Royally Flushed

Michael Mina's Nobhill at MGM Grand Las Vegas serves a stellar soup & sandwich nosh.

In this Part 2 of our “Top Las Vegas Chefs for Less” post, we show you how to save money on more great Las Vegas restaurants.  While we always plan for one extravagant gourmet meal — hello, Botero! — we actually enjoy our visits to casual Vegas restaurants just as much and these “name” chefs have made it easy for us to sample their culinary talents for a lot less dough.

Here are three more Vegas dining deals:

BLT Burger at Mirage – Chef Laurent Tourondel, acclaimed toque behind BLT Steak, BLT Fish and more, knows his way around a burger and a milkshake. How a classically-trained French chef came about making what is arguably one of the best shakes in the country is a mystery but, heck, you don’t need to know how a combustion engine works to enjoy driving a Porsche either. Debating whether to eat here? Check out this comment reader “Amy” left on our earlier review here at RF: “I truly believe they mix magic into the chocolate shake at the BLT burger. I would seriously fly there from Wisconsin to get one. We ate there last October and then again on the last night of our trip, when both my husband and I agreed we’d rather have another of these chocolate shakes than anything else we could get in Las Vegas.” Now that’s what I call a ringing endorsement.  (Our review on BLT Burger can be found here.)

Nobhill Tavern at MGM Grand – Michael Mina of Bourbon Steak, SeaBlue, and the elegant, eponymous Michael Mina at Bellagio offers a fun, less expensive lounge menu at this sleek intimate gem hidden in the sprawling MGM resort. Try the Lobster Grilled Cheese sandwich with Roasted Tomato Soup (pictured) then share a dessert – the decadent Candy Bar is a winner — for a taste of Chef Mina’s award-winning, San Francisco-honed cuisine.

Enoteca San Marco at the Venetian – “Molto” Mario Batali, yes, the orange-Croc-wearing dude, has a couple of fine dining establishments in Vegas – B&B also at the Venetian and CarneVino at the Palazzo – but this casual café on St. Mark’s Square in the resort gives you a feel for his rustic cooking for significantly less lira. Share one of the “daily” pizzas and indulge in a great glass of wine with a generous eight-ounce pour. Hey, it’s Vegas – live a little!  (Check out our review on Enoteca San Marco.)  For an even better deal, buy a $25 gift certificate for “ESM” for just $5 at Restaurant.com.)

Related posts:

1. Las Vegas Dining Values — Top Chefs for Less
2. Las Vegas dining deals get better and better
3. Snag Great Las Vegas Show and Dining Discounts from TIX 4 Tonight
4. Father’s Day Dining Deals in Las Vegas
5. “Taste of Wynn” offers special dining discounts this summer

Tags: best restaurants Las Vegas, celebrity chefs Las Vegas, dining deals Las Vegas, dining values, Encore restaurants, Las Vegas restaurant deals, Mario Batali, MGM restaurants, Michael Mina, restaurant deals, restaurants Las Vegas, Tourondel