VegasChatter

Tags: Classes / Restaurants / Food / Red Rock Resort / Hachi / Sushi / El Segundo Sol / Mexican Food / → All Tags

Time to Locate Your Inner Domestic God in Vegas Next Week

Little Sumpin Sumpin and LSD rolls at Hachi. Yumballs.

Sometimes we feel like getting lairy, watching shows and stalking Elvi isn’t enough in Vegas. Don’t you want to learn new skillz? (No, people, we're not talking Stripper 101.)

So as an appetite-whetter to the forthcoming Restaurant Week (more on that next week), we couldn’t help noticing that two restaurants we rather like are running cooking classes next week.

Off the Strip, Hachi at Red Rock Casino runs monthly sushi-rolling classes. A two hour class gives you all the ingredients, instructions from either exec chef Linda Rodriguez (who studied with the Nobu), chef de cuisine Martin Swift or head sushi chef Fernando Luna, and a roll to take home. It costs $85 plus tax, and the next one is August 26 at 6.30pm. After that, it’ll be September 23, October 21 and November 18. Space is limited as classes are small – 12 max.

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Tags: Cinco De Mayo / Mexican Food / Drinking / Holidays / → All Tags

Where to Drink For Cinco de Mayo

Have the Cinco days of Mayo over at El Segundo Sol got you all warmed up for Cinco de Mayo on Wednesday? Hope you’ve trained your liver, because there’s a lot going on.

Aria
Café Vettro has a three course set meal for $32, including duck tamales, steak tacos and tequila lime tres leches cake. The Skybox Sports Bar and Grill has beer pitchers for $22, buckets for $35, and, more excitingly, tequila flights for $28 and $65.

Border Grill at Mandalay Bay
$5 Cadillac margaritas with password Cinco de Drinko until tomorrow, then on Wednesday, margaritas from $7 (including a $20 Big Boss Jefe Grande margarita), $3 Tecate, and a raffle ticket for every drink you buy. Mariachis between 5-7pm.

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Tags: Openings / El Segundo Sol / Restaurants / Mexican Food / Cinco de Mayo / Holidays / → All Tags

El Segundo Sol Says Hola Vegas With Cinco Days of Cinco de Mayo Celebrations

Fairy lights + trees = pwetty

How quickly Vegas forgets its fallen. Remember Café Ba-Ba-Reeba? Us neither, not really. But we did stop by its replacement, El Segundo Sol, for a shindig last week. ESS opened last month, but we hadn't really noticed it till now. Which is a shame, because it has cutesy little fairy lights (AKA flattering date lights) in its open air garden bit, and a nice square bar to sit round inside. It also has a fun taco shack just outside it on the streetfront, so you can eat-and-walk down the Strip without having to resort to the gross kiosk place in Casino Royale, and it’s even clocked up a hot celeb spot already (Tony Romo plus new bird on Saturday).

But what we most like about the place is its approach to Cinco de Mayo – a five day fiesta starting Friday, with a different offer on every night.

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Tags: Hussong's Cantina / Mexican Food / Tacos / Shoppes at Mandalay Place / Restaurants / → All Tags

Less Of the Rock N Roll Mariachis, More Of the Tongue At Hussong's

Clockwise, from top: the tongue, goat meat, beef cheek and steak

It’s been a while since anyone crooned at us, so as we were in the Mandalay Bay vicinity last night, we thought we’d stop by for a pep up at Hussong’s Cantina last night, courtesy of the Rock n Roll Mariachis.

But on arrival, we were told the R&RMs have just gone back down from performing every night to only at weekends. Devastating news! The only explanation can be that chief chefman Noe Alcala was getting jealous of the attention they were getting over his food, no?

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Tags: VegasChatter Reviews / Hussong's Cantina / Mexican Food / Tacos / Restaurants / Shoppes at Mandalay Place / → All Tags

If You Like Mexican, You Must Go To Hussong's Cantina

Reviews are always highly subjective things, obviously, and one man’s juicy brisket can be another’s glorified ketchup (yes, P.U.B., we’re talking to you). So before we tell you what we thought of our trip to Hussong’s Cantina, in The Shoppes at Mandalay Place, we thought we’d give you the verdicts of some other people we know.

Our housemate: “Very good, I’d go there again”.

Our colleague (who went straight after opening): “Great food, poor margaritas, appalling service – we had to wait an age to get our drinks, and our waitress didn’t know what she was doing”.

Our friend who lives between London and LA: “Possibly the best meal I’ve had in America”.

Sexiest gossip columnist alive, Norm Clarke: “There’s a kickin’ mariachi band, but the most addictive menu item might be the grilled corn on the cob”.

Our view? Here goes.

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Tags: Hussong's Cantina / Mexican Food / Shoppes at Mandalay Place / Restaurants / Video / → All Tags

Hussong's Rock n Roll Mariachis Will Croon at You as You Eat

As you might have noticed had you been following our Twitter feed last weekend, we have a new group in danger of overtaking Matt Goss in our musical affections at the moment. Who could possibly remove the halo from the Gossmeister, you might well ask?

Let us introduce you to Gino Juarez, Aurelio Audy and Tito Martinez, otherwise know as the rock ‘n’ roll mariachis at Hussong’s Cantina in the Shoppes At Mandalay Place.

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Tags: Closings / Cafe Ba Ba Reeba / Mexican Food / Tapas Restaurants / → All Tags

Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba To Close on February 15

Another day in Vegas, another restaurant closing. But unlike other cities, there's always a new restaurant waiting in the wings in Sin City. That's what's happening with the beloved Cafe Ba Ba Reeba, a tapas restaurant which sits facing the Strip from the Fashion Show Mall.

The Stew blog reports that the restaurant and its $3 happy hour will close down on February 15 to make way for a new "informal cantina and taqueria" from its parent company, Lettuce. The traditional menu will feature your fave mexican standbys as well as housemade sangria and a walk-up taco stand that lets you order to go.

The new still unnamed Mexican restaurant will open sometime in March. So next week, you better get your feel of Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba while you can.

[Photo: Eating LV]

Tags: Openings / Restaurants / Hussong's Cantina / Mexican Food / The Shoppes At Mandalay Place / Snapshot / → All Tags

Ready For Unusually Strong Margaritas? Hussong's Cantina Opens Today

We’re about to declare this officially open

Ole! Hussong’s Cantina opens today in The Shoppes at Mandalay Place. We found it at the weekend lurking next door to the Burger Bar and opposite Lush. And when we peered through those curtains (because they’re kind of teasing us, seeing as they’re not entirely covering the place), this is what we saw:

We’re liking the posters on the walls, and we’re loving the pillar box red they’ve used. And those tables look pretty well spaced out as well.

Don’t forget, either, that this is the place which promised “the best party every night”. We’d like to say we’ll be judging it harshly, but if their margaritas really are “unusually strong” then we’re pretty much sold already.

Tags: Vegas Snapshot / Mexican Food / Restaurants / Monte Carlo / → All Tags

What's Under The Table at Diablo's Cantina?

Why it's a half-empty giant bottle of Ocean Spray cranberry juice. We found this interesting "souvenir" dining at Diablo's Cantina at The Monte Carlo the other week. The Mexican food was good and the drinks got us drunk but we still prefer Dos Caminos at the Palazzo for Mexican food on the Strip. We're suckers for their guacamole, their classic margaritas and the fish tacos.

What's your favorite place for Mexican food on The Strip? Let us know here.

Tags: Openings / Restaurants / Hussong's Cantina / Mexican Food / Mandalay Bay / → All Tags

Unusually Strong Margaritas Will Get the Party Started at Hussong's in January

Back off CityCenter! Double back off Eva Longoria Parker! You’re not the only new people in town. And soon, you’re not going to have the newest south-of-the-border restaurant, either. Because Mandalay Bay is getting a new Mexican eatery in January.

That’s right. Hussong’s Cantina from Ensenada, Baja California – the “well-known rite of passage for southern Californians”, as it styles itself - is opening up another branch in The Shoppes at Mandalay Place first thing next year.

And they’re not mincing their words, either. “Our plan is to serve great food and throw the best party every night,” says Scott Frost from developers Titan Nightlife group. The best party? In Vegas? Every night? Good luck with that.

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Tags: Mexican Food / Restaurants / Happy Hours / Luxor / Tacos / Tequila / → All Tags

Every Wednesday is Cinco de Mayo at Tacos and Tequila

We have no problem pretending it’s Cinco de Mayo every Wednesday night. Heck, if the world was fueled with weekly doses of tequila and deep-fried tortillas, it would probably be a better place. Just saying.

So, we’re more than happy to play along with Mischeive Wednesdays at Tacos and Tequila in the Luxor.

Every Wednesday night from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. resident DJ Ernan will be spinning an eclectic mix of rock-n-roll, Latin and house beats, while bar-hoppers suck down drink specials like $5 house margaritas, $5 Hornitos shots and $5 Tecaté.

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Tags: Mexican Food / El Sombrero Cafe / Downtown / → All Tags

Please Don't Ever Change, El Sombrero Cafe

What exactly is the appeal of the El Sombrero Cafe? It's a question that comes up when people drive past this little, unassuming Mexican restaurant and discover that it is Sin City’s oldest - we repeat - oldest eatery.

Located in downtown art’s district, the El Sombrero Cafe started serving some chips and salsa to residents in the valley way back in 1950 in the same spot where it stands, off Main Street north of Charleston.

And we at Vegaschatter will recommend it over any overpriced, hyped-up Mexican restaurant in town.

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