Las Vegas Weekend Guide for Angelenos, Fall 2016

Going to Vegas this weekend? Planning a trip in the near future? Eater is here for you, with a quick, handy guide to the best in Sin City, from restaurants and bars to nightlife. This article will be updated every week with the newest restaurant openings, as well as one weekly recommendation on where to dine.

The essentials

• Eater Vegas 38 — the 38 most essential restaurants in Vegas updated quarterly
• Eater Vegas Heatmap — the hottest dining destinations updated monthly
• Vegas 101 — a comprehensive guide to dining and drinking in Vegas
• An Eater's Guide to Dining Vegas — An opinionated take on all the essential restaurants and neighborhoods

This week's news roundup

—Flying into McCarran on your weekend getaway? Here are the airport's five standouts, as well as everywhere else you could possible dine.

—It's awards season here at Eater, and Eater Vegas has chosen the best of the best to receive the coveted tomato can. The big wins? Daniel Krohmer of Other Mama as chef of the year, and Costa di Mare as restaurant of the year. Check out all the winners here.

—Longtime Vegas staple Hard Rock Cafe at the Hard Rock Hotel has shuttered. It isn't all too surprising that the 26-year-old restaurant couldn't make it work, as there is another location of the kitschy chain right on the Strip.

—It's been a long wait for Lucky Dragon, the built from scratch resort that pledged "to deliver an authentic Asian lifestyle experience." Well ahead of its grand opening, the hotel will offer a sneak peak on November 19, with hotel rooms offered at a whopping $499 per night. Get all the details here.

November 11, 2016

—Sin City is a popular destination over Thanksgiving weekend, when diners choose to forgo the mess of home cooking and instead hit Vegas's iconic buffets. Luckily there's more than a few to choose from, and Eater Vegas has your back with a list of the best options in the city.

—There's no shortage of celebrity chef restaurants in Las Vegas. The next one on deck is Robert Irvine's unnamed concept headed for The Tropicana. The 11,134 square foot space is slated to open in July of 2017 with high expections, as the famed chef promises it will be the "BEST in Vegas."

—Hot N Juicy Crawfish, the Louisiana-style seafood specialist with a location in Los Angeles (and in Vegas's Chinatown), has opened in The Miracle Mile shops. It's the newest of a slew of restaurants to hit the tourist attraction, but this one encourages guests to get "down n dirty."

—Still haven't decided where to eat on Turkey Day? Here's a detailed look at some of the city's best offerings.

October 28, 2016

—Aureole, Charlie Palmer's longstanding restaurant in the Mandalay Bay, will soon go under the knife. The restaurant that first opened in 1999 and is known for its striking four-story glass wine tower will temporarily close on Monday, November 27 and re-open in late December. That mean's there can't be too much in the way of structural changes going on, more just an interior refresh. The restaurant also just changed up its executive chef, with Johnny Church stepping in from MTO Cafe and RM Seafood.

—Sin City has quite a few desserts to its name that are very deserving of the city's moniker. From Emeril's banana cream pie to a Titanic sundae, here are the 19 most iconic desserts in Las Vegas.

—If you didn't know, it's been Sweets Week here in Eater world, and Eater Vegas has a handy map of the best bakeries in town, from famous names like Thomas Keller to off-Strip gems. Here's all the intel for your sweet-tooth needs.

—What does an $800 ice cream sundae from Lavo Las Vegas look like? Check out the madness here.

October 7, 2016

— There's no better way to recover from a night of overindulgence than with a solid breakfast. Luckily Sin City has plenty of options to please everyone, from red velvet pancakes to fritatas that come by way of celebrity chefs. Here are 29 vital breakfast spots to know about.

— Chef Andrew Gruel’s Slapfish already has six locations in Southern California, largely in Orange County with one in LAX, but the seafood-centric concept is now taking its lobster grinders, fish tacos, and oysters to Las Vegas. With the help of Fransmart, which is also responsible for the rapid rise of Five Guys and Halal Guys, Slapfish will open 50 locations throughout Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Arizona, Colorado, and Texas.

— Not only does Sin City have plenty of amazing restaurants, but the room service is pretty over-the-top as well. If you’re in the mood to curl up in a robe and let the food and drink come to you, here are the best hotels to order in.

Restaurant pick of the week: Stripsteak

Ten years in Las Vegas is no easy task in a city that is constantly changing to keep up with the latest trends. StripSteak, the steakhouse from James Beard Award-winning chef Michael Mina at Mandalay Bay, celebrates 10 years in Las Vegas all October with specials that bring back some of the biggest hits from the menu over the years.

A few facts to consider: StripSteak is the only restaurant in Las Vegas to butter-poach its meats before finishing them on a Mesquite wood-burning grill. Some of the most popular dishes include American Wagyu rib-cap, truffled mac ‘n’ cheese and house-made beignets with dipping sauces. The bar features more than 110 single malt scotches. Perhaps most popular — a trio of duck fat fries that arrives at every table as an amuse bouche.

Starting Oct. 1, guests can order anniversary specials available à la carte and priced from $14 to $50, including Mina’s root beer float, a signature dessert served at a number of the chef’s restaurants and StripSteak favorite, the Rock n’ Rye cocktail. —Susan Stapleton