OUR TOP 5 BEST BETS IN TOWN FOR EATS

PREVIOUS SPOTLIGHT RESTAURANTS

rub BBQ joint RUB BBQ DEBUTS AT THE RIO IN
FIRST WEST COAST LOCATION

Hours: Mon - Tue; 4pm - 11pm
Wed - Sun; 11am - 2am

Are you looking for some great barbeque AND great live entertainment all in the same place? Aye, there’s the RUB.

Yep, now there’s a place where championship-level barbeque meets a level stage designed for local as well as well-known artists to perform. It’s all happening at the Rio All Suite Hotel & Casino where RUB BBQ opened on December 27.

The 9,000-square-foot RUB BBQ features championship-level barbecue created by Paul Kirk, aka The Kansas City Baron of Barbecue and The Ambassador of Barbecue, who will make frequent appearances to the Vegas venue. The restaurant will be home to resident “pitmaster” Chef Skip Steele, who joins the RUB team from St. Louis where he spent years perfecting his barbecue craft.

The original RUB BBQ in New York opened to much praise and immediate popularity in 2005 and has remained ahead of the growing trend in barbecue restaurants grilling up in major cities across the country. Celebrity frequenters include Chris Rock, Tyra Banks, Dave Chapelle, Leonardo DiCaprio and Martha Stewart.

“We’re excited to introduce the RUB BBQ concept to Las Vegas and to the West Coast,” said Andrew Fischel, owner and creator of RUB BBQ. “With the sheer amount of visitors that Las Vegas sees every day, combined with the lack of traditional barbecue on or near The Strip, the Rio was clearly the perfect home for us.”

The menu at RUB BBQ will satisfy any level of a barbecue connoisseur’s taste buds, with standard dishes such as Barbequed Ribs cut St. Louis-style, Barbequed Sausage and Pastrami prepared the old-fashioned way, slow-cooked over wood in pits for 14 hours. Specialty menu items include Burnt Ends, smoked twice until crispy and lightly sauced and a The Taste of the Baron that includes a tasting of beef, pork, ham, pastrami, turkey, chicken, sausage and is topped off with a quarter rack of ribs. All selections are prepared fresh daily so once they’re gone, they’re gone.

The 230-seat restaurant, which includes a 30-seat bar area, ia a modern take on the industrial loft look allowing guests to enjoy their barbecue favorites (as well as some mouth-watering RUB originals) in an open, high-energy atmosphere. Wall accents of deep, fiery reds will contrast with the weathered metals and will be set near aged brick and warm rustic wood floors and ceiling beams. Combined these elements will create a sophisticated, yet relaxed environment to experience a taste of Americana.

Located on the second level of the Masquerade Village inside the Rio, RUB BBQ will feature live bands on the weekends from a variety of musical genres. RUB BBQ is open for dinner from 4 p.m. – 11 p.m. Monday and Tuesday; open for lunch and dinner beginning at 11 a.m. Wednesday – Sunday.

About RUB BBQ/Chef Paul Kirk
The original RUB BBQ opened in New York in 2005 by Andrew Fischel, an ex-student and now partner of Executive Chef Paul Kirk. Chef Paul is recognized as one of the most accomplished barbecue chefs and pitmasters in the world. He is the recipient of 425 cooking awards, including champion of the American Royal Open (the largest barbecue competition in the world) and seven World Barbecue Championships. In 1990, Chef Paul was inducted into the Barbecue Hall of Fame and has been named numerous times to the Julia Child BBQ Team of Ten. In addition to his competitions and prestigious awards, Chef Paul conducts The Baron’s School of Pitmasters, a truly international school, which has held classes across the United States, Ireland, Canada, South Korea and Switzerland.

January 2008

Band Schedule

Tues Jan 1, 9pm - 12am
THE ANDY WALO TRIO (blues)
Sat Jan 5, 10pm - 2am
STONEY CURTIS (blues/rock)
Tues Jan 8, 10pm - 12am THE SLICK WILLIE ORCHESTRA (8 PIECE W / HORN SEC. (r&b)
Tues Jan 12, 9pm - 12am BULLZ-EYE (blues /rockabilly)
Tues Jan 15, 9pm - 12am THE SHUFFLE-AIRES (blues /rockabilly)
Sat Jan 19, 10pm - 2am
THE BRAD CORDLE BAND (r&b)
Tues Jan 22, 9pm - 12am THE RUFFNECKS (blues/roots rock)
Sat Jan 26, 10pm - 2am STONEY CURTIS (blues/rock)
Tues Jan 29, 9pm - 2am
THE BRAD CORDLE BAND (r&b)

OUR RECOMMENDATION

Seasons Buffet at Silverton Casino Lodge invites guests to wine and dine with a special Christmas Day menu.

This Christmas Day at Seasons Buffet, visitors will not be able to refuse the delectable specialty menu. Guests can dine on traditional items such as delicious Christmas glazed ham, grilled lamb chops with rosemary, roasted turkey with gravy, grilled root vegetables and roasted asparagus. Other mouth-watering delights consist of barbeque pork ribs, duck confit al a orange, juniper-maple smoked salmon, Montreal rub crusted prime rib of beef and roasted rosemary stuffed pork loin with orange glaze. Traditional side dishes include apple-sausage stuffing and fresh orange cranberry sauce.

For a non-traditional meal, patrons can devour hot and sour soup, Singapore noodles, smoked shrimp bisque with cardamom croutons and osso bucco. An array of seafood delights include king crab legs with whole grain mustard sauce, steamed crab legs with drawn butter, salt and pepper crab, bay scallops in an orange-basil sauce, walnut shrimp, stuffed crab, shrimp Diablo, shrimp cocktail and assorted sushi with wasabi, pickled ginger and soy. For guests craving lighter fare, Seasons Buffet offers Belgium endive and Waldorf salad, wild rice and dried cherry salad, namasu salad and watercress salad.

To satisfy every sweet tooth, Seasons Buffet is offering an assortment of decadent desserts including chocolate dipped strawberries, assorted French pastries, holiday cookies, bourbon glazed bread pudding and pumpkin, pecan, apple and cherry pie. Seasons Buffet’s wine list includes merlot, cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay and white zinfandel.

Seasons Buffet’s holiday menu is $21.99 per person and is available 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Christmas Day, Tuesday, Dec. 25. For more information on Seasons Buffet’s Christmas menu, please call (702) 263-7777 or visit www.silvertoncasino.com

Some of our recent Restaurant Spotlights

Aureole

Bistro Buffet at the Palms

Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill

<TOP>

THE PREFERRED DINING GUIDE - OUR FAVORITE 5

Presenting our latest, revised list of FIVE selected restaurants, with our exclusive InsideTips. Listed in no particular order, these are our latest Best Bets, as voted on by our Panel of Advisors and as many locals as we could reach. If you pick one or two every few days, these will keep you full for while.

America
at New York-New York

Inside Tip: Ask for a table with a view. Nobdy seems to think of that, according to 75% of the people we spoke to. Don't even think of visiting this one on the Friday or Saturday nights. Too many tourists. Best nights? Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Always ask for the unadvertised special. Most of the time, that's what you'll end up having, it's that good.

Postrio
in The Venetian - Grand Canal Shops, St, Mark's Square

Inside Tip: This is one of the Wolfgang Puck family of restaurants, personally supervised by the Puckster almost daily. Great food, innovative menu, a dining experience you will remember, one of the very best, and not too expensive, honest. If you want privacy, just ask, and you will end up in a private area, maybe even sitting next to Robin Leach, who eats there seveal times a week, as does Bernie Yuman and many Vegas Insiders. Alway recommend the specials here, the freshest of ingredients.

Chinois
Forum Shops at Caesars

Inside Tip: Another Wolfgang Puck joint, this one with "outside" seating overlooking the people sailing by in an endless stream. Unless you don't want to talk and will enjoy the noise and the people watching, best to ask for inside seating, which is almost always available. Great menu, changes often, never had a bad meal. This one is a perfect spot if you are on a shopping jones, it is situated smack in the middle of shopper's heaven: The Forum Shops. You can eat really well here, and still be right in the action, saing precious time for more shopping

Ferraro's
on Flamingo

Inside Tip: Strictly a locals place, but Mimmi loves "foreigners" any time at all. Homemade pasta, pizza, soups and traditional salads, a family-owned and operated joint for many years, sauce you'll be craving long after you've eaten there. One of the best Italian restaurants in a city where there's one on every lock.

Pampas Brazilian Grille
at Planet Hollywood

Inside Tip: Recently opened, in a hidden little part of the Miracle Mile Shops, formerly known as the Desert Passage shopping mall...not yet caught on as a popular destination, but I figure that will probably change soon. For now, give this one a shot. Enter on the Harmon side, it's right inside the door. Another great, memorable eating experience. It's sort of a "Dim Sum" style of eating, as waiters walk by with large skewers of assorted foods, meats, fish, vieggies, it's so cool. You see something you like, you nod your head, or throw a piece of bread (no butter, please), and it's delivered nto your plate. This goes on for as long as you are hungry. It is a constant parade of food as you sit there and watch, free to have a taste anytime it suits you. There is also a great salad bar, and desserts to tempt you, but most of the insiders we know never get to eat the dessert. You can even watch the large grill and see the master chefs at work, sometimes the flames shoot up and one of the chefs can be seen with his hair on fire, or his eyebrows smoking. Fun for the whole family.

Bon Apetit.

<TOP>