44 Best Restaurants in Nevada, USA

This casual spot is a great place to soak in the vast desert view and offers simple breakfasts and lunches. The sandwiches, filled with meats smoked by the owner, are especially good.

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.

Even if you aren’t hungry for a tasty "alien burger," a pilgrimage to this restaurant/bar is practically a requirement to earn those Area 51 bragging rights. While the food is typical diner fare such as chili and sandwiches, it’s pretty reasonably priced, and the owners put some tender loving care into keeping their oddly famous outpost in top shape. You can commune with visitors from around the globe and check out a bounty of Area 51–theme merchandise, from bottles of wine to license plates. The walls are also adorned with fuzzy photographs of UFO sightings. Don't be confused if the town of Alamo pops up on your GPS. Rachel shares its zip code. If you don't want to drive back to Las Vegas the same day, there are some very basic motel-like accommodations available.

Look past the sad, faded strip mall exterior: Lucy is bright, cheerful, and big—with a designated bar area and a stage for DJs or bands. Separate breakfast, lunch, and dinner menus offer various stews or deep dishes, which include cubed beef goreb goreb, and collard green and bone-in beef gomen besga, both meant to be scooped up with spongy injera flatbread. If you're curious, the name Lucy comes from Ethiopia's most famous fossil skeleton, and this place feels like a community hub. Officially designating a loosely defined area as "Little Ethiopia" in 2023 might have seemed as optimistic as the signs pointing the way to Chinatown did in the early 2000s, but the area is definitely evolving, and Las Vegas is said to have some 40,000 Ethiopians. Ethiopian restaurants and markets are scattered around the edges of Chinatown, but this restaurant is a solid place to anchor it.

Walking distance from The Strat, this tiny take-out stand offers unbelievably delicious, velvety smooth frozen custard. The flavors change daily (check the website for the schedule), and sundaes are a popular offering. Those with larger appetites should certainly try the ever-popular Western, with hot fudge, caramel, and pecans, or a Fruit Boat, with peach, pineapple, cherry, banana, marshmallow, and peanuts. It's been goin' strong since 1973, and is open most days until 10 pm, 11 pm on Friday and Saturday.

Younger Las Vegans call this local success story "the pizza they grew up on," while the smell of dough when they walk in the door may trigger older patrons' own childhood memories of their youthful pizza parlors. Look for size and value on the deep-dish pies, not fancy salads or artisan experiments, on the family-friendly menu. Metro is more about big stuffed pizzas with names such as the Stockyard or the Zamboni that are as hearty and meat-filled as you might imagine, and it's been growing with the city since the 1980s. The modest Westside original still has a 1950s-style diner look in a strip mall next to a supermarket. As native Las Vegans grew up and went to UNLV, home base might have become the second, freestanding location near campus (1395 E. Tropicana Ave.). The large freestanding Henderson location (4001 W. Decatur Blvd.) may be chain's pride and joy, and the fourth arrival is north in the Centennial Hills area (6720 Sky Pointe Dr.).

A casual, plank-floored, all-natural deli serving breakfast and lunch, Mountain High may well be the only place in Tahoe to find coconut chia seed pudding and similar delicacies. More familiar fare—biscuits and gravy (sausage or veggie) for breakfast, house-smoked tri-tip sandwiches (also tofu barbecue) for lunch—is also on the menu.

Independent restaurants in Las Vegas have such a struggle that Nora's is a refreshing success story. It's so popular with locals that it was able to build a new home, ground up, within walking distance of the old storefront location (now the equally worthwhile Monzú Italian Oven, owned by a family member) that fueled its 24-year reputation. The newer building adds patio seating and a Josper charcoal oven, which combines traditional grilling with a tandoor effect. But it remains a dark wood-and-white tablecloth kind of place with fetching food and a nice ambiance for repeat customers. There’s traditional pizza, pasta, and veal, but the adventurous won’t be disappointed in Nora’s collection of unique dishes such as wild boar pappardelle, or the “Crazy Alfredo,” which combines fettuccine with shrimp, chicken, sausage, roasted bell peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, and jalapeños. Another favorite is the "Alla Nora" of baked spaghetti and eggplant with a meat sauce plus pesto and Parmesan.

Delicious regional (mostly Cantonese) fare includes marvelous dim sum made fresh daily often compels discerning diners—many of whom hail from Vegas's large Asian community—to brave the smoky, low-rollers casino floor of the Gold Coast, an otherwise unremarkable locals casino. The hours are a testament to its popularity: it's open from 10 am to 3 am every single night of the week. Named for three characters in Puccini's opera Turandot (Pong is head chef of the imperial kitchen), this well-regarded restaurant is kwown for authentic dishes such as chicken lettuce cups, seafood fish mah stew, preserved-egg porridge, or spicy Dungeness crab with peppercorn, along with a glass of chrysanthemum iced tea and sweet pineapple buns for dessert, soft and warm from the oven. Chefs will cater to customers' requests for small, unique offerings not on the menu, as long as the ingredients are on hand. 

With Las Vegas Raiders games packing Allegiant Stadium, fans of the Silver and Black will likely find this sports bar and grill at the M Resort as intoxicating as the spirits on tap at one of two bars in this large, 3,400-square-foot room. Raiders helmets and footballs line the entryway, while framed jerseys of past gridiron greats and a gift shop loaded with Raiders gear make this a must-stop for team diehards. The all-night menu ranges from stadium fare like burgers and Philly cheese steaks to homemade BBQ, wood-fired pizzas, street tacos, and steak and salmon entrees. Breakfast is served on Saturday and—of course—Sunday, so you can fuel up before the big game and then root, root, root for the home team on one of 45 TVs.

Some of the best doughnuts in Vegas are sold at this tiny Chinatown storefront tucked in a strip mall along Spring Mountain Road. Locals rave about the apple fritters, but more traditional selections, such as Boston cream, are addictive, too. Surprisingly, a good number of the offerings are vegan, a quirk that has put the hole-in-the-wall on the national map in recent years.

This fast-casual favorite born in New York City now has seven locations in Las Vegas, and the only thing different about it is that the lines aren't so long. It's a great place to stop for a Shack Burger and fries, and don't forget the shakes and frozen custard. The Strip location has been joined by others around town and at Harry Reid International Airport.

The soul in the belly here comes courtesy of James Beard–nominated chef Bruce Kalman, who might be recognizable on sight to viewers of foodie faves Top Chef, Chopped, and Beat Bobby Flay. Bringing the barbecue flavors of central Texas to Vegas, this atmospheric venue adds cocktails, local beers, and live entertainment to the mix to turn what might have been just a barbecue dinner into a barbecue experience and a night on the (Down)town.

The multilevel outdoor deck of this order-at-the-counter restaurant cradled in a hillside below the Ponderosa Ranch from TV's Bonanza entices weary East Shore hikers and bikers with filling fare fit for a ranch hand. Along with breakfast standards, there's a "power bowl" of eggs, avocado, cheese, and black beans—salads, sandwiches (including a tasty turkey club), and burgers appear for lunch.