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Eater
22-05-2025
- Eater
The Eater Guide to Road Trippin' Nevada
Nevada became a state in 1864 — months before a saloon in a town called Genoa posted a wanted sign for Abraham Lincoln's then-unknown assassin, four years before the transcontinental railroad stitched the state to the rest of the country, and five years before the first major silver strike in the U.S. sparked a rush that built Virginia City nearly overnight. Over the next 50 years, towns flickered to life and blinked out of existence, chasing the veins of silver and metal some 200 feet beneath the desert's hard-packed earth — land long inhabited by Indigenous communities of the Great Basin, like the Paiute and Shoshone, and the Washoe near Lake Tahoe. The boom-and-bust rhythm shaped not just the state's economy but its identity — a place built on promise, reinvention, and stories that survived long after the mines ran dry. It's easy to picture Nevada as a stretch of dusty nothing between Las Vegas and Reno. But the state is more than its desert scrub. There are the spire-like slot canyons of Cathedral Gorge, the snowy ranges of the Ruby Mountains, and the stargazing solitude of Great Basin National Park. Serpentine highways weave past alien-themed diners, larger-than-life cinderblock women, and Day-Glo boulders stacked like cairns. The surreal lives here — tucked just off the next exit. And beyond the haunted hotel rooms and Wild West souvenir shops, there is, and has always been, the grounding presence of a dining room table. The boom-and-bust rhythm shaped not just the state's economy but its identity — a place built on promise, reinvention, and stories that survived long after the mines ran dry. In early Virginia City, saloons evolved from watering holes into community hubs, where mahogany bartops ferried slippery mugs of ale with the same rapidity as the conversation surrounding it. In the middle of the state, where one of the world's largest Basque communities put down roots, traditional restaurants still serve family-style courses of charbroiled steaks and roasted salmon to communal tables. At the southern tip, Las Vegas's most coveted seat is at an 18-stool countertop at the Oyster Bar, where round-the-clock lines wait for thick, creamy pan roasts brimming with seafood. And even today, in a town of just a few dozen residents, one restaurant draws visitors from around the world — strangers who lean over flying saucer-shaped burgers and pies to trade stories of strange lights in the night sky. There's nothing more inherently Nevadan than the open road. Once braved by wagon, then rail, and now car, it's still the best way to cross the state. So take to its desert highways and come hungry. Whether you seek idyllic desert landscapes, the kind of art that only a dust-addled mind could divine, or meals that are worth driving a few hundred miles to enjoy, Nevada has something waiting — and it's worth the drive. —Janna Karel, Eater, editor, Southern California/Southwest Credits
Eater
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Eater
Restaurants to Try This Weekend in Las Vegas — May 16
It's the most pressing question of the weekend: 'Where should I eat?' Here, Eater editors issue tried and true recommendations for places to check out this weekend. For late-night conversation: Peppermill and Fireside Lounge The Peppermill and Fireside Lounge is certifiably a classic — the James Beard Foundation even named it one of its 2024 America's Classics Award winners. More than 53 years after opening on the north end of the Las Vegas Strip, it still delivers all the neon-soaked, maximalist-diner charm: faux cherry blossom trees, cords of purple light, and generous plates of French toast ambrosia buried under fruit cocktail. Stop by for gravy-smothered Southern-fried steak at dinner, or swing through on the weekend in the wee hours for fishbowl cocktails and a round of appetizers. While the Peppermill proper draws the crowds, its adjacent Fireside Lounge tends to fly under the radar — which, thankfully, usually means no wait. On a recent weekend, I lucked out with open seating in the sunken conversation pit, wrapped around a glowing fire-and-water feature that's pure '70s Vegas. Drinks are gleefully oversized and over-garnished — like a chocolate-banana spin on a mudslide or an icy strawberry daiquiri. The lounge menu sticks to appetizers, but the sampler platter — coconut shrimp, chicken fingers, mozzarella sticks, onion rings, and bruschetta — could have fed the whole pit. 2985 Las Vegas Boulevard South, Las Vegas, NV 89109. — Janna Karel, editor, Eater Southern California/Southwest For mid-morning Mediterranean fare: Cafe Landwer More than 100 years after starting as a small coffee roasting facility in Berlin, Germany in 1919, Cafe Landwer has expanded to Las Vegas. In a bright and airy space in the Boca Park shopping center, Cafe Landwer does coffee and casual Mediterranean food to impressive effect. I often like to cowork with friends at a restaurant or coffee shop once or twice during the week. A recent visit to Cafe Landwer was just right for a deadline-addled midweek change of scenery. I ordered a Belgian waffle that came as a platter heaping with thick waffles, bowls of Nutella and fresh whipped cream, and sliced strawberries and bananas. On repeat visits — ideally on slow and sleepy weekend mornings — I will again order the mezze platter. Four incredibly soft and fluffy pita pockets come poised for dipping and spreading with pleasantly earthy hummus, smoky baba ghanoush, tangy matbucha, and cool labneh sprinkled with za'atar spices. Warm spring days call if icy mint yes, the Dubai chocolate trend lives here too — croissants half-dipped in glossy chocolate, filled with pistachio cream and scattered with crispy shards of feuilletine. 8704 West Charleston Boulevard, Suite 101, Las Vegas, NV 89117. — Janna Karel, editor, Eater Southern California/Southwest For an easy Italian-inflected brunch without the need for a reservation: Brezza What exactly is Brezza? For the evenings, it's kind of an Italian-style steakhouse with a full line of wood-grilled proteins, but during the day, the Resorts World restaurant becomes a reasonable pizza-and-pasta spot with snacky salumi boards, chopped salad, and a burger. And yet, it's typically not very busy, which means the restaurant works as a solid brunch destination without the need for a reservation. On a visit earlier this year, we took down a few of its Roman pinsa-style pizzas that are great for sharing, topped with sausage and pepperonata peppers or prosciutto and ricotta. Lumache bolognese would've been more soporific if we didn't wash down lunch with ample iced tea and Diet Cokes, but this hearty meat pasta was quite delicious. The best part is that brunch is simply unfussy, which is always the best way to approach the weekend meal at a time when too many of them are over-the-top. 3000 South Las Vegas Boulevard, Las Vegas, NV 89109. — Matthew Kang, lead editor, Eater Southern California/Southwest Sign up for our newsletter.
