2 Best Restaurants in Paradise Road and the East Side, Las Vegas

Javier Barajas, the congenial owner and host of this colorful cantina group, named this restaurant after his birthplace in Mexico, where he learned to cook while growing up in the culinary capital of Michoacán. Don't miss such outstanding specialties as the carnitas or cabrito birria de chivo (roasted goat with red mole sauce). Guacamole is made tableside, and the flan is a silken wonder. There's no reason to stick to Mexican-restaurant basics when the menu is so expansive—the lunch menu alone offers 37 choices. This local success story began in 1990 and now boasts three other locations—in Henderson, Summerlin, and in the Palace Station casino—but the original is a singular experience: a dense labyrinth of rooms (with a capacity of around 300) with arched ceilings and brightly colored walls covered in bric-a-brac, and table visits from strolling mariachis.

Fans of the bygone Pink Taco (and then, for a spell, Casa Calavera) will smile in recognition when they see its hotel-operated replacement's layout is much the same, including the convivial center bar; however, as the name change would signal, the decor and atmosphere are subtly more sophisticated now. Expanded outdoor patio seating against the backdrop of the pool area gives it a cool vibe for the daily 5–6 pm happy hour. The tequila menu is more expansive than the food side, which trims things down to creative versions of tacos and burritos with flourishes such as roasted pineapple or kimchi red onions. Every week brings Taco Tuesday's $5 tacos, and a there's a Fiesta Brunch on Saturday and Sunday.