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The 24 Hottest Restaurants in Las Vegas Right Now, January 2015

Where you should be eating right now.

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More often than not, tipsters, readers, friends and family of Eater have one question: Where should I eat right now? Restaurant obsessives want to know what's new, what's hot, which favorite chef just launched a sophomore effort. And while the Eater 38 is a crucial resource covering old standbys and neighborhood essentials across the city, it is not a chronicle of the "it" places of the moment. Thus, we offer the Eater Heatmap, which will change continually to always highlight where the foodie crowds are flocking to at the moment.

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Eater maps are curated by editors and aim to reflect a diversity of neighborhoods, cuisines, and prices. Learn more about our editorial process. If you buy something or book a reservation from an Eater link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics policy.

Bazaar Meat

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José Andrés brings more than a steakhouse with Bazaar Meat. Find what the team here is dubbing "the world's longest dining table" as well as open kitchens including the "fire stage" with wood grills and rotisseries and a raw bar with ceviches, carpaccios and tartares. Two private dining rooms await; the Silver Room in all silver and Sam's Room with an open kitchen focused on seafood.

Border Grill

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No, Border Grill isn't new to Las Vegas, but its location at the Forum Shops at Caesars is. About 40 percent of the menu is different here as well. A new open kitchen at the front of the restaurant offers up hand-rolled tortillas cooking on the comal and guacamole as well as 10 new ceviches.

Carson Kitchen

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Kerry Simon's latest restaurant serves up lunch and dinner with most dishes going for less than $20. Find a menu of shared plates, sandwiches, flatbreads baked in the hearthstone oven, garden dishes, entrees and Simon's playful take on desserts. On the drinks side, microbrewed soda brands, such as Virgil's, along with handcrafted cocktails and an array of small-batch brews and global wines.

Mediterranean fare from Danny Elmaleh cooked up in the wood-burning grill that takes center stage makes the menu at this restaurant at the SLS Las Vegas.

David Clawson Restaurant

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Henderson's David Clawson Restaurant offers a chef's table where you can watch the action as chefs prepare small plates that can be paired with 2-ounce servings of wines, beers, sake and ciders. Go for the super deluxe "omygodse," where Clawson prepares a omakase dinner of his greatest hits.

DiFara Pizza

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The Forum Food Court lands an outpost of Brooklyn's DiFara Pizza from the owners of Dom DeMarco. Jennifer Lopez already ordered pies for her crew here.

El Sombrero Cafe

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El Sombrero, once a family-owned restaurant that first started serving Mexican food in 1950, reopened under new ownership. Irma Aguirre of Mundo fame is behind the makeover that includes a new menu focusing on upscale Mexican fare and a black and white color scheme that refreshes the dining room.

Giada De Laurentiis opened her very first restaurant at The Cromwell with a menu packed with antipasto, pastas, pizzettes and more, all with her signature twist on Italian cuisine with her deft California touches. While the prices may be high, they are matched only by the flavor that is delicate and feminine, never leaving you too full. As Giada says, "Taste a little bit of everything and not a lot of one thing." You can get lunch and breakfast too.

Guy Fieri's Vegas Kitchen & Bar

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Love it or loathe it, Guy Fieri’s new restaurant is the hottest ticket in town with lines out the door. Yes, there are Vegas fries. Yes, there is a Triple D burger. Are they good? Up to you. You can get breakfast here too.

Hearthstone Kitchen & Cellar

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Hearthstone Kitchen & Cellar brings executive chef Brian Massie's food off the Strip for the first time. Two oversized hearth ovens cook 90 percent of the restaurant's menu, and each wood roasted dish features earthy flavors of the pecan and whisky barrel wood used to fuel the fire.

Inyo Asian Variety Restaurant

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Run, don't walk to this restaurant that serves Japanese, Korean and Thai fare on small plates for lunch and dinner. Former Blue Ribbon and Little Buddha chef Gregg Fortunato helms the kitchen here. This may become your new favorite restaurant in Chinatown.

Izakaya Go

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This new Chinatown izakaya features Japanese tapas, ramen noodles, yakitori and sushi in the former Koraku Ramen Spot. Find salmon and tuna sashimi, kara age, white fish tempura, beef carpaccio, enoki with butter and black sesame mochi.

Japanese Cuisine by Omae

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With only 12 seats, this exclusive restaurant serves up a seven-course omakase dinner menu from Michelin-starred Takeshi Omae. Right now, the restaurant offers four different omakase menus. Do make reservations in advance for the dinner with only two seatings nightly.

Lao Sze Chuan

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Tony Hu, the self-proclaimed Mayor of Chinatown in Chicago, makes his first foray into Las Vegas with Lao Sze Chuan. Find Sze Chuan cuisine as well as Mandarin, Cantonese, Hunan and Shanghai dishes made especially for the Palms location. Get dim sum for lunch, too.

Lucky Foo's Restaurant & Bar

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The southeast lands an American izakaya mixes Asian and Mediterranean flavors with American cuisine. Much of the menu is cooked on a robata grill and a traditional Japanese coal called binchotan, which burns at 1,000 degrees. Also of note, a sushi bar. Now serving lunch as well.

Made LV

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Power food couple Elizabeth Blau and Kim Canteenwalla are at it again with Made LV, their second restaurant. The Tivoli Village tavern serves up comfort food with a healthy twist.

MTO Café

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MTO Cafe's second location at Downtown Summerlin brings dinner service to the breakfast and lunch spot.

Pot Liquor CAS

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Nab different types of Southern barbecue at this new restaurant at Town Square.

Shake Shack

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The very first Shake Shack in Las Vegas brings its line-forming burgers, crinkle cut fries and custards to New York-New York. This marks the furthest west Shake Shack has ventured so far.

SkinnyFATS

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This restaurant with its healthy side of the menu and happy side for those who want to indulge has become a darling in Las Vegas. This marks a second location for SkinnyFats, with a third on the way at the Grand Bazaar Shops.

Tom's Urban

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Tom's Urban delivers a modern diner with breakfast, lunch, dinner and late-night menus. Head here for the slopper, a burger with pork green chili, queso fresco, pico de gallo, cheddar and jack or the Hangover Slopper with two fried eggs. The Colorado Hot Brown brings shaved turkey and smoked pit ham on sourdough, smothered with pork green chili, pepper jack and cheddar cheese, tomato, applewood-smoke.

Urban Turban Bombay Kitchen & Tapas

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Bombay-style tapas and bottomless curries come to Vegas via New Zealand. Do take a selfie with Turbie, the Urban Turban rickshaw.

Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill

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A second location of Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill, this time in the new Downtown Summerlin. This contemporary version on the classic, American bar and grill serving "approachable" lunch and dinner menus. Look for salads, sandwiches, grilled meats, seafood, handmade pasta, and pizzas from the wood-burning oven

Yardbird Southern Table & Bar

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If chicken is what you want, you can find it fried, with waffles and more at this JBF semifinalist out of Miami. Do check out the beverages and brunch.

Bazaar Meat

José Andrés brings more than a steakhouse with Bazaar Meat. Find what the team here is dubbing "the world's longest dining table" as well as open kitchens including the "fire stage" with wood grills and rotisseries and a raw bar with ceviches, carpaccios and tartares. Two private dining rooms await; the Silver Room in all silver and Sam's Room with an open kitchen focused on seafood.

Border Grill

No, Border Grill isn't new to Las Vegas, but its location at the Forum Shops at Caesars is. About 40 percent of the menu is different here as well. A new open kitchen at the front of the restaurant offers up hand-rolled tortillas cooking on the comal and guacamole as well as 10 new ceviches.

Carson Kitchen

Kerry Simon's latest restaurant serves up lunch and dinner with most dishes going for less than $20. Find a menu of shared plates, sandwiches, flatbreads baked in the hearthstone oven, garden dishes, entrees and Simon's playful take on desserts. On the drinks side, microbrewed soda brands, such as Virgil's, along with handcrafted cocktails and an array of small-batch brews and global wines.

Cleo

Mediterranean fare from Danny Elmaleh cooked up in the wood-burning grill that takes center stage makes the menu at this restaurant at the SLS Las Vegas.

David Clawson Restaurant

Henderson's David Clawson Restaurant offers a chef's table where you can watch the action as chefs prepare small plates that can be paired with 2-ounce servings of wines, beers, sake and ciders. Go for the super deluxe "omygodse," where Clawson prepares a omakase dinner of his greatest hits.

DiFara Pizza

The Forum Food Court lands an outpost of Brooklyn's DiFara Pizza from the owners of Dom DeMarco. Jennifer Lopez already ordered pies for her crew here.

El Sombrero Cafe

El Sombrero, once a family-owned restaurant that first started serving Mexican food in 1950, reopened under new ownership. Irma Aguirre of Mundo fame is behind the makeover that includes a new menu focusing on upscale Mexican fare and a black and white color scheme that refreshes the dining room.

Giada

Giada De Laurentiis opened her very first restaurant at The Cromwell with a menu packed with antipasto, pastas, pizzettes and more, all with her signature twist on Italian cuisine with her deft California touches. While the prices may be high, they are matched only by the flavor that is delicate and feminine, never leaving you too full. As Giada says, "Taste a little bit of everything and not a lot of one thing." You can get lunch and breakfast too.

Guy Fieri's Vegas Kitchen & Bar

Love it or loathe it, Guy Fieri’s new restaurant is the hottest ticket in town with lines out the door. Yes, there are Vegas fries. Yes, there is a Triple D burger. Are they good? Up to you. You can get breakfast here too.

Hearthstone Kitchen & Cellar

Hearthstone Kitchen & Cellar brings executive chef Brian Massie's food off the Strip for the first time. Two oversized hearth ovens cook 90 percent of the restaurant's menu, and each wood roasted dish features earthy flavors of the pecan and whisky barrel wood used to fuel the fire.

Inyo Asian Variety Restaurant

Run, don't walk to this restaurant that serves Japanese, Korean and Thai fare on small plates for lunch and dinner. Former Blue Ribbon and Little Buddha chef Gregg Fortunato helms the kitchen here. This may become your new favorite restaurant in Chinatown.

Izakaya Go

This new Chinatown izakaya features Japanese tapas, ramen noodles, yakitori and sushi in the former Koraku Ramen Spot. Find salmon and tuna sashimi, kara age, white fish tempura, beef carpaccio, enoki with butter and black sesame mochi.

Japanese Cuisine by Omae

With only 12 seats, this exclusive restaurant serves up a seven-course omakase dinner menu from Michelin-starred Takeshi Omae. Right now, the restaurant offers four different omakase menus. Do make reservations in advance for the dinner with only two seatings nightly.

Lao Sze Chuan

Tony Hu, the self-proclaimed Mayor of Chinatown in Chicago, makes his first foray into Las Vegas with Lao Sze Chuan. Find Sze Chuan cuisine as well as Mandarin, Cantonese, Hunan and Shanghai dishes made especially for the Palms location. Get dim sum for lunch, too.

Lucky Foo's Restaurant & Bar

The southeast lands an American izakaya mixes Asian and Mediterranean flavors with American cuisine. Much of the menu is cooked on a robata grill and a traditional Japanese coal called binchotan, which burns at 1,000 degrees. Also of note, a sushi bar. Now serving lunch as well.

Related Maps

Made LV

Power food couple Elizabeth Blau and Kim Canteenwalla are at it again with Made LV, their second restaurant. The Tivoli Village tavern serves up comfort food with a healthy twist.

MTO Café

MTO Cafe's second location at Downtown Summerlin brings dinner service to the breakfast and lunch spot.

Pot Liquor CAS

Nab different types of Southern barbecue at this new restaurant at Town Square.

Shake Shack

The very first Shake Shack in Las Vegas brings its line-forming burgers, crinkle cut fries and custards to New York-New York. This marks the furthest west Shake Shack has ventured so far.

SkinnyFATS

This restaurant with its healthy side of the menu and happy side for those who want to indulge has become a darling in Las Vegas. This marks a second location for SkinnyFats, with a third on the way at the Grand Bazaar Shops.

Tom's Urban

Tom's Urban delivers a modern diner with breakfast, lunch, dinner and late-night menus. Head here for the slopper, a burger with pork green chili, queso fresco, pico de gallo, cheddar and jack or the Hangover Slopper with two fried eggs. The Colorado Hot Brown brings shaved turkey and smoked pit ham on sourdough, smothered with pork green chili, pepper jack and cheddar cheese, tomato, applewood-smoke.

Urban Turban Bombay Kitchen & Tapas

Bombay-style tapas and bottomless curries come to Vegas via New Zealand. Do take a selfie with Turbie, the Urban Turban rickshaw.

Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill

A second location of Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill, this time in the new Downtown Summerlin. This contemporary version on the classic, American bar and grill serving "approachable" lunch and dinner menus. Look for salads, sandwiches, grilled meats, seafood, handmade pasta, and pizzas from the wood-burning oven

Yardbird Southern Table & Bar

If chicken is what you want, you can find it fried, with waffles and more at this JBF semifinalist out of Miami. Do check out the beverages and brunch.

Related Maps