3 Best Restaurants in Downtown, Las Vegas

Chef James Trees has had a bit of a Midas touch around his native Las Vegas; every restaurant he creates is gold. It's no surprise, then, that this French-influenced Arts District restaurant has become an instant hit among locals and visitors alike. The menu features fresh spins on classic dishes such as escargot, boeuf Bourguignon, and sole Veronique, but the real stand-outs are the appetizers. The "Plateaux de Fruits de Mer" allow guests to assemble their own seafood towers, while three different pates options will make mouths water. The space itself is exquisite, with a marble-capped bar and lights that resemble palm fronds. After dinner have a nightcap at the Petite Boheme cocktail bar out back.

This offshoot of Joe Vicari's numerous restaurants in the Detroit area is right at home in the loosely Detroit-theme D Las Vegas. The menu is evenly split between steak-house classics and Italian-American favorites. There's atmosphere aplenty; customers enter through a long, arched brick passage to emerge into a candlelit room staffed by tux-clad waiters. And the food matches the elegant aura, with such starters as a rich lobster bisque with butter-poached lobster, or banana peppers with house-made sausage; entrées include a half-dozen steaks along with Italian pastas and fish, chicken, and veal dishes.

You won't find too much in the way of nouvelle flourishes or ultramod decor at this San Francisco–style restaurant, and that's just how both visitors and locals prefer it—the elegant dining room is a favorite haunt for power-lunching and hobnobbing. Triple George is known for its commendably prepared traditional American fare such as oysters on the half shell, classic "wedge" salad, oh-so-tender pot roast, and truly stellar sourdough. Seafood and chops dominate the fancier parts of the menu, from seafood cioppino and traditional fish-and-chips to a bone-in prime New York strip and a hefty pan-seared porcini-crusted rib eye.  The "glegan" (gluten-free and vegan) menu is among the best in town.