Great Italian food to be had at Las Vegas’s Nora’s

Despite popular belief, it’s possible to get great Italian food without traveling to Italy.

In fact, you can just head to Nora’s Italian Cuisine: great food, cheaper cost, and you don’t have to pack a suitcase.

The family-run restaurant, 5780 W. Flamingo Road, recently celebrated moving into its new 6,800-square-foot home. Ten times the original size, new expansion perks include a floor-to-ceiling wine bar, outside patio, bocce ball court and more parking. The best part? It’s only two blocks east from the old building.

Owned by Nora and Gino Mauro, the popular Italian eatery has been serving local favorites since 1991, when it originally only sat 12. For comparison, it can now seat about 166.

To start, the restaurant suggests popular appetizers such as calamari fritti (fried calamari served with tangy sauce), steak and arugula bruschetta (bruschetta topped with steak, arugula, sun-dried tomatoes and lemon vinaigrette) and arancini (fried risotto balls filled with mozzarella cheese, peas and meat sauce).

Pasta entrees for dinner include Melrose (linguine noodles tossed with shrimp or chicken, zucchini, sun-dried tomatoes and pine nuts in a basil pesto sauce); baked rigatoni (rigatoni pasta mixed with meat sauce, ricotta and mozzarella); frutti di mare (blend of clams, shrimp, mussels and calamari in red sauce over linguine noodles); chicken parmigiana (spaghetti pasta topped with tomato sauce and breaded or baked chicken).

And it wouldn’t be a true Italian restaurant without pizza. Specialties include the Snow White (provolone, ricotta, mozzarella and Romano); 4 Staggioni (pizza sauce, sausage, pepperoni, bell peppers, onions, mozzarella and olives); and vegetarian (tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, mushrooms, olives and mozzarella).

Soups and salads are also available. Most meals range from $11.95 to $23.95. Similar to dinner, the lunch menu also includes sandwiches, pizza by the slices and lunch specials. Most plates cost between $6.95 and $21.50.

Nora’s Italian Cuisine is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 11 a.m. to midnight Friday; 4 p.m. to midnight Saturday; and 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday. Visit norascuisine.com or call 702-873-8990.