Our flight landed in Vegas at about 12:30. Reilly's driver picked us up at the airport and took us to our hotel, The Venetian. Officially my favorite hotel in Vegas. It's a gorgeous, all-suite property right in the heart of The Strip, and I covered more about it in my Viva Las Vegas post. In addition to the hotel, casino, and Tao nightclub, they've also got shops and restaurants.
Maryland baseball was playing in the Super Regionals on Friday afternoon, so our first stop after checking into our rooms was a sports book to watch the game. As an athletic department employee I’m not allowed to gamble on any college or professional sports, so I just went and watched. We went to Lagasse's Stadium, owned by Emeril Lagasse. It’s in The Palazzo, sister property to The Venetian.
I failed by not taking pictures of the inside of the venue, but I was wowed by the space, and on a mission to both eat lunch and watch the game. The inside is divided into stadium seating, dining room, and private luxury boxes. So it's essentially like you're at the game.
I found the above pictures online. Let's be honest. There's TV's absolutely everywhere in this place. As there should be. So unless there's a really big sporting event happening, you should be able to watch whatever game you want. Any game, on any channel, at any time.
The menu focuses primarily on sports bar/gameday type foods. Pizza, burgers, sandwiches. And "stadium classics" like nachos, soft pretzels, cheese fries, and wings.
Shauna, Reilly, Michele and I got there first, and started with nachos and spinach artichoke dip.
The dip was outstanding. We added lump crab, which just added to the creamy texture. The pita chips were warm and soft. I had to force myself to stop eating those. The nachos were loaded with lots of toppings and really good as well. I’m not sure why I was surprised, but the jalapenos were super hot. Yeah I know, duh.
Maryland baseball was playing in the Super Regionals on Friday afternoon, so our first stop after checking into our rooms was a sports book to watch the game. As an athletic department employee I’m not allowed to gamble on any college or professional sports, so I just went and watched. We went to Lagasse's Stadium, owned by Emeril Lagasse. It’s in The Palazzo, sister property to The Venetian.
I failed by not taking pictures of the inside of the venue, but I was wowed by the space, and on a mission to both eat lunch and watch the game. The inside is divided into stadium seating, dining room, and private luxury boxes. So it's essentially like you're at the game.
I found the above pictures online. Let's be honest. There's TV's absolutely everywhere in this place. As there should be. So unless there's a really big sporting event happening, you should be able to watch whatever game you want. Any game, on any channel, at any time.
The menu focuses primarily on sports bar/gameday type foods. Pizza, burgers, sandwiches. And "stadium classics" like nachos, soft pretzels, cheese fries, and wings.
Shauna, Reilly, Michele and I got there first, and started with nachos and spinach artichoke dip.
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| Crispy tortilla chips layered with cheese sauce and black beans topped with guacamole, pico de gallo, sour cream and jalapenos |
Brad, Kacey, Lindsay and Steven showed up not long after we started on the appetizers. We had waited on them to order our food, so as soon as they arrived we placed that order as well. Reilly and I split the fish & chips.
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| Beer-Battered fresh Haddock filet, crispy french fries, blue cheese cole slaw, with lemon caper tartar sauce and malt vinegar |
The fish was excellent. It was haddock, a white fish that’s mild, but still has good flavor. The seasoning was really delicious, and there were 2 very generous portions. And it was very lightly coated and fried. The tartar sauce was was very good. I don't normally like capers, but they were ground up and not whole so it just lent the flavor without the salty bite. I dipped the fries in the tartar sauce, and it was a wonderful combination of flavors. Oh, and the cole slaw. Blue cheese in the cole slaw. Big chunks of blue cheese. I could have done a big bowl of that and ditched the fries. So delicious. The cheese adds a fantastic creamy bite that works really well with the other ingredients in the slaw. I was happy Reilly had no interest in the slaw because I devoured it. They really need to sell a side of that stuff.
Michele and Shauna split a burger with caramelized onions, and Lindsay got the bacon cheeseburger
Michele ordered bibb lettuce, and didn’t realize that meant no bun. It’s listed under the gluten free options so I knew that in my brain, but it didn’t connect until I saw it. So she asked for a bun. I didn’t taste the burger but she said it was really good.
Kacey got the pizza and said it was very good as well.
When we were done eating, Shauna needed a cigarette so Michele and I walked out to the patio with her. The patio is gorgeous.
It’s really beautiful. The guys closed the tab and we moved outside. We started out at the tables closer to the fountain, but it quickly got really hot so we moved to the couches. I could sit there all day long. And I'm sure during football season there are people who do.
Will I go back? No question. It's officially on my bucket list to come back here for the first weekend of the NCAA basketball tournament. I hear it's a huge weekend in Vegas.
Michele ordered bibb lettuce, and didn’t realize that meant no bun. It’s listed under the gluten free options so I knew that in my brain, but it didn’t connect until I saw it. So she asked for a bun. I didn’t taste the burger but she said it was really good.
Kacey got the pizza and said it was very good as well.
When we were done eating, Shauna needed a cigarette so Michele and I walked out to the patio with her. The patio is gorgeous.
It’s really beautiful. The guys closed the tab and we moved outside. We started out at the tables closer to the fountain, but it quickly got really hot so we moved to the couches. I could sit there all day long. And I'm sure during football season there are people who do.
Will I go back? No question. It's officially on my bucket list to come back here for the first weekend of the NCAA basketball tournament. I hear it's a huge weekend in Vegas.
