The ARIA Resort & Casino has one of the best dining line-ups of any Resort. The intent of the Aria was to be a Standalone resort, right in the heart of the City. To achieve this it requires a diverse and eclectic line-up of dining options and the Resort has achieved just that. With so many different and varied establishments on offer, it really can be hard to pick out the gems and discard the trash.
Join us as we delve into an exploration of the best places to eat at ARIA Las Vegas. From sophisticated interpretations of classic favorites to innovative creations that push the boundaries of culinary artistry, ARIA’s dining establishments offer an unparalleled culinary adventure that will leave your taste buds tingling and your senses enraptured. Get ready to indulge in a feast for the senses as we unveil the best dining attractions that make ARIA a true haven for gastronomes and gourmands alike.
There are several unique and different spots, scarcely found anywhere else on the strip. Along with some recreations of top eateries from other cities. It’s a real melting pot of cuisines and flavors and there is sure to be something for just about everyone. Especially considering the New Food Hall concept that has replaced the Buffet with a large collection of novel and innovative pop-up style eateries.
Proper Eats – Food Hall
We are not sure how or when this was decided, but Food Halls are the new big thing in Las Vegas. There have always been food courts, but these were always seen as the last resort for dining. Somewhere to go when you just want some food fast and cheaply. Like in a shopping mall, just basic established fast food brands offering cheap friendly fare.
That’s all changed, Now The marketing bosses in Vegas have decided Buffets are out and trendy food halls are in. And honestly, we think they are on to something. This is not a place to grab a KFC, Macdonalds, or Earl of Sandwich. No, these are a collection of super hip and trendy pop-up style, independent restaurants that have been a hit in their hometowns and now have got a spot in Vegas. It’s a really great idea to get some great food into the City and offers great food at reasonable prices. Its also great for those who can’t agree on what to eat as you can order from any outlet and dine together in the communal seating.
The Line-up will be ever-changing as restaurants come and go and trends and tastes shift. We are going to include our favorites in the various meal sections as individual restaurants rather than dealing with them here. But wanted to mention some of the options are in the Food hall with general seating, rather than individual restaurants.
Breakfast
The most important meal of the day! and while options are limited for breakfast, the choices on offer are some of the best in the City.
1 – EggHead
Price – $$
And let’s start off with a food hall option straight off the bat, EggHead. Maybe calling EggHead a complete rip-off is a little strong, but the similarities to the very popular Eggslut over in the Cosmopolitan are very strong. And EggHead is not the only Egg-based outlet that’s popped up to rival Eggslut’s undoubted success. At the end of the day if a formula works why not replicate it? And EggHead replicates the Eggsluts formula very well.
So what is it? To put it simply it’s fancy Egg Sandwiches, think Mcdonald’s Egg McMuffin, only fancier. A simple idea, and it works really well. Honestly, we want to hate this place, It’s a pretty basic concept and it’s not even original, but then you get your actual food and it’s easy to understand why this works. And we have no issue recommending this place at all. If you want simple and delicious breakfast fare there is not much better. The Chelsea with Bacon and Cheesy Hash Browns is an epic way to kick your day off!
2 – Salt And Ivy
Price – $$$
If you are looking for a bit more refinement and a nice sit-down breakfast or brunch then the Pool Side Salt and Ivy is the perfect choice. The setting is sublime, undercover but still outdoors overlooking the pool on a really nice and refined deck. Vegas is often pretty crazy and this is one of those places you can actually feel the pressure drop off as you start to relax…
Foodwise Breakfast and brunch is definitely the star of the menu. We find the lunch menu a little basic, it’s okay for pool dining but it’s nothing special. The Breakfast menu is served Mon-Fri 6 am-11 am and the Brnch is all day (6 am-2 pm) Saturday and Sunday. These are both similar with a few of the Lunch items making their way over to the Brunch Menu.
Chicken and waffles, Dutch Baby Pancakes, great Egg Bennidits, or the almighty Lobster Toast are some of the top choices. It has great food, a fantastic atmosphere, and a wonderful setting. A great place to start the day, or recover from the madness of last night.
3 – Aria Patisserie
Price – $$
For a grab-and-go breakfast, the Aria Patisserie is hard to beat. It actually has a good selection of cooked and prepared meals, including some epic Crepes but we come for the pastries, Croisant and sweet treats.
The Patisserie is one of the finer bakeries in the town. The baked goods are really tasty and a great way to grab an amazing bite on the go.
Others – If you are looking for a simple start to the day, Easy Donuts offers some great and playful donut varieties. Wexlers Deli has some fantastic sandwiches to start the day off, but we prefer this option for lunch and if you are just looking for a really simple start to the day there is always Starbucks.
Lunch/Quick Bites
1 – Wexlers Deli
Price – $$
Wexlers Deli brings big Deli sandwiches all the way from Los Angeles! Ok, so Jewish delis are maybe better known in New York than in L.A., but they are pretty much and mainstay of American Culture anywhere you go and have always been big in LA too. Wexlers has been making big waves in LA and offers meat-stuffed sandwiches and Bagals to a really high standard.
The Bagels with Lox are stunning and Wexlers cures its own Salmon. The Ruben Sandwiches are really something special too. For us, a nice Deli sandwich is pretty much the perfect lunch and they don’t get much better than Wexlers. (apart from maybe a really small local NYC Deli that absolutely stuffs their sandwiches)
2 – Posh Burger
Price – $$$
If you are looking for a decent burger for your lunch Posh Burger might be just the ticket. These are gourmet-style burgers served fast food style. The burgers here are really good, and while they ought to be based on the price, they really are a cut above a regular fast-food burger.
While you can get a $100 gold-dusted Waygu Burger with Foie Grois, we don’t really recommend you should, instead go for the Truffle Mushroom Burger or the Bacon double cheese. We are also big fans of the Chicken Burgers covered in Buffalo sauce.
3 – Din Tai Fung
Price – $$$
Dim Sum are one of the most delicious food items on the planet and we always try and seek out great Dim Sum on our travels. But this can be pretty hard to find in the traditional Dim Sum format in Las Vegas…at least on the strip, there are plenty of Dim Sum Joints in Chinatown.
Din Tai Fung offers a huge choice of smaller Dim Sum Plates that you can pick and choose from, eating as much or as little as you choose, just by ordering more plates. Bao Buns, Wontons, Dumplings, and Potstickers along with Noodles, Soups, and Fried Rice dishes.
If you are looking for a really tasty snack-style meal then definitely check out Din Tai Fung. And make sure you save some room for the dessert Baos
4 – Proper Eats
There are several really good Lunch options here, and while some of these cross over to the Causul dinner side, we wanted to give a shout-out to Soul Bird Koreen, Laughing Buddha Ramen, and Lolo’s Burgers.
Casual / Dinner
There is a bit of a disconnect between the way we would sometimes rate restaurants here and at other locations. There is very little in the way of very casual dining and most of the restaurants we would head to for dinner are more in the fancy category, but not quite what we would call fine dining. What this means is most of the next section would probably require you to dress up and will cost a pretty penny, but the food is not really at the level to fit into Fine Dining. If you want a really casual dinner, a proper jeans and T-shirt job, which we all do from time to time, the Proper Eats Food Hall is probably your best bet. The next section is mainly fairly high-end or celebrity chef-style restaurants. But don’t worry we still have some proper fine dining coming up…
1 – CATCH
Price – $$$
CATCH is one of the hottest restaurants in NYC and L.A. So it was inevitable that Las Vegas would get its own Celeb magnet. This Asian-influenced seafood Restaurant basically pools together everything the well-to-do and fashionable love about dining. It’s a stunning location, with Flower archers, selfie walls, birdcages, and everything that makes for a fantastic “look at me” photo to flash around on your socials, and it also offers all of the hottest food trends around.
Without sticking to a set cuisine it just lets diners pick what they want from the world food scene. Top-end Sushi…Check, Waygu Steak…Check, Epic desserts….check, Oysters, Lobster, Gyoza…check, check, and check. It really is just an epic smorgasbord of great eats. It’s so easy to see why it’s popular and why the Celebs love to be seen here.
Almost everything on the menu here is good, but we love the Rolled Sushi, Crispy Shrimp, Lobster Mac, and Cheese, and the amazing “HIT ME” CHOCOLATE CAKE for dessert.
3 – Lemongrass
Price – $$$
It’s actually pretty rare to find a Thai restaurant in Vegas so Lemongrass is a bit of an oddity, in fact, it’s the only Thai eatery we know of on the Strip. So if you are looking for something really different you are in for a real treat here.
Lobster Curry, Shrimp Pad Thai, Drunken Noodles, and Red, Yellow, and Green curries with various meats are just some of the delights on the extensive and delicious menu.
3 – Julian Serrano Tapas
Price – $$$
Julain Serrano owns and runs the fantastic Picasso situated at the Bellagio. This highly acclaimed restaurant has won copious awards, but we actually prefer Julians Tapas restaurant here at the Aria. At Tapas, he just feels more at home creating Spanish cuisine that you can just tell he loves. At Picasso, the food is his trade, the skills he honed to propel him to the top, at Tapas, it’s his passion, the food he grew up with.
Tapas is all about small plates and lots of them The menu is filled with fantastic Spanish fare bursting with the Spanish sunshine. The key here is to order lots of little plates and share them between the tables. gambas al ajillo (Prawns with Chilli and Garlic), Bravas Potatoes (Fried potoatos with Spicy Sauce), cochinillo (Crispy Suckling Pig), chorizo, Calamaris, and Fired Octopus. The fun is you can just try whatever you fancy and if it’s not to your liking it’s not the whole meal.
We love a good Tapas restaurant and they are pretty scarce in the USA, so it’s great to find one right on the strip.
4 – Blossom
Price – $$$
Chinese cuisine is making a huge resurgence and Las Vegas is leading the way in this regard. Chinese food in America has long been considered cheap and cheerful, served in cardboard cartons and filled with MSG. But the new wave of high-end Chinese restaurants offers a more regal and imperial style of cuisine, Bnquests fit for employers rather than peasants. Blossom is exactly this kind of dining.
Peking Duck, Hong Kong Style Maine Lobster, Szechuan Shrimp, and all the Chinese classics but done to an ultra-high level. This is Chinese dining with a degree of elegance far removed from your average Local Szechuan Palace. There are several of these kinds of places in Las Vegas and Blossom is one of the best.
5 – Bardot Brasserie
Price – $$$
This classic French Brasserie is run by the acclaimed chef Micheal Mina. Possibly a candidate for a Michelin star should the guide ever return to Vegas, the Brasserie is a modern take on the French classics.
This style of cooking can seem basic, but when done right, as it is here can be spectacular. The French onion soup, Bardot Wellington, and amazing Chocolate GRAND Macaron Dessert make for a fabulous meal
6 – Javier’s
Price – $$$
Our final pick is Javiers. This is another familiar style of cuisine but elevated to an almost fine dining experience. As the name suggests Javier brings Mexican cuisine to the top table and hits a level far above your average cantina.
From the stunning interior to the epic dishes, Javiers really delivers on bringing the cuisine you know to a dimension you didn’t. Don’t expect a menu of Tacos and Burritos (although they are there too) instead, this is Mexican flavors redefined. High-end Seafood, steak, and Chicken are all served with modern Mexican flair.
The drinks menu is also pretty special, as you might expect. Amazing Margaritas and truly top-shelf Tequilas from the fantastic Tequila Tree are sure you get the evening off with a bang.
Fine Dining
Our final section is what we consider the fine dining options at the Aria. However, we are a little unsure whether these really count. These are not the finest of fine restaurants, although your check may lead you to believe that, but they are pretty high-end. These are maybe 1-star establishments rather than 3-star but they still can only really fall into the Fine-Dining category, To say they are Casual would be a gross disservice.
1 – Cathédrale Las Vegas
Price – $$$$
The Tao Group’s latest New York hit heads to Vegas. The New York Cathedrale restaurant is a stunning masterpiece, situated in the east village, Customers dine in a Faux cathedral setting with dark gothic vibes all around, naturally, this style of Dining is just Perfect for Vegas, and with the Tao Group’s strong Vegas ties it just had to happen.
This is a modern French Mediterranean-style menu where sometimes the style overtakes the substance but still always shines. Black Truffle Fettuccine, Lobster Arrabbiata, and Prime Steaks are all perfectly prepared and served in stunning style. For dessert, the Paris-Brest is the one to go for.
The drinks menu really goes above and beyond here. Try the Qunatary, a Martini served with Caviar in an actual Ice-Cube is a real show stopper, the Camellia de Mûre served in a smoking Teapot, or the La Caffè Vita, a cross between an old fashioned and Negoni with Coffee notes.
2 – Jean-Georges Steakhouse
Price – $$$$
Jean Georges in New York is one of the Cities 2-Michiin Starred restaurants (although it used to be three), situated on Columbus Circle in NYC. Making Jean-George one of the most acclaimed Chefs in the City with a total of 3 Michelin stars spread across his world Empire. His Namesake restaurant in Las Vegas operates primarily as a high-end Steakhouse rather than a fine-dining restaurant, but it’s steak of the very highest and finest order.
These are prime cuts, focusing primarily on Waygu, but some regular cuts are available too, seared over Apricot Wood and Mesquite, these are near-perfect steaks. Our go-to 36oz porterhouse will set you back $138 and this is not even Dry-Aged but finished with Dry-Aged Fat-Render.
Jean-Georges is also owner and head chef at Prime Steakhouse at the Bellagio so he knows a thing or two about Steak. But for us, this is not one of our Go-To steakhouses in Las Vegas, instead, it’s a decent option if you just have to have a steak, but don’t want to leave the resort…although even then there are some great steal options available from the other restraints in the Area.
3 – Carbone
Price – $$$$
The final dining concept is Carbone. A high-end Italian-American Restaurant that focuses on fantastic service and Italian classics in a very high-end setting. Here you will find some of the best Pasta outside of Italy and some really good meat and seafood dishes such as Veal Parmesan and Chicken Scarpariello.
The concept is only mildly appealing to us, we still love a more family-orientated American-Italian style restraint with big portions and simple but delicious red sauce slathered over mountains of pasta. But if you are looking for some fantastic over-the-top table side service, in a stunning venue with fantastically well-cooked Italian classics Carbone is a real experience.
Pool Dining
Poolside dining is pretty limited. There is just one restaurant and anything ordered and served at your pool chair will be from the same menu.
Salt & Ivy
The Salt & Ivy is Aria’s only poolside restaurant. This is no bad thing as it’s a really nice spot and does have some great food. We prefer it for Breakfast and Brunch, but the lunch menu is still excellent. It’s not somewhere we would hunt out for lunch but if you are hungry by the pool it’s a great option.
However, if you don’t want to be troubled to get dressed or even move, then the poolside serves will bring you a range of menu items from the Salt and Ivey directly to your sun lounger or Cabana.
These are fairly basic items, Hummus and Pittas, Nachos, Chicken Tenders,
LIQUID Pool Lounge
- Wed – Sun11:00 AM – 6:00 PM
- $20 entry
As a complete alternative to the Relaxing Oasis that is the Aria Pool the Liquid Pool Lounge is an all-day Pool Party Day club. Open Wed-Sun this Poolside Ultra lounge offers high-end drinks, top DJs, and cool vibes. It’s one the the top Day Clubs in the City.
Liquid is a bit more chilled out than some of the other hard-core Day-Clubs such as Tao or Wet Republic, but it’s still pretty lively and great fun. Do not expect this to be a cheap experience but if you really need to keep the party going all day Liquid is a great place to keep on rolling.
Bars and Nightclubs
If you are just looking for a drink, maybe late in the evening, maybe a bit earlier, then there are a lot of really good bars on offer at the Aria, along with some of the best nightlife in the City.
1 – Easy’s Cocktail Lounge
Easy’s Cocktail Lounge is a real treat for those looking for some super fancy and exotic libations. The basic Cocktail menu is pretty top-notch with some fantastic classic cocktails, but the Show Stoppers is just about the most magical drink we have ever ordered. We are no strangers to crazy cocktail lounges but Easy’s goes a couple of steps being even that.
Smoke Show is served in a Cigar Box and is overflowing with Dry Ice smoke and lashings of Bourbon and Banana Liqueur.
Shroomin is a gin-based cocktail served in Musroom glasses on a moss-filled platter, again swimming in Fragranced Dry Ice.
Heart of the Ocean somehow takes things up even more, as this tequila-based drink spills over with ocean air fragrance and edible flowers and sea shells. It’s just too pretty to drink, and too tasty to leave be.
These $50+ drinks are designed for two and are pretty outrageously priced but so worth it. This is what Instagram was made for!
2 – Proper Bar
One of the Joys of the Proper Eats Food Hall is you do not all need to choose the same place to dine. You can head to your favorite spot and grab what you want, while other members of your group try something else. You can all meet back at the communal seating and enjoy the meal together.
This also means you don’t need to grab drinks from the food outlets either and can hit up the Proepr bar and all get drinks together. Some food outlets do not serve alcohol but you can still get a proper drink, from the proper bar to go with your proper eats.
3 – ALIBI Ultra Lounge
Nightclubs are becoming a bit of a dying breed. Huge, Loud, and crammed nightspots are more and more being viewed as a thing of the past, and in their places are Ultra Lounges. A slightly more chilled vibe, slightly quieter music, and a place where you can still talk and get to know people.
At the very least they are a place to start the night before wheeling out the big guns in the nightclub. Whichever way you view them Every Resort no needs at least an Ultra Lounge style bar and at Arai this is ALIBI
Sophisticated stylish and pretty chilled, the Lounge offers great cocktails at pretty decent prices, considering its high-end market. It’s a great place to meet and kick things off, or just hang out for the evening with some chilled music and a relaxed vibe.
4 – JEWEL Nightclub at ARIA
- Mon, Fri, Sat 10:30 PM – 4:00 AM
- $20+ Female – $30+ Male
JEWEL is the exact opposite of this. This is a proper Big Beats nightclub. With top-name DJs and a Huge banging sound system. The Party runs until the wee hours of the following day and is one of the Top Clubs still operating in the City.
The Music is a little more Hip-Hop on some nights and more EDM/Open on others, it has a great line-up of names and is pretty much packed every night. From the Stunning entrance Staircase to the multi-level dance floor. This is one of the hottest clubs in town.
7 – Lobby Bar
The Lobby Bar at the Aria is probably one of our favorite Lobby Bars in the City. Every hotel has its own but the Arai is pretty much the perfect Bar and what you would expect from a high-end luxury resort such as this.
5 – Lift Bar
It might seem a bit odd having a bar right by the lifts, but after navigating the casino to actually find the lifts you might well need a drink, and also it presents the perfect opportunity to grab a drink the second you hit the Casino Floor.
More seriously it’s pretty well placed right in the middle of the casino so makes a lot of sense. It’s a decent bar with a similar style to the Lobby Bar, offering hand-crafted cocktails.
6 – Gem Bar
The Gem bar is the basic Casino Bar for the Aria. The Floor is so large it needs several bars to cover it. Here you can also pull up a pew and play some Video Poker while the bartender makes you drinks.
Nearby
Finally, if none of the above really tickles your fancy, and we are not sure how, but there are so many dining options within a 10-15 minute walk.
Park MGM just across the City Center has some great options such as Eataly, Mama Rabbit, and Best Friend, along with the Brilliant On The Record Night Club.
The Cosmo is just a stone’s throw away with one of the best Restaurant line-ups on the strip. The Bellagio is only a short walk away, New York New York, and MGM Grand are just to the South, and Planet Hollywood is just across the street.
There is so much food within such a small area you are sure to find something to eat from just about every possible category of food, from dirty fast food to the highest of Michelin-starred dining.
Have Your Say
What are your favorite places to eat at the Aria? Have you tried the Food hall? Do you miss the Buffet? Which Clubs and Bars do you prefer? What is your top pick of the restaurants? Maybe you had a bad experience? Whatever you have to say, just fire away in the comments and if you have any questions we are happy to answer anything in the comments below.