Back to Vegas - asking for help again - meals at Aria this time

Last trip, you guys helped me with recommendations for meals at Cosmopolitan (our 1st stay there) - we were able to try four of the places recommended and I posted my thoughts - love the food there - thanks to all your tips!

This trip arriving April 27 with friends, we will be staying at Aria for three nights (1st stay at Aria) on an mlife offer and then moving to Cosmo to try more restaurants and some repeats.

Looking for suggestions at ARIA:

Breakfast:
Best full service breakfast place - and your favorite breakfast items there?

Lunch:
No sushi - open to anything else - fast/appetizers/or full service - your favorite place(s) and dish there?

Dinner:
No sushi - anything else about $100 per person range before tax /no alcohol - less is ok too - and your favorite items on the menu?


Thanks in advance!

 

Breakfast: We really like the cafe, they have a good selection of food and excellent bloody marys. My favorite is their Red Velvet pancakes but make sure you are ready for SWEET!


Lunch: Javiers. Best mexican food in Vegas IMO. Their guacomole is SUPER fresh and it is more Tex Mex than some other bland places. Favorite dish is the Enchiladas Suizas. Their magaritas are GREAT, heavy on the tequila and light on the sweet which i like. Favorite margarita is the pineapple one.
If you are looking for QUICK I would say grab a slice a 550. I will never sit down and order from there again though because it was not as good as just getting a slice from the counter.


Dinner: Serrano. we really love have great wine and tapas and this place never disappoints. Favorites are the ox tail, meatballs, and the caprese type salad thing.

 

I have eaten at Julian Serrano's for lunch. The Tapas menu is unique and very well done. I have eaten at the buffet several times for dinner and is quite good, better if you have a line pass.

 

Lunch. Five50 Pizza. Great quick bite and excellent Pizza

Supper; Carbone. Best affordable higher end Restaurant in Vegas. Food & Service is phenomenal.

 

Breakfast: I think the cafe is the only full service breakfast joint they have - I was disappointed both times I ate there. I was pleasantly surprised at the room service breakfast I had there last fall though - best room service pancakes I've had. One of these days, I want to try brunch at Bardot.

Lunch: Love Julian Serrano for lunch. 550 makes a mean pie if you're in the mood for pizza.

Dinner: Bardot and Sage are two of my favorite restaurants in Vegas. I can't get enough of the roast chicken and pork chop at Bardot or the grilled octopus at Sage.

 

Love the dining options at Aria! You have made a good choice.

BREAKFAST: Honestly, skip it. There are no outstanding options, just mediocre ones. I would get a fresh juice from the pressed juicer on the second floor (across from Starbucks). Save room for bigger and better meals later.

LUNCH: Julian Serrano is the best restaurant at Aria (followed closely by the sushi and teppenyaki restaurants that it sounds like you are not interested in). JS is also open for dinner, so if you want to save it for a later meal then 550 Pizza or Javiers are good alternatives. But JS is the first choice

DINNER: With that budget, you're pretty safe anywhere. Still say JS is the best option. I love Bar Masa and Tetsu, but it sounds like you son' want those. After all that, I would go with Carbone. If you are not in the mood for Italian, Bardot would be my next choice

 

Lunch: Jullian Serrano's is my go to place. I used to live in Spain and the Patatas Bravas there are the most authentic thing you can get stateside.

Dinner: Blossom. Amazing Chinese food and the home of the first Peking Duck I've tried. For $79 the duck serves two people and is huge. The Chinese Sausage fried rice is to die for.

 

Another vote for the cafe and bloody Marys for breakfast. We also really liked Serrano for dinner (or maybe better, happy hour). Adjacent to Aria (actually very close), I would suggest Wolf gang Puck's Cucina in Crystals .. not expensive and good. Maybe that is a good lunch choice, although we had dinner there.

 

Hi again Geogran, I love, love, love to cook, but I have this weird value thing on meals that, if it's something I can cook myself decently, I don't want to pay an arm and a leg for it--even if I have good comps. But, I also want high quality when in Vegas...I'm not on vacation to eat so-so food!!!!! So for me, I like to find great food at under $25 a dish, per person, for lunch.

For lunch, the spot we have made our tradition for our first meal in Vegas is odd, as it's pretty casual (good for lunch): 550 pizza. Pizza is usually a safe option and good, but not mind-blowing. But, at least for me, 550 pizza achieves what others boast, yet never can deliver... they have AMAZING pizza at 550. For about 30 bucks, you can get a stellar pizza that feeds two every well. We go for the Gotham every time, but the inlaws loved the seafood pizza. (Personally, I'm not a clam person, especially on pizza, but hey. But even THAT was good!)

It honestly is the best pizza I've had in my life...perfect ratio of excellent, rich, high-quality cheeses, a thin yet just crisp enough crust (that is somehow still tender where it needs to be), rich, slow-cooked sauce... and everything just melds beautifully. Most pizza is good, but so-so. 550's pizza is truly in a league of it's own, at least for me.

I've tried wood-fired pizzas at home and always think most offer a basic meal with a higher price slapped on. 550 is worth every penny in my book, and speaking of pennies, $30 bucks for two GOOD lunch meals in Vegas? Score!

P.S. read your post on Aria to Cosmo. It's an easy walk. Ask the Aria staff, I remember walking it and it was easy peasy, and I don't like fighting the crowds alone, much less with luggage. We're hitting Cosmo after Aria too, and we'll be walking. enjoy!

 

for dinner or brunch, Bardot is wonderful. we love the steak frites, escargots, and steak tartare. fabulous cocktails. during happy hour they have excellent deals on drinks, including $5 champagne (and NOT the cheap stuff!).

 

Agreed with everyone who recommends Julian Serrano, it really is one of my favorite restaurants in Vegas. My personal preference is to eat there for lunch, mostly because it's so bright; not only is the room itself very well-lit, but it faces the lobby so you get all that sunlight, too. It just strikes me as a better atmosphere for daytime dining. I'd also recommend Herringbone, which opened late last year and is fantastic, plus there's outdoor seating if the weather is nice. For dinner, both of those are great options, as are Javier's, Sage, and Carbone. I don't love the food at Bardot (just personal taste, there's definitely nothing wrong with it), but it's a fantastic place for after-dinner drinks.

 

I give a resounding +1 on this!! Went here before my Exotics Racing experience and loved the food, the fast service, and the quality beers on tap. Afterwards I lost a quick $100 at VP so Aria isn't my go to anymore for gambling haha.

 

Another nod for Sage. It remains my favorite strip restaurant. The menu is seasonal, but they do everything well. Fish, steaks, pork, lamb, duck... I'm never disappointed. The sweet breads are always a must.

 

VMB does it again - thanks everyone - you make it hard to choose....Three lunches and three dinners is all we can squeeze in.

Looks like heavyweight favorites are Julian Serrano and 550 - so for sure will be trying both.
Carbone, Bardot, and Javier's - will try to do all - hard to decide in case we need to skip one.
Thanks for the room service tip - definitely will do a breakfast of red velvet pancakes.
Would like to try the Buffet, Sage and Wolfgang Puck's Cucina - if not this trip - next one for sure!
Hey multifarious5 - love your sales pitch on 550 pizza! And for remembering the luggage walk to Cosmo.

Y'all have me convinced for sure - and some of your favorite menu items that you shared are right up my alley - fresh guacamole, enchilada suize, tapas patatas bravas, pork chop, red velvet pancakes and of course PIZZA:banana::banana:

 

Room service breakfast was great. Took some time (as they all do) but wasn't cold at all. Better than breakfasts I eat at most places.

550 pizza is OK. I can't help but laugh at the poster saying it is the best ever and all that. No offense. I am curious as to where that poster is from where he refers to wood fired pizzas from home. Again 550 is good. It is my late-night goto takeout at Aria, but I probably wouldn't sit down and have a meal there. If you are from an east coast city with good pizza (or Chicago) you will certainly not be blown away. It is probably the best pizza in Vegas...whatever that means!

 

Of those three, skip Javiers. Its good, but not great. Carbone and Bardot are better. Plus, if you want Mexican, I think Diablos at Monte Carlo (short walk away) is better than Javiers

 

Hi Geogran! I promise I don't get a commission from 550, you did have me grinning on my sales pitch. I am just am always too enthusiastic when I like something! I hope you like 550 too. (Even if not, it definitely won't break the bank)

Ps, I TOTALLY second UK recommending Diablos for lunch. I almost mentioned it myself, but I decided to stick to Aria only for you.

Also on my "killer food at a good price" hit list are Diablo's steak nachos. Now, like pizza, I usually see nachos even lower than pizza on the "memorable food" chain...it's often cheap bar food just thrown together. These are NOT that. You have a ton of high-quality, tender juicy steak, cooked medium, and just stellar ingredients.

They (Diablo) actually won BEST nachos in the COUNTRY by Maxim magazine, and the local Vegas periodicals are always giving them accolades for their nachos. It's another on our "must-hit" Vegas list. One order is huge and is MORE than a meal for two hungry people, and it's around $20 bucks.

I am not a big bar person, but it has a really cool ambiance, kind of darker old world (lots of iron and stucco), but with a huge wall of windows that opens onto the strip, GREAT for people watching.

Ok, my plugs are DONE, I just got excited over UKs tip!

PS daytime it has more of a restaurant feel, but night time it will have more of a bar feel/louder fyi

 

Multifarious5 - I like your enthusiasm and passion around food! We are not 'foodies' but look for the best food experience we can get within our taste and price range - (sushi and cilantro are big no no's - not pretty - don't ask :evillaugh ).

Multifarious and UKFanatic - will sneak over to Diablos for steak nachos with our friends - will send a toast your way

I put a LOT of hours in on my slots - so sometimes dining takes a back seat - but looks like we will be eating our way through lunches and dinners and playing slots into dawn's early light - wait a minute, I already do that

 

Geogran, the above are just a few reasons you're one of my favorite posters on this...we are two peas in a pod on styles! I too play way too long on slots, but I always have an amazing time. On being a foodie, I am a foodie, but am frugal. That's actually where I fell in love with cooking, I wanted great food but it kills me to pay an arm and a leg for something that I can't keep. (Too much Scot in me I guess!)

Have a BLAST on your trip, and I hope you enjoy both 550 and Diablos. I think both are two of the best values on the strip for price and quality...enjoy... and I am still going to try out your fast-slow...I'll just have to play with when to go slow versus fast on timing, but with 12 days, I'll have plenty of time to see what works!

The "ding! Ding! Ding!" Is just around the corner for you...enjoy!

 

Agree 100% with UKs recommendations although I have not tried Bar Masa.
I'm gonna try Diablos on my upcoming trip as I ususally have lunch at Javiers at least once every trip and never tried Diablos.

Really like Carbone ,Bardot ,JS , and Jean George.Will be trying the new Herringbone on the next trip.

Quick breakfast idea is to walk into food court at MC for an egg sandwich or anything else.The breakfast food at the Aria Café is pretty good but the service has been very slow the last couple trips.