 3 nights, we always get enough "points" to come back at very reduced room rate (like $79 or less at Caesars or free at Paris or Balleys). Then splurging for one nice dinner out (We get GREAT value and amazing food at Rosemary's) doesn't hurt so much. We can eat cheap the other two nights (at least no more than it would cost at a moderate restaurant at home). There is always the chance of winning a couple hundred bucks for another splurge meal. Isn't that half the fun? We don't usually see big shows, and we can drive there in 3.5 hrs., so there are no other huge expenses (except gas). I STILL love Vegas! I really do feel like an empress on a raft in Caesar's pool!
You know Palma, I would LOVE to go to Vegas with you and Brad.
It's true, there are better deals to be had on food, at the Venetian there is a big food court with lower-cost options. I think it was the cost of wine that really freaked me out, and I can bring my own, right? In April my co-worker and I brought a bottle of wine to dinner at Il Fornaio in New York New York and that really brought down the cost of the meal tremendously.
Still, comparing food court to bar, restaurant to ristorante, I believe it is cheaper to eat - and drink - in Venice.
think that you may be eating in the most hyped restaurants like for example Valentino in LA . Most of the wine producers in Italy have heard of it, and they do have fabulous wines. BUT I would not consider it a top restaurant for Value in LA.
Off topic, but ... I believe that Valentino IS one of the top restaurant values around. During a relaxing dinner there (Santa Monica) a couple of years ago, everything about the evening was perfectly executed - service, multiple courses of food (not a loser in the bunch), wine matched to the food, comfortable ambience. How often can you say that? We spent $100/person for a delicious meal with wine. It was a splurge for us - and a good value.
Posts: 14210 | Location: The Beautiful San Francisco Bay Area | Registered: 06 August 2001
A few weeks ago, a colleague dragged me to the "gourmet" buffet at the Bellagio (it's on Friday and Saturday nights) and, for $35.95 (excluding cocktails, but including soft drinks/coffee), it's a complete bargain. I HATE buffets, mainly because I hate being faced with all that mediocre food. But given what we'd paid for dinner the previous nights during our conference, I went along with her wishes.
I was very pleasantly surprised at the quality of the food and the set-up. Kobe beef, crab legs, prime rib, venison, and lamb are the "stars" of the evening, but I must say that the salads and veggies were excellent. I had a small portion of the Kobe beef and tried the lamb. Both were excellent flavor and actually well cooked. Tons of choices, of course. But we treated it like a 3 course meal--appetizers, main, and dessert/coffee and it was very acceptable. By the time we left, the line was at least 80 people long. FWIW...
Posts: 35 | Location: Madison, WI | Registered: 12 April 2004
Deborah Horn In a previous life I was an Umbrian sunflower farmer. I want to do a past life regression and stay there. ----------------------------------- www.petsburg.com My blog: Old Shoes - New Trip
Posts: 5000 | Location: St. Louis, MO | Registered: 04 September 2001
Originally posted by MarthaG: A few weeks ago, a colleague dragged me to the "gourmet" buffet at the Bellagio (it's on Friday and Saturday nights) and, for $35.95 (excluding cocktails, but including soft drinks/coffee), it's a complete bargain. I HATE buffets, mainly because I hate being faced with all that mediocre food. But given what we'd paid for dinner the previous nights during our conference, I went along with her wishes.
I was very pleasantly surprised at the quality of the food and the set-up. Kobe beef, crab legs, prime rib, venison, and lamb are the "stars" of the evening, but I must say that the salads and veggies were excellent. I had a small portion of the Kobe beef and tried the lamb. Both were excellent flavor and actually well cooked. Tons of choices, of course. But we treated it like a 3 course meal--appetizers, main, and dessert/coffee and it was very acceptable. By the time we left, the line was at least 80 people long. FWIW...
Those days of crap buffets are long gone in Las Vegas. Even the inexpensive hotels downtown do a quality buffet for under $20.
Posts: 1366 | Location: Seattle - next is Isla Mujeres,MX in December, then its Paris in March, then hopefully England! | Registered: 02 May 2005
Point well taken. Trip to Savannah ran about $3000 for 2 weeks. I can spend 2 weeks in Italy for significantly less. But - and it is a big one - we go and stay in one place. We learn the neighborhood, check out the cheap joints and learn how to eat frugal. The attitude in Vegas is there is the strip/downtown and noplace else.
I think we all know the great places to eat in Venice (courtesy of a little book called Ciao Venice) we have Maureen Fant to thank for great Roman suggestions but there is very little for Vegas or any major american city. You can dig up zagat, or fodors, or whatever but on the whole restaurant reviews are few and far between.
A favorite rant of a friend is the lack of mom and pop places in the USA. It is all fast food or medium price (family restaurant) chains. Don't get me wrong I honor McDonalds for bringing up the standards of cleanliness and economy. But taste? And healthiness? I don't think so. Even the old truck stops are dying out. They are all fast food chains in mega super stations.
It takes people who care about food, who care about how it tastes, using the locally available, fresh ingredients - the Alice Waters concept - to make great restaurants. Which in this country seems to translate to high dollars.
A friend who is a chef had an interesting comment. The best and the brightest young chefs are hired by the Emerils, the Bobby Flays, etc.. But eventually they want to move on, to run their own show. And the only way that the big names can keep them is to open a branch Emerils or Marios.
What we can do is support the good, local restaurants so that in 10 years the next hottest thing will be Basis in Phoenix or Marcellos or....
We all talk about the great little tratoria we found in Rome or the tea shop in London but I see dang few restaurant reviews for the US here on slow trav. With our international trips decreasing maybe it is time to make our american trips more special. Brag up your own town and maybe we just might come visit. Oh wait, thats not an inducement. OK brag up your hometown or we WILL come visit.
I also recommend Rosemary's Restaurant. Last year, they had two special nights a week - Wednesday night was half off of all food for women (limit of 8 women at a table?) and even better is Sunday night where all wine except for the Romanee Conti is 1/2 price. They have good food and a nice fixed price menu. Apparently there might also be discounted gift certificates at www.restaurant.com or at Costco in Vegas.
I think eating in mainstream Vegas is like eating on St. Mark's square in Venice - off the beaten track is better. Unfortunately in Vegas that means a car or a big taxi bill.
) for 3 nights, we always get enough "points" to come back at very reduced room rate (like $79 or less at Caesars or free at Paris or Balleys). Then splurging for one nice dinner out (We get GREAT value and amazing food at Rosemary's) doesn't hurt so much. We can eat cheap the other two nights (at least no more than it would cost at a moderate restaurant at home). There is always the chance of winning a couple hundred bucks for another splurge meal. Isn't that half the fun?
