Downtown Las Vegas is a dining world of its own: vintage casino steakhouses, a new generation of chef-driven rooms, and some of the city's best late-night food. This is the route through it.
Where to eat,
start to finish
The old downtown casinos carry dining rooms that predate the mega-resorts, and the last decade added a layer of modern places that made downtown its own food destination.
Fremont Street gets the crowds; the streets around it, Main Street especially, get the food.
Circa's chophouse: old-school steaks, martinis and the most polished room in downtown.
Check it outThe Plaza's steakhouse overlooking Fremont Street, with downtown history on the walls.
Check it outThe D's basement steak room, an Italian-American throwback that downtown loyalists swear by.
Check it outThe Golden Nugget's steakhouse, consistently one of the city's best rooms.
Check it outThe downtown pizza headquarters: multiple styles of crust, open late, always busy.
Check it outThe Fremont Street favorite that proved downtown could host a modern food scene.
Check it outThe James Beard-nominated pasta room on Main Street, the anchor of the Arts District's food revival.
Check it outDowntown's reliable late-night Mexican: open late, big portions, zero fuss.
Check it outThe Sunday strategy
Pizza Rock, Le Thai and Nacho Daddy fill after 9 p.m. when the Fremont crowd moves to food. The casino steakhouses take reservations and reward the early seating.
For the classic downtown evening: early cocktail at the Plaza's Oscar's bar, dinner in its dining room, then Fremont Street's music and lights for the walk.
The Main Street question
Just south of Fremont, Main Street is where downtown's chefs built the modern scene. Esther's Kitchen leads it, and the Arts District guide covers the rest of the neighborhood.
Downtown and the Arts District are really one dining district now, so walk the mile and treat it as one meal plan.
Moving to Las Vegas? The food is part of the decision.
When clients relocate, the dining scene is one of the best ways to feel out a neighborhood. I can point you to the restaurants that make each corner of the valley home.