Italian cuisine in downtown Las Vegas

By Max Jacobson

Wednesday, March 25, 2009 | 4:45 p.m.

Greetings, Vegas epicures.

Sometimes it's fun to venture downtown for an old Vegas Italian dinner, where the sauces tend to be crimson red and the service is as solicitous as it would be in a London Gentlemen's Club.

One such establishment is Lombardi's Italian Kitchen at the Plaza Hotel, 1 S. Main St.

Ride up to the second floor, where a hostess awaits you at a podium. Inside, service carts and Italian village portraits inform you that this is an old-fashioned dining room. Waiters tell you it will be their privilege to serve you. Full dinners can be had for $9.99.

Chef Michael Higgins does good, basic Italian food, but bear in mind that a downtown version of thin crust pizza would pass for medium on the Strip. Start with a Caprese salad or a delicious Italian meatball soup, and then feast on rigatoni with sausage, or one of the excellent house steaks, served with a side of pasta. Call 386-2110 for information.

Across town, one of our favorite lunch spots is the Spicy Pickle, an outpost of a chain based in Colorado, that specializes in pizetti (mini-pizzas), panini, salads, and build your own submarine sandwiches. These pizzas truly do have a cracker-thin crust, and they are available in varieties such as the Aztec, with roast chicken, red onions and chipotle pesto, or the Santorini, topped with several veggies and Kalamata olives.

We are especially wild for the pressed Italian sandwiches called panini. The Italian has mortadella, salami, cappacola, red onions and Provolone. Spicy Pickle is located on the corner of Eastern and St. Rose, at 9085 S. Eastern. Their number is 485-5907.

Finally, the irresistible cooking of N'Awlins is available once again in our city.

At the new Rhythm Kitchen, 6435 S. Decatur Blvd. the advertised specialties are steaks and seafood. Crawfish tails, peel and eat shrimp and lump crab cakes start you off, and there is gumbo, jambalaya and shrimp Creole to do the Big Easy proud. Everybody is ordering the bananas Foster for dessert.

Max Jacobson is the principal food columnist in the Las Vegas Weekly, and a Food and Wine Journalist for Vegas Magazine. He can be reached at 702-990-2454 or [email protected].