Vegas, Baby. Vegas.

Ratings Guide:
Half handshake, half chest-bump hug – 5 stars
Chest bump – 4 stars
Fist bump – 3 stars
High five – 2 stars
Handshake – 1 star
Fone and fone – 0 stars
Manly ass slap – ½ star


For Super Bowl weekend I headed to Vegas for work. Luckily, for me, work consists of drinking beer, and I did plenty of that. And in between hanging out with Drew Brees, his wife, his brother, and his brother’s girl (who collectively couldn’t have been any cooler, making Drew Brees my fantasy QB every year until he retires, which is actually bad news for him, since my fantasy skills are world renowned for sucking), almost getting boomflopped by Donald Driver for cock-blocking him, and finding out that Ryne Sandberg truly is a nice guy, and a truly is very boring, I had some time to eat. And yes, that was the longest sentence you’ll ever read (and that’s if it was even a real grammatical sentence).

So, here’s a recap of some of the places where I inhaled food over the weekend.


Restaurant: Mon Ami Gabi
Location: Paris Casino and Resort

Mon Ami Gabi is a Lettuce Entertain You Restaurant. There are four of them in the world, two in Chicago, and I thought it was a good idea to travel 1,800 miles to Vegas try it for the first time. And, to tell you the truth, I didn’t know it was a Lettuce Entertain You place when I decided to go there, or that there were two of them in Chicago. And, the reason we went there was because it was 70 degrees and sunny and it was one of the few places that have outdoor seating on the strip. Coming from below freezing temps, I was adamant that we sit outside.

Anyway, Mon Ami Gabi is a French steakhouse. And if you aren’t familiar with the difference between French steakhouses and the American ones you might be used to, let me give you a quick guide. French steakhouses serve steak, while American steakhouses serve steak. I hope that helped.

I ordered the Brie Burger and the Mac and Cheese. Both were great for different reasons. The burger was surprisingly great. Big and juice, and topped with brie cheese, which adds a great flavor you normally don’t get in a burger, it was the kind of burger you could sink your teeth into over and over again. The best part was having a couple of bites, then chowing on the mac and cheese, then coming back to the burger and having that, “Holy crap, this thing is great!” feeling over and over again. I highly recommend this dish. And it came with some pretty decent Steak and Shake type of fries. And the mac and cheese was also really tasty. It was essentially mostaccioli pasta baked with cheese on top. The best part was scraping the baked cheese off the side of the bowl and then eating it along with a couple of pieces of the pasta. Not sure I would get it next time I go, but I’m pretty happy I got it this time. Right dish at the right time.

And the dessert. Oh, sweet dessert. I ordered the flourless chocolate cake, and it was warm and topped with warm chocolate and was so moist and soft and chewy and gooey. It was a great way to end my meal. Well, that, and the fact that I got to expense it for work. That always helps.

Mon Ami Gabi gets a surprising fist bump with a manly ass slap. If I went there again and got to try a couple of other things, it might even jump to an all out chest bump. Or, it could fall to an even fist bump. You never know.


Restaurant: Isla
Location: Treasure Island Casino and Resort

Isla is the Mexican restaurant located in Treasure Island. This upscale kitchen and tequila bar boasts the best Mexican place in the city (as voted on by Las Vegas Life Magazine) and has its very own Tequila Goddess. What is a Tequila Goddess, you ask? Well, it’s a 6 ft. tall blond bombshell that walks around and offers her expert advice on tequila and other drinks. Upon further review, I’m pretty certain this was a Tequila God. I never got close enough to check for an Adam’s apple, but even if “she” didn’t have one, I’m pretty certain “she” did at one time in her life.

But it really doesn’t matter if she was or wasn’t a dude. What does matter is the food. And this place delivered.

For starters they brought out a slew of salsas and guacamoles. They were all good. Nothing stood out from the rest, but they all satisfied. If push came to shove, I’d say go with the guacamole (they have more than one kind) over the salsas.

Next they brought out some appetizer sampler plates. It was full of a ton of stuff I don’t remember, except that I’m pretty sure empanadas was one of the items. No one really samples the apps, including me. I had a couple of bites, and that was enough to know I didn’t want a couple more.

But to make up for the apps, they had some great soup. I was given an old menu, which had tortilla soup on it, and as I ordered it the waitress told me they didn’t have it that night, and apologized for the confusion. Instead, she insisted I try the cream of corn soup, or corn chowder, or something like that. I was glad she did. It was really, really good. It tasted kind of like creamed cornbread, so it had this creamy sweet flavor. If you go there and it’s on the menu, get it.

For an entrée I went with the pulled pork tamal. Again, really tasty. Everyone at the table seemed to really like their meals, including me.

Nothing overly special here, but really solid Mexican food. But looking back, nothing that made me say, “Oh my God!” Fist bump.



Restaurant: La Creperie
Location: Paris Casino and Resort

For breakfast on Saturday morning I had a craving for crepes, and I figured what better place to go than Paris…Hotel and Casino.

The hotel offers a walkup creperie, where they have a wide selection of breakfast, dessert, and dinner type fillings. I chose the banana foster. The best way to describe it was to say it was too French. See, if it was more of the American take on the French classic, then it would have been STUFFED with, well, stuff. Instead, it was kind of light on ingredients. Not enough filling for my overeating appetite. It just wasn’t that filling. Or that good. But on an empty stomach and half hung over, I wasn’t going to complain very much.

High five.



Restaurant: Inaka Sushi
Location: 10100 S. Eastern Ave., Henderson, NV

I’m still so angry about this place I can barely type about it. Here’s what happened:

They have $20 all you can eat sushi. We got it, even though my brother and sister weren’t going to be eating that much. I started out with 6 rolls for everyone. One of them was awful, another didn’t end up being a roll, it was just a fried jalapeño popper. So, instead of finishing the awful roll, I ordered two more. We didn’t finish them. When we asked for a box the guy told us “no way.” Fine, I get it. You don’t want people ordering a bunch of extra food then taking it home. But then he told us he was going to have to charge us for the extra rolls that weren’t eaten. What? He even pointed to the “fine print” on the menu. Have you ever heard of this? I was livid. I explained that the one roll was just plain awful, and I wasn’t going to pay for it. Then, after some discussion, we agreed to be charged for one extra roll. I still can’t talk about it I’m so angry. Who does this? Charge you for what you don’t eat? Isn’t that the point of all you can eat, that you can stop once you can’t eat anymore? Can you imagine going to an all-you-can-eat buffet and getting charged for food left on your plate, or food left in the canisters sitting under the heat lamps? That’s the chance you take when you offer all-you-can-eat. I want to spit right now.

All that and the Sushi was AWFUL. Fone and Fone and never go here.



Restaurant: Gordon Biersch
Location: 3987 Paradise Road, Las Vegas, NV

Look! It’s a brewery! It’s a restaurant! It’s Gordon Biersch!

Bottom line, this is a semi-national chain that is a microbrewery and a restaurant. The food was actually really good, but I didn’t have the stomach to try the beer, since I’d been drinking it all weekend. I started off with the artichoke dip, which wasn’t creamy like I expected, but was really good anyway. It almost seemed healthy, except for the giant bread bowl it was served in. For my main course I ordered up a BBQ Chicken Pizza. It was big for one person, and filling, and the next best thing to California Pizza Kitchen (who knows, it may have even been better than CPK).

Great place for lunch or dinner that will get you off the strip and allow you to relax and enjoy yourself a little bit. Highly recommended. Chest bump.


Got a question? Send it to born2fork@yahoo.com.