3 Best Restaurants in Downtown, Las Vegas

Celebrity Chef Wolfgang Puck got in early on the rise of the Arts District when he opened this casual bar and café in 2023 (the name is pronounced "Twelve Twenty-Eight"). The restaurant side is a full-service bakery, cranking out breads and pastries all day long. It also serves food for three meals a day, as well as brunch on weekends. The bar side is a typical Las Vegas cocktail room, and is a welcoming spot to pass time while you're waiting for a table. Arrive early for weekend brunch as the place gets packed.

Inside Downtown's bohemian temple, the Emergency Arts Building, this restaurant features what they call a "scratch kitchen concept." It may sound rather pot-lucky, but this isn't the standard chain-food menu (despite being part of a California-based chain). How does this sound: skirt steak with broccolini, red chimichurri, chili flakes, Parmesan, and lemon zest; a cowboy burger nearly tipping over with shoestring onions, bacon, cheddar cheese, and a beer barbecue sauce; and a bourbon barrel cake. That's just for starters. For imbibing purposes, sample the local craft beers, small-batch whiskeys, and classic cocktails. And don't miss the daily "Hoppy Hour."

Eleven-time world pizza champion Tony Gemignani installed four ovens in this heavily renovated, industrial-chic space in the Downtown Third district so he could produce all styles of pizza: Neapolitan, Romano, American, New York, classic Italian, Californian, New York/New Haven, Sicilian, and Chicago. Don't neglect the starters, though; the fried green beans with garlic and olive oil and beer-battered fried artichokes are worth the trip alone. The group table with a roulette wheel in the center is quite a sight.