Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
What's the frugal diner to do? First off, stop thinking that you're missing out
because you can't stomach paying more for meals than the cost of your airfare.
These glamorous off-shoot restaurants
just aren't as good as they are in the cities in
which they originated.
I personally don't think they're worth the nausea-inducing
checks, and I'm no lonely curmudgeon in holding that view. Mark Bittman, the
PBS food critic and author of
How to Cook Everything,
recently wrote in the
New
York Times:
“After sampling the cooking at the satellite restaurants of the world's
greatest chefs . . . after seeing prices triple (there was a time we considered a $30
dish extravagant), after trying to learn where the greatness had gone, I must report
that we've lost something. Betting on name-brand restaurants with absentee chefs
is often a gamble that doesn't pay off.”
I'm not saying you'll never have a great meal at one of these brand name “tem-
ples of gastronomy”; but I've found places where you'll pay half as much, and have
a meal that's often just as tasty (albeit without the parade of waiters, dress code,
and free extra pastries at the end of the meal).
Ironically, we can thank the celebrity chefs for improving the cuisine through-
out Vegas—not only for raising the bar, but for bringing into town higher qual-
ity ingredients. I've heard from smaller restaurateurs that they're able to get better
prices on produce, fish, and fine meats by hopping on the coattails of the super-
star chefs and negotiating for a small portion of the load that's coming into town
anyway.
And as in many cities, diners' own standards have gotten higher, their palates
more complex. This has led to a flowering of “ethnic” restaurants both on and off
the Strip, and at all price levels. Sushi and tacos are now de rigueur on most buf-
fet lines in town; a generation ago, the fare would have been strictly roasts,
mashed potatoes, fried chicken, and other “all-American” classics. And if you've
got a hankering for Vietnamese, Malaysian, Cuban, Hawaiian, Persian, or Indian
food, you've come to the right place.
SO HOW CAN DINERS SAVE MONEY
& STILL HAVE A QUALITY MEAL?
By reading this topic, first of all. In the chapter that follows, I list 68 restaurants
that offer entrees for $20 or less—usually considerably less than that amount.
Beyond being moderately priced or cheap, these places are often chic, friendly,
inventive, and sometimes all of the above. There's not a clunker on the list, I
promise!
Beyond that, here are my tips for eating for less in what is becoming an
increasingly pricey city:
Want to splurge? Do it at lunch:
Okay, so your best buddy at home had an
exquisite meal at Commanders Palace and has ordered you to do the same. Go
instead for lunch and have the $19 three-course lunch special (with up to four
martinis at just 25¢ a piece—now that's lunch!). Considering that four out of the
seven dinner entrees at Commanders cost over $35, this is one heck of a deal.
While other restaurants won't feature such deep bargains at lunchtime, many use
the same menus as they do at dinner . . . and simply shave 25% to 50% off the
cost of the items. It's a great way to figure out which of the “big boys” is
really
