Author Archives: The Forking Truth

BREAKING NEWS Announced Upcoming Closure – Mabel’s BBQ – Las Vegas NV – Hits and Misses – Soon to be CLOSED for business

Mabel’s BBQ also renamed as Mabel’s B & Q (but sign was never changed) is located in the Palms Hotel/Casino located not too far from the Las Vegas Strip in Nevada. This full service restaurant and bar is by Multi Award Wining, James Beard Wining and Celebrity Chef Michael Simon.

Inside it’s casual with traditional tables, half booths, and bar seating.

The menu changes from time to time and is quite a bit different than from my last visit.

We try the Brisket with Pastrami Spice, Turkey Pastrami, Shells & Cheese, and Smoked Watermelon Salad (feta, lime, mint, almonds)

The Winners or Hits here (today anyway) are –

Turkey Pastrami – Moist- Delicious – only mildly tasting like pastrami but that’s fine.

Pickles – Delicious and full of interesting good flavors

Whipped Brown Sugar Butter – Delicious – It might even make an old sneaker edible

The not so good today (Misses) –

Brisket with Pastrami Spices – All but the slice on top are DRY and have a layer of Jello-ee FAT that I peel off and only have boring dry crumbling brisket that also lacks smoke.

Biscuit is dry – but is edible only because of the whipped brown sugar butter

Macaroni and cheese taste weird. I couldn’t keep eating it to figure out what was in it.

Smoked Watermelon salad tasted like watermelon mixed with ashtray contents.

That was my 2025 trip to Mabel’s BBQ. Or is it or was Mabel’s Bar & Q?

It was just announced that The upcoming closure is expected around September 12TH 2025.

*****SOON TO BE CLOSED FOR BUSINESS*********

4321 W Flamingo Road Las Vegas NV (at The Palms)

702-944-5931

www.Palms.com

Every THING is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

Wild Fig BBQ – Las Vegas NV – Worth a Fork!

Wild Fig BBQ is located in the Sun City part of Summerlin Las Vegas Nevada. They do not have seating inside but do have about five outdoor tables so most people do take out. The menu changes some from time to time but they usually offer brisket, pulled pork, smoked turkey breast, pastrami, spare ribs, house made sausage, smoked tri tip, and specials. You can get combo platters, sandwiches, side dishes, party platters, desserts, and more!

On our first visit we tried brisket, turkey, pulled pork, corn muffins, pickles, Brussels sprouts, macaroni and cheese and a pastrami sandwich. (and yes we had a bunch of food for maybe two more meals.

Everything from visit one was very good. From visit one our top favorite was the pastrami sandwich. At that time is was the best in all the land. Our second favorite might have been the turkey or the pork? The brisket was good but the pastrami shined so much more.

2nd pastrami sandwich was “to go.” This one still is very good but was different. It was SUPER JIGGLY……and slightly less smoked and less seasoned. (I preferred the first one that was more melt in your mouth and seasoned and smoked just so…….. but others might prefer this 2nd version because some people go crazy for jiggly)

We tried more sides – Chili Crisp Rice (tasty but slightly too spicy for me and I do like spicy), Macaroni and Cheese (pretty good but prefer without the red stuff on it) Favorite side was the BBQ Eggplant. Brussels Sprouts were good.

Wagyu Brisket Special was amazing!

Turkey again very good!

The sauces are very good! I like the orange chipotle BBQ the best.

Wild Fig BBQ is Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork!

Wild Fig BBQ

9555 Del Web Blvd Las Vegas NV

702-575-9515

www.WildFigBBQ.com

Every THING is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

My FORKING Thoughts on Kettle Chili Crisp Potato Chips

I had to try this bag of Kettle Chili Crisp Potato Chips so I picked it up at my local grocery store.

I am familiar with all kinds of Chili Crisp. I made a few myself – Basically Chili Crisp was originally a Spicy Chinese Condiment that added flavors, heat, and textures to food. (the below chili crisps, and food recipes can be found here in the search.

Chili Crisp
Cabbage and Chilli Crisp Dumplings
Indian Inspired Chili Crisp
FORKING Delicious Corn Salad made with Italian Chili Crisp
Italian Chili Crisp

Anyways back to the chips.

I open the bag and take a whiff….It doesn’t really smell like anything I know……maybe a wet potato smell that is mixed with oil and seasonings?

The chips are also all small and very thin and covered with some powder.

The ingredients look OK so I let one dissolve in my mouth.

It’s spicy but doesn’t taste like chili crisp to me.

It tastes very different when you just eat them……….More like spicy BBQ chips. With a little sweetness to them.

Not bad or awful but also not exciting. Just OK.

Those were my FORKING Thoughts on Kettle Chili Crisp Potato Chips your Forking thoughts may indeed differ.

The Forking Truth

Born & Raised 24/7 Bar Restaurant Gaming – Las Vegas NV – Hit & Miss – Great Salad – Poor Burger

Born & Raised is a 24/7 Bar, Restaurant, and Gaming Type of Place with three locations around Las Vegas Nevada. The Centennial (North/West Location) has a large patio that wraps around a bit. As you enter a wall of shrunken golden skulls is in front of you.

to the one side is a bar area with lots of big screen TVs.

To the other sidet is a large bar with gaming, high top tables and half booths.

I tried the Bar Signature Salad (Greens, Blackened Chicken, Strawberries, Oranges, Pistachios, Goat Cheese with Strawberry Vinaigrette).

The chicken was warm and moist. All the flavors go together well. This is a tasty salad. It’s also large and I took about 1/2 home.

my husband tried the Mexico City Burger (Prime Patty, Pepper Jack Cheese, Onion Ring, Pickled Jalapeño, Chipotle Mayo but left off as requested) The problem is that he asked for Medium-Rare and got well done.

The other problem is that this burger was in pieces . He picked it up and a piece fell off.

Then another piece fell off.

nobody checked on us until we were done.

Good Salad, very average service, and POOR BURGERS.

Hit & Miss

Born & Raised

4670 N Kevin Way Las Vegas NV

702-202-4991

www.BornandRaisedLV.com

Every THING is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

My Trip to Louie Louie Fried Chicken – Las Vegas NV

Louie Louie Fried Chicken is a semi-Fast-food type of wing, chicken fingers, sandwich, and fries type of place located in the North/West part of Las Vegas Nevada. You order and pay at the counter and they run out your order when it’s ready (about seven minutes).

I tried a combo platter of a chicken sandwich with fries and a soda.

My sandwich has Louie Louie sauce, pickles, and slaw on it and I asked for medium heat. NOTICE THAT SANDWICH LOOKS RUNNY.

The fries and soda are very good BUT –

I take out the sandwich and it’s such a mess I can’t eat it as a sandwich.

I pull out one of the two chicken tenders.

It isn’t tender.

It’s dry and stringy.

My husband also got dry tenders in his chicken sandwich.

We also tried the macaroni and cheese.

It’s almost good. The flour taste isn’t cooked out so you taste flour.

Well the fries and soda were good.

That was my trip to Louie Louie Fried Chicken.

Louie Louie Fried Chicken 4412 N Rancho Dr. Las Vegas NV

702-992-3059

www.LouieLouieFriedChicken.com

Every THING is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

Honey Salt – Las Vegas NV – Farm to Table – Worth a Try!

Honey Salt is an American Farm to Table Type of full service restaurant located in the Summerlin part of Las Vegas Nevada. It’s been slightly redecorated since my last visit.

Old look below – They always had lots of homey things inside including some vintage salt and pepper shakers. These shelves are gone now but they still have some homey things around and a few salt and pepper shakers. They also used to have a mirror collection on one of the walls.

Below is how it currently looks.

Today I tried the Fried Chicken Sandwich that comes with a small Caesar Salad. (called Biloxi Buttermilk Fried Chicken Sandwich)

The chicken is fried nicely and is a generous portion. It’s juicy and tasty and is also adorned with slaw, the right amount of House Durkee’s dressing and pickle chips. The Caesar salad is tasty and has a nice amount of grated cheese on it. The croutons in it taste house made and are very good..

We also shared a side of Macaroni and Cheese with Kale.

For my taste the pasta is a bit soft but maybe they are going for Southern style? It is very creamy but doesn’t taste like cheese sauce to us. At first I thought it was a cream cheese taste but in saucier bites it was more sour like a sour cream taste.’

To be honest it didn’t taste this way last time to us. Last time the dominate flavor was cheese. If they used sour cream last time they used much less.

Below is from last tome.

My husband had a burger medium-rare (called backyard burger – cheddar, caramelized onion, tomato jam)

It was cooked to medium-rare as requested and was a very good burger served with freshly made hot fries with fluffy centers.

I took half my sandwich home so I could fit in some dessert.

To my surprise the Key Lime pie is big enough to feed FOUR people.

It’s very good with a tasty sweet moist crust taste like brown sugar, butter, and a little cinnamon. A nicely made curd and fluffy caramelized meringue.

The menu changes from time to time. These items not on the menu at the moment but could be on the menu again.

Salmon and Kale Salad
Ribeye Sandwich with house made chips

Honey Salt is certainly Worth a Try!

Honey Salt

1031 S Rampart Blvd Las Vegas NV

702-445-6100

www.HoneySalt.com

Every THING is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

Tomatillo with Zhug Salsa Recipe

This is a twist on Chef Bud Dudhia’s recipe for Tomatillo Salsa. I often have extra Zhug leftover from visiting Mediterranean Restaurants. Zhug is usually a flavor BOMB of Cilantro, Parsley, HOT peppers, garlic, cumin, coriander, and lemon. So naturally it can enhance salsas. This salsa came out FORKING CRAZY DELICIOUS!!!!! I have no idea how many servings it actually makes. It’s delicious you can always freeze some if desired.

4 lbs tomatillos – remove skins, wash, and quarter

2 medium onions – remove skin and quarter

2 Tablespoons or to taste green zhug

2 pickled jalapeños – remove stems and chop

7 garlic cloves – grated

7 oz almonds ground or use almond flour (same thing)]

1 large or 2 medium avocados (remove skin and pit ) chopped

1/4 cup cilantro – chopped

1/2 cup jalapeño brine

1 teaspoon sea salt

Directions

Set Oven to 400 degrees F.

The tomatillos and the onions go on a sheet pan and you put them on the upper rack of your oven for abut 45 minutes or until they char a bit.

Then you blend (hand blender is safer and works better) and blend. Then add all the rest of the ingredients (Zhug, jalapeños, garlic, almonds, avocado, cilantro, jalapeño brine, and sea salt.

It’s FORKING Delicious!

Tomatillo with Zhug Salsa Recipe

A Special Thanks to Chef Nud Dudhia so I could make what I got here.

The Forking Truth

My Trip to Jackson’s Bar & Grill – Las Vegas NV – 24/7 Bar Gaming & $20 Steak Place – Not The Best

Jackson’s Bar & Grill is a 24/7 Bar, Gaming, Restaurant type of place. After months of hundreds of people on Facebook (some days over 500 ) praising this establishment I felt the need to try it. The Specialty of the house are the $20. Steaks.

This place is located in Las Vegas Nevada not too far from the Las Vegas Strip.

It’s not a fancy place. You walk past the bar to the dining rooms and seat yourself.

We Ordered Steaks.

I tried the filet mignon (2 – 6 oz filets with chefs vegetable and your choice of side….I picked baked potato and added onions with mushrooms)

My favorite part of the plate is the baked potato. It’s large and fluffy inside. It taste good with the added butter. I don’t usually add sour cream to my plain baked potatoes. But I would be extra FRIGHTENED to add their sour cream.

They offer ACIDIFIED naturally and artificially flavored sour cream…….That sounds horrifying.

anyways

The steak is cooked to my request of medium-rare. But the steak is tough and also lacks flavor. The green beans are not very appetizing. I like the onions with mushrooms and the baked potato is very good.

My husband tries the 16oz. Ribeye medium-rare with onion rings.

He thought it was OK for a cheap steak. He said if it was better he would have eaten the whole steak. The onion rings are fried nicely.

If you enjoy steaks possible tough, hard to cut and chew. and no matter what they taste like then this place is for you.

Not the best.

That was my trip to-

Jackson’s Bar and Grill

6020 W Flamingo Road Las Vegas NV

702-362-2116

www.JacksonsBarandGrill.com

Every THING is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

Lucino’s Pizza – Paradise NV – A Philly Sports Theme Pizza/Cheese Steak Restaurant – Worth a Try!

Lucino’s Pizza is a casual Pizza/Cheese Steak Restaurant with a Philly Sports Theme kind of atmosphere. It’s located not too far from the Las Vegas airport. Besides offering a variety of pizzas they also offer appetizers and a few of them are fried enoki (Out of the enoki on our visit), chicken parm egg rolls, and a variety of fries. They also offer salads, cheese steaks, stromboli, calzone, hot sandwiches, pastas, wings, a vegan menu, a secret menu, desserts, and more.

It casual but with wait service. You do need to seat yourself and someone will take your order shortly.

We started out by sharing the Pino’s Peppers (tempura fried jalapeños with Cheese Whiz, crispy vegetables, and Blue Cheese Dressing or Ranch.

Today these are very tasty. We were told that sometimes the jalapeños run extra hot but today they were mild.

For my main I tried what they call The Philly Philly (What Philadelphians call a steak hoagie or Cheese Steak Hoagie) – Liscoio’s Roll from NJ, Ribeye, Lettuce, tomato, raw onion, mayo, American Cheese,,,,,,Mine without American Cheese and added cherry peppers

I have no complaints. It was pretty good. The only thing missing is the clank CLANK clank that you would hear at a Philly Place like Pat’s from the spatulas clanking against the grill.

My husband really enjoyed the Joey’s Philly – Liscio’s Roll , Ketchup (he substituted marinara), fried onions, hot cherry peppers, chopped ribeye, and COOPER SHARP American cheese) My husband really enjoyed this.

If you want a little taste of Philly Lucino’s Pizza is certainly Worth a Try!

Lucino’s Pizza

3035 East Tropicana Ave Paradise NV

725-205-2414

www.LucinosPizza.com

Every THING is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

Shawarma Vegas – Kosher Mediterranean NEW Location****

**********Shawarma Vegas is a Kosher Mediterranean Restaurant located not too far from the Las Vegas Strip in Nevada. The original location was a very casual order at the counter type place about fifteen minutes away in Summerlin. The NEW location has more seating that is fancier, a bar, and offers beer and wine and maybe some cocktails (I noticed various vodkas in the bar area).

We ordered some falafels and a three meat plate to share (shawarma (they do turkey shawarma here), beef kabobs, and chicken thigh.

They always start you off with lots of side salad plates, hummus, tahini, and a fluffy pita bread.

We had to ask for muhamara (pepper eggplant dip) and baba ganoush today. We also didn’t get the sumac onions. The hot fluffy pita bread is very good. The falafels are also really great with shattering crisp exteriors and moist herby centers.

I forgot to photo my main plate today but this one from the original location is close to what we had but doesn’t show the grilled chicken thigh that was very good. (also the fries were skinny ones today).

The Beef Kabobs are always amazing! One of the best ground beef dishes that you can get anywhere. The chicken dishes so far are also always amazingly moist and delicious. Doesn’t matter if you order breast, thigh, or schnitzel all are the best. The shawarma is always flavored well but does differ in moisture from time to time. Liked the wide fries better than the thin fries today.

The one owner named “Guy” is very welcoming and friendly. The man that was serving us today keeps to himself so it was a different experience.

Shawarma Vegas is in a new location.****

8665 W Flamingo Road Las Vegas Nevada

702-703-7700

www.ShawarmaVegas.com

Every THING is subject to change.

The Forking Truth