Via Focaccia isn’t an ordinary sandwich shop. It is by chef Ismaele Romano who became the 2021 Sandwich champion from the 2021 International Pizza Expo. The fast/casual Artisan Sandwich shop is located in the Ellis Island Casino Hotel in Las Vegas Nevada. My husband got to try one of these focaccia sandwiches recently at the “Unstripped” food festival.

He kept talking about how great this sandwich was…………..This particular sandwich was not for me but they offer several other sandwiches at the restaurant that I wouldn’t mind trying….so….Off we went to Via Focaccia.

It’s a very small food stand. I see only maybe three small high top tables to sit at…….

Not much is in the case.

I already decided on what I’m getting.

I have to try the (non-traditional) brisket pastrami from an official sandwich champion. (brisket pastrami, caramelized onions, mushrooms, fontina cheese, honey mustard aioli)

We wait a little while till our order is ready……

WOW!

WOW! This is FORKING GREAT! The pastrami sandwich has been reinvented. The pastrami is full flavored, tender, and the right amount of fat for this sandwich. Never in a million years could I imagine pastrami on bread like this but somehow it does work in a magical way. Usually I find mustard that is too strong to go with the bold flavors of pastrami but the honey mustard aioli is a perfect embellishment that doesn’t compete with the flavors. It enhances. All the flavors and texture are perfect together.

My husband enjoyed the sandwich called Classica (ham, mortadella, cappicola, provolone, olive spread).

He said that this was a really great sandwich. He also thought that the meats were high quality. He liked it so much he said, “I’ll go here anytime you want.”

Via Focaccia is Worth a Fork!

Via Focaccia (at Ellis Island Casino Hotel)

4178 Koval Lane Las Vegas NV – 702-733-8901

www.EllisIslandCasino.com

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Nora’s Cuisine is an award wining Italian Restaurant located in Las Vegas Nevada (a short distance from the Las Vegas Strip). They offer dinner every night and lunch is served Monday-Friday. They are a little different than most places because they offer a long menu of many dishes to pick from. This is also a very large restaurant with multiple dining areas, a bar, and patio dining.

Bread service is an optional $1. per person. You might get plain or garlic toast. We got garlic toast.

My husband started to with a bowl of pasta faggioli.

I tried the Scottish salmon with arugula and tomato.

The fish is seasoned well and was prepared reasonably well. The arugula was bright and bitter in a good way and seemed extra fresh. The red tomato wedge was delicious. It was marinated and sweet and flavorful. The two lighter wedges tasted raw…

My husband enjoyed the falcita lunch. (rope sausage, house salad with aged provolone)

We managed to save room to try a dessert and went for the almond cake.

It was made with ricotta and almond flour and was topped with vanilla sauce. It was very good but tasted more like a slice of lemon cake.

Lunch at Nora’s Cuisine is Worth a Try!

Nora’s Cuisine 5780 W Flamingo Rd Las Vegas NV – 702-873-8990

www.NorasCuisine.com

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Louie Louie The Restaurant in Las. Vegas Nevada serves sushi, unique sushi rolls, and hibachi. This is a full service restaurant and bar.

We started out by sharing a salmon tostada.

The salmon is very fresh and it’s topped with pico, avocado and herbs. Under is a creamy sauce that is bright and very lime-ee.

We shared one of the Louie Louie Specialty rolls called the Ozzy Roll. (tuna, salmon, avocado, wasabi tobico ((also spelled tobiko flying fish roe)), black tobico, masago ((capelin roe)))

This was an amazing roll bursting with all kinds of delicious flavors! It’s so detailed.

Teeny tiny lemon wedges with little tiny crisp things. It’s popping with all kinds of flavors and some heat too!

We also shared a filet mignon and chicken hibachi.

It came out sizzling like a fajita.

The vegetables were zucchini, carrots, onions, and broccoli. You dip them in the creamy sauce (basically a sriracha mayo) and you dip the meats in a ginger-ee type sauce. This also comes with steamed rice but you do have the option to upgrade to fried rice or noodles. Today the beef came out better than the chicken.

Worth a Try!

Louie Louie The Restaurant – 4408 N Rancho Dr Las Vegas NV – 702-483-5744

www.LouieLouieToGo.com

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Echo & Rig is a butcher shop and steakhouse located in the Summerlin part of Las Vegas in Tivoli Village.

Some of the meats they sell.

You walk up the stairs or use an elevator to get to the dining room.

Even at lunch time they start you off with bread and soft butter.

We started out by sharing the fried spinach salad (red onion, cauliflower, broccoli, chile-lime vinaigrette)

I think it’s very good. The broccoli and cauliflower were slightly cooked so they aren’t hard and raw. The spinach magically isn’t oily. It’s very similar to what several of the Thai restaurants offer here without the tempura coating.

I tried the signature house ground burger (chuck, short rib, brisket) with bib lettuce, heirloom tomato, red onion, aioli, and kennebec fries (I asked for medium…..to me it’s closer to medium-rare- rare on end but still good)

It’s very juicy and really is a very flavorful burger. The fries are good but slightly over-done today…….Still a great value for $17 (subject to change). It might be among the best burgers in Vegas……

My husband tried the crispy porchetta sandwich that comes with garlic chips.

I heard that flavors were good but today this ran a little dry….more dry than what he likes.

Lunch at Echo & Rig is Worth a Try!

Echo & Rig – 440 South Rampart Blvd Las Vegas NV – 702-489-3525

www.EchoandRig.com

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Sinful Subs is a very unique casual sandwich shop located in Las Vegas Nevada. This restaurant is by celebrity chef Vic Vegas who has been on multiple TV Shows but is most famous for being on Bar Rescue.

This casual sandwich shop has a gritty New York Theme to it. Many of the menu items have CRAZY Names like a turkey club is named, “Club to the Head.” An Italian type sandwich is called, “Knuckle Sandwich.” They also offer some snack-at-tizers like meatloaf fried in crispy wonton wrappers and served with mashed potatoes and gravy. The weekend only breakfast called, “Walk Of Shame” is three layers of French toast layered with eggs, sausage, bacon, ham, American AND Cream Cheese, and a hash brown with powdered sugar and maple syrup.

I tried what they call TV dinner. (medium sized sandwiches come in medium & large)

I think a better name for this is a Thanksgiving? This is surprisingly pretty good……The bread is better than from several other sandwich shops I’ve been to. The turkey is called roasted turkey breast but it seems like the better turkey lunch meat? It’s very flavorful…..I think the turkey was heated up in turkey stock? Stuffing A-OK. Mashed potatoes are A-OK I confess that I didn’t try the turkey gravy…..I can tell by looking at it that it came from a jar or a can so I passed on that but all together everything was tasty. Even the corn was nice and flavorful. The cranberry sauce is a similar quality to the gravy. Overall a surprisingly pretty good! This is also filling. I’m a pretty good eater and ate the corn and half the sandwich so I got another half for another time. At the time of my visit this sandwich doesn’t cost much more than fast food and is much better than anything fast food….(only $9.49 subject to change)

My husband tried the chicken parm that is called Italian Chick-en Vegas (large)

It’s made with hand breaded chicken fingers, a rich tomato sauce and lots of melty mozzarella cheese. ($11.99 subject to change)

Sinful Subs is Worth a Try!

Sinful Subs 5135 South Fort Apache Rd Las Vegas NV – 702-998-2555

www.SinfulSubs.com

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Milpa Mexican Cafe is located in Las Vegas Nevada.They are a small but high quality Mexican Cafe. High quality heirloom corn from Mexico is used in the house made stone ground mass and tortillas. They offer all day breakfast and brunch, 9 kinds of vegetable, grain, and taco bowls, tacos, sides, coffees, Oaxacan hot chocolates, a few cocktails, beer, soft beverages, and more!

It’s casual. Your order at the counter, pay, and grab a number and seat yourself. They run the food to you when it’s ready.

Between us we tried all the tacos and a side of arbol potatoes. All of the tacos were very good but I did favor some over others.

Chicken Adobo Tacos – Citrus ans Adobo marinated grilled chicken, cabbage, cilantro, pickled onions, radish, salsa verde. These had a delicious char taste on the chicken.

One is the fish taco (maui maui) not sure what is next to it because many of the tacos look the same here. The taco next to it might be the Cauliflower Tinga? – Tinga marinated roasted cauliflower, cabbage, cilantro, pickled onions, radish, salsa verde………I thought this one had the most delicious flavors! I could go for one right now!

Not positive but I think this was the beef barbacoa. The barbacoa is very jiggly here with lots of fat. The flavor is good. My husband liked this one more than the asada but I liked the asada better.

I didn’t try the Birria Queso Taco (braised beef) with cheese and this ULTRA POWERFUL salsa Arbol sauce……..This one ain’t for tenderfoots. The most powerful sauce ever to be paired with birria.

Grilled Steak…..(maybe not your favorite but this one was my favorite of the beef tacos) caramelized steak and onions, guacamole, salsa macha, (I’m not much of a beef person but this one was one of the most delicious to me) and Mushroom Carnitas onions, avocado, salsa verde, salsa guajillo, cilantro

I think this was the shrimp taco – Lime & Garlic Shrimp, cabbage, cilantro, pickled onions, radish, salsa verde

Milpa Mexican Cafe is Worth a Fork!

Milpa Mexican Cafe

4226 S Durango Dr Las Vegas NV – 702-247-4147

www.MilpaLV.com

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Tasty Bite is a small mainly American-Chinese Take Out Restaurant located in a North Las Vegas Nevada Strip Mall. It’s not a fancy place but it seems clean. They do mainly take out but do have a few tables for indoor dining.

The menu is hanging on the wall.

Under appetizers I never noticed paper wrapped chicken before so we gave that a try!

WOW! they are HOT fresh out of the fryer.

They aren’t wrapped in paper…..Inside is very moist, very flavorful ground chicken laced with allspice with an amazing caramelized exterior….almost dark like a grilled hamburger.

We also got complimentary egg drop soup.

For my main I tried the hot Szechuan garlic chicken that came with steamed white rice.

The chicken is masterfully tender. I got a bunch of tender crisp green bell pepper, a few kinds of mushrooms, and onions in a spicy-not-too-sweet sauce. I think that this is pretty good!

My husband tried the hunan beef.

This is really different…….Really great flavors and heat….The beef is very tender but was fried at such a high temperature that the texture of the beef just disintegrates in your mouth….It’s like no other.

Did some take out here- All the take out was very large portions. Everything was enough for two meals for me.

Fish in black bean sauce…reasonably good. The fish is cooked to perfection, and is mild in taste. Maybe slightly soy forward.

Thai chicken salad – really different – the sauce is sweet and spicy……The small sliced hot peppers are too hot here. The chicken is good. The salad is extra generous in size and is very fresh.

half of F-12 Hot and Spicy Chicken with some of the rice (I dripped sauce on the rice) This one is MIGHTY SPICY………but it’s a good spicy taste and not just heat. I taste garlic. I taste ginger. There is a small amount of sweetness to it. This one has lots of cilantro in it. The dark meat chicken is masterfully tender and developed with good flavors……not a lot of vegetables here…..got some bean sprouts, onions, and very HOT peppers……This one might be too spicy…..I’d get it again but mix it with a more bland vegetable dish….yes a bit too spicy today. (Maybe the peppers ran hotter than normal?)

Half of the Chicken Chop Suey – masterfully tender and infused with flavors sliced white meat chicken. Lots of vegetables here – zucchini, bean sprouts, onions, broccoli, snow peas, water chestnuts, and mushrooms. This one is very good.

1/2 of General Tso’s Chicken. Today the small green hot peppers are extremely HOT! The rest is A-OK but I rarely order General’s from most places.

Watch Out…….Sometimes the hot peppers they use run MOLTEN HOT! but for the most part most dishes were reasonably good!

Tasty Bite is Worth a Try!

Tasty Bite 3073 W Craig Rd North Las Vegas NV – 702-646-8803

www.TastyBiteNLV.com

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Esther’s Kitchen is a seasonal Italian Restaurant located in the arts district of downtown Las Vegas Nevada. They use local ingredients as much as possible and make their own sourdough bread, pastas, pizza, and more!

At the original location on 1130 S. Casino Center Blvd (soon to move next door) They offer seating at the bar.

They also have a small patio and a dining area with an open kitchen.

We started out by enjoying their house made delicious sourdough bread with sides of house churned butter, cambozola blue cheese, pecans, and pickled grapes, and cannellini beans with lard, speck, and pistachio oil.

Next we share a seasonal salad called Troy’s Peaches and Tomato Salad.

Besides tomatoes and peaches this contained stracciatella cheese, red mustard, and pickled peach vinaigrette.

For my main I tried the seasonal wild Mediterranean Bronzino with harissa farrotto, caramelized squash, and salsa verde that taste pretty much the same as shrug sauce.

This came adorned with tiny squashes and tiny reduced and peeled sweet heirloom tomatoes and everything was prepared to perfection.

My husband enjoyed the house made Bucatini (Amatriciana & Guanciale, red onion, chili, parsley) with the beef and pork meatballs.

We wanted to try dessert here. I took a chance with the blackberry pavlova….(Somethings I hate them when the crisp meringue taste like egg white to me)

This might be the best one I’ve tried. It’s light as a feather. Not too sweet and it doesn’t have that egg white taste…….I enjoy the pops of sweet basil…….REALLY GREAT but could use a tad more lemon or just a sprinkle of lemon zest…….I would still get again.

I have to say……

Esther’s Kitchen is Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork!

Esther’s Kitchen (Soon to move next door to a larger location)*****UPDATE MOVED NEXT DOOR******

1130 S. Casino Center Blvd Las Vegas NV – 702- 570 – 7864

NEW ADDRESS IS 1131 Main St Las Vegas NV – 702-570-7864

www.EsthersLV.com

Every THING is subject to change.

Public School 702 is a casual full service American Restaurant and Bar that is laced with a little bit of global inspirations type of Restaurant in the Downtown Summerlin Part of Las Vegas Nevada. This restaurant offers lunch, brunch, dinner, and recess ( a cute name for happy hour).

You ride up the escalator to the entrance.

Inside is spacious and is decorated with planets from science class.

There is also lots of books and encyclopedias all around (not pictured). Inside they offer a variety of different seating. They have traditional tables, community tables, and booths. There’s a bar area and an outdoor patio.

We started out by sharing the five onion and cheddar dip with house prepared potato chips.

The chips are shattering crisp and are very good! The dip is very creamy……today it taste more like cream cheese than cheddar cheese……. I also don’t taste five onions in it but it is mildly onion-ee and still tasty.

For my main I tried the bourbon & peach glazed salmon.

Today this one is slightly disappointing because the fish is overcooked and this dish also ran very sweet and lacked a bourbon taste. However the fish sits in a bed of quinoa that is embedded with tomatoes and peaches. I do have to say when I mentioned the overcooked fish to my server they did offer a remake…But I usually refuse re-fires (especially when I can’t look into the kitchen) Because I have worked in restaurants and have witnessed things that I don’t want to speak of that happen in the kitchen when customers send food back.

Anyways- The Shrimp and Grits are better than the salmon.

My husband tries the shrimp & white cheddar grits. This dish is a little different than what you get from other places. (bacon, tomato, corn, kale, in a creamy beer blanc sauce. Also the grits are pre-made and sliced and browned)

He said that the shrimp were cooked nicely.

Not perfect but some things are tasty……..You might do OK here…….

That was my trip to Public School 702

Public School 702

1850 Festival Plaza Drive – 702-997-0465

www.PSontap.com

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Geisha House is the first Japanese Hibachi Restaurant of Las Vegas Nevada. They offer sushi, sushi rolls, Japanese cuisine Japanese Fusion cuisine, and Teppanyaki.

I noticed that they offer weekend lunch specials so we thought we’d give them a try. One of the specials is called the hibachi lunch special. This one includes a 4 ounce New York Steak, 5 shrimp, 3 ounces of chicken, strawberry rice, vegetables, salad, soup and sauces.

It’s a ton of food for around $25. and it includes a soft beverage.

We also shared the Sushi Lunch Special. This one is one or two sushi rolls and choice of salad. (the prices differ depending on the rolls you pick from around $11-$20)

I picked the salmon and asparagus salad.

It was made with crispy rolls of salmon and tempura asparagus and covered with drizzles of the teppanyaki sauces.

The regular spicy tuna roll was very good.

For our second roll I picked the spicy tuna tempura because it was one of the only rolls that didn’t contain crab mix.

Those are the lunch specials at Geisha House.

Geisha House

6572 N. Decatur Blvd North Las Vegas NV – 702-399-3329

www.GeishaRestaurants.com

Every THING is subject to change.