Restaurants revealed for 2023 Life is Beautiful festival

Life is Beautiful, the sprawling 18-block music, art and food festival, returns to downtown Las Vegas for its 10th year, Sept. 22 to 24. On Tuesday, the festival announced its culinary lineup of 50-plus chefs, bartenders, restaurants, food trucks and more, a lineup designed to showcase the city’s diverse culinary culture.

Among the participating chefs are Gina Marinelli of La Strega and Harlø Steakhouse, Sam Marvin of Echo &Rig, Josh Smith of Delilah in Wynn Las Vegas, Mike Rubenstein of Vetri Cucina in the Palms, Oscar Amador of Anima by EDO (a 2023 James Beard finalist), and José Andrés through his China Poblano and Jaleo restaurants in The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.

Jolene Mannina of Secret Burger, a portal for chef events, and Vincent Rotolo, founder-pizzaiolo of Good Pie, are “community curators” for the festival.

“Food remains a cornerstone of the Life is Beautiful festival,” said Sharee Macy, director of food and beverage for the event. “We’re thrilled to uphold the tradition of delivering extraordinary culinary experiences amidst the vibrant streets of downtown Las Vegas.”

Food and beverage offerings and experiences vary by ticket packages. Some highlights:

The Pizzeria

This experience features a rotating menu of pies, selected by Rotolo, from these leading Vegas pizza makers: Brooklyn’s Best, Metro Pizza, Yukon Pizza, Rebellion Pizza, Good Pie, Pizza Rock, Monzù, Old School Pizzeria and Esther’s Kitchen. The pies are precious: They’re only available until sellout daily.

Omakase Cantina

Chefs Rubenstein, Amador and Smith are creating dishes for an omakase (chefs’ choice) dinner with only 20 seats per day. The dinner, put together by Mannina, may be purchased as an add-on experience.

Beverage program

Big Dog Brewing is creating official craft beers to mark Life is Beautiful’s 10th anniversary. Cool as a Cucumber American lager delivers cucumber on the nose, lime tartness and light clean freshness. A Beautiful Haze, a West Coast-style hazy IPA, combines tropical fruit, citrus and peach notes with low alcohol by volume.

Life is Beautiful will also feature specialty cocktails batched on site, anniversary cocktails served only at the Western Hotel building and cocktails created for VIP packages.

General Admission+

Festival goers with GA+ wristbands may visit the GA+ Lounge offering menus from dedicated food trucks, carts and vendors.

VIP+ Happy Hour

This daily happy hour takes place on the VIP+ viewing deck overlooking the Downtown Stage, with elevated grab-and-go bites from China Poblano, Jaleo, Echo &Rig, Main St. Provisions and Casa Playa in Wynn Las Vegas.

Artist Hospitality Lounge

For All-In package guests and festival artists, there’s a daily pop-up with dishes from Sparrow + Wolf, La Strega, Harlø and Momofuku in The Cosmopolitan.

Some other participants

As of publication, besides the restaurants mentioned above, the 2023 culinary lineup at Life is Beautiful also features (but is not limited to): Afters Ice Cream and Night + Market in Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, Tacotarian, Temaki Time, Shake Shack and Cousins Maine Lobster food truck.

Visit lifeisbeautiful.com for tickets, details and schedule.

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