Whittling down restaurants

I'm a moron. That means I do moronic things. I made a list of places to eat in Vegas during the past two years which reached 100 a few months ago. Some are old favorites, most are new recommendations. I now have a trip scheduled for the end of October (two years is way too long from Vegas) and won't hit every place. Curious how VMBers filter this choice.

 

I filter by cuisine and price.

Location isn't an issue, In most cases it will be something that I don't eat at home because:

1)It's too much trouble
2)Leftover that no one else will eat (besides me)
3)a lot of variety which means buying a whole bunch of items that I won't eat

 

And location...do you plan to be in one area of the Strip, i.e. what's near your hotel where you are staying?

Also, are you going to date places or not? Wanting to watching a sporting event/sit at the bar/etc.?

That's where I'd start along with DaiLun's advice

 

What are the choices? Where are you staying? Is proximity a factor, or will you drive to further locations? Is budget a concern? Too broad of a question without more info

 

It's a list with 100 restaurants.

Staying at South Point with a car and there are no budget concerns.

I'm not looking for suggestions, I'm looking for thought process.

 

Stick mainly to the restaurants that I enjoy.

Try out two or three new ones (to dethrone) the regulars.

 

I'd try for variety. Obviously you probably don't want to pick all the same cuisine for every meal. So choose one option for each type of food you enjoy and then start slotting them into your itinerary to further the variety -- maybe some take you downtown, others on the Strip or locals joints, some are fancy, others are casual, etc.

You may be making it more difficult than it is. Did you think at one point you'd hit all 100?

Edit: Because of pandemic-induced closures, be sure to double-check days and times that restaurants are open currently. Some are only a few days a week or closed certain times of day that you'd expect them to be open.

 

I try to stick with at least 1 old favorite and try new ones, just so that I don't get completely disappointed by the trip if the new restaurants end up not being that great.

 

No difficulties here. Stage Door hot dogs will taste like a five star meal just because I'm in Vegas.

I have no doubt I'll try most of the 100. It just means I need to book more trips to Vegas.

 

1) Delete all places with below 4 rating on Opentable, Yelp or Google.
2) delete all chain restaurants that are available in your region.
3) chose at least one night at a well known place.
4) pick your current favorite cuisines
5) chose something not heavy and quick for the arrival day (avoid over eating or eating too late)
6) make reservations at all places for lunch and dinner, every day. Reservations are a must now in Vegas for many places, which is way different than before.

 

NOOOOO I can't get rid of American Coney Island and White Castle

 

I like to stick with mostly restaurants with the company I'm staying, though this would apply less or not at all if I stayed at Southpoint. I make sure to choose places that will allow me to burn as much of whatever comp credit comes with my rooms, and try to try at least something new every time. Also am swayed by specials, and as I tend to prefer midweek over weekends, quite a few of my choices have been "because they're open Monday/Tuesday" when 80 or 90% of my wish list isn't.

 

I would base it on how many meal slots I have on my trip and what else I am doing. Are there any that get you really excited?

Also, I would pick something faster for a meal that is closer to an event or show, so as not to risk being late.

 

Last few trips, I've had a list of restaurants that also includes an "area" - e.g; South strip, Mid Strip, North Strip, Downtown, Off Strip, etc.

Then when we've decided what we're doing for the day, take a look at what's in that area and make a decision. Helps whittle it down some.
Don't see this working for everyone but since we kinda pick 1 thing a day to do (Like show, fancy dinner, specific casino visit), then hang out in the area around it, it works for us.

Of course making sure to use comps/F&B when able, helps narrow down the decision more.

 

I catagorise restaurants along with location and why I put them on the list to begin with.
Attached, my list. I highlighted those I'll TRY to hit this trip. Pencilled at top of list are my high-end meals planned over 2 week trip.
Lastly, newest ones are added at the end in each category. Specials near top of each category may be year or two old and no longer available.

 

I just kind of have a mental list, and it gets fulfilled due to timing and location. Meaning, where I'm at and which one is near when I get hungry. I have started making a targeted list of steakhouses to visit though, due to reservations.

 

If it were me, I'd first look at the top ten, picking three to visit for sure. Once I'm in town, if I get to any of the others, fine. The last thing I want on vacation is a schedule! Of course, tee times never counted.

 

I'm mainly going to places where I'm comped. So those would be at CET. It's not that I never eat at other places, but I don't look to go though I've pretty much tried most of the CET places, though there are a few I haven't eaten at. I have over $3K in reward points. I have 10 $100 vouchers (5 left from last year). This, I think, helps me to decide to eat at CET restaurants.

 

I have a tendency to eat in the same manner as @oghuman - I normally stick to CET because of comps. If they didn’t provide enough variety, I would venture out & pay. But so far I’ve always had enough variety.

 

Before you leave, ask some friends or family to pick a number between 1 and 100.

The restaurants in the numerical positions on the list corresponding to the numbers chosen are where you're eating this trip.