Rounders Grilling & Gaming Company

I'll start with a caveat about Rounders Grilling & Gaming Company: It's a poker bar, and there were people smoking at the bar. And you have to pass the bar to get to the little dining-room area, so if you're smoke-averse, be aware that you're likely to be exposed to it.

So is Rounders worth it? Depends on how smoke-averse you are, and whether you live in or have occasion to be in the area. And whether you like Great Lakes walleye.

Those of who hail from the Great Lakes region know the joys of the itty-bitty perch that come out of those lakes, and of the larger but almost as sweetly succulent walleye. It's difficult to find in these parts -- difficult to find anywhere outside those parts, actually -- so it was a nice surprise to see it on the Rounders menu (though less of a surprise once we realized that Rounders has roots in Chicago).

And it was darned good walleye. Billed as "Walleye Francais" ($13.99), it had been sauteed with an egg batter that turned into a slightly puffy coating. With lots of lemon in the lemon-butter sauce and lots of capers, it was quite a nice preparation of this fresh freshwater fish. On the side was a mound of sauteed spinach and a number of little Yukon Gold potatoes, both of which were quite nice with the lemon-butter sauce as well.

This being a poker bar we'd be remiss to ignore the bar food on the menu, and the requisite spinach-artichoke dip ($7.59) held some promise because of the word "smoky" in its name, a reference to the smoked Gouda that was used along with Parmesan. Indeed, it was quite a successful variation on a theme, hot and creamy and with a definite smoky element. It was served with warm triangles of pita and lots of tortilla chips, and was much, much better than your basic bar food.

And then there were the ribs ($19.99 for a full rack, $15.99 for a half). While some purists -- and all Texans -- will tell you it's impossible to make real barbecue without a brick-walled pit that's been seasoned by years of grease and rub seasoning and, yeah, probably some sweat, it's a fact that small, portable smokers have come a long way over the past decade or so. Whether they're fueled by wood, or by electricity with wood positioned around the element, they can turn out some pretty respectable 'cue.

Yeah, this wasn't that. Oh, the sauce was decent enough, tomato-based and with a righteous balance of sweet and savory and just a little bit of a kick -- and a mellow note that no doubt came from the pale ale that the menu promised was used in the sauce -- but it couldn't save these ribs. They were baby backs and they were tender, but that's about as far as I can praise them because they didn't give any indication that they'd spent any time in a smoker. They were overly soft and actually almost mushy, as though they'd been parboiled. And they were a disappointment.

Which our server was not. She was uncommonly pleasant, letting us know that happy hour still was going on should we want to order from the special appetizer menu, and she brought extra napkins and refilled water and didn't hurry us into a second glass of wine.

The dining area was, as I said, on the small side, but comfortable, with sports on a few TV screens spaced around it.

So our experience at Rounders was pretty positive, all in all. I just wish they'd trade in the smokers for a smoker.

Las Vegas Review-Journal reviews are done anonymously at Review-Journal expense. Contact Heidi Knapp Rinella at 383-0474 or e-mail her at hrinella@ reviewjournal.com.