So, just what is a yardbird? No, don’t you dare get out your phone and pull up Urban Dictionary. Let me tell you—a yardbird is a chicken, that fowl long favored by Southerners, Northerners, Westerners—you name a region, and chicken is up at the top of the list of most people’s comfort foods.

Here in Vegas, the term was recently brought to the forefront with the opening of Yardbird Southern Table & Bar at The Venetian. There’s another in Miami Beach, Fla., courtesy of parent company 50 Eggs Inc. Both are imbued with a wood-timbered, rustic vibe, and décor that evokes images of farm life in the South, albeit a bit more sophisticated. A Mason-jar chandelier hangs over the main dining area in The Venetian location, creating a glow reminiscent of captured fireflies at night.

The menu pulls from a stable of Southern staples, adding elements to the dishes that are unexpected yet completely appropriate. For example, the fried green tomato BLTs are battered as expected, but delicately layered with house-made pimiento cheese, tomato jam, frisèe and pork belly. The same thing happens with their version of deviled eggs, close to your mama’s but with the added pop of smoked trout roe and chives on top.

Yardbird offers brunch, lunch and supper, and you’ll find many of the dishes populate all the menus. One of the most popular, of course, is the chicken and waffles, which brings together fried chicken, a cheddar cheese chow chow waffle (chow chow is basically green tomato relish, and every household in the South seems to have a different recipe) and honey hot sauce. It’s all accompanied by watermelon spiced with herbs, pepper and lemon, which you can order as a side dish, and I suggest you do. If you’re not up for the chicken, you can order the cheddar waffle alone.

On the brunch menu, for that Vegas touch, get some ’77 Elvis pancakes, with chocolate chip and banana compote.

The Yardbird Benedict soft-poaches organic eggs, gently set upon a scrumptious crumbled biscuit with house-cured bacon. And when you see eggs on Yardbird’s menu, and you will see plenty, they’re bound to be organic. Some other ingredients that pop up are pork products, from that house-smoked pork belly to a maple-glazed bacon doughnut. The fries are even served with “bacon salt.” And then there’s the new, imposing Swine burger, which was just introduced to the menu.

Bourbon is another big thing at Yardbird (you’ll get bourbon maple syrup with your chicken and waffles and Elvis pancakes). And the lounge area, which wraps around the bar, includes a plush seating area, just right for imbibing a bourbon cocktail such as the Yardbird Old Fashioned, which features the bacon-infused Buffalo Trace and maple syrup. Or you just might want to sample from the restaurant’s dedicated bourbon menu. There are a ton of brands and varieties, and one section titled The Kentucky Challenge, with selections from states like Illinois and New York (the whiskey menu also features types from several states across the country).

Yardbird’s farm-fresh recipes, in drinks and food, certainly show off its Southern charms.

The Venetian, 11 a.m.-midnight daily, brunch 11 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Fri.-Sun. 702.297.6541