MGM Grand Las Vegas
3799 Las Vegas Blvd S, Las Vegas, NV 89109
Phone: (702) 891-1111
The MGM Grand Las Vegas is one of the most
luxurious hotel and casinos on the strip, which puts it high on the running
for the best in the world. The rooms are well furnished and it's been my experience that everything (
i.e.: TV, plumbing
fixtures, etc.) were in good working order. Of course, if you spend all your time in the room,
you're missing the point of
Vegas altogether. I suggest that you get out and take a walk through the casino area and down the
Studio Walk to get a
general feel for the layout of the hotel. Assuming you have a
pulse, you'll likely see something that interests you. Even
more likely, you'll see
several things that interest you.
With as much
neato crap as there is to do and eat there, it's easy to feel overwhelmed. I aim to
remedy that. Below are
all of the restaurants that are inside the MGM, or at least not too far outside, in the case of the Cabana Grill. I'll give a
brief description of each restaurant's general
theme or
style, and then a review. There are still 3 places I haven't
tried yet (
Craftsteak,
NOBHILL, and
Pearl, so I can't say much about them.
Dining Info:
Craftsteak - Head chef
Tom Colicchio utilizes a culinary stategy known as "
elegant simplicity" at this place.
Whether that has any meaning to anyone whatsoever or is just fancy
rhetoric is left as
an exercise for reader. At any
rate... Diners choose from an
a la carte menu, where the
emphasis is placed on beef, poultry, fish, lamb, pork and
veal.
Pearl - An "
east meets west" style Chinese restaurant. Authentic Chinese food with influences from the provinces
of
Canton and
Shanghai. Unfortunately, I have yet to experience this restaurant personally. Judging by the lighting,
atmosphere, and general
ambience, I'd recommend
dressy casual. It would also probably be wise to make
reservations a
day in advance.
NOBHILL - Opened in late July 2003, NOBHILL is a restaurant that attempts to recreate the types of dining
experiences found throughout
San Francisco. 80% of their products come from
Bay Area growers and producers. Eating here
is a top priority on my next
Vegas adventure, and I'll be sure to update this node.
Emeril's - Yes I'm talking about
Emeril Lagasse of "
BAM!" and "
Kick it up a notch" fame. As anyone who has
viewed his (increasingly
gimmicky) show knows, his specialty is
cajun/
creole cuisine. If you've made the decision to
drop some serious coin on your meal and eat here, I recommend you try the
Creole Mustard Glazed Redfish. It is not to be
beaten. This restaurant is also a
dressy casual affair, at least, which means some nice
slacks and a
polo shirt. Don't be surprised however, to see many other
patrons wearing a
suit and tie. Also, unless your recent victories in the
casino have left you feeling
heady with luck, don't expect to get in without a reservation at least
48 hours in advance.
Grand Wok and Sushi Bar - Didn't get your fill of
Chinese cuisine at
Pearl? Try this place. It offers a somewhat
broader sample of the
flavors of the Orient, with chefs who specialize in creating Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Korean and
Vietnamese foods. What better place for you to broaden your horizons and finally see what you've been missing by avoiding
sushi all these years? And if you decide, after tasting it, that
raw fish isn't your
bag of coffee, why not wash all
those regrets away with some
sake? Also of note is this
awesome waterfall/
moat thing they have going on. The MGM Grand
website claims it give the illusion that the restaurant is floating on water. I never saw it that way, but it's an
interesting effect
nonetheless.
Mark Miller's Grill Room - The Grill Room features a different
entree every month, so schedule your Vegas trip
accordingly. The one permanent fixture on their menu is the
Cowboy Rib Steak. The
Coyote Cafe is the Grill Room's more
casual half. It features authentic hand-painted
Southwestern decorations, and
really, really, small tables. Still, the
grub was tasty.
MGM Grand Buffet - Ah
buffets. Truly a staple of any
gargantuan hotel/casino. The MGM Grand Buffet is no exception. While it's not quite on the level of
the
Rio Buffet, is usually
worth the wait. They cater to the seafood lover with shrimp, crab legs, and all that other
good stuff. Not always the best selection, but if you don't feel like trekking off the strip to the
Rio, then this is as
good as it'll get, and while you're there, grab me a purse full of
lasagne and tell 'em
CptPlanet sent ya.
Rainforest Cafe - "A wild place to shop and eat!" boasts the slogan. More like "A wild place to waste money and
further
half-assed hippie political agendas!" Oh, wait. I mean...
save the whales. OK, now that I've done some
immature
venting, let me
qualify my distaste for this place. While the dining atmosphere, in essence a
fiberglass rainforest, was unique and
pleasant, I found the novelty of it was overshadowed by the long lines, high prices, and overall
unremarkability of the
food.
Ricardo's Mexican Restaurant - Traditional Mexican food in a
casual atmosphere.. Whether you're a
spice wimp or
have a
cast iron gullet that is the envy of the
gods themselves, you'll find a dish to suit your tastes. I think a simple
yum is sufficient to describe it. Not much information is available about the enigmatic
Ricardo, which leads me to believe that the name was chosen by a
board room full of suits simply for it's
zesty latin connotations, or perhaps it was chosen by someone who
just loved Lucy a little too much.
Studio Cafe - Ah, the other
staple of a Vegas hotel/casino. It's a traditional
diner menu, that offers
sandwiches, burgers, milkshakes and the like with service and
deliciosity rivaled only by the 24-hour cafe at the
Aladdin. A surefire way to take your mind off the fact that the
casinos only left you with enough money to gorge your fat
ass on a chocolate shake at 4:30am. Usually picks slightly up between 11pm to 1am when all the other restaurants are closed.
Either get there early or
wait it out.
Wolfgang Puck Cafe - Although he is
arguably the fruitiest of all the
celebrity chefs, his cuisine never
disappoints. Best of all, he's
never there, so you can enjoy a
plethora of tasty dishes without some
smarmy
European explaining, at great length,
ze beauty of ze coloure and ze flavoure. As far as atmosphere and decor go, I rather
liked the colorful little tile
mosaic and overall bright,
artsy decoration. Very
zesty and
appetizing.
Cabana Grill - So you're doing a few
laps around the MGM Grand's luxurious pool facilities to combat the impending
butter overdose you feel coming on as a result of your
dining experience at
Emeril's last night, and that
distended
gut of yours starts to gurgle. Not to worry my friend, because the Cabana Grill's
got your back. Here you can get
appetizers, sandwiches, pizza,
whatever. Remember to wait
30 minutes before that next
cannonball though.
Unfortunately, upon my visit to Vegas in January 2003 for
CES, I learned that my favorite restaurant in the entire hotel
had
mysteriously vanished. It was a very
upscale mediterranean place called
Neila's. I can say without any
hesitation that they had the best service I've ever been
witness to. The waiter,
Phil I think was his name, was aware
that we the diners were about to embark upon a journey in to
uncharted flavor territory, and spent a great deal of time and
effort explaining each and every menu item. The meal started off with a small shot of
cinammon liqueur, progressed through
exotic and exquisitely prepared
appetizers and
entrees and ended smoking
flavored tobacco out of a
hooka. Sadly, it
is an experience which I shall never again relive.
Parting Thoughts
Now that the dining section is complete (for now), I'll leave you with a few things to
think about. First, rooms fill up
fast. I recommend booking your hotel reservation no less than six weeks in advance. Also- and this is more of a general
Vegas travel tip- remember that Las Vegas is in the middle of a
desert. If you're going in the summer, make sure to bring
plenty of
t-shirts, as you'll probably be sweating enough to warrant at least a couple changes a day if you're anything
like me. Make sure you pack more than that though, as you'll likely be going to restaurants and shows where the "
just walked
in off the street" look isn't very well received. I'll add more to this node as I think of it, and a
special thanks goes
to
ouroboros for helping me figure out how to arrange and structure this writeup.