Resorts World to get celebrity favorite wine bar

Resorts World has announced its first food and beverage partner, and it’s certain to please wine connoisseurs. Southern California’s Wally’s Wine & Spirits, which has outposts in Beverly Hills and Santa Monica, will open in Resorts World Las Vegas this summer.

Founded in 1968, Wally’s has long been a favorite of Hollywood celebrities — so much so that its chief wine taster and president Christian Navarro has been called the “sommelier to the stars” by the Los Angeles Times. The local incarnation will combine a restaurant, wine bar and gourmet market into what Resorts World is calling “a one-stop tasting experience.” It is expected to encompass approximately 13,000 square feet, and seat between 200 and 250 people.

“We tried to create an environment where people are compelled to come together,” Navarro says of the setup. “They can shop, and they can taste, and they can eat, and they can browse, and they can carouse. They can meet new people. So it really changes the model of what gourmet retail is.”

Wally’s will carry more than 8,000 labels of wine, spirits, beer and specialty gourmet food items from around the world, which guests will be able to enjoy on the premises or take home. The ratio of wine to spirits and other products will be determined by the market, but Navarro estimates they’ll carry between 4,000 and 5,000 wines, with about 125 available by the glass. Moreover, he says, there will be something for every price range.

“You’re going to be able to come in and get an $8 glass of wine — perhaps a Frenzy sauvignon blanc — and I’m going to be having Screaming Eagle and Romanée Conti by the glass,” he says. (The latter two have been known to sell for more than $1,000 and $10,000 a bottle, respectively.)

On the retail side, guests will be able to purchase bottles of wine and have them delivered to their hotel room within Resorts World, or shipped to their homes anywhere in the world. For those who live close enough to carry out their orders, both Wally’s and Resorts World are hoping the selection and prices, coupled with easy accessibility, will entice locals to venture out to the Strip.

“There’s four entrances, four porte-cochères,” says resorts World president Scott Sibella. “So we think the south one, in the back-facing Sammy Davis (Jr. Drive), will be the local entrance. It starts there. People want to know ‘I can get in there and it’s easy access.’”

The restaurant will be open for breakfast, lunch, dinner and late-night dining. And while the menu hasn’t been finalized, it’s expected to resemble those at the California locations, which currently offer salads, sandwiches, pizzettas and dinner entrees such as lamb, duck, salmon and pasta.

Navarro says his primary goal is to create a space that’s welcoming for everyone.

“Because of the communal style, everyone’s a star together. It doesn’t matter if you’re the president of the United States, or the professor of a sixth-grade English class, it is all the same. And this creates a really great ambience because people discover and bounce this idea off of each other. So therefore the community is engaged.”

Contact Al Mancini at amancini@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlManciniVegas on Twitter.