eat like Bourdain
🇺🇸 Where Bourdain Ate in Las Vegas
18 places across Parts Unknown & No Reservations
“Vegas is the purest expression of America. It's what we deserve.”
Bourdain had a love-hate relationship with Vegas but kept returning. He was fascinated by its excess, its reinvention, and the genuinely world-class food scene that emerged alongside the kitsch.
What Bourdain Loved About Las Vegas
The bacchanalian excess — where else can you get world-class food at 4am?
The off-Strip ethnic food scene in Chinatown and Spring Mountain Road
The old-school steakhouse tradition with red leather booths and martinis
The chefs who brought serious cooking to a city built on buffets
Late-night eating after losing money — it tastes better somehow
Episodes Featuring Las Vegas
Parts Unknown — S5 E6: Las Vegas
A love letter to a city he couldn't quit
No Reservations — S3 E2: Las Vegas
Goes beyond the Strip for the real Vegas food
Travel Tips for Eating in Las Vegas
Tony's Advice
Rent a car. Drive 10 minutes off the Strip to Spring Mountain Road. That's where the real Vegas eats.
What to Skip
- ✕Buffets (unless it's 3am and you need to hate yourself)
- ✕Chain restaurants on the Strip
- ✕Celebrity chef restaurants where the chef hasn't been in the kitchen in 5 years
Every Place Bourdain Visited in Las Vegas
18 placesBootlegger Italian Bistro
South Las Vegas Boulevard
A locals' joint with live entertainment.
Raku
Spring Mountain Rd
Japanese Izakaya that is fancy and pricy, but casual. Tony met with Penn Jillette and ate sea urchin, tuna, Japanese river crab, hasaki sashimi, hasaki belly, juicy deep-fried chicken, hamachi belly, and fish collar
Marquee Nightclub & Dayclub
Located Inside The Cosmopolitan
Tony met with EDM DJ Jason Lima to talk about Vegas nightlife, which he admitted he is too old to understand.
Oscar's Steakhouse
N Main St
Tony met with former mayor and mob lawyer, Oscar Goodman.
eat.
East Carson Avenue
Tony had a meal with artist Anthony Bondi at this breakfast and lunch spot.
Lotus of Siam
E Sahara Ave
Tony ate here with Chef Jet Tila, who said this place has the "best Thai food in Vegas by far." You MUST have northern Thai food here. Tony says DO NOT order the pad thai. They had nam prik (a composed room temperature salad); nam kao tod (a puffed crispy rice salad with preserved pork sausage); hung lay (pork curry braised with garlic and ginger); and Northern larb.
é by José Andrés
Las Vegas Blvd S
Tony ate Iberico ham and bean soup with roasted garlic; nitro almond cup, a frozen shell made from a puree of Marcona almonds, filled with almond milk espuma and finished with Andalusian caviar; mussels, olives with an escabeche “air;” truffle egg, a gelee of truffles formed into an egg shape with an actual yolk suspended in the center; crispy chicken skin escabeche; salt-roasted foie gras and clementine sauce; secreto de cerdo en papillote.
Huntridge Tavern
E Charleston Blvd
Dive bar where Tony drank some Jameson Black
Double Down Saloon
Paradise Rd
"The Happiest Place on Earth"
Bouchon at The Venetian
Las Vegas Blvd S
Fancy food at Thomas Keller's Vegas restaurant
Peppermill Fireside Lounge
South Las Vegas Boulevard
Girly drinks
Mesa Grill
Las Vegas Blvd S
Bobby Flay's restaurant
Mermaid Lounge
Blue Diamond Rd
Bar with a mermaid tank
Venetian
Las Vegas Blvd S
Canals and shopping
Fremont Street Experience
Fremont St
New York-New York Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas Blvd S
Neon Museum
Las Vegas Blvd
Beauty Bar Las Vegas
Fremont St
Spa
Ready to eat like Bourdain in Las Vegas?
Book food tours & experiences in Las Vegas