MGM Grand Hotel & Casino Spring 2014

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At the time, MGM Grand (now Bally's) was the largest hotel casino in the world. However in that incarnation, MGM is better known as the location of the deadliest fire in strip history. In 1999, it opened, once again at the time, the largest hotel casino in the world with the least appealing entrance to Asian gamblers ever created.  It was a giant lion that you walked under. These are just a couple examples that make the MGM Grand a complex property to eloquently summarize. 

When it opened, the emerald green building and the experience within was meant to pay tribute to the studios all time great movie the wizard of oz. Complete with a yellow brick road that lead to an amusement park studio attraction meant to celebrate all of the studios history.  Less than 10 years into the properties existence, both are a different kind of history. 

MGM Grand challenges the notion that bigger is always better.  The largest hotel in the city frequently has guests complaining they need a cab just to get to their room. The casino floor has been described by many as too big and by others as epic. It has a reputation for being home to some of the best and worst dining experiences. Despite all that, perhaps the fact that they refuse to stop trying is the most telling aspect of MGM Grand. Ideas that haven't worked have been replaced with better ones. Sections of the casino have been configured to feel smaller and more intimate and that failed amusement park was turned into condos that were so successful it can be credited with being one of the pioneers of that movement in Las Vegas. Ultimately MGM Grand needs to be experienced...with caution. 

Vegas Mate Rating – 4/5 chips

Mark & Alstair - 4/5 chips

Keren – 3/5 chips

Strip Steak @Mandalay Bay Fall 2014

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Overview:

It’s steak, the pinnacle of protein.  Ask anyone what they would want for their final meal before shifting off this mortal coil and 100% of the time they’ll answer steak, and if they don’t, they’re gay.  What, gay people are awesome and love them so tube steak so that does work.  They’re Hitler.  Right, no one likes Hitler.  Whatever, its steak and its goooood.

This time around, Michael Mina steps up to the plate to see if he can impress our pallet and dethrone STK, which I totally agree is the best steak in Vegas. But who is this Michael Mina guy.  Well, he’s a James Beard winner, whatever that means, as well as being declared chef and restaurateur of year multiple times from multiple people, what-evs.  He’s got 18 restaurants in the US and 4 in Vegas.  We tried Strip Steak at Mandalay Bay

Vegas Mate Rating - 4/5 chips

Mark's Rating - 3/5 chips

Alastair & Keren's Rating - 4/5 chips

Center Cut Steakhouse @Flamingo Spring 2014

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It's almost unfair. Because Vegas has so many dining options that are stellar, good just isn't good enough. In fact good can often be considered bad. That very well might be the case with Center Cut at Flamingo.

Unarguably the nicest space in the property, Center Cut's decor congers up memories of Tender @ Luxor. The vibe and the fact that they both serve steak is unfortunately where the comparison ends. Despite enjoying virtually everything else the property has to offer, Flamingo has given us a rather remarkable streak of disappointing dining experiences.  Center cut would did not buck that trend. 

Vegas Mate Rating – 3/5 chips

Alastair & Keren – 3/5 chips

Mark - 2/5 chips

The View & Moon @Palms Fall 2013

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Palms invented the Vegas nightclub.  Posh, over-the-top environments where the beautiful people congregate to see and be seen.  Many mocked the financial viability of creating a diversion that keeps people from gambling for extended periods of time.  Not only did Maloof prove them wrong, he did it so well, it drew people away from the strip at night. Now, nightclubs are one of the most profitable amenities Vegas properties offer.

Eventually, as happens so many times in Vegas, the idea was replicated all over the strip and is now another Vegas staple.  They’ve become so popular that it gave birth to the idea of day clubs.  Despite breathtaking views of the strip from the top of their towers, Palms are no longer a major player in the game they invented.  That brings us to the present

The clubs that once caused long lines nightly, advertising exclusivity have become displaced in the market.  Retheming and renovations are underway in an attempt to return to glory but his has them in a period of transition.  The Playboy club has now been transformed into the View, A place where people can relax, play some pool and enjoy a drink as well as the view from atop their fantasy tower.  Now that Ghostbar’s renovations are complete, Moon is closed so she can undergo the same changes, having lived the shortest life span of the nightclubs at the property.  The odds are long that Palms will be able to reclaim their thrown as nightlife lords but then again, the same was said about those clubs ever being successful in the first place so they are trying.  Only time will tell if they are successful.