A lot of Vegas restaurant guides tend to favor locations on The Strip, but that’s not terribly convenient for those of us that chose to live further away. Count me among those that don’t really go down there all that often, but still want to enjoy great food! That being said, two of my favorite places for dinner just happen to be a few hundred feet from one another at the Red Rock Casino Resort.

Terra Rossa has a superb menu of well prepared Italian dishes. It’s not the cheap bowls of pasta you may have come to expect at many restaurants by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, all the pasta is homemade.

An antipasto plate will arrive at your table before you can even consider your menu options, and a bread basket will follow soon thereafter. The thin crust, wood-fire cooked pizzas make a nice appetizer, or a meal by themselves. Classic items ranging from deep fried calamari to chicken parmigiana are of course available and well prepared. A few of our favorite menu items are the prosciutto appetizer, gnocchi, and spaghetti al carbon.

There is a full bar with expert mixologists and an extensive wine list. The service is always just right, and a member of the team is sure to be nearby when you need something. [The outside dining is pretty cool as well. -Ed]

Hachi is a “Modern Japanese” restaurant with an ample selection of sushi. Why do the waiters have belt buckles shaped like the number 8? Because hachi is the Japanese word for eight!

To be honest, we tend to treat sushi restaurants as “small plate dining”, a sort of Japanese tapas. As a result, we’ve tried a lot of menu items over the three years they’ve been open, but we’ve never actually had any of their main courses. The menu sort of encourages this grazing by offering a section of 38 small dishes for $8 or less. If you like spicy food, don’t pass up the Crispy Spicy Shrimp, Kholester Roll, or the french bean tempura. For those with more traditional tastes, the crispy baby whitefish, sea bass cakes, and kumamoto oysters are excellent. A traditional assortment of sushi bar staples can be had as well, such as nigiri, miso soup, and edamame. And it’s worth saving room for dessert. (Don’t be surprised if the sake sommelier shows up at your table to talk about the sake menu, but there’s a full bar too.)

Reservations are recommended, but both restaurants can usually work you in fairly quickly if you show up without them.

Longtime Living in Las Vegas Podcast friend Cheryl just told me about an amazing deal that Station Casinos is running right now.  Called “My Vacation”, they have two great deals:

$125 for two nights, including a $100 credit for dining, bar, and lounges at all casinos except Green Valley Ranch and Red Rock.  For those two properties, they are charging $250 for two nights, including $200 credit. And they added spa use for the $200 credit.

Here’s the link to their website.

71: Late Night at ‘After the Show’ — A Treat for Las Vegas Locals

[Get this, we recorded this show at 2AM! Why? Read the show notes below. . .]

This is the perfect example of what makes being a Las Vegas local so cool!  Every Monday night, starting at 11:00PM and going until 1:00AM Tuesday morning, a half dozen or more Las Vegas performers get together to perform for each other “After the Show”, that is, after their regular gigs.  Even better, Las Vegas locals are invited to join the fun for free.

I’d heard about After the Show for some time and wanted to see what it was all about for ourselves.  So, this special late-night edition of the Living in Las Vegas Podcast features our review of one of the coolest ideas in town.  Show notes:

• Weather Mid-90’s / LiLV Pool (Warm enough to dive in, cold enough to get right back out)
• LiLV Stuff
  • Listener Line: 206.312.0105
  • Sign up of Email Alerts (form found on right side of our website)
• After the Show
  • First, Let’s Talk TRAFFIC
  • What is this thing?
  • Host(ess) Cashetta
  • Famous Audience Members
  • Magician Jason Andrews
  • Comedian Keith Lyle
  • From Zumanity: Edie
  • Comedienne Shayma Tash
  • Larry Atello (Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding)
  • Christopher and S (Scapades)
  • Junebug (as Carol Channing)
  • Comedienne Cathe Jones
  • Rudy Uresti (KA & Le Reve)

Melissa and I were hanging out at Aliante Station last night and while having a drink at the MRKT sea & land bar, we learned that they offer 1/2 off their menu (not including lobster and surf and turf) from Sunday through Thursday for those folks with a “Boarding Pass”.

Seems like a pretty good deal to me!

We’re definitely going to take advantage of that some time this week.  And although our last experience at MRKT was mixed (we gave it a half and half on Hot and Horrible), the food, when it arrived, was pretty good.

We’re 30 hours away from the March 2009 Living in Las Vegas Podcast Listener Meetup.  That’s the good news.

What’s the bad news?

Well, I’d say it has to do with the attendees.  I don’t really know how many people will be joining us at the Red Rock Casino and Hotel tomorrow at 6PM, but from the few folks who’ve contacted me, it could be a rough crowd.

For example:

• A Germany from Hong Kong: Huh?  Is that even possible?  Are there no direct flights from Berlin?
• A Couple of Foreigners: Have you ever been to Michigan?  It’s too damn cold there.  How can somebody with any sense live there?  What could possibly be on their minds?
• Two Podcast Hosts: Okay. . .these two folks are pretty nice.  Buy them a drink. They’re thirsty.
• A Birthday-Boy Web Stud: Into HTML?  Dig CSS?  Then a good time will be had by all you.
• A Real-Life Ph.D.  And believe me when I say Ph.D doesn’t stand for what you think it does.  Oh sure, it’s “official”.  But I’m pretty sure it should stands for Pretty hard.  Drinker.

Frightening, right?  Who knows what kind of craziness will ensue.  So, if you want my advice, I’d say. . .join us.  Not so much because it’ll be a good time.  I just need a witness in the event things get a little out of hand.

With a thankful tip of the hat to Cheryl [contributors page] for her recon work, along with a further hat tip to Rob and Lois [friends page] for moving things along, the next Living in Las Vegas Podcast Listener Meet Up is officially ON for Saturday, March 14th!

To change things up a bit, the March Meet Up will take place at the nicest “locals” casino in the Las Vegas Valley: the $950M Red Rock Hotel and Casino. (No, not Whitney Villa. . .we’ve not been properly sanctioned for gaming.)  Here’s the scoop:

Location: Red Rock Casino and Hotel
Gathering Spot: Swanky* Bar by the hotel lobby (found in the center of the circular area adjacent to the lobby itself [pdf])
Where Should I Park? East Valet or East Parking Garage
Date: Saturday, March 14
Time: 6PM
Attire: Only if you want to get in
Calendar: Click here to add to your calendar

Melissa and I are looking forward to seeing y’all again!  It’s been too long between good times with LiLV listeners!  For those thinking about coming out for the first time, our first gathering was awesome, our second was spoooooky, and our third will be uber-groovy as well.  Come on out and join the fun!  As an added bonus, I’ll be sure to share how I went from Scott Whitney, civilian to Lord Scott Whitney.  (It’s good to be the king. . .er. . .lord.)

See you on March 14th!  And feel free to invite a friend.

 

* “Swanky” is Cheryl’s description.

65: Living the Loft Lifestyle in Las Vegas

What a fun show to record!  Thanks everybody who joined the live video streaming session!!

With the real estate environment in Las Vegas struggling, we wondered what was available in the loft market.  I’ve always thought there was something inherently groovy about lofts. . .seems like they’d be the place where Las Vegas hipsters might hang out.  So for this episode of the Living in Las Vegas Podcast, we visit three brand-new(ish) Las Vegas lofts available for your living enjoyment.  Show notes:

This episode was recorded as both an audio file (found here) AND a video.  The original video was over 18GB in size so we’re working on creating a more management size file to add to our RSS file.  It will be added as a separate post.)

• PHOTOS!
• Weather (sun people, where’s the sun?) / LiLV Pool (40s does not help me!)
• LiLV Stuff
1. Listener Line: 206.312.0105
2. Sign up for Email Alerts (form found on our website)
• CBS-8 Station Tour with Dave Courvoisier
• It’s all about adding Friends
• Melissa is quite the artist
• Also beautiful, Melissa’s colon (wait until you see the video)
• Wallstreet Wealth Management recommendation on Local’s Choice Radio
• Listener Email: Caesar Salad and plantlife
• Living the Loft Lifestyle in Las Vegas
1. Newport Lofts
2. Metreon
3. C2 Lofts
• Hot or Horrible: MRKT Sea & Land

I’m a Henderson kind of gal, so of course, I love Green Valley Ranch (GVR). I love it even more that they totally cater to locals and always seem to have local specials. One of their constant local specials is 20% off any spa treatment Monday - Thursday.

So… you have two options: Call in sick or leave work an hour early (their spa is open til 8pm)

To make a reservation call 702-617-7570 or browse the spa menu. Their signature treatments sound quite alluring.

PS - Don’t forget to bring your Nevada I.D.

63: Swap Meets of Las Vegas — Where a Guard Tower Doesn’t Seem Out of Place

While Las Vegas is unfairly known for swapping meat of another kind (what? it’s true?  dontcha watch CSI?), today’s Living in Las Vegas Podcast features our visits to two of the largest swap meets in the Las Vegas Valley.  Show notes:

• PHOTOS!
• Weather (cold) /Pool (crazy cold and leafy)
• LiLV Stuff
• Listener Line: 206.312.0105
• Sign up for Email Alerts!!
• More Friends added
• LiLVPodcast Twitter Update
• Wordcamp:Las Vegas info
• Hunting Cowboys
• Expansion tease
• Listener Audio: Jobs, LinkedIn
• Listener Email: [great intro, thanks David], Encore commercial, Eating Dirt, Media Coverage of Station Casinos and Aliante
• Las Vegas Swap Meets
• Fantastik (Indoor)
• Broadacre (Outdoor)

Boy, when it rains, it pours (salt on a wound). 

As a large employer in the Las Vegas Valley, the latest news from Station Casinos will likely affect many folks–the company says they will suspend matching contributions to employees’ 401k retirement plans.  This, according to the company, is because of the economic downturn.

According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, no other local casinos are currently following suite (although others are considering).

Rest assure, I’m doing my part to support Station Casinos.  For example, I didn’t ask for any money back from the Aliante Station movie theatre after watching about 1/2 of Twilight this past weekend.  I want these guys to thrive!  Twitter/Twilight Comment 1, Twitter/Twilight Comment 2.

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