There are two weeks in Las Vegas where even the most die-hard of foodies will have a difficult time experiencing everything they want to. From June 1-12, more than a hundred eateries all over Vegas and surrounding communities participate in Las Vegas Restaurant Week, serving up delicious menus while also helping those communities.
Restaurant Week, which way back was only a week, has expanded through the years to fill two weeks (and occasionally even three). The basic concept allows restaurants to create a three-course prix fixe menu from $20-$120, and donate part of the proceeds from that menu to Three Square Food Bank, which serves thousands of valley residents.
One of the best facets of the event is how diners figure out where they are going to eat and when, solved by Restaurant Week’s dynamic website, which allows one to search and sort by price, by cuisine, by time of day and part of the valley. I have extensively used this planning tool in the past, salivating over menus and plotting my reservations. (And reservations are highly recommended and often required, due to the popularity of Restaurant Week.) A map and contact information are available on every menu page.
This year, choices are better than ever, including items like bread pudding (pictured) at House of Blues at Mandalay Bay on the south Strip; decadent county fair-style goodies at Braud’s Funnel Cake Café in Town Square Las Vegas on the south Strip; tacos, ceviche, branzino and sashimi Mexicano at Toca Madera at The Shops at Crystals in the center Strip; and newly opened Hedary’s Mediterranean, at The Gramercy in the trendy southwest area of Las Vegas.
The types of cuisines offered span the globe with barbecue, Mexican, Thai, Cajun/Creole, Caribbean, Filipino, Japanese, Indian, Greek, Irish, steak, seafood, vegetarian and more. If you love Italian cuisine, Ferraro’s Ristorante to the east of the Strip is offering a four-course menu, with carpaccio di manzo, bucatini amatriciana, branzino and filet mignon among the choices. A longtime parter in Restaurant Week, Ferraro’s executive chef Mimmo Ferraro said in a release, “Going on 16 years of participation, we take pride in continuing to raise the bar for our Restaurant Week menu while contributing to a cause we deeply care about.”
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