73°F
weather icon Mostly Clear

Heidi Knapp Rinella

RJ food critic Heidi Rinella takes you inside your favorite Vegas eateries and let's you know what's worth the bite. Hungry for more? Head to bestoflasvegas.com for all of your foodie needs

Frozen rhubarb can be found in valley

Rhubarb may be somewhat of an acquired taste, but once it’s acquired, it’s difficult to ignore. I know that from personal experience and from the number of requests I regularly get for frozen rhubarb, which is tough to find in the valley.

Emperor’s Garden

If you’re not Asian and are trying to figure out if an Asian restaurant is authentic, here are two surefire clues:

Readers come through in muffin search

Taste of the Town has fielded some pretty offbeat requests from readers over the years, and this one ranked right up there: Anne McConnell e-mailed in search of English muffins that are not fork-split — that she has to cut herself — and have a dense texture without so many nooks and crannies. And lo and behold, readers delivered:

Sterling Brunch

No doubt the question I get most frequently about the Sterling Brunch at Bally’s is, “Is it worth it?” That’s because it’s long been the big ticket in town — at least as far as brunches go — in recent years steadily climbing to its current $85.

HEIDI’S PICKS

Heidi’s Picks is a weekly selection of restaurant suggestions from Review-Journal critic Heidi Knapp Rinella.

THE LATEST
Readers seek Chinese food, bagel dogs

Regular readers of Taste of the Town know that we tend to run, give or take, about a six-month backlog for requests. The file’s getting particularly fat right now, so let’s clear some out:

Catfish Alley

If you’re under the care of a cardiologist, I’m thinking Catfish Alley shouldn’t be your first choice, since virtually everything in the restaurant is fried. Well, foodwise, anyway.

Halibut can be found in valley

Thanks to a high-power Canadian radio station, a Michigan restaurant chain’s jingle blew all over the Midwest during the ’60s and ’70s with many memorable lines, but one in particular: “I just go to Elias Brothers for the halibut.” That came to mind when I received K.J. Howe’s request for halibut fish and chips — which, readers say, can be found in Las Vegas.

HEIDI’S PICKS

Heidi’s Picks is a weekly selection of restaurant suggestions from Review-Journal critic Heidi Knapp Rinella.

La Focaccia

The old proverb applies, it seems, when it comes to good focaccia: It and the weather have something in common, in that everybody talks about them but nobody does anything about them.

Sardines plentiful in valley

It appears we have plenty of sardine lovers in Las Vegas, because several people responded to Pat Moore, who’s looking for canned sardines in tomato sauce.

Marche Bacchus French Bistro and Wine Shop

We paid $12.99 for a bottle of wine when we had dinner at Marche Bacchus. Heck, we’ve paid more than that for one glass of wine on the Strip.

Readers warm up to Italian beef sandwiches

Here’s another regional favorite that has found a home in our melting pot of a community: Italian beef sandwiches with sport peppers and giardiniera, being sought by Keri Merlini.

Switch

Switch, in a word: Wow. I’m not kidding. All aspects of this truly refreshing spot at Encore were absolutely stellar.

Readers point way toward Lipton soup

Man, it has been a long winter; I have a friend who has had bronchitis five times this winter. But spring has sprung, and most of us are grateful for that. However, we do have one leftover wintry request — for Lipton Chicken Noodle Cup-a-Soup, sought by Judy Dietrich. June Schule wrote that it can be found at Target at 6480 Sky Pointe Drive, and Herbert Harris e-mailed that he has ordered it from Amazon.com. …

1 68 69 70 71 72 85