East Henderson center that sat empty for 15 years adds 5 new restaurants

The Monument at Calico Ridge sits in the foothills of east Henderson, with views of the Las Vegas Valley and the Strip unfurling to the north and west. The retail center encompasses a cluster of buildings in the colors of the desert: sandstone, terracotta, ochre, vermilion, buff. The setting? Lovely. But business has been a long time coming to Calico Ridge.

The center was finished in 2008, at the beginning of the Great Recession. An investor later bought the property in a foreclosure auction, then sat on it for almost a decade. Calico Ridge Partners LLC purchased the property in October 2021, then renovated it by repainting exteriors, sealing and striping the parking lot, replacing awnings and upgrading the landscaping. The center welcomed its first tenant in April 2023.

Today, Calico Ridge, at 1461 to 1477 E. Lake Mead Parkway, lies amid the affluent and rapidly developing areas of northeast Henderson and Lake Las Vegas. People in these neighborhoods need places to eat, of course, and several restaurants in the center have either opened to serve them or are on the way. Here’s a first look.

Jamón Jamón Wood Fired Kitchen

Fourteen years ago, chef-owner Rafael Salines-Catalá moved to the city from his native Spain to open Jaleo by José Andrés in The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. He later worked as executive chef at Julian Serrano Tapas in Aria.

In summer 2020, the chef debuted his first incarnation of Jamón Jamón as a ghost kitchen; he moved to a restaurant space on West Sahara Avenue in November of that year. Last October, after his lease expired, Salines-Catalá moved the restaurant to Calico Ridge. The lease deal in Henderson, he said, was too good to pass up.

Jamón Jamón serves lunch and dinner daily. Fittingly, ranks of jamón hang from the ceiling in the dining room. The restaurant goes through about two to three hams a week, the chef said, in dishes like meat and cheese platters or Serrano ham fritters or a pintxo (small snack) of grilled Ibérico pork loin and red quinoa.

Tapas take pride of place on the menu: mixed olives, broccolini with crushed red pepper, crisp potatoes spiked with piquillo vinaigrette, classic pan con tomate, meatballs in sherry tomato sauce, grilled garlic shrimp and more. Cocas de Xàbia, the flatbreads named for the coastal Spanish town of Xàbia, are topped with caramelized onions or delicate bonito flakes.

Bluefin tuna with oranges and marcona almonds makes for a summer refresher. Paellas come in several versions, including traditional seafood and rabbit, snails and rosemary.

“Whatever you find here, you’re going to find in Barcelona, you’re going to find in Madrid,” Salines-Catalá said. “Many people say, ‘I don’t to have to go to Spain anymore.’ ”

The chef also serves Lolita sangria, made according to a recipe his grandmother taught him. The sangria features merlot and citrus, plus hits of cinnamon and other spices. Jamón Jamón has a terrace with views of the Strip. Here’s a summer idea: the Strip, sit, sangria, sip.

Jamón Jamón is at 1465 E. Lake Mead Parkway, Suite 100. Visit jamonjamonwoodfired.com.

Toasted & Roasted

With Toasted & Roasted, which opened in early June, Lance Johns is a ways from downtown. He reopened Atomic Liquors on East Fremont Street in 2013, then added the Kitchen at Atomic next door in 2017. Johns is one of the partners in the center.

At Calico Ridge, he’s teamed up with co-owner Dan Adams, a former Strip food and beverage executive, to create this breakfast and lunch spot, a choice guided by feedback received at a community meeting.

“People said they wanted a breakfast space,” Johns recalled “We’re not salmon — we don’t swim upstream. If that’s what you want, that’s what we’ll do. And once we started talking about breakfast, we knew we really had to do the coffee right, and that started taking us in that direction.”

The restaurant roasts its beans (light or medium) in house: Guatemalan for the house roast, Mexican beans for espresso, Peruvian beans for cold brews, Ethiopian for pour overs.

“It’s been our new thing to nerd out on, after beer and wine,” Adams said.

On the breakfast side, there’s the obligatory avocado toast, a bagel and lox among the a.m. sandwiches, traditional and fancy benedicts (including a lump crab Oscar version), shrimp and grits, and several French toasts (including a bananas Foster rendition with a whip of mascarpone).

Lunch might be a Thai bowl convening kale, farro, avocado, chickpeas, edadame, cucumber and pickled carrots all bound by Thai peanut sauce. Or a grilled chicken, Swiss and mixed greens sandwich, a familiar favorite abetted by house fries.

The owners like their chances in east Henderson.

“There’s not a lot of sit down out here, breakfast or lunch,” Johns said. “Lake Las Vegas is our captive audience. They take a right, and they have to pass by here. The first 20 tables I spoke to haved lived in Las Vegas three years or less. They’ve been looking at this empty, and now there’s finally something here.”

Toasted & Roasted is at 1477 E. Lake Mead Parkway, Suite 100. Visit instagram.com/toastednroastedlv.

Two Sisters Broasted Chicken and Ribs

Stacy Vicente McBride and Robin Vicente Lamb are the sisters behind Two Sisters Broasted Chicken & Ribs. About a year ago, they opened the first Two Sisters in the Skye Canyon neighborhood of the northwest. The sisters, joined by business partner Chantel Saucedo, are hoping their Calico Ridge restaurant will be open by mid-July.

“We’re excited to be out here. It’s booming out here like Skye Canyon did,” McBride said. “People from Henderson who go out to Skye Canyon for the chicken contacted us about opening here.”

Broasted refers to the process of frying the chicken in a pressure cooker. The proprietary broasting machine was invented 70 years ago in Beloit, Wisconsin, by L.A.M. Phalen, who founded what would become the Broaster Company. The new restaurant will offer takeout and table dining.

For about 16 years, McBride and Lamb have also owned the only outpost of Streets of New York pizza outside its home state of Arizona. They started serving broasted chicken there, in Centennial Hills, and its success inspired them to open a broasted chicken restaurant that also served ribs and other barbecue.

Two Sisters will be at 1469 E. Lake Mead Parkway, Suite 110. Visit twosistersbroastedchickenandribs.com.

PowerSoul Café

PowerSoul just opened in the center, bringing its signature menu of gluten-free smoothies, bowls, pizzas and other items made in-house. The opening comes after the launch of the first PowerSoul, the flagship location and central kitchen for the brand, on West Warm Springs Road in the southwest on March 1. A second shop debuted three weeks later in Chinatown.

PowerSoul grew out of founder Dina Mitchell’s desire to create a fast-food restaurant that catered to people’s dietary restrictions, preferences and healthy eating commitments. The menu allows people to filter items by allergens and dietary goals.

“There’s no limitation to good tasting and healthy food — even from a fast-food chain. We’re really happy to be opening in Henderson to spread the love,” Mitchell said.

Instead of a traditional dining room, the 24-hour café features a walk-up window with scannable menu and self-serve food lockers that hold orders for pickup after they’re placed on the website or via the app. A drive-thru with a digital menu board is set to go live in the coming weeks.

PowerSoul is at 1469 E. Lake Mead Parkway, Suite 100. Visit powersoulcafe.com.

Giuseppe’s Italian Bar & Grille

This family-owned restaurant is scheduled to debut in November, joining sister locations on South Durango Drive in the southwest and on Horizon Ridge Parkway in Henderson. Giuseppe’s, which combines Italian food with a sports bar and 24-hour gaming, received approval from the city of Henderson in March and signed its lease in May.

“After meeting with several tavern operators, we selected Giuseppe’s as our operator. We felt they brought the best food options, and we liked that they are a family operator,” said Michael Young, a partner in the company that owns Calico Ridge. “The family has been operating Italian restaurants for over 50 years.”

Giuseppe’s, which is now in the design stage, will encompass 5,000 square feet, with 90 seats in the dining room and 30 at the bar. The restaurant will be at 1461 E. Lake Mead Parkway, Suite 100. Visit giuseppeslv.com.

Contact Johnathan L. Wright at jwright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @JLWTaste on Instagram.