Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Casinos’ courts offer quantity, quality

A couple of weeks ago we visited food courts at local shopping malls. A few of our bigger casinos have food courts, too. Some are themed, such as Venetian's downstairs food court. Others are home to well-known franchises, such as the food court at the MGM Grand's Studio Walk.

Whichever you choose, expect a pleasant atmosphere, a broad selection of cuisines and a range of prices suitable for families and travelers on a budget. Most of the businesses in the three food courts in this story are open from 7 a.m.- midnight daily.

Venetian

The casino is actually loaded with food stalls. If you dine upstairs where the shops are, you get to eat at such places as Pizzarella and Panda Express, in a comfy atmosphere that is also a stage for the minstrels, singers and entertainers that make this casino one of the most popular destinations on the Strip.

But the often-overlooked downstairs food court is actually a better choice, unless you are dead set on being entertained while you eat. Here, you'll dine in splendor, at beautifully upholstered booths or in plush tapestry chairs, on a splendid imported marble floor.

Most of the food booths sell Italian fare, but there is an excellent deli as well. The only thing missing is a Chinese restaurant. Go over to Noodle Asia, by the sports book, or upstairs to the Panda Express if you want casual Chinese.

Pizzeria da Enzo is really a steam-table Italian restaurant where you can get entrees such as sausage and peppers, or the meatballs here called bocconcini di carne, with pasta and a side dish for around $7. Slices of pizza are $3.50-$3.95, a calzone is $5.95 and the restaurant's delicious garlic knots, crunchy balls of baked pizza brushed with butter and garlic, are 40 cents each. They're addictive.

San Gennaro Grill makes a decent Philly cheesesteak for $6.95, excellent fresh-cut fries cooked in pure peanut oil, $2.45 for a small, $2.95 for a large, and mammoth half-pound Angus steakburgers for $5.75, probably the best deal here. Don't overlook the Rialto Deli, where New Yorker Eric Zaidman steams top notch All-State corned beef, pastrami and brisket, and serves big sandwiches stuffed with them for $6.25.

Zaidman makes his own fluffy matzo balls, buys Gabila's potato knishes from a Coney Island purveyor ($2.50) and sells huge wedges of Carnegie Deli cheesecakes, also flown in from the Big Apple, for $3.95. Dessert is a big draw, thanks to Cocolini, the most impressive display of gelati in town.

Cocolini sells the colorful, delicious Italian ice cream made locally by a company called Italcream, and both the ice creams and sorbets are excellent. The case holds a whopping 48 flavors, just about anything you can imagine. One scoop is $2.95, two is $3.95 and three is $4.95. Go ahead. You know you can eat three. Farmer's Market

MGM Grand

This large, cheerful dining area and food court is sandwiched in between Emeril's and the Lebanese restaurant Neyla, at the east end of Studio Walk. The dining area is lit up by a grove of trees strung with beaded lights. Tables are partially shielded by canvas parasols.

There are five restaurants here. Mamma Ilardo's Pizzeria sells tasty hot wings, eight pieces for $3.95. Pizzas are either New York style, with thin crusts, or deep-pan style. Large slices with various toppings range in price from $2.35 to $3.49. Right next door is a McDonald's. You already know what they do, we hope.

Then there is Nathan's Famous, a branch of the well-known Coney Island hot-dog joint. The hot dog's the thing here, an all-beef dog for $2.49, and you get sauerkraut thrown in free. The fresh-cut fries are good, too. Next to Nathan's is Hamada Express, a surprisingly authentic place for Asian food, with a handwritten Japanese language menu for the many Japanese tourists who visit here.

Curry rice, a thick, spicy gravy with meat served over rice, is $5.95, and the price goes up to $7.95 is you want yours with tonkatsu, a kind of breaded pork cutlet. You can actually get a Japanese breakfast here for $12, a compartmentalized box stocked with items such as broiled salmon, pickles, bamboo shoots, nori seaweed and, natch, steamed rice. There are also a spate of Japanese herbal elixirs sold in mysterious little glass vials.

Finally there is a Haagen-Dazs ice cream stand, if herbal drinks are not your cup of tea.

La Piazza, Caesars Palace

La Piazza, or "the porch" in Italian, is different from the other two listed. You pay at a cashier, not at the individual food stations, and dine in comfort on opulent, throne-like chairs with gilded wrought-iron backs placed next to tables inlaid with black and gold.

You can eat Mexican, Chinese, Italian or American food, visit a well-stocked salad bar that costs only $3.50, and still have your Haagen-Dazs for dessert. The Mexican food station sells a $4 order of nachos that would feed a small army, and when you get it topped with melted cheese and sour cream, we're talking a couple thousand calories.

A huge taco salad with chopped chicken or beef is $6.50. Burrito grande, a burrito as big as a battleship, is $5.75.

At the deli, choose your own bread, meat, cheese and condiments from a modular list. A half sandwich with a choice of deli salads is $4.95. A whole is $6.95. The American Grill is notable for crisp-skinned, delicious rotisserie chicken and good side dishes. There's a nice mac and cheese, creamed corn, smooth, rich mashed potatoes and vivid green beans. Just $7.95 gets you a half chicken, two sides and a choice of corn bread or biscuit. The quarter-pound hamburger is pricey at $5.95.

Of course there is a pasta station, where you can have a choice of angel hair, penne or fusilli for $4.50, with either Alfredo, meat or marinara sauce. The portion will feed two. Finally there is an Asian station that serves authentic Japanese ramen, a garlic-laden broth stocked with thin, wheat-based noodles and various toppings. The seafood ramen is clams, squid, fish cakes, bamboo shoots, bean sprouts and a raft of noodles, $7.95. This place is also a Chinese restaurant, and the beef broccoli isn't bad at all.

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