Another NFL great announces plans for Strip restaurant

Las Vegas Review-Journal

3 years ago

Dallas Cowboys' Emmitt Smith celebrates his touchdown run in the second quarter against the Car ... — Dallas Cowboys’ Emmitt Smith celebrates his touchdown run in the second quarter against the Carolina Panthers at Ericsson Stadium in Charlotte, N.C., Oct. 1, 2000. (AP Photo/Rusty Burroughs)

NFL Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith will open Emmitt’s Las Vegas, a restaurant and event venue, in the spring on the Las Vegas Strip. (Rendering/Trilogy Group F&B, LLC)

Emmitt Smith, the NFL’s leading career rusher, talks with the media on March 13, 2003. (AP Photo/East Valley Tribune, Brad Armstrong)

Yet another NFL legend has announced plans for a restaurant on the Strip. But where?

Emmitt Smith, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame for his 15 seasons as a running back, 13 of them with the Dallas Cowboys, announced Tuesday that he plans to open Emmitt’s this spring “overlooking the Las Vegas Strip and surrounded by numerous world-class resorts.”

There’s just one catch: Representatives won’t confirm a location.

The low-resolution rendering that accompanied the news release looks like Fashion Show Mall. Some local blogs have said the two-story, 30,000-square foot “dynamic restaurant and premier event venue” will be at the Fashion Show Mall. But asked for an address Wednesday morning, a representative said, “We can’t confirm that. Give it another week or two.”

In the meantime: Harrah’s Las Vegas has confirmed that Walk-On’s Sports Bixtreux, for which former New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees is a partner and celebrity spokesman, will open next year in the space formerly occupied by Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar and Grill.

Contact Heidi Knapp Rinella at Hrinella@reviewjournal.com. Follow @HKRinella on Twitter.