Another Vegas casino to open food hall, drawing some top US restaurants
When Las Vegas leans into a food trend, it hits that angle hard (see, ube). And so it is that another casino food hall is taking shape in the city, joining at least five other food halls (plus one ahead) that have opened at properties on and off the Strip in the past two years.
The latest entry, snappily named Via Via, is scheduled to debut in mid-2025 off the barrel-vaulted Grand Colonnade at The Venetian, the casino announced Tuesday. The announcement listed eight purveyors for the food hall:
• All’Antico Vinaio. This Florentine sandwich shop, sometimes called the best in the world, is famed for layering schiacciata, the chewy Tuscan flatbread, with meats, cheeses, vegetables, truffle or onion porcini cream, basil and arugula. All’Antico opened an outpost in the UnCommons development in southwest Vegas in 2023.
• B.S. Taqueria. Chef Ray Garcia founded the original taqueria, now closed, in Los Angeles. He also opened a Vegas location in the now-shuttered Sundry food hall at UnCommons. This time around in Vegas, look for chorizo, chile-rubbed pastor and carnitas tacos on freshly pressed heirloom corn tortillas. Garcia also created ¡Viva! restaurant in Resorts World.
• Close Company. The founders of Death & Co. bar, a leader in the modern cocktail movement, are bringing Close Company to the food hall. Vegas marks the West Coast debut of the bar, with additional launches planned for Nashville and Atlanta.
• Howlin’ Ray’s. Nashville hot chicken heat comes by way of Los Angeles with Howlin’ Ray’s. Chef Johnny Ray Zone and his wife, Amanda Chapman, opened the original L.A. shop in 2015. There’s also now a location in Pasadena, California. Heat levels range from Country (no heat) to Howlin’ (can’t touch this 10++).
• Ivan Ramen. Ivan Orkin opened two successful ramen shops in Tokyo, a notable accomplishment for a foreigner (he was born on Long Island). Orkin later expanded to New York City, with a shop planned for the U.K. Besides acclaimed ramen, the menu features playful takes on izakaya (Japanese tavern) dishes.
• Scarr’s Pizza. Scarr Pimentel launched this pizzeria in 2016 in New York City. Some of the flour for pizza crusts is milled at the restaurant. The announcement didn’t indicate which pies will be offered in Vegas. In New York, Scarr’s offers pizza by the slice and round, Sicilian and grandma pizzas.
• Turkey and the Wolf and Molly’s Rise and Shine. Chef Mason Hereford, the James Beard Award nominee and New York Times bestselling author, is touching down with his two New Orleans restaurants.
Turkey and the Wolf, a counter-service spot, was named by Bon Appétit as the best new U.S. restaurant of 2017 and by Food & Wine and Esquire as one of the most important restaurants of the decade. The menu showcases offbeat dishes like an empanada stuffed with chicken pot pie and served with tarragon buttermilk.
Molly’s Rise and Shine, a breakfast joint picked by Food & Wine as one of America’s 10 best new restaurants in 2020, serves dishes such as roasted carrot yogurt and inventive versions of classic biscuit sandwiches.
Contact Johnathan L. Wright at jwright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @JLWTaste on Instagram.