Viva Italiano! The Las Vegas Love Affair with Italian Cuisine

Las Vegas has a strong Italian-American heartbeat and I’m not talking about the mob era, Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, or The Venetian-Palazzo, Caesars Palace and Bellagio resorts.

First landing in California for the 1849 Gold Rush, Italian immigrants made their mint more in merchandise than mining. In 1859, they shifted their attention to neighboring Nevada following discovery of the Comstock Lode, the world’s richest silver strike. Yet more came to work on the Transcontinental Railroad.

By 1910, according to census numbers, Italians were the largest immigrant group in the Silver State. Those that settled in Las Vegas had significant influence on the nascent city’s future. In his absorbing 1996 book Beyond the Mafia: Italian Americans and the Development of Las Vegas, local political science professor Alan Balboni documents how Italians became “one of Las Vegas most progressive and productive ethnic minorities” through “participation in every aspect of the city’s society and economy.”

Their involvement included the key industries of banking, construction, entertainment, gaming, hospitality, and cuisine. Among the earliest arrivals was entrepreneur Dominic Pecetto, who opened a liquor store off Fremont Street in 1905, the year Las Vegas became a city, followed in 1911 by the Union Hotel and Bar, near where Plaza Hotel & Casino stands today.

Around that time, Pecetto met and partnered with another émigré, Joseph Graglia. Later, Graglia and his family joined Frank Detra, a friend of Al Capone’s and his wife Angelina in running the Pair O’ Dice.

Opened in 1931, the Spanish-style venue, the second casino-nightclub on Highway 91, the future Strip, set the Vegas template with gaming, a live orchestra, singers, dancing, and Italian food. The Pair O’ Dice site, now part of a vacant 35-acre parcel across from Wynn and Encore Las Vegas, later made history as Hotel Last Frontier, where in 1944, Italian Polish pianist Wladziu Valentino Liberace first played Vegas.

El Rancho (1941), the first casino resort on the Strip, served spaghetti named after famed Italian tenor Enrico Caruso. Opened in 1951 by the Desert Inn (now Wynn-Encore), Louigi’s Italian Charcoal Broiler was once the Strip’s only non-resort restaurant. Regulars included the Rat Pack, who celebrated late into the night with owner Louigi Coniglio after performing at The Sands. The 1950’s also saw a succession of restaurants—Domenic’s, Chianti’s and Duffino’s—on the future Wynn-Encore site. Continuing to evolve, Italian cuisine commands the Vegas scene today. From yesteryear treasures and family institutions to world-class Strip restaurants and a sizzling pizza scene, it’s a classic story of food cooked and served with love.

Sinatra at Wynn Las Vegas (Photo by Barbara Kraft)

Italian cuisine commands the Vegas scene today. From yesteryear treasures and family institutions to world-class Strip restaurants and a sizzling pizza scene, it’s a classic story of food cooked and served with love.

Sinatra, the signature dining experience at Encore Las Vegas, was conceived as a place where Ol’Blue Eyes would have loved to dine. The restaurant was originally named Theo, after Italian-born Executive Chef Theo Schoenegger, who once cooked for Sinatra and who opened the restaurant in 2008. Weeks before opening, Steve Wynn, who was close with Sinatra, made the name change. Electing not to “crap up the room” with memorabilia, Wynn’s designer emeritus Roger Thomas went the subtle route with homages such as the black patent leather-covered menu, after Sinatra’s shoes. There are large Sinatra portraits and his music plays, just in case. The location itself is fitting. Sinatra made his Vegas debut in 1951 at the Desert Inn.

Schoenegger’s menu pays the ultimate tribute. After warming up with the “My Kind of Town” from the “Greatest Hits” cocktail menu, a mix of Wynn select Herradura Double Barrel Reposada tequila with house-made Sicilian citrus liquer and lime, I embarked on a mouthwatering medley directed by Schoenegger himself.

My antipasto of Panzanella di Granchio, jumbo crab meat topped with tomatoes and cucumbers, set the stage for a Sinatra favorite, Frank’s Clams Posilipo, an aromatic adaptation of steamed Manila clams in tomato garlic broth. Next, the white truffle pasta, with enough tableside-shaved truffle for a mortgage payment, followed by the grilled Mediterranean branzino. The meat course saw another Sinatra favorite, the Ossobuco “My Way,” a fork tender serenade of braised veal bedded on saffron risotto Milanese with zesty gremolata marinade.

Sinatra Cappello Dessert (Photo by Wynn Las Vegas)

The rousing dessert finale started with the Tesoro in Baule, a white chocolate box which our server lit for the flaming reveal of the coconut lime dacquoise, yogurt ice cream and strawberry sorbet inside. Providing the triumphant encore was the Cappello, featuring Valrhona dark chocolate mousse shaped like Sinatra’s classic fedora hat, and slices of orange, his favorite color, accompanied by milk chocolate panna cotta infused with Jack Daniel’s, his favorite drink.

Located inside the luxurious Wynn Plaza retail corridor, Cipriani Las Vegas is for white-jacket service with just the right measure of classic Italian cheek in a breezy and colorful setting evocative of coastal Italy. Giant black and white photos of supermodels, including a young Cindy Crawford blowing a kiss, add sex appeal. The Venetian-Italian menu naturally includes founder Giuseppe Cipriani’s immortal contributions to the culinary canon, the Bellini cocktail (1948) and Carpaccio alla Cipriani (1950), both named for Venetian painters. Opting for a light antipasti lunch, I went with thinly sliced octopus with avocado and cherry tomatoes, yellowtail crudo with pink peppercorn and Prosciutto di Parma with cantaloupe.

Venetian Resort Las Vegas, incorporating The Palazzo, is a feast for the eyes. Inspiration for the luxurious all-suites landmark, which opened in 1999 on the former Sands site, came from late casino pioneer Sheldon Adelson’s wife Miriam during their Venice honeymoon. Landmark homages include Piazza San Marco; Rialto Bridge; St. Mark’s Campanile, at 315 feet, just shy of the original; and the Grand Canal, gondola rides included.

The feast continues inside with hand-painted frescoes, Botticino marble floors, and Vegas’s largest resort restaurant collection, with Italian concepts dominating. With decor inspired by Southern Italian bath houses, chic LAVO Italian Restaurant is famed for its one pound Imperial Wagyu beef, Italian sausage, and veal meatball. Spacious and atmospheric, Venetian-inspired Canaletto has private rooms overlooking the replica Grand Canal.

In years past, I flew past Matteo’s Ristorante Italiano on The Venetian’s Restaurant Row hustling to meetings at the property’s massive convention venue. Originally named The Factory Kitchen after its sibling in L.A.’s Arts District, Spago veteran Matteo Ferdinandi’s salute to Northern Italian cuisine was well worth the wait.

Executive Chef Angelo Auriana’s peperú, sweet and spicy peppers filled with soft cheese, grana Padano, and arugula oil, was an immediate attention-getter on the antipasto menu. Satisfying too was the trio of Focaccina Calda al Formaggio flatbreads, including the pizzata, topped with San Marzano tomatoes, capers and Sicilian salt-cured anchovies. Homemade pasta winners include the Mandilli di Seta, handkerchief egg pasta with Ligurian almond basil pesto and the creamy Risotto Milanese with roasted marrowbone. I’d also return for the slow roasted pork belly; the limoncello soaked yeast cake with vanilla whipped cream; and Blood Orange martini.

Where 1958-born dazzler The Stardust once stood, Resorts World Las Vegas now shines on the North Strip, with Israel-born Chef Tal Ronnen’s all-vegan Italian-Mediterranean menu at Crossroads Kitchen Las Vegas among several worthy dining draws.

Crossroads Kitchen Stuffed Zucchini Blossoms (Photo by Resorts World Las Vegas)

In 2013, Ronnen debuted the original Crossroads Kitchen in West Hollywood to national acclaim. Opened in May 2022, the Vegas edition follows the flagship’s unique preparations. For Ronnen, “Crossroads is an intersection where vegans, flexitarian’s, omnivores and meat eaters can cross paths to share a delicious meal and a good time.”

Seated in a large corner booth in the expansive dining room overlooked by a giant photo of Elton John (Mick Jagger, David Bowie and Jimmy Page are also in the house), I kicked off with Caviar (kelp) and Chips, Chestnut Foie Gras, Stuffed Zucchini Blossoms and the Impossible Cigars, pastry “cigars” filled with Impossible meat served in a cigar box with spicy almond milk yogurt dip. Tasty toppings on the cashew cheese pizzas include Truffle Mushroom and Black Mission Fig, while the imaginative house-made pastas include the Lasagna Bolognese (Impossible meat in béchamel sauce) and Spicy Rigatoni Vodka with almond milk burrata.

There’s a full bar and wine list, plus cocktails and spiritless concoctions including the Espresso Martin-No, Cos-No-Politan, and Just Beet It. Rocking dessert cocktails include the Jaja reposado and coffee liqueur-fueled Start Me Up. Vegan carnivores have plant-based burgers, sausages, and other meats at adjacent CB Burgers.

Resorts World is also home to Brezza from 2020 James Beard Best Chef Southwest semifinalist and Vegas veteran Nicole Brisson. Featuring a Tuscan-style wood-fired grill, the attractive space is the stage for Brisson’s coastal Italian menu.

Celebrating its 70th anniversary last year, SAHARA Las Vegas is home to nationally acclaimed, chef-restaurateur Shawn McClain’s stylish new Balla Italian Soul. In 2014, I had an unforgettable (until the absinthe) cocktail experience at McClain’s since-closed Sage at ARIA. Invited to Balla’s industry-only “play date” pre-opening in October 2022, I found his passion and soul remain on high heat. McClain does not fear flavor and seasoning, evident in each salivating bite of antipasti including the marinated octopus with Calabrian pepper, and Shellfish Toast with clams, mussels, calamari, and sausage. Best were the Crispy Stuffed Peppers with spicy fennel sausage and lemon aioli. Other confident bites included the Roman-style tartufo pizza and wood-fired 22-ounce prime bone-in ribeye.

My table included local movers and shakers Jennifer Gay (@VegasStarfish) and Philip Tzeng (@LasVegasFill), both high-impact foodie influencers, and Donald Contursi, the Italian-Greek founder of Lip Smacking Foodie Tours. The unanimous verdict? Balla was ready for launch, and I’m looking forward to my next culinary experience there.

With a commanding position at the Center Strip’s famed Four Corners since 1966, Caesars Palace, much expanded through the decades, makes imperial statements throughout its sprawling campus, including the 15-foot Augustus Caesar statue in the brand-new multi-million-dollar main entrance.

Amalfi by Bobby Flay (Photo by Caesars Entertainment)

Other recent investments include Amalfi, celebrity chef Bobby Flay’s tribute to his Amalfi Coast travels and his first Italian concept. Request a table in the center of the energetic dining room (away from the casino floor fringe) and dive into the superb fish-driven menu. The fun starts with choosing your pesce from an Italian market-inspired display of whole fresh fish on ice for grilling whole or filleting. I went with the sweet, firm red snapper, preceded by amazing antipasti including charred octopus, burrata on red peperonata and Crispy Squash Blossoms in anchovy sauce. Flay also scores with the bone-in ribeye, 24 ounces of meaty, juicy love. The mostly Italian wine list is compact but solid, along with classic Italian spritzes and cocktails.

Across the Strip at Caesars’ adults-only The Cromwell Las Vegas, celebrity chef Giada De Laurentiis’ Giada is one of the prettiest perches in town, with Strip views and California-influenced Italian menu to match. Since first dining there right after its 2014 launch, her signature lemon spaghetti with shrimp and mascarpone, cacio e pepe bucatini, and lemon ricotta cookies remain my Vegas favorites.

What will Ross Mollison do next? Announced in January 2023, the Australian founder and “Impresario Extraordinaire” of Spiegelworld, producer of Vegas burlesquemeets-circus shows including Absinthe and Atomic Saloon, dropped $2.5 million on an 80-acre Mojave Desert town of Nipton, California for his future “circus village.”

Other brazen concepts include the show Opium (now OPM), “a warp speed flight to Uranus” and adjacent Superfrico to The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas space where Mollison formerly staged Alice in Wonderland meets-supper club Rose. Rabbit. Lie. Billed as an “Italian American Psychedelic” Restaurant,” Superfrico (after an Italian dish of pan-fried shredded cheese) is merry mix of color, music, and a tasty Italian menu.

Fear not being pulled on stage as at Absinthe. Here, the occasional performer interactions are light, such as the mildly risqué juggler and the woman who crawled behind our heads along the booth divider. The best performance by far was the tableside mozzarella service, with a skilled fellow pulling and stretching one-pound of fresh curds into a salty, creamy ball served with marinated tomatoes, salumi, roasted peppers and puccia bread. Other savory plates include the Beef Cheek Ravioli, and Eggplant Parmesan Rollatini. Developed in collaboration with “International Pizza Czar” Anthony Falco, Superfrico’s signature square pies include the OG Square and Pistachio Mortadella Square. For the complete trifecta, finish the night at the adjacent ski lodge-themed speakeasy.

Showmanship and signature dishes like the Spicy Rigatoni Vodka are calling cards at NYC-inspired Carbone inside ARIA Resort & Casino Las Vegas, with classic tableside service including the flaming Bananas Foster dessert

Where the Dunes once stood, Bellagio Las Vegas was inspired by the dreamy Lake Como town of Bellagio in Italy. Overlooking the Fountains of Bellagio, coastal Italian-style Lago from James Beard winner Julian Serrano makes a big statement with its small sharing plates, cocktails, expansive Italian wine list, and gleaming Italian Futurism décor.

Like a forkful of pasta, the Las Vegas Valley swirls with Italian goodness. Don’t miss stars include Vegas-born chef James Trees’ Esther’s Kitchen in the vibrant Arts District between the Strip and Downtown Las Vegas.

Esther’s Kitchen Chef James Trees (Photo by Esther’s Kitchen)

While countless future chefs are inspired by their mothers or grandmothers, Trees’ story has a unique family angle. With his hard-working mother not always free to make dinner, Trees often ate at his Italian best friend Alfio’s house. Raised on pasta, he first interned at The Mirage following basic training at Las Vegas High School. Then came the Culinary Institute of America (CIA), where his great-aunt Esther, who had been a rock for his mother, helped fund his education.

Trees honored her investment right out of the gate working with master chefs including Eric Ripert and Michael Mina, and later training under Gordon Ramsay on both Kitchen Nightmares and Hell’s Kitchen. Following his journeyman days, Trees opened Esther’s Kitchen in January 2018, for which he earned a 2020 James Beard nomination for Best Chef: Southwest. Combining seasonal dishes with a West Coast vibe, this hopping local magnet never disappoints. This is the neighborhood place I tell everyone to go to.

On my most recent visit, in January 2023, I bypassed the excellent house-made sourdough bread to leave room for a run that started with the Yellowtail Crudo, dressed in sweet oro blanco (white gold) a grapefruit-like citrus hybrid, and Aussie Wagyu Beef Carpaccio. Entrees included the Cauliflower Risotto and Golden Tilefish, followed by two “Old School” pastas, the Beef Cheek Agnolotti and my all-time favorite, Cacio e Pepe. Anthony Bourdain once said that the latter “could be the greatest thing in the history of the world” and that is certainly true of the perfectly creamy, cheesy, peppery version at Esther’s Kitchen.

I’ve yet to try Trees’ classic Italian-driven Al Solito Posto (“in the usual place”) in Summerlin’s Tivoli Village, an upscale outdoor mall featuring Italian-style architecture and a restaurant cluster some 12 miles north of the Strip. Another hot ticket outpost is Chef Gina Marinelli’s coastal Italian-driven La Strega in South Summerlin. After working on the Strip alongside luminaries including Shawn McClain at Sage, Marinelli immersed herself in the cuisine of the Amalfi Coast, Sicily, and Bologna before opening her stylish trattoria in 2019.

Gino and Rosalba Ferraro (Photo by Chris Wessling)

After five visits to Ferraro’s Italian Restaurant & Wine Bar, I’ve come to appreciate how much hands-on owners Gino and Rosalba Ferraro celebrate Italian food, wine, and hospitality. Opened in 1985 as a deli and pizzeria, this fine-dining staple across from Virgin Hotels Las Vegas is a true family affair with son Mimmo serving as executive chef.

Focused on Southern Italian cuisine, menu highlights include “Chef Mimmo’s Pasta Tasting,” a trio of Spaghetti Aglio Olio, Gnocchi Pesto, and Rigatoni Spilinga. The Aragosta e Tartufo Nero risotto, with lobster, seasonal black truffle and mascarpone cheese, is a wonder, along with the house specialty, ossobuco. In January 2023, Ferraro’s was one of only 20 restaurants worldwide and just four in the U.S. to earn top rating from leading Italian culinary and travel publication Gambero Rosso for its wine list, which includes coveted Nebbiolo and Brunello labels. Check the schedule for regular customized “Taste and Learn” events.

Piero’s Sunday Gravy (Photo by Ray Alamo)

With lineage back to the 60’s as Villa d’Este, Piero’s is an all-time old school classic. Purchased by owner Canada-born Freddie Glusman in 1982 and relocated to its present Convention Center Drive location in 1987, this since expanded landmark is rich with Vegas lore. Holding court most nights in the main “A Room,” Glusman and son Evan have welcomed countless celebrities through the years, from the Rat Pack to the Rolling Stones. Martin Scorsese filmed Robert De Niro and Sharon Stone’s booth fight and Joe Pesci, as Tony Spilotro (among the mobster regulars) throwing Stone down the stairs for 1995’s Casino here.

Invited to join the Glusmans in their booth, it was easy to get lost in the moment as I feasted on their yesteryear stories (my lips are sealed) along with gin martinis, Caesars salad, dover sole, linguini and clams (Sinatra’s favorite here), and the “Sunday Gravy” of rigatoni, meatballs, Italian sausage, and ricotta. Piero’s six dining rooms fill up quick, so arrive at opening or make a reservation.

Other Vegas vanguards include the Italian American Club (1960), which my local friend Jazzin’ Jeanne Brei, a vintage vocalist who fronts the Speakeasy Swingers jazz band, describes as a “vintage Vegas over-50’s singles scene” (gay couples welcome) with a piano lounge and showroom. Joey Melotti, Barry Manilow’s accompanist, is among the many guest performers at family-run Bootlegger Italian Bistro, which originated in 1949 and has been at its South Strip location near the “Welcome to Las Vegas” sign since 1972. Both opened in 1970, Chicago Joe’s, housed in a former single family brick home, and Battista’s Hole in the Wall, located behind The Cromwell and Flamingo resorts, both offer authentic “red sauce” atmosphere and monster portions.

Las Vegas’ expansive, ever-evolving scene is always an invitation to come back and find something new. Next time, my off-Strip Italian targets will include family-run gem Nora’s Italian Cuisine, which celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2022; and Vetri, from Philadelphia’s James Beard winner Marc Vetri, which offers stellar views and food to match on the 56th floor of Palms Casino Resort. I’ve also heard nothing but rave reviews for Italian-Spanish Anima by EDO, the latest from the team behind Chinatown’s celebrated EDO Gastro Tapas & Wine. With an outdoor tiki bar featuring live music, Casa di Amore sounds fun. Opened in February 2023 across from Downtown’s Smith Center for the Performing Arts, Vic’s Las Vegas is a new jazz club-meets-Italian bistro inspired by legendary 1951 neon cowboy Vegas Vic.

“Cosa desideri mangiare” (what would you like to eat)? Whatever your taste buds desire, Vegas has got you covered. Buon appetito!