5 Best Restaurants in Nevada, USA

This softly lighted strip mall robata is known as a favorite of local chefs. At 5 pm sharp every day but Sunday, doors open for small-plate offerings of creamy house-made tofu, fresh sashimi (no sushi), and savory grilled meats, fish, and veggies—some flambeed tableside on hot stone, or cooked over charcoal imported from Japan—that reflect the culinary mastery of its Tokyo-born owner-chef. An efficient waitstaff will visit your table to describe the spendy chalkboard specials and also to suggest seasonings—which include five soy sauces, three salts, and four sugars—that will best accent a particular dish. An ample list of sake (including a monthly sampler of three) and à-la-carte menu items, such as the sashimi salad, Kobe beef liver sashimi, and steamed foie gras egg custard, is also provided. Raku also offers omakase, which showcases the chef's choice of the best dishes each day. What used to be the sweets shop in the same shopping plaza is now Casa de Raku, the owners' take on the tapas format.

Modest little Ichiza has developed a cult following for serving sublimely delicious, authentic Japanese food and drink in a casual social environment that borders on controlled chaos. Located on the second floor of a shopping center in the city's Chinatown, this boisterous Izakaya-style pub is crammed with tourists, students, and local hipsters who love a good value and the chance to chow down on a variety of tasty small-plate offerings until the wee hours (It's open all night, switching to a breakfast menu before closing at 11 am). Forget the menu and study the walls instead, where dozens of haphazardly taped signs list the daily specials, or ask your server for suggestions, which might include black cod with grated white radish; stir-fried calamari with ginger butter; a seaweed or salmon-skin salad; and deep-fried, breaded quail eggs. From dinner to dessert, it's best to order with a sense of adventure. Ichiza 2 Hanari is a second location offering private dining rooms with call buttons a little further West (5300 W. Spring Mountain Rd.).

Among the many Asian restaurants at Resorts World, Kusa Nori stands out for its fine presentations of modern Japanese cuisine. The menu includes a large selection of nigiri, sashimi, and rolls (both classic and specialty) but also robata-grilled meats and seafood; entrees like encrusted black cod and steaks; and Japanese and domestic wagyu beef. Delicious desserts include a cherry tart with white chocolate–green tea ganache and green tea gelato. During happy hour, from 4 to 5:30 daily in the lounge, sake bombs, specialty cocktails, and a lengthy menu of food are offered at reduced prices. And it's open late on show nights.

Executive chef Nobu Matsuhisa helped fuel the popularity of the original Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas, so it would have just seemed wrong for the restaurant not to carry over when the hotel transitioned into Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. Although there's now a Nobu restaurant at Paris Las Vegas and an entire Nobu sub-hotel within Caesars Palace, this one reflects the decor and menu of the Manhattan Nobu original, with bamboo and wood accents. But those who feel it's somehow a little different now are correct: the decor was spruced up during the hotel's remodeling, and there's a new outdoor space overlooking the pool. The menu comprises small- or moderate-size plates, making Nobu perfect for sharing but also an easy place to drop a wad of cash (as all those artful food presentations add up). Entrées might include the famous black cod with miso, yellowtail tartare with caviar, rock shrimp tempura, and Maine lobster with wasabi-pepper sauce. If you're feeling brave (and flush), opt for the omakase multi-course tasting menu, and let the chef make the decisions for you.

Take a break from shopping and step into this dimly lighted restaurant and lounge that's part of a growing chain with a menu of both sushi and cooked entrées. Delicious sushi rolls might include the Gojira (with shrimp tempura, krab mix, cream cheese, and cucumber) or the Crazy Monkey (stuffed with smoked salmon, mango, and cream cheese and topped with avocado, red tempura bits, cashews, and sweet eel sauce). Heartier fare includes chicken, shrimp, or steak yakisoba, and chicken katsu with Asian cole slaw. The happy hour specials here are popular with the locals. Late-night noshers appreciate that it's open until midnight, until 1 am on Friday and Saturday.