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Theme Restaurants

It shouldn't be too surprising to learn that a town devoted to themes (what hotel worth its salt doesn't have one, at this point?) has one of virtually every theme restaurant there is. Almost all have prominent celebrity co-owners and tons of "memorabilia" on the walls, which in virtually every case means throwaway items from blockbuster movies, or some article of clothing a celeb wore once (if that) on stage or on the playing field. Almost all have virtually identical menus and have gift shops full of logo items.

This sounds cynical, and it is -- but not without reason. Theme restaurants are for the most part noisy, cluttered, overpriced places that are strictly tourist traps, and, though some have their devotees, if you eat at one of these places, you've eaten at them all. We don't want to be total killjoys. Fans should have a good time checking out the stuff on the walls of the appropriate restaurant. And while the food won't be the most memorable ever, it probably won't be bad (and will be moderately priced). But that's not really what you go for.

The House of Blues, in Mandalay Bay, 3950 Las Vegas Blvd. S. (tel. 702/632-7607; daily 8am-2am on event nights and 'til midnight on non-event nights), is, for our money, food- and theme-wise, the best of the theme restaurants. The food is really pretty good (if a little more costly than it ought to be in a theme restaurant), and the mock Delta/New Orleans look works well, even if it is unavoidably commercial. You can dine here without committing to seeing whatever band is playing, as the dining room is separate from the club (note, though, that HOB gets very good bookings from nationally known acts). The gospel brunch might also be worth checking out (the food is good, though there's too much of it), but be warned: It's served inside the actual club, which can be unbelievably loud, so bring earplugs (we left with splitting headaches).

Presumably filling the hole left by the demise of the All Star Café, so that you sports fans won't feel left out in the theme restaurant race, ESPN, in New York-New York, 3790 Las Vegas Blvd. S. (tel. 702/933-3776; Mon-Thurs 11:30am-12:30am, Fri 11:30am-1am, Sat 11am-1:30am, and Sun 11am-12:30am), is a gigantic facility featuring rather wacky and entertaining sports memorabilia (such as Evel Knievel set up as the old "Operation" game, displaying his many broken bones), plus additions such as a rock-climbing wall/machine. It's pretty fun, actually, and the food, in a couch-potato-junk-food-junkie way, is not bad either, especially when you're sitting in one of the La-Z-Boy recliners, ordering delights such as three Krispy Kreme Doughnuts topped with ice cream, whipped cream, and syrup, and watching sports.

There are those who rave about the warm Tollhouse-cookie pie at the Harley Davidson Cafe, 3725 Las Vegas Blvd. S. at Harmon Avenue (tel. 702/740-4555; Sun-Thurs 11am-11pm, Fri-Sat 11am-midnight).

The Hard Rock Cafe, 4475 Paradise Rd. at Harmon Avenue (tel. 702/733-8400; Sun-Thurs 11am-11:30pm, Fri-Sat 11am-1am), has decent burgers. The serious hipster quotient at the adjacent hotel means that the people-watching opportunities are best here.

Visually, the Rainforest Café, in the MGM Grand, 3799 Las Vegas Blvd. S. (tel. 702/891-8580; Sun-Thurs 8am-11pm, Fri-Sat 8am-midnight), with its jungle interior, complete with sound effects and animatronic animals, is the best of the bunch.

Parrot Heads like to party it up at the new Margaritaville, singer Jimmy Buffet's tropical-themed cafe/bar/club, at the Flamingo Hotel ("Parrot Heads" is how his fans refer to themselves). The menu runs a range from Mexican to something sort of Caribbean-themed to basic American, and it's not all that bad, considering. Lots of fruity tropical drinks doesn't hurt, either. In the Flamingo Hilton, 3555 Las Vegas Blvd. S. (tel. 702/733-3302; daily 11am-2am).

Deli Delights--It's East Coast vs. West Coast in the battle of the famous delis, here in sister properties The Mirage and TI at the Mirage. The former has brought in New York's beloved Carnegie Deli, home of the towering sandwich, so large no mere mortal can clamp his or her jaws around it. The latter is home to the first offshoot of Los Angeles's Canter's Deli, where many a musician has whiled away many an hour, staring moodily into a bowl of matzo-ball soup. Whole families have been rent apart by stating preferences for one style over the other, so we will just say this: As much as we admit that NYC is right to claim it has superior bagels -- there, we said it -- and the Carnegie definitely has better hours, it smells just like the one we spent too much time in while growing up to ever swing our allegiance. Ah, just go do some pastrami taste-testing yourselves, youse. Carnegie Deli in The Mirage, daily 7am-2am. Canter's in TI at the Mirage, daily 11am-midnight.